NHL Western Conference: Who Has the Best Defense?

With plenty of moves happening in the offseason so far, and several more still to come, where does your team's defensive unit rank in the Western Conference?

With the current rosters—as of July 27—I will take all 15 teams in the Western Conference and rank them from No. 15, being the worst, all the way to No. 1, being the best.

This article is primarily focusing on the team's defensive units, and how they compare on paper. Although stats are important, it's not the main focus in this article.

With that, let's begin...

15—Columbus Blue Jackets

Although they made an appearance in the 2008-2009 playoffs, the Columbus Blue Jackets' defense does not look impressive.

Fedor Tyutin is the best of the Blue Jackets blue line, but after him, no one sticks out too much.

Mike Commodore is a big and physical defenseman. Assistant captain Rostislav Klesla has not helped produce anything, especially last year.

Showing no signs of improving, besides Kris Russell, Columbus arguably has the worst defense in the Western Conference.

14—St. Louis Blues

In the past several years, St. Louis has built their team around offense getting guys like T.J. Oshie, Brad Boyes, David Backes, David Perron, Patrik Berglund, Andy McDonald, etc.

In fact, it's very clear they have forgotten about defense. Captain Eric Brewer is coming of a awful season, Jeff Woywitka is gone, and Jay McKee is left St. Louis as well.

Carlo Colaiacovo is the best offensive defenseman, but all around, Barrett Jackman is the star of the Blues defense. If Erik Johnson doesn't hurt himself before the season again, he will most likely take over Jackman's role.

13—Colorado Avalanche

Take all 14 defensemen that cracked the Avalanche lineup, combine their +/-, and you get -95.

As a coach, that number right there should make you consider changing as much as possible before you finish in last place again.

The Avalanche have brought in Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey from Los Angeles to try and help, but they finished last year with combined -12.

On the positive side, they will be able to score along with John-Michael Liles. Preissing and Quincey had 45 points combined in Los Angeles (7-38-45), 38 of them coming from Quincey.

Ruslan Salei, Adam Foote, Brett Clark, and Scott Hannan are all aging and slowing down, so bringing in more defensemen might be something Colorado might want to consider.

12—Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are another team with a couple of players worthy of being mentioned and then guys who are "just there."

The Stars only glimmer of hope on the point is Matt Niskanen, who saw his point total go up last season compared to his rookie season.

Stephane Robidas is a reliable defenseman, but consistently scores below 30 points per season. Trevor Daley is another guy to mention because he brings the physical play and toughness.

Other than those three, the Stars haven't made any adjustments that will significantly impact their defensive corps this year, besides losing Darryl Sydor and showing no interest in Sergei Zubov.

11—Phoenix Coyotes

The Coyotes might not have been a respectable team last year, and might not be again this year, but their defensive unit is slowly improving.

Ed Jovanovski leads the pack on the offensive side of things as well as the defensive aspect and hitting.

Young guys such as Keith Yandle and Zbynek Michalek are developing as well. With the addition of Jim Vandermeer and Keith Aucoin, Phoenix now has two reliable veteran defensemen who are good in their own zone and love to be physical.

10—Minnesota Wild

The Wild are coming into the 2009-2010 season with a similar defensive corps as last season. Greg Zanon and Shane Hnidy are two new defensemen to add to Minnesota's roster.

Both players put up decent numbers, but are solid in their own zone. Brent Burns has become a great young defenseman and knows how to throw his weight around.

Marek Zidlicky provides the scoring, but Marc-Andre Bergeron will not be returning which hurts quite a bit.

9—Nashville Predators

Although Nashville missed the playoffs and currently has five defensemen on their NHL roster, they are still pretty solid.

All-Star Shea Weber leads the young group of Nashville defensemen along with Dan Hamhuis and Ryan Sutter.

Weber is the youngest of the bunch at 23 years old, but has proven to be an elite NHL defenseman by putting up points, hitting, fighting, and leading his team.

Alexander Sulzer, 25, and Kevin Klein, 24, are the other two defensemen for Nashville. The loss of Greg Zanon might come back to haunt the Preds, as he was a key to their defense.

8—Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks have probably suffered the biggest loss of the offseason regarding importance to their team.

Chris Pronger was the backbone of the Ducks' defense for the past several years and with him gone, that leaves a big hole.

Luckily, Luca Sbisa, a highly thought about prospect came to Anaheim in return for Pronger.

The loss of Francois Beauchemin won't be too hard because Anaheim signed Nick Boynton, who plays an identical style of defense as Beauchemin.

Scott Niedermayer is getting old, but still has something left in his tank. The tough guys on the blue line for Anaheim are Ryan Whitney and James Wisniewski.

The Ducks defense is not as skilled as it was last year and might need to find a defenseman who can put the puck in the net.

7—Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have a very big and strong defensive setup with no one under 6'1" or 200 pounds.

Kevin Bieksa, Alex Edler, Willie Mitchell, Shane O'Brien, and Sami Salo are the core of what appears to be one of the toughest defensive units in the Western Conference.

Bieksa and Edler supply the Canucks with plenty of offense. O'Brien and Mitchell get the team revved up with their gritty style of play. On the point, not many slap shots are as dangerous as Salo's. The Cancuks are a well rounded team and the loss of Mattias Ohlund will not hurt as much as we think.

6—Los Angeles Kings

Despite how badly the Los Angeles Kings finished last season, they still have a very solid set of defensemen.

They might not have the scoring touch like the others, but they are young—excluding Sean O'Donnell—and skilled.

The addition of Rob Scuderi will help the Kings a lot because he is great in his own zone and is not afraid to get in front of shots finishing 12th in blocked shots during the regular season and first in the playoffs last year among defensemen.

Two of the top young defensemen in the NHL, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson, are on the Kings as well. At 6'1", 225 lbs., Johnson is a physical and tough kid who has already made a name for himself in the league.

Matt Greene is a leader on the young Kings roster and brings a lot of size at 6'4", 235 pounds. Another youngster, Davis Drewiske, will also get a chance to improve on L.A. this season.

5—Chicago Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks have spent the past decade rebuilding their team into a Stanley Cup caliber team.

Brent Seabrook, Duncan Keith, and Cam Barker have all developed to be quality defensemen for Chicago. Keith is fast and has been on top of the NHL in the +/- category for the past two seasons, while Seabrook has become a top 10 defensive defenseman in the NHL.

Barker most recently found his scoring touch registering 40 points (6-34-40)in just 68 games in 2008-09. The addition of Brian Campbell, the fastest and one of the best offensive defensemen in the NHL, was great for Chicago, but Campbell needs to focus on playing better defense.

Niklas Hjalmarsson got some playing time towards the end of the season and in the playoffs, but could use a little more development. If Chicago drops Brent Sopel and picks up someone who can hit and fight, they will be even better.

4—San Jose Sharks

The Sharks have a well-rounded defense as well. With Rob Blake getting the most points in a single season since the 2005-2006 campaign, San Jose has several defensemen who are able to set up goals from up top.

Ehrhoff and Vlasic, both underrated, are quick and reliable. Dan Boyle has been putting up points and playing just as well in his own zone for the past several years.

On the physical side, Blake, Huskins, Murray, and Lukowich can all be dangerous if they catch a player with his head down. The Sharks quick and slick defense is ranked among the top in the NHL.

3—Edmonton Oilers

To me, the Edmonton Oilers were a disappointing team to see out of the playoffs. They have such a fast, skillful offense complete with a well rounded group of defensemen.

Between Seldon Souray, who has one of the hardest shots in the game, Tom Gilbert, Lubomir Visnovsky, and Denis Grebeshkov, Edmonton can provide a lot of offense from the points. Ladislav Smid and Jason Strudwick provide more defense than offense along with size.

Overall, Edmonton probably has the biggest set of defensemen.

2—Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings have been known to carry one of the best defensive units in the NHL for years now.

Niklas Lidstrom, a six-time Norris Trophy winner can speak for himself. The addition of Brian Rafalski last year helped Detroit out as well because he is one of the best defensemen in all three zones.

Young talent is on the rise in Detroit with Brett Lebda, Derek Meech, Jakub Kindl, and Jonathan Ericsson. We all know what Niklas Kronwall is capable of as well.

1—Calgary Flames

The best overall defensive unit in the Western Conference, in my mind, would have to be the Calgary Flames.

They went out and got exactly what they needed in Jay Bouwmeester. With Phaneuf and Bouwmeester on the blue line, Calgary has the best one-two punch in the NHL and two of the top defensemen in the NHL as well.

I must also mention that Bouwmeester is only 25 years old and Dion Phaneuf in only 24.

With those two providing plenty of offense, Cory Sarich and Robyn Regehr give the Flames lineup a lot of grit and physicality. Sarich and Regehr are two of the toughest players in the league and provide leadership to the younger players like Adam Pardy and Staffan Kronwall.

I have no doubts that Calgary has the best defensive corps in the Western Conference especially due to the fact that they are missing nothing.