Usually, in the offseason, there are a lot of lists ranking the top players in the NHL. Whether that comes from fans or media, there is a lot of discussion about the elite of the elite players across the league. After the 2021 playoffs, I thought that I would take a shot at it myself. So, let’s get started with the group of the most players, the defenceman. Where I’m ranking the top 30 defencemen due to the sheer amount of talent across the league, I’m going to split this one into two parts. My ranking of 15–1 should be out tomorrow, so let’s get right into it.
#30 Brian Dumoulin
As a Penguins fan, you may think that I would have had Brian Dumoulin a little bit higher than this. However, I am accounting durability into this list, and let me tell you, Dumo has been the opposite of durable in his past two seasons. He only missed 13 games last year but only playing 28 of 69 games in the 2020 season shows the risk of Dumoulin. He is a fantastic talent, and he is the glue to the Penguins' blue line, but the question with Dumo is always can he stay healthy. If he does this upcoming season, he will certainly move up on this list.
#29 Mattias Ekholm
For the majority of Ekholm's career, he has been a fantastic defenceman on both sides of the ice, but in this past season, Ekholm started showing signs of slowing down. While he still has shown to be a great offensive defenceman, his defensive game has started to slip with age. He is starting to slowly decline, and him being on a rebuilding/retooling team at age 30 isn’t a great sign for how the rest of his career is going to go. He is still a very good defenceman, but I think that keeping Ekholm over Ellis will turn out to be a mistake for the Preds moving forward.
#28 Quinn Hughes
Most Canucks fans will probably be disappointed, but okay with Hughes’ ranking here. After an outstanding rookie campaign in the 19–20 season, Hughes did not perform up to the expectations he set for himself. He had a 0.78 PPG in his rookie year, and a 0.73 PPG this year, so what’s the difference? The difference is Chris Tanev. You heard me. Tanev is a very good defensive defenceman, who when paired with Quinn Hughes, let Hughes run everything offensively. With Tanev now being in Calgary, Hughes has more weight on his shoulders on both the offensive and the defensive end. His offensive play driving dropped off of a cliff this past season, and his already not-great defence also looked worse than it had in his rookie year. I see him bouncing back next season, but I really hope that the Canucks don’t waste Hughes’ talent. I’ve heard he has a couple of close buddies in New Jersey that he may rather play with…
#27 Miro Heiskanen
Miro Heiskanen has been very inconsistent during his three NHL seasons, but he’s been good even to deserve this spot. He has improved quite a bit since his rookie season, but he still hasn’t had that elite breakout season just yet. In the 2020 playoffs, where the Stars made the Stanley Cup Finals, Heiskanen had a not-talked-about enough playoffs. In 27 games, Heiskanen had 6 goals and 20 assists for 26 points. After signing a humongous 8 x $8,450,000 contract this offseason, the Stars are hoping that Heiskanen becomes that 2020 playoff version of himself full time.
#26 Thomas Chabot
Thomas Chabot is certainly a better player than most people give him credit for, but after a down season on a poor (for the most part) Senators team, I just can’t rank him any higher than this. He is an unreal offensive play driver, and if he had a good forward core in front of him, he may have been closer to a point a game last season. Unfortunately for the Senators, Chabot is absolutely atrocious defensively. If you could get him a rock-solid defender to place next to him, he should be able to focus more on his offensive game.
#25 Jonas Brodin
No, this isn’t just because we have the same name. For the past 3 seasons, Brodin has been an Elite defender for a while now, but his offensive game has been very lacklustre. However, that’s the only weakness in his game. He isn’t bad at putting up points, it’s just that he isn’t the kind of player who would be able to run the offence. Brodin’s the complete opposite of Chabot, and the only reason I have Brodin higher is that I don’t think that his offence is as bad as Chabot’s defence.
#24 Torey Krug
Torey Krug obviously didn’t fill the hole left by Pietrangelo on the Blues blue line, but he still performed very well. Despite completely switching systems and scenarios, Krug still played very consistently compared to his time in Boston. Krug is still a very good offensive player, and despite not being great in his own end, he isn’t awful. Krug is going to be 31 by the end of next season, and the biggest question for him is if he will stay Mr. Consistent, or if he’ll start to show signs of decline.
#23 Mark Giordano
Despite Calgary leaving him unprotected in the expansion draft (which was the right choice), Giordano is still a very good NHL defenceman. Despite his slow decline since his Norris Trophy-winning season in 18–19, Giordano slowly declining at age 37 is nothing but expected. He’s still a solid offensive and defensive NHL defenceman, and I can’t wait to see what he does in his new leadership role with the Seattle Kraken.
#22 Brent Burns
Before I say anything else, no, Erik Karlsson will not be on this list, he just came off of a terrible season but I hope to see him bounce back. But speaking of a Sharks defenceman bouncing back, that’s exactly what Burns did this past season. After a sub-par 2020 campaign, Burns was 35 years old and it looked like he wasn’t going to be the same player again. In the 2021 season, Burns was arguably a better offensive driver and defensive player than he had been for the past few seasons. It seemed like the rest he got from the paused season and the delayed season really helped him rejuvenate his career, although I wouldn’t expect him to move up any spots come next season.
#21 Brett Pesce
As much as I like Slavin and Hamilton, who will be mentioned later in this list, Pesce did not deserve to be pushed to the side for people to understand how good Slavin and Hamilton were. Pesce actually played more ice time per game than Dougie Hamilton last season (by just 5 seconds) and still doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Pesce is both a fantastic offensive driver, as well as being a more than capable defender. Next season when Pesce is probably going to be on a pairing with Slavin full-time next season, so don’t be surprised when he more than likely jumps up this list once again.
#20 John Carlson
John Carlson benefits due to his teams' elite offence. Did Letang do this at points as well? Yes, of course. But Letang should’ve won a Norris at his peak, and Carlson was an elite offensive talent who, I personally don’t believe should’ve been in that conversation. However, I still recognize Carlson for the talent he is, 119 points in 121 games over the past two seasons is certainly a showing of elite offensive talent for a defenceman. This past season Carlson’s offensive game slipped, more showcasing his poor defensive ability. However, he did look better in his own end than he had in prior seasons, and I hope Carlson can keep that up for the Capitals in their final years of contention.
#19 Ryan Ellis
Since the 14–15 season Ryan Ellis has been one of the most underrated defencemen in this league. I truly believe that he is the perfect 2nd option on a championship team's blue line, which he almost did on the Predators 2017 Stanley Cup Final run. He is a great defender and offensive play driver, although the point production isn’t always there. Now he’ll be going to Philly, where he’ll be trusted as the #1 option on the blue line for a team that massively struggled in that department last season. He has to chance to prove to people what the analytical community has been saying for years, but will he be able to prove it? In the 2021 season, both Ellis’ offensive and defensive games seemed to decline, and that has to be a worrying sign at age 30. Nashville did the same thing when PK Subban was dealt at age 29 after his solid, but not great 18–19 campaign. Ellis could easily jump up this list if he shows up in a big way for the Flyers, but his decline from last season continues Philadelphia could be in a very bad spot here.
#18 Aaron Ekblad
At just 24 years old, the 1st overall pick in 2014 has had a couple of fantastic seasons in two straight years, showing me that he is probably going to turn out just as he was expected. In 35 games this past season before getting an unfortunate leg fracture, Ekblad had 11 goals and 11 assists for 22 points. He did that while driving the play offensively, as well as holding his own in the defensive end. If it wasn’t for that injury in the middle of the season, I can absolutely see the Panthers making more of a run in the playoffs last season. When Ekblad gets back to full health, we can only hope that he will be just as good as he has shown he can be, and hopefully, he will improve to that Norris Trophy calibre defenceman.
#17 Zach Werenski
As I mentioned Karlsson for Burns, no, Seth Jones will also not be on this list. But, a defenceman who actually individually improved for the Blue Jackets in a terrible year for them. All Werenski has done is improve for Columbus, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. He is the future of this team's blue line, and I think there’s a solid chance that he may live up to that outrageous 6x $9,583,333 contract extension. At least Columbus has kept one of their stars for once? Last season he massively improved as a defensive player, and while already having an elite offensive game, Werenski should be able to keep this greatness going for at least the next 7 seasons.
#16 Morgan Rielly
It seems like a lot of people, including Leafs fans, are underrating what Morgan Rielly brings to their blue line. Rielly is an elite offensive blueliner, who should be absolutely nothing a go-to option at the opponents' blue line for the Leafs. He has an incredible shot and is a threat from anywhere on the perimeter in the offensive zone. So why do people undervalue him? His defence is atrocious. That’s why you finally got him his fantastic defensive partner in TJ Brodie, who along with Jake Muzzin barely missed out from being on this list. I believe if he got a full season of PP1 time, he can easily get back to that 20 goal, 72 point season he had in 18–19. I think that the Leafs have to give him an extension because I don’t know what they’re going to do without him.