The 7 Best Defensive Pairings in the NHL Since 2000
Shutdown corners are fine. Dominant closers are nice. But when it comes to hockey, keeping opponents in check is a group effort.
Which makes having a spectacular defensive pairing almost mandatory for any franchise harboring something beyond fleeting hope for a Stanley Cup parade.
The B/R hockey staff took a breather from the 4 Nations Face-Off frenzy to ponder some of the NHL's best all-time blue-line duos, then narrowed the scope to the seven best tandems since 2000.
Obvious criteria included goal differential and play-driving numbers, alongside how the pairs performed in the highest-pressure situations and against their most elite opposition. And you can never discount the good, old-fashioned eye test.
Take a look at what we came up with, presented here in alphabetical order by team, and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger, Anaheim Ducks (2006-09)
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It's hard to imagine getting off to a better start than with a pair of Hall of Famers considered to be among the league's all-time 100 best players.
It took Pronger and Niedermayer some time—a combined 26 seasons, in fact—before they got together on the Anaheim blue line, but they made an immediate impact for the Ducks, who went from a conference final the season before to a Stanley Cup parade.
They each averaged better than 27 minutes apiece per game in the regular season, then boosted those numbers to 29:51 and 30:11, respectively, and racked up six goals and 20 assists between them in a blissful 2007 playoff run.
Two more seasons and two more playoff berths came before Pronger was traded to Philadelphia in June 2009, though they did team up again the following winter to help Canada to gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks (2005-20)
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Unlike the temporary tandem of Niedermayer and Pronger in Anaheim, the Chicago union of Keith and Seabrook lasted from their shared NHL debut in 2005 through better than 1,000 games until injuries ended the latter's career in 2020.
Keith was more individually celebrated with a pair of Norris trophies during their 15-season partnership, but longtime observers of the team laud Seabrook's leadership acumen, which helped the Blackhawks win Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015.
"This isn’t Disney," Mark Lazerus of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "but when someone does need to step up during an intermission when the Hawks are trailing in a big game, it’s usually Seabrook. When someone needs to lighten the mood in pressure-packed situations, it’s usually Seabrook."
Keith and Seabrook rank first and third, respectively, in the organization's history in games played and third and fifth in points.
Rob Blake and Ray Bourque, Colorado Avalanche (2001)
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There are multi-season partnerships. There are multi-decade partnerships.
And then there are partnerships that barely last four months.
The latter is an apt description of the 2001 melding of Blake and Bourque in Colorado, which began when the former was traded to the Avalanche from Los Angeles in March and ended when the latter rode off into a Stanley Cup sunset in June.
The two Hall of Famers gave coach Bob Hartley an embarrassment of blue-line riches, with each man averaging better than 28 minutes of ice time per playoff game while scoring a combined 29 points and racking up a plus-15 rating.
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Cale Makar and Devon Toews, Colorado Avalanche (2021-present)
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There are a lot of shifts to be taken between here and the Hall of Fame, but the modern-day tandem on the Colorado blue line, Makar and Toews, are certainly off to a good start when it comes to making team history.
Makar has been a revelation almost from the moment the franchise plucked him fourth overall in the 2017 draft, rewarding them with a 50-point season and a Calder Trophy in 2019-20.
Toews arrived after a trade from the New York Islanders in October 2020 and the chemistry was instant, helping yield a Stanley Cup in the pair's second season.
"Those guys can play against anybody," coach Jared Bednar told The Denver Post. "They can check anybody. They can create offense against anybody. So I think it’s two well-rounded guys. They certainly have a good chemistry together and complement one another at the same time. It’s huge."
Nicklas Lidstrom and Brian Rafalski, Detroit Red Wings (2007-11)
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Sometimes, you've just got to find the right partner.
Lidstrom had a handful of excellent ones during a legendary 20-season run with the Red Wings, but it's hard to find a better one in the 2000s portion of his stay than Rafalski, who arrived as a free agent from New Jersey in 2007.
It was only four seasons together in the Motor City, but they combined for 444 points from the back end and teamed up for a Stanley Cup hoist in 2008. And, of the remarkable seven Norris trophies Lidstrom won, two came with the underappreciated Rafalski as his running mate.
"A lot of guys didn’t really know (Rafalski) enough when he first (got to Detroit), but he’s definitely a great player,’’ goalie Chris Osgood told The Hockey News. “I liken him to a really smart, efficient quarterback who always makes the right pass coming out of the zone."
Brian Rafalski and Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils (2000-04)
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So, did we mention this Rafalski guy? Turns out he had some success before he got to Detroit, too.
The undrafted product of the University of Wisconsin joined the Devils as a free agent to begin the 1999-2000 season and was immediately paired with the hulking Stevens, a 6'2", 215-pounder frequently remembered for his bone-rattling playoff hits on Eric Lindros and Paul Kariya.
They were together for Rafalski's first five NHL seasons and Stevens' last five, winning 11 of 14 postseason series, reaching the Stanley Cup Final three times and hoisting the trophy twice, in 2000 and 2003.
Al MacInnis and Chris Pronger, St. Louis Blues (2000-04)
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You know it's special if it's never happened before in the NHL.
MacInnis and Pronger became the only teammates to win back-to-back Norris trophies in 1999 and 2000 amid a nine-season partnership in St. Louis.
The Hall of Famers helped the Blues to a Presidents' Trophy in a magical 1999-2000 season in which Pronger got both the Norris and the MVP while averaging 30:14 per game and finishing with a plus-52 rating.
MacInnis was good for 26-plus minutes and a plus-20, too, and he and Pronger provided an incomparable shutdown pair on one end while combining for 101 points—including 45 on the power play—on the other end.
The partnership continued through 2003-04, then ended when MacInnis retired after the lockout-scuttled 2004-05 season and Pronger was traded to Edmonton.
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