NHL’s Top 5 Defenses

*this archive was originally written by Eugene Helfrick

Defense wins championships. It’s a saying as old as hockey itself, but there is truth to it. A stout defense can both limit the opponent’s scoring chances while placing additional pressure on them in the offensive zone.

It’s not easy to build an elite defense, taking years of drafting and developing players before they eventually reach their full potential. Even then, a team may still need to dip into free agency and the trade market to secure a core capable of winning the Stanley Cup.

The following five teams are now poised to reap the rewards of their hard work, with an eye on a championship in 2026-27:

5) Ottawa Senators

Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub

Thomas Chabot – Jordan Spence

Tyler Kleven – Carter Yakemchuk

Nikolas Matinpalo

ANALYSIS:

The Ottawa Senators may have just snuck into the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs as a second wild-card team. However, it’s clear that, had they gotten better goaltending in the regular season from Linus Ullmark and Leevi Merilainen (and not have been forced to sign journeyman James Reimer as a stop-gap measure), they would have likelier finished closer to the top of the standings… and avoided the eventual-Stanley Cup champion-Carolina Hurricanes in Round 1.

The Senators may have gotten swept, without ever having leading in the series, but that doesn’t really tell the whole story in that, fortified by the defense in front of him, Ullmark bounced back to put up stellar stats in the four games, over which he allowed just nine goals. It’s more so the offense that failed to step up, but more on that later.

Led by thoroughbred Jake Sanderson, their defense gave up just 24.4 shots per game in the regular season, with every regular but Nick Jensen, who departed via free agency, set to return. With 2024 seventh-overall-pick Carter Yakemchuk projected to take his place his lineup, it’s safe to say the Senators are in good shape.

4) Minnesota Wild

Quinn Hughes – Brock Faber

Jonas Brodin – Jared Spurgeon

Olli Maatta – Zach Bogosian

Daemon Hunt

ANALYSIS:

The acquisition of veteran Quinn Hughes before last year’s Christmas break (for a package that revolved around rookie-defenseman Zeev Buium), seemed to push them over the top. His pairing with Brock Faber has the potential to be among the best dynamic defensive duos in the NHL this coming season, if not top the list altogether, with a combined Wins-Above-Replacement (WAR) rating of 5.77 in 2025-26.

Going down the Wild’s blue line, the criminally underrated pairing of captain Jared Spurgeron and Jonas Brodin is also very sound defensively. On the third, they swapped out Jacob Middleton for defenseman Olli Maatta (in the offseason trade with the Calgary Flames that also sent forward Blake Coleman to the Wild), which admittedly makes for a slight defensive downgrade. However, seeing as Maatta scored 14 points in 21 games after having been acquired by the Flames in the middle of the season, rekindling the offensive spark he showed early in his career, the move could pay dividends, as the team ices an incredibly well-rounded corps.

3) Vegas Golden Knights

Brayden McNabb – Shea Theodore

Noah Hanifin – Rasmus Andersson

Parker Wotherspoon – Jeremy Lauzon

Dylan Coghlan

ANALYSIS:

What makes the inclusion of the Vegas Golden Knights so impressive is how they made it (and all the way to the 2026 Stanley Cup Final), without Alex Pietrangelo. He was kept on long-term injured reserve all last season (and is projected to sit out 2026-27, his last under contract) with ongoing hip issues.

The Golden Knights have since stabilized their blue line, at least on paper, following a mid-season trade with the Calgary Flames for Rasmus Andersson, which reunited him with former defensive partner Noah Hanifin. While Andersson’s efficacy with the Golden Knights has come into question, they locked up the one-time pending unrestricted free agent with a seven-year, $59.5 million deal, which seemed to permanently push Brayden McNabb onto the top pairing with Shea Theodore, which no one should be complaining about, based on their chemistry.

It all worked out down the stretch as the Golden Knights outlasted the No. 2 team on this list in Round 3.

2) Colorado Avalanche

Devon Toews – Cale Makar

Brett Kulak – Sam Malinski

Josh Manson – Brent Burns

Noah Juulsen

ANALYSIS:

There really isn’t much that needs to be said about the Colorado Avalanche defense that hasn’t already been said. Cale Makar is a generational player who is redefining what a modern defenseman can be and Devon Toews is the perfect partner who lets him do what he does best.

When your lowest-paid defenseman is Brent Burns ($850,000 cap hit), who is coming off a 12-goal, 35-point first season with the Avalanche, it’s a good sign. So is it when journeyman goalie Scott Wedgewood finishes fifth in voting for the Vezina Trophy after having gone 31-6-6 with a 2.02 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. It’s little wonder when you have such a strong defense in front of you and face only a fifth-ranked 26.1 shots against per game (during the regular season… fourth-ranked 25.9 in the postseason).

1) Carolina Hurricanes

Jaccob Slavin – Jalen Chatfield

K’Andre Miller – Sean Walker

Shayne Gostisbehere – Alexander Nikishin

Joel Nystrom

ANALYSIS:

In contrast to other teams on this list, the Carolina Hurricanes lack a James Norris Memorial Trophy-caliber defenseman. That’s admittedly if you exclude Jaccob Slavin, who fell completely out of contention after playing just 39 games and finishing at No. 8 in voting in 2025 (and having peaked at No. 5 in 2020). However, it’s hard to argue with results. They did win the Stanley Cup, after all.

The manner in which the Hurricanes did was truly something else, though. They swept their opponents in each of the first two rounds, ultimately only losing three games overall. In Round 3 against the Montreal Canadiens, they put on a clinic from Game 2 onward, limiting the upstart Habs to 67 shots in the five-game series’ final four games… with two of those going to overtime.

Granted, the Canadiens, who went the distance in Rounds 1 and 2, may have been tired, but that was a top-10-ranked offense in the NHL during the regular season. It just met its match and then some against the top-ranked defense (23.9 shots against per game), which may have lost Burns the previous offseason, but replaced him with K’Andre Miller in a sign-and-trade and also added Alexander Nikishin, who finished seventh in Calder Memorial Trophy voting, to the mix.

When all was said and done, no Hurricanes defenseman earned so much as a single Norris vote. Maybe the 25-year-old Nikishin, who at the time this is being written is in contract negotiations as a restricted free agent, will be the guy to whom Slavin passes the torch. Now that’s a scary proposition (for the rest of the league).

The NHL Features Many Great Defenses

There are always teams that just barely miss the cut. In terms of defense, a few teams to keep an eye on heading into 2026-27 include the Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres, and the Columbus Blue Jackets. They boast depth led by elite defensemen who could end up in the Norris discussion by season’s end. There will also be players who unexpectedly break out to push themselves into the conversation as well… not to mention their teams into the one to maybe earn a spot on this list.