It’s often said that the best offense is a good defense. That still rings true in hockey.
You can score all the goals you want, but realistically how far are you going to get if you can’t stop the other team from scoring either?
On top of that, you can’t rely on your goaltender for everything. They have a hard enough job as is. Defense is hard, though, and some teams are better at it than others.
Here we will look at every NHL team’s defense and where it ranks.
Who are the top defensive teams in the NHL this season?
32. San Jose Sharks
Ranking at the bottom we once again see San Jose. San Jose allowed, on average, 3.98 goals per game last season. They’re not particularly close to any of the other basement teams, either. Their blue line doesn’t look to be much better this season, which is the main reason why I don’t think they finish above the bottom 2 this year.
31. Columbus Blue Jackets
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NHL stories via Google! Follow Us
It’s the usual suspects for the bottom-tier teams. That being said, there’s a decent gap between worst and second worst here. Goaltending woes and defense have plagued Columbus since Bobvrosky left, and that is shown by the 3.63 goals allowed per game last season. Really no reason to expect anything different this year.
30. Anaheim Ducks
Unlike the last two teams, Anaheim and Chicago at least seem to have some sort of direction with their blue line. That being said, it’s going to be hard to go from allowing 3.57 goals per game last season to having anywhere near a good defense this year. It’s likely Anaheim will still struggle to keep the puck out of the net.
29. Chicago Blackhawks
When we say that Chicago truly was reliant on Connor Bedard to win games, we mean it. Adding veteran goalies like Petr Mrazek, as well as some much-needed depth on the blue line, will certainly help Chicago avoid a repeat of last year, where they allowed 3.52 goals per game, but it won’t help them get an elite defense.
28. Ottawa Senators
Part of the blame here lies on goaltending woes for Ottawa, as Jonas Korpisalo looked anything but his best, but that doesn’t mean Ottawa’s defense exactly helped him. Averaging 3.43 goals allowed per game last season is indicative that more than just goaltending is going on.
27. New Jersey Devils
And now we get into the reason why the Devils missed the playoffs last year despite having a high-powered offense. They could not stop the other team from scoring to save their lives, allowing 3.43 goals per game last season. Part of that blame definitely lies on the goaltending, which they refused to fix until it was far too late. But there’s definitely some blame to be had on the blue line as well.
Also Read: Ranking All 32 NHL Teams (Season Opener)
26. Montreal Canadiens
It’s no surprise the Habs are this low. They’re a young, budding team in desperate need of some experience. Pair that with Jake Allen, who was struggling to find form, and you have an average of 3.43 goals allowed per game. They’ll be relying on the young guns to help dig them out of that hole this season.
25. Utah Hockey Club
Since Utah was still in Arizona last season, we will have to go off of Arizona’s numbers. They’re practically the same roster, anyhow. Defense was by far Arizona’s weakest area, averaging 3.34 goals allowed per game, which is a decent jump up from Montreal. They’ll need to patch that hole if they want to continue off the success they had last year.
24. Detroit Red Wings
This is the reason Detroit fell short of the postseason. They could go goal for goal with the best of them, but their defense just flat-out sucked. Alex Lyon tried his best to steal games, but he had absolutely no help from his blue line at all. That has to be fixed, or Detroit will continue their playoff drought.
23. Tampa Bay Lightning
A once elite defense has fallen quite far. Part of this could be chalked up to Vasilevsky missing a good chunk of last season, but not all of it. Allowing 3.26 goals per game shows that Tampa was caught flat-footed entirely too often. Not sure they can fix it soon either, given their salary cap.
22. Calgary Flames
No surprise here. Calgary’s blue line was a mess last year. They averaged 3.26 goals allowed per game last season and once again completely left Markstrom out to dry. They no longer have Markstrom to bail them out, so they will either have to patch that blue line or sink even further than they did last year.
21. Toronto Maple Leafs
The Leafs are in the unique position of having the worst defense of any team that actually made the playoffs. They won games off of big third-period comebacks, but lo and behold, that doesn’t work in the playoffs. They averaged 3.18 goals allowed per game last year, and without budding goalie Joseph Woll to start this season, and they may be in trouble in that department.
20. Minnesota Wild
The real reason Minnesota might be this low is probably because of their atrocious penalty kill. They had one of the worst kills in the NHL last year while also taking a lot of penalties. That bad combination leaves us with an average of 3.17 goals allowed per game. Hard to see that changing much this year.
19. Philadelphia Flyers
The Flyers really did coast off of defense and goaltending. It wasn’t enough in the end though, as they fell short of the postseason and lost precious draft capital. They are still rebuilding but they have a really promising young blue line that should continue to improve. Hopefully, the 3.15 goals allowed per game last year will improve.
18. New York Islanders
Ilya Sorokin was unable to recapture his Vezina finalist form and that played a big part in New York’s defense kind of crumbling a little bit. They averaged 3.15 goals allowed per game last season, and it was a big reason Carolina was able to steamroll them in the first round.
17. Colorado Avalanche
Colorado’s biggest Achilles Heel was its own end. A good part of this can be chalked up to inconsistent goaltending from their netminders, but their blue line also underperformed. With a defensive core that’s sporting Cale Makar, you expect better than 3.07 goals allowed per game.
16. Washington Capitals
With their offense imploding, Washington desperately needed a way to win games. Their defense stepped up in a huge way, and so did goalie Charlie Lindgren. That then would go on to completely fall apart in the playoffs. That being said, they averaged 3.07 goals allowed per game last season, which was far above what they were expecting.
15. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins are solidly in the middle of the pack in terms of offense and defense. Their defense suffers when Tristan Jarry is injured, but it’s not terrible by any means. They averaged 3.02 goals allowed per game last season and somehow managed to compete for a NHL playoff spot for a good chunk of the year.
14. Nashville Predators
The Preds’ defense had a rough start to the year but certainly managed to turn it around to boost themselves into the playoffs. With goalie Jussi Saros as their backbone, they managed an average of 3.02 goals allowed per game last season. They still have a decent defensive core, so maybe a better start will see that number improve.
13. St Louis Blues
Part of this can and should be attributed to Jordan Binnington refinding his amazing form. He played great last year, but the fact the Blues still averaged 3.02 goals allowed per game last year shows that sometimes he was on his own when he shouldn’t have been.
12. Buffalo Sabres
For all their flaws, Buffalo could play defense decently well. It was needed too, with their young netminder still trying to find his NHL form. They averaged 2.96 goals allowed per game last season, by far a high point of their season given how it went. If only they would have scored goals too, then maybe they would’ve made the playoffs.
11. Vegas Golden Knights
Vegas has a solid blue line and has for years. That may take a hit, though, as top-tier NHL defenseman Alec Martinez left for Chicago in the offseason. Don’t expect it to dip too much, though; this team still has a very solid defensive core. They averaged 2.96 goals allowed per game last year, and they saw much success because of it.
10. Edmonton Oilers
The surprise team of the top 10. It was truly shocking that the notoriously bad Edmonton defense suddenly learned how to play and solidified their blue line. They averaged just 2.88 goals allowed per game last season, a massive improvement from their usual numbers. If that trend continues this year, they could very well make another Cup run.
9. Dallas Stars
The Stars are arguably the most well-rounded team in the NHL, so it’s no shocker that they have a top-ten defense and offense. They averaged 2.83 goals allowed per game last season. That number took a slight dip in the postseason, but their defense was still fairly solid throughout. I don’t expect that number to change much this season, as, on paper, Dallas still has an elite blue line.
8. Seattle Kraken
If the Kraken hadn’t lost their offensive prowess last year they very well could have been a problem. Their defense and goaltending looked outstanding this last season, far better than the two years before. Hopefully, that trend continues this year as, on paper, their blue line is still quite good.
7. New York Rangers
Having an elite defense and a really good goalie tandem last year saw New York sport a very impressive 2.76 goals allowed per game last year. Their blue line is the same as it was last year, and if Jonathan Quick maintains his good form they’ll have the same goalie tandem as well. The tools are there in New York, and you just need to make the run.
6. Vancouver Canucks
I was not expecting the Canucks to have this good of a defense last season. Even when Demko was injured, the Canucks performed very admirably on their blue line. They averaged 2.70 goals allowed per game last year, and the hope is it wasn’t a flash in the pan because that’s a dang impressive defense.
5. Boston Bruins
The Bruins and defense have been synonymous for a long time. From the Zdeno Chara days to today, you can always expect Boston to put up a fight on their blue line. They averaged 2.70 goals allowed per game last year, which was enough to land them in the top 5 of this list. Their blue line is still absolutely stacked, and with Jeremy Swayman in goal, they’ll most likely still be a defensive powerhouse.
4. Carolina Hurricanes
Despite not having a truly elite netminder, the Canes see themselves in the top 5 of defense because of their formidable blue line. It’s very, very hard to even enter the zone uncontested on this team. They averaged just 2.57 goals allowed per game last NHL season, which is scarily impressive. And there are still somehow three teams above them!
3. Los Angeles Kings
The Kings have been a defense-first team since their Cup years. In fact, it’s quite literally what won them their two Cups. Their blue line is as stacked as ever, and despite goaltending struggles the last few seasons they still average 2.56 goals allowed per game, which is crazy. They’re a suffocating team that many others do not like to play against.
2. Florida Panthers
If you thought this offensive machine was going to suffer in their own end you were dead wrong. Florida is an absolute unit defensively. They’re physical, relentless, and perfectly positioned most of the time. Their attack starts from their defense. They averaged 2.41 goals allowed per game last season which is crazy good.
1. Winnipeg Jets
The Jets were very obviously the best defensive team in the NHL last year and may very well be again this year. Their long winning streak in the later parts of the season came because of their ability to systematically dismantle offenses within their own zone. They also averaged 2.41 goals allowed per game last year, and they have Connor Hellbuyck in the net, which is just unfair.
Also Read: All 32 NHL Teams Win-Loss Predictions For The 2024 Season
