My list of top-90 NHL defensemen

[Number 57]

If I coached in the Stanley Cup finals tomorrow and I could add a dman to my roster...

1 Erik Karlsson
2 Duncan Keith
3 Shea Weber
4 Drew Doughty
5 Ryan Suter
6 PK Subban
7 Mark Giordano
8 Oliver Ekman-Larsson
9 Alex Pietrangelo
10 Victor Hedman
11 Kris Letang
12 Roman Josi
13 Cam Fowler
14 Kevin Shattenkirk
15 John Carlson
16 Ryan McDonagh
17 Zdeno Chara
18 Dustin Byfuglien
19 Brent Seabrook
20 Marc-Edouard Vlasic
21 Justin Faulk
22 Niklas Kronwall
23 Brent Burns
24 Alex Edler
25 Hampus Lindholm
26 Dan Girardi
27 TJ Brodie
28 Erik Johnson
29 Jay Bouwmeester
30 Marc Staal
31 Jonas Brodin
32 Aaron Ekblad
33 Travis Hamonic
34 Jack Johnson
35 Dan Hamhuis
36 Keith Yandle
37 Tobias Enstrom
38 Dion Phaneuf
39 Matt Niskanen
40 Kris Russell
41 Brooks Orpik
42 Brian Campbell
43 Tyson Barrie
44 Andrej Sekera
45 Anton Stralman
46 Dougie Hamilton
47 Andrei Markov
48 Olli Maatta
49 Chris Tanev
50 Marco Scandella
51 Willie Mitchell
52 Mike Green
53 Mark Streit
54 Christian Ehrhoff
55 Francois Beauchemin
56 Karl Alzner
57 Tyler Myers
58 Johnny Boychuk
59 Kevin Klein
60 Niklas Hjalmarsson
61 Jared Spurgeon
62 Jeff Petry
63 Nick Leddy
64 Jake Muzzin
65 Alex Goligoski
66 Danny DeKeyser
67 Marc Methot
68 Trevor Daley
69 Fedor Tyutin
70 Braydon Coburn
71 Dennis Wideman
72 Jason Garrison
73 Zach Bogosian
74 Jacob Trouba
75 Jan Hejda
76 Andy Greene
77 Johnny Oduya
78 Paul Martin
79 Kevin Bieksa
80 Marek Zidlicky
81 Seth Jones
82 Alexei Emelin
83 Josh Gorges
84 Roman Polak
85 Dmitri Kulikov
86 Carl Gunnarsson
87 Sami Vatanen
88 John Klingberg
89 Alec Martinez
90 Jonathan Ericsson

Click to read more...

 

[GadKing]

No Slava Voynov?

 

[Jerk Store*]

It's a good list, albeit a difficult one to make.

Just off the top of my head, I'd be inclined to put Big Buff a bit higher because of what we've seen from him (historically in the playoffs).
For the same reason, I'd have Keith and Doughty above Karlsson (again, because we're talking cup finals and those 2 have had the platform to show more).

 

[dechire]

Tbh I just control+F-ed for Klingberg and after seeing him incorrectly listed at 88 I didn't bother to look at the rest of the list

Oh wait I see that Goligoski is #65. Maybe you should switch the two.

edit: on another glance Daley is somehow #68. Klingberg is better than him too.

 

[Mr Lebowski]

after the year Wideman had he should be a bit higher, solid list though

 

[dahrougem2]

I'd move Erik Johnson up a bit as well as Tyson Barrie. Jan Hejda should not make this list lol

 

[Puckclektr]

I, like many people here don't see enough of every team. But I see enough to know that Andy Greene is 30-50 spots to low. Living in Toronto two teams I watch more than any team is the Leafs and NJ(fan). Andy Greene is a better defenseman than Dion Phaneuf.

 

[Algernop Kreider]

Dan Girardi is too high. Staal and Yandle are both better.

 

[oconnor9sean]

I feel bad for you because this looks like it took a lot of time, but you're gonna get roasted. Klingberg at 88 is laughable, especially when Ekblad is at 32

 

[Nordique]

This is a difficult feat to take on, so I won't be too critical, and I couldn't put together a list this good overall. The top 12 or 15 listed are interchangeably great players. My only suggestion would be to take a look at Ryan Murray sometime. I know he's been injured a lot, so I don't expect anyone to drop him in a list like this, but he's shown enough for me to think he's ahead of 20 or 30 guys listed here.

 

[mcpw]

If I coached in the Stanley Cup finals tomorrow and I could add a dman to my roster...

26 Dan Girardi
38 Dion Phaneuf
45 Anton Stralman
49 Chris Tanev
60 Niklas Hjalmarsson
64 Jake Muzzin
68 Trevor Daley
74 Jacob Trouba
82 Alexei Emelin
86 Carl Gunnarsson
87 Sami Vatanen
88 John Klingberg

List of players who would be in a very different position on my list.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

Jan Hejda doesn't belong in the top 90.

 

[HarrisonFord]

EK is about 5 spots too high, Keith a couple spots too high, McDonagh too low, and then after that it becomes way too subjective to get a definitive list anyways. I commend you on the list though!

 

[traffic cone]

List of players who would be in a very different position on my list.

I try to guess whether they're too high or too low.

26 Dan Girardi - too high
38 Dion Phaneuf - too high
45 Anton Stralman - too low
49 Chris Tanev - too low
60 Niklas Hjalmarsson - too low
64 Jake Muzzin - too low
74 Jacob Trouba - too low
82 Alexei Emelin - too low
86 Carl Gunnarsson - too low
87 Sami Vatanen - too low
88 John Klingberg - too low

 

[mcpw]

I try to guess whether they're too high or too low.

26 Dan Girardi - too high
38 Dion Phaneuf - too high
45 Anton Stralman - too low
49 Chris Tanev - too low
60 Niklas Hjalmarsson - too low
64 Jake Muzzin - too low
74 Jacob Trouba - too low
82 Alexei Emelin - too low
86 Carl Gunnarsson - too low
87 Sami Vatanen - too low
88 John Klingberg - too low

Ninja edited Trevor Daley in.

Daley, Emelin and Gunnarsson wouldn't be in my top120. You're right with the rest.

 

[HomersWorld]

Jonathan Ericsson should not be on here, even in the 90th spot.

 

[Captain Creampuff]

How is Petro behind Gio and OEL?

 

[Regal]

These are always hard so I'll just comment on the Canucks. At this point Tanev is definitely better than Hamhuis and arguably better than Edler. And barring a serious bounce back, Bieksa should be no where near the list. Though he was one of the guys who wasn't terrible for Torts and has bounced back in the past, so it's possible.

 

[blankall]

after the year Wideman had he should be a bit higher, solid list though

I still think Wideman is the better player than Russell. Russell benefits a lot from playing with a solid top-4 and would remain more exposed in a worse system. Wideman, on the other hand, is more complete.

 

[CraigsList]

For ranking 90 players, I think you did a good job.

Hopefully Giordano can crack the top 5 or top 3 next year, he deserves to be slotted there if he does it in his 3rd straight year. Hopefully no injuries occur so we can finally see him hit 60, 65 points.

 

[STC]

EK is about 5 spots too high, Keith a couple spots too high, McDonagh too low, and then after that it becomes way too subjective to get a definitive list anyways. I commend you on the list though!

yea, if you were coaching a team in the Stanley Cup why would you want a defenseman who could make a claim to two Conn Smythes and he might actually win one this year based on the way he's playing.

Keith is #1 AINEC. he's quite simply the best playoff defenseman in the league over the past several years. Doughty is #2 in that department.

 

[The Gloaming]

Good list overall. But Girardi is like, 30 spots way too high.

 

[STC]

Hjarlmasson at #60 is a JOKE!

If there's 20-25 better D men in the league in the playoffs I'll eat my hat.

 

[iBELEAF]

Too High:
18 Dustin Byfuglien
26 Dan Girardi
37 Tobias Enstrom
49 Chris Tanev
51 Willie Mitchell

Too Low
62 Jeff Petry
76 Andy Greene

 

[Big Ed]

Ericsson clearly doesn't belong.