Ranking Erik Karlsson and the 7 Best Offensive Defensemen in the NHL This Season
With goal scoring back on the rise in recent years and a wave of young superstar talent entering the NHL, it has created a perfect storm for the type of individual numbers that we have not seen in decades.
That is especially true when it comes to the league's defensemen.
Just last year we saw Erik Karlsson become the first defenseman in 30 years to eclipse the 100-point mark, a number that seemed almost impossible to ever see again. It helped him win his third Norris Trophy and simply added another milestone to what has already been a Hall of Fame career.
But he is not the only defenseman in the NHL capable of putting up huge numbers, and he may not be the only defenseman playing right now who is capable of hitting the century mark.
So let's take a look at the seven best offensive defensemen in the league for the 2023-24 season. We are not only taking into account what players have done in recent years in terms of their production, but also what should be expected from them this season.
7. Dougie Hamilton, New Jersey Devils
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The phrase "underrated" gets thrown around quite a bit in sports, and it is oftentimes overused. But it absolutely fits with Hamilton.
All he has done throughout his career is produce, and produce big numbers, and all it ever gets him is a bunch of "yeah, but..." type of responses. There is always something that people don't like or question, whether it be his toughness, his defensive zone play or even some wild claims about his off-ice personality and how it meshes with his teammates.
You should ignore all of that because he is not only one of the best all-around and most impactful defenseman in the league, he is one of the elites when it comes to pure offense.
When healthy, he is almost a lock for 15 goals over 82 games and is coming off a career year in 2022-23 that saw him top the 70-point mark for the first time.
He is also in an outstanding situation for his game to keep excelling,
The Devils have one of the best offensive teams in hockey and a legitimate MVP contender at forward in Jack Hughes. With their uptempo style and Hamilton's ability to generate offense, it is not a stretch to think he can easily hit the 70-point mark again this season.
6. Adam Fox, New York Rangers
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From the moment Adam Fox made his debut with the New York Rangers, it was pretty clear that he was going to be a franchise player and one of the top overall defensemen in the league.
He has not only matched those expectations, he has also in some ways exceeded them.
He already has one Norris Trophy and should be a top contender to win more as he goes through his prime years in the league. There are really no weaknesses to his game as he excels in all three zones and can play big minutes in every situation. He can quarterback the Rangers power play, he can kill penalties and he is just as impactful at even strength as he is on special teams.
Fox has topped the 60-assist and 70-point mark in each of the past two seasons and was scoring at a 70-point pace per 82 games during the shortened 2020-21 season (his Norris season).
What makes Fox such an outstanding player is that while he is capable of putting up elite offensive numbers, it does not take away from his play defensively.
5. Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
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It remains to be seen how good the Nashville Predators will be this season and what their long-term plan actually is, but in the short term, they do have a couple of big bright spots on their roster.
One of the brightest is defenseman Roman Josi, who has been a top offensive producer in the NHL for several years.
Since the start of the 2020-21 season Josi is third in the NHL in total points among the league's defenders with 191 in 201 games. In terms of points per game he is second in the NHL over that stretch behind only Cale Makar.
What makes Josi's performance and offensive output so impressive is that he has done so while playing on a Nashville team that is not exactly swimming in offensive talent or playing an overly aggressive offensive system. It is enough to make you wonder what he might be capable of with more All-Star talent around him at forward or in a system that is geared more toward offense.
Even without that, he is still one of the league's best at his position and not really showing any sign of slowing down.
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4. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres
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Rasmus Dahlin arrived in the NHL with massive hype as the No. 1 overall pick in 2018 and saw his career get off to an inconsistent start.
There was a bad team around him, a revolving door of coaches, a constantly changing system and role, and the normal growing pains for a young defenseman all combining to produce decent, but at times underwhelming, results.
Then Don Granato took over the Sabres and not only put Dahlin into a position to succeed, but also completely turned him loose offensively. The result was a breakout year in 2022-23 that saw him reach 73 points in 78 games and finish in the top 10 of the Norris Trophy voting.
He is another of the NHL's standout young defenders who is just starting to hit his prime, and along with Owen Power he should be the focal point of a very dangerous Sabres blue line.
Given his own individual talent, the forward talent the Sabres have in front of him and the style of hockey they play, he should be a threat to hit the 70- or 80-point mark every season for the foreseeable future.
The Sabres locked him in to a long-term contract just before the start of the season, and even though it came with a massive price tag (more than $11 million per season), he should produce enough to justify that number—especially when the league's cap starts to increase in the coming seasons.
3. Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks
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Quinn Hughes isn't going to score a ton of goals himself, but he is still going to be one of the best driver's of offense in the entire NHL.
He is coming off back-to-back 60-assist seasons for the Vancouver Canucks, while they score an average of more than four goals per 60 minutes when he is on the ice. Hughes gets a lot of criticism for his play away from the puck, but sometimes those criticisms are a bit overstated. And even if he does have some shortcomings, his ability to make plays with the puck and generate offense outweigh whatever flaws his game might have.
He is generally a plus player (by a significant margin) while playing on a team that usually gets outscored by a pretty significant margin. When he is on the ice, good things are happening for his team, and that usually involves the puck going in the net.
And he usually has a direct hand in that happening.
His production has steadily improved over the past three years, and now that he is entering his peak years on a team that has some real high-end talent at forward, he should be on the verge of another 70-point effort and perhaps even another career year.
2. Erik Karlsson, Pittsburgh Penguins
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Coming off a 100-point season, Erik Karlsson is probably the expected No. 1 on this list, especially now that he's on a Pittsburgh Penguins team that is surrounding him with future Hall of Famers in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
The only two things keeping him from being in that top spot are 1) the next guy on this list is that good, and 2) his 100-point season a year ago was a pretty significant jump from what we had seen from him in previous seasons (largely due to injuries). He was still outstanding. But not quite at that 100-point level, and it is fair to wonder if he is capable of reaching that point again in his age-33 season.
That doesn't mean he won't still post massive numbers, especially if the Penguins really turn him loose within their system.
Historically speaking, the three-time Norris Trophy winner is one of the greatest offensive defenseman who has ever played in the NHL, because in the early parts of his career with the Ottawa Senators, he was completely lapping the field in terms of offense. He broke into the league when scoring was near an all-time low level, and he was still averaging close to a point per game from the blue line.
A true all-time great, the only thing his resume is missing is a Stanley Cup.
1. Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche
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While it is really tempting to put Karlsson No. 1 on this list after the year he had, this spot still probably has to go to Cale Makar, and it is not out of the question to wonder if he could not only reach triple-digit points at some point in his career, but also perhaps even the 30-goal mark.
Since entering the NHL in the 2018-19 playoffs, Makar has appeared in 304 games (regular season and playoffs) as of Tuesday. He has tallied 83 goals and 317 total points, while the Avalanche have scored an average of 4.74 goals per 60 minutes (all situations) when he has been on the ice over the past three seasons. That is by far the highest number of any defenseman in the NHL.
His individual numbers average out to a pace of 22 goals and 85 points per 82 games played.
If you got that sort of production from a forward, you would be ecstatic. It would make them an All-Star every year. He is doing that as a defenseman.
Even more impressive is that his goal-scoring is increasing in recent years. Between 2021-22 and 2022-23, his goal pace (again including playoffs) went up to 54 goals in 163 games, which averages out to a 27-goal pace over 82 games.
He is also just starting to enter what should be his peak years offensively, so there might be an entirely new level for him to reach in the coming seasons. Not only is he the best offensive defenseman in the NHL, he also is the best overall defenseman in the NHL and arguably one of the league's top-three players regardless of position.
Advanced statistics via Natural Stat Trick unless otherwise noted.
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