NHL Network continued their Right Now series, ranking the top players by position ahead of the season. On the top-20 defensemen list, Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman ranked third.
While it’s no shock that he has a high ranking, being ranked so high is shocking. He received Norris Trophy votes last season, which is understandable after putting up 76 points in 78 games, but he was not a finalist. Here’s a look at why he might have been ranked so high and what expectations should be for him this season.
Breaking Down Hedman’s Most Recent Season
Hedman is coming off one of the best offensive seasons of his career. His 76 points were the second-best output of his career and ranked fifth in the NHL among defensemen in 2023-24. His 85 points during the 2021-22 season were his best, and both were better than the 63 points he put up during his Norris-winning season in 2017-18.
While he had a great season offensively, his defensive game dipped. He had only 65 hits, the fewest in a season since 2018-19. He had 90 or more hits in the previous two campaigns. So, in a season when the Lightning defense was pushed around, their top defenseman was not helping the cause.
He also had a defensive points share (DPS) of 5.3, ranked 13th in the league. While it’s a good number, 12 players were ahead of him. The star NHL veteran has plenty left in the tank, but he is 33 years old. In theory, he should have a few more good years in this league. The Lightning agree – they gave him a four-year contract extension over the offseason and will likely name him captain to succeed Steven Stamkos.
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Yes, he’s won the Conn Smythe Trophy, which he took home when the Lightning won the Stanley Cup in the bubble. But that was in 2020, so it won’t help his case almost four years later. Hedman is still a top-10 player in this league, but his numbers aren’t top-three necessarily.
Comparing Hedman to Other Defensemen
Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are the top two players on the list. Hughes just won the Norris. Makar is coming off a 90-point season with more than 20 goals. That checks. Moving on.
However, Hedman is immediately ahead of Nashville Predators star Roman Josi, who finished second in Norris voting and had 85 points in 82 games last season. The writers declared him better than Hedman last season, but he is of a similar age and putting up similar numbers. So, it could go either way.
Next, Miro Heiskanen finished fifth on the list, but NHL Network analyst and former NHL defenseman Jason Demers ranked him third, ahead of Hedman and Hughes.
Heiskanen is a great player. He had his fair share of offensive production last season with 54 points in 74 games (0.76 points per game) and has a 3.7 defensive points share. But those numbers were a bit of a step back from the season before. I’m not sure he can be put ahead of Hedman at this time.
Then there’s Adam Fox at No. 9. That’s surprising. He averaged more than a point per game for the first time in his career last season, and he continued to be strong defensively with a 5.3 defensive points share. He finished fourth in Norris voting and was a finalist for the second time just the season before. It’s mind-boggling that a player could finish the season being considered a top-five player at their position and then barely crack the top 10 before the start of the next one. I would put him ahead of Hedman, declaring the Lightning star is not a top-three player right now.
In the end, these lists are all subjective. Someone will read this and say I’m wrong, and that’s ok. But we should all be able to agree on one thing: if Hedman is still worthy of this discussion, he’s still doing a lot of things right in this league.
