And the best defense pairs in the NHL this season are…

Credit: © Isaiah J. Downing

Last week, we took a look at some of the best lines in the NHL at generating offense, driving play, and shutting down the opposition, so it only makes sense to take a similar look at defensive pairs that do the same this week.

Much like the forward lines, they all come in unique makeups and combinations. You have your traditional “offensive defenseman makes the plays while the defensive defenseman covers for them” pair. You have your straight shutdown pairs that face the tough minutes. And you even have more well-rounded pairs on which both players are elite at both ends of the ice (although unfortunately they are far less common).

And also like with my list for the forwards, there were some restrictions. They had to play at least 500 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time together, and they also had to be each other’s most common partners this season, that way it feels like a true list of defensive partners. After that, they had to be good at generating offense, driving play, and driving scoring chances, whether that be more by offensive creation or defensive stinginess.

Hampus Lindholm & Brandon Carlo (Boston Bruins)

5v5 TOI: 610:51
5v5 xGF%: 56.15%
5v5 GF%: 64.29%
5v5 GF/60: 3.12

While Charlie McAvoy gets a lot of the attention on the Bruins blueline (and deservedly so), this pair of Lindholm and Carlo may be the MVPs of their season, or at least in the first stretch while McAvoy was out and the Bruins were still in a potential state of sink or swim. Lindholm stepped up to be their top defender in McAvoy’s absence and was a big reason why the Bruins got off to the hot start that they did this year in spite of those injuries and have managed to maintain that since.

Carlo has always been a stable defensive defenseman for the Bruins since cracking their roster in 2016-17, so it’s no surprise that he’s making a difference here, but Lindholm was a bit more of a question mark. Once one of the league’s best two-way defenders, he’d taken a step back in Anaheim and the Bruins looked like they overpaid with the sign-and-trade at last year’s deadline, but it’s paid dividends so far. He very much looks like his former self, bringing elite defense along with some solid offense, even topping his career-highs in points by 18. It hasn’t seen as much use since the Dmitry Orlov addition at this year’s deadline, but at the very least the Bruins know they have a solid shutdown pair if they need it come playoff time.

Jaccob Slavin & Brent Burns (Carolina Hurricanes)

5v5 TOI: 1138:54
5v5 xGF%: 61.26%
5v5 GF%: 55.85%
5v5 GF/60: 2.6

When Dougie Hamilton left the Hurricanes two years ago, many figured it would be hard to replace that offense on the blueline. Sure, they have plenty of quality defenders, but none drove offense like Hamilton, and considering he was an elite defenseman at both ends of the ice for Carolina, it was going to be tough to fill that hole in their lineup. But the Canes have done a solid job doing that so far, taking in a (controversial) reclamation project in Tony DeAngelo last year to give him a career year, and this year, that was bringing in Brent Burns on a salary dump deal.

While nobody doubted that Burns still had some game left in him, he’s thrived in Carolina as the go-to offensive defenseman, putting up his best offensive season since 2018-19. But part of what allows him to do that is having Slavin playing with him. Burns can fully focus on driving offense for this Canes team because Slavin is about as reliable as they come in the defensive end, a premier shutdown defender. It’s one of the best examples of the classic “offensive defenseman with a defensive defenseman” pairing, and it’s paid dividends for the Canes this season. As long as the now 38-year-old Burns can keep up with the game, that should be a good top pair for the Canes for the remainder of his contract.

Devon Toews & Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)

5v5 TOI: 753:13
5v5 xGF%: 58.6%
5v5 GF%: 61.99%
5v5 GF/60: 3.51

I’m 99 percent sure that any defense pair with Cale Makar on it would crack a list like this. There’s a reason he’s considered one of, if not the best defenseman in the league, and it’s because he dominates the ice like very few do. He’s a modern day Bobby Orr in that he utilizes his smooth skating to provide pressure from the back end and distract them from the Avalanche’s talent up front. And while elite skating defenders who put up points get labelled as offensive defensemen, Makar is far from just that. There’s a reason that the Avs had no issues with the Oilers in last year’s playoffs, and that’s because Makar’s skating and smarts allows him to hang with the best, even a Connor McDavid, on the defensive side of the ice.

While any pair with Makar is a good pair, Toews kicks it to a whole other level. He’s the perfect complementary piece to Makar, not in the traditional sense that he steps back and is reliable while Makar does his thing, but in that he can also do Makar’s thing, but to a lesser extent obviously. He can skate, he’s a smart defender that doesn’t just sit back but knows when to pick his spots, and most importantly, like Makar, he drives play at an elite level. We saw the true level that those two could play at in 2020-21 when they were basically trapping the other team in the offensive zone for shifts on end, and while they haven’t been quite as dominant now, they’re still among the best. They know that the best defense is to never have to defend in the first place, and they utilize it to perfection, which is why they’ve already won a Stanley Cup, and in Makar’s case, a Conn Smythe Trophy.

Miro Heiskanen & Colin Miller (Dallas Stars)

5v5 TOI: 721:21
5v5 xGF%: 54.03%
5v5 GF%: 61.66%
5v5 GF/60: 3.11

Like Makar, there’s very few defensemen that wouldn’t be on a pair with Miro Heiskanen and not find themselves on this list with them, although the Stars do lack that Devon Toews caliber of partner to play with him. Heiskanen was already one of the better young defenders in the NHL, but he’s taken it to new heights this season now that Rick Bowness isn’t around to slog up the Stars style of play. Heiskanen is a premier defender, excellent at both ends of the ice, and brings some elite skating and pace to the package as well.

Miller may seem like more of a surprise on the other hand, but many forget about his two seasons with the Vegas Golden Knights and how he was starting to blossom into the solid blueliner that he hinted at in sheltered minutes with the Boston Bruins. He struggled in Buffalo (who wouldn’t with the teams he was on), but has found a new home in Dallas, and it’s probably for the best that it isn’t with Bowness. Miller has that risky style of play that’s aggressive, and when it burns you, it burns you badly, so he always looks bad according to the eye test, but his numbers have always shown that he excels when given the chance to run free a bit, which is easy to do alongside Heiskanen.

Jacob Middleton & Jared Spurgeon (Minnesota Wild)

5v5 TOI: 1007:51
5v5 xGF%: 54.42%
5v5 GF%: 61.18%
5v5 GF/60: 2.59

After a couple of years being a fun, run-and-gun team lead by Kirill Kaprizov, the Wild have reverted to their usual reputation of being a team that will grind you down defensively to get a win, giving you nothing in the process. A lot of that is due to the current salary cap situation with Zach Parise and Ryan Suter’s buyout penalties, meaning they had to move on from offensive players and focus more on putting together a cheaper, defensively minded team. So it makes sense that the pairing of Middleton and Spurgeon have played such a key role to their success.

Spurgeon was always an underrated defenseman in his early years and has only recently gotten the recognition as one of the best defensive defensemen in the league. He’s no slouch offensively, but his shutdown game is what you really come for when you watch Spurgeon, and he makes for a very efficient one that’s tough to play against. Middleton is definitely leaning on Spurgeon, but he’s also a solid defensive defenseman, and an underrated pickup from last year’s trade deadline. You just need a defender that doesn’t drag Spurgeon down to play alongside him, but Middleton complements the Wild captain perfectly and allows them to excel in the tough minutes on a team that relies more heavily on shutting down the opponent to win.

Jonas Siegenthaler & Dougie Hamilton (New Jersey Devils)

5v5 TOI: 1016:04
5v5 xGF%: 55.39%
5v5 GF%: 62.22%
5v5 GF/60: 3.6

I mentioned the hole in the lineup that the Hurricanes had to fill when Hamilton left, and there’s a reason why it was a big one. At his peak with the Hurricanes, Hamilton was one of the best defensemen in the NHL, fitting into Rod Brind’Amour’s heavy forecheck style perfectly with his aggressive play-driving ability, and both his shooting ability and his playmaking from the point were a big driver of the Canes offense. His defensive ability isn’t quite what it was since joining the Devils, but he still drives play at a good enough rate to make up the defecit.

It also helps that he has his polar opposite in play style by his side in Jonas Siegenthaler. He’s been a happy breakout for the Devils, an under-the-radar trade that they made in 2021 for just a third-round pick that no one thought anything of, and has since been one of the better shutdown defenders in the league. That tight style complements Hamilton perfectly, as it lets Dougie do his thing offensively and help push the play that way for the likes of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Nico Hischier, while Siegenthaler cleans up any garbage that may emerge from it, allowing the two to be an extremely cohesive pair.

Ryan Lindgren & Adam Fox (New York Rangers)

5v5 TOI: 861:51
5v5 xGF%: 55.82%
5v5 GF%: 61.53%
5v5 GF/60: 3.11

Fox is another defenseman who could play with just about anyone and still make this list. Like Makar, it’s impressive how quickly Fox established himself as an elite defenseman, going from a dark horse Calder candidate in the stacked defensive class of Makar and Quinn Hughes, to winning a Norris Trophy in just his second season. The Rangers underlying metrics have been somewhat iffy these past two seasons, but that’s not the case when Fox is on the ice, as he drives offense like few can on the back end while also being one of the best in his own end, a rare but always appreciated combination.

Lindgren has been his usual partner since Fox has entered the NHL, and there’s a reason why. Lindgren has proven to be an excellent defender in his own end, making it difficult for opponents to get good scoring chances when both of them are on the ice. Lindgren doesn’t drive offense as well as Fox, but he’s good enough that they don’t have to solely rely on Fox to move the puck up the ice and allow their opponents to target Fox to keep them neutralized. It’s created an excellent pair that can take on the the tough minutes, and allow K’Andre Miller and Jacob Trouba to roam free in lighter minutes.

Ian Cole & Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay Lightning)

5v5 TOI: 598:27
5v5 xGF%: 54.56%
5v5 GF%: 57.58%
5v5 GF/60: 3

The Lightning have had to strip away many important pieces in their lineup over the years to keep their main core around, but no departure was going to be bigger than Ryan McDonagh’s. Victor Hedman gets all the glory on their blueline, but McDonagh played a key role as their shutdown defender for their three trips to the Stanley Cup Final and two Cup wins, taking on a lot of the tough matchups and handling them quite well. That meant that this season Hedman took on a bigger bulk of that, something he is capable of, but it also means that it holds him back a bit from what makes him Victor Hedman.

So that’s why the duo of Cole and Cernak has been an important one for the Lightning to keep them at elite status this season. Sure, it’s not quite as effective as what McDonagh did, but both are strong enough play drivers that they can hold their own, and it allows them to split up the tough minutes with Hedman’s pair and give them some breathing room. This pair gets some extremely strong results out of it, so that’s why they crack the list, but it’s definitely been more of a by-committee process to get the job done in Tampa this year.

Alec Martinez & Alex Pietrangelo / Brayden McNabb & Shea Theodore (Vegas Golden Knights)

5v5 TOI: 871:58 / 815:40
5v5 xGF%: 55.3% / 55.28%
5v5 GF%: 61.27% / 63.29%
5v5 GF/60: 2.99 / 3.05

When I initially had decided on 11 pairs based on the numbers they were putting up, I originally eliminated one of these two pairings to bring it down to 10 to keep it rounded and also keep the list to one-per-team. But then I realize the other pairing of Florida Panthers defensemen Josh Mahura and Radko Gudas were getting their strong results in sheltered third pair minutes, so it seemed to make more sense to keep both Golden Knights pairs.

There’s a reason both pairs made the list, and it’s the same reason why they’ve been able to cycle through a million goaltenders this season and see them all play somewhat competently, or at least enough that it doesn’t cost them games. It’s a strong defensive presence along with elite play-driving that Vegas has had since their inaugural season that’s kept them successful, and it’s only improved under Bruce Cassidy.

Pietrangelo and Martinez have slightly worse results, but they also deal with slightly tougher minutes, and they work well as a cohesive unit that drives play even at their older age. Meanwhile, Theodore and McNabb get slightly better results in slightly easier minutes, and they’re more of a defensive unit that complement each other as opposites. Theodore is the offensive defenseman that pushes the play up the ice, while McNabb sits back and makes sure that the scoring chances going back the other way are ones goalies can handle. Combined, both pairs handle a lot of the dirty work for Vegas, and it’s why they’ve been so good this season in spite of all their injuries.

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