With the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs starting this week, we're taking a slightly different tack to get you ready for Round 1. In this column, we're going to rank the defensive corps of all 16 qualifying teams, similar to how we did with ranking the forward groups as well.
These lists generate plenty of quality discussion and passionate debate. Everyone loves a good list, after all. But bear in mind that this is ultimately meant to serve as a fun thought exercise rather than some sort of scientific ranking. All of these teams made the playoffs for a reason, after all, so even the club in the No. 16 slot is doing something right. If there's criticism, it's just relative to the competition.
So with those caveats out of the way, let's count down from 16 to 1:
16. New York Islanders
The Islanders are going to be hard-pressed to generate enough offense to keep up with the Penguins in the opening round regardless of what they do, considering the personnel they have. One potential solution for that is to start playing Devon Toews more. Of the seven defensemen New York has regularly used this season, he's currently at the very bottom of that list in terms of average 5-on-5 usage, which will need to change.
The combination of his skating ability and offensive creativity are something this team sorely needs, and the fact that he doesn't take any penalties -- being whistled for just one infraction in more than 700 total 5-on-5 minutes -- is of immense value against a team with as potent a power play as the Penguins have. It's come in relatively sheltered minutes, but 53.3 percent shot share and 57.2 percent expected goal rate that the combination of Toews and Scott Mayfield have generated together is a pleasant departure from the underlying numbers of the majority of the Isles' other pairings.
15. Colorado Avalanche
Samuel Girard is the name to watch on the Avalanche blue line, because the team desperately needs secondary offense wherever they can get it. We know that Tyson Barrie will do most of the heavy lifting for them from the point, but Girard is the best bet to be the next person up to help chip in as a creator. His skating ability is jaw-droppingly smooth, and he's already got the patented spin move down to a science.
While we typically equate that particular skill to the attacking zone, it's actually shown most prominently for him this season on the other end of the ice. Because of that unique ability to cover ground and keep up with opposing attackers, Girard took just three penalties all season. Considering the position he plays, and the fact that he played well north of 1,500 minutes total, that's quite the accomplishment. It's no surprise that the only five qualifying players to average fewer penalties on a per-minute basis than him were all forwards.
Let's see if prospect Cale Makar makes his first appearance in an Avalanche uniform at some point in this series. With UMass competing in the Frozen Four, if the Minutemen make it to the national championship game, he wouldn't be eligible to appear until Game 3 at the earliest. While he could presumably help Colorado immediately based on what he's shown at the collegiate level, it's fair to wonder whether it makes sense for the Avalanche to go that route from a business perspective. If he plays at any point this season, there are future expansion draft ramifications for the team to consider, which could conceivably outweigh the possible reward if they find themselves already down and out of their first-round series against a Flames team that looks like a heavy favorite on paper.
14. Vegas Golden Knights
The Knights fall behind teams like the Leafs, Penguins and Capitals on this list simply because they don't have the true No. 1 defenseman who moves the needle. That said, there's a strong argument to be made that their group is superior in totality, because it's a group that fits together beautifully, with far fewer glaring weaknesses.
It was interesting to see Gerard Gallant split up Nate Schmidt and Brayden McNabb after all of the success they enjoyed as the team's de facto top pairing all of last season, but the results have vindicated the coach. Shea Theodore has been tremendous alongside McNabb, with the Knights controlling an astounding 57.8 percent of the shot attempts, 56.0 percent of the goals scored, and 60.7 percent of the expected goals in their near 300 5-on-5 minutes played together.
In hindsight, it's clear that the one skill they prioritized from the defensemen they targeted in the expansion draft above all else was elite skating ability. In Schmidt, Theodore and Colin Miller, they have a player on each pairing that can fly.
13. Pittsburgh Penguins
The Penguins recently won a Stanley Cup with Brian Dumoulin, Ron Hainsey, and Olli Maatta as their only three defensemen averaging north of 20 minutes per game, so take this ranking for what it's worth. It's a defense group that's been brutalized by injuries all season, with Jack Johnson of all people being the only one to appear in all 82 regular-season games. The loss of Dumoulin hurts, limiting Mike Sullivan's options. The good news is that Kris Letang is healthy at the moment, and has been as impactful as any defenseman in the league this season on a per-game basis. If he's able to stay in the lineup, he's shown that he can seemingly effortlessly eat up half of the game, which makes the task of filling out the rest much easier and more palatable.
In a surprising turn of events, the pairing of Erik Gudbranson and Marcus Pettersson -- both of whom they acquired during the season without much fanfare -- has been dynamite together. We'll see if it lasts, because the former has a long track record of being a well-below-average player that sinks everyone's results. But for now, it's a welcome development, giving Pittsburgh a usable pairing to turn to whenever Letang isn't on the ice.
12. Toronto Maple Leafs
Morgan Rielly had himself quite the offensive season, leading all defensemen in goals (20) and finishing behind just Brent Burns and Mark Giordano in points (72). His 43 5-on-5 points were tops at the position, and his plus-18.5 goals above replacement, according to Evolving Wild's model, were tied for third best with Erik Karlsson (behind just John Carlson and Victor Hedman). It's also worth noting that he's done most of it carrying around Ron Hainsey as his partner, which explains why his underlying shot metrics aren't as elite as you might otherwise expect. In the minutes he's gotten to play with Jake Muzzin or Jake Gardiner, all of those figures have skyrocketed, which suggests that it's more of an indictment against Hainsey than himself.
It's no surprise that the Leafs' defensive woes really came under the microscope during the chunk of the season in which they were missing Gardiner and Travis Dermott. Yet as talented as both are, injuries like that aren't an issue unique to just Toronto. The fact that they cratered in the manner that they did highlights the lack of depth they have at the position.
11. Washington Capitals
The good: John Carlson is having a truly terrific season. It was a career year in many respects, which is typically something you don't see from a 29-year-old who has been in the league for a decade now. Carlson finished fourth among defensemen in scoring, with 70 points, killing it in his role as the hammer at the top of the Capitals' vaunted power play. While his underlying numbers have never necessarily matched up with how highly regarded he's been in hockey circles, even those jumped emphatically this season. He had a profoundly positive on-ice impact, finishing first among defensemen in Evolving Wild's goals above replacement metric, where the estimated plus-20.4 goals he added were tied with Ryan O'Reilly for fifth overall among all players. If he receives some Norris Trophy love this summer, he'll have certainly earned it.
The bad: Michal Kempny was a terrific fit next to Carlson both last postseason and throughout the majority of last season, and losing him for the duration is a crushing loss for Washington. The bigger elephant in the room has been the play of the Dmitry Orlov-Matt Niskanen pairing, which has dropped off quite precipitously after serving as the team's do-it-all top pairing throughout their entire Cup run.
If there's a silver lining, it's that their numbers right now aren't too far off from what they did last season during the regular season. But if this team is going on another spirited run, they desperately need the two of them to regain their form.
10. St. Louis Blues
The name to watch here both for now and moving forward is Vince Dunn. Everyone knows about how consistently awesome Alex Pietrangelo and Colton Parayko are as linchpins on the St.Louis blue line, but Dunn's dynamic ability to create offensively represents exactly the type of X factor that this group needs to get pushed over the top.
In just his second full season at the NHL level, he really started to come into his own. The skill has never been in question with him, and he's flashed that unique ability he in both his skates and his stick with increasing regularity as the season has gone along. Despite relatively limited usage at 5-on-5, he finished the campaign tied with big names like John Carlson, Victor Hedman and Zach Werenski for 11th in goals among blueliners, and for 18th in points with Dougie Hamilton. On a per-minute basis, he was 10th and 14th in those two categories respectively. With Dunn on the ice, the Blues excelled from a puck possession perspective, though that's not especially surprising considering how strategically sheltered his minutes were for most of the season.
The most interesting development came when he was promoted to the top pairing alongside Pietrangelo toward the latter stages of the season. Taking the training wheels off and going from cushy usage right into the deep end is a massive transition process for most young players, and you can never take for granted that they'll be able to handle it without repercussions. The fact that Dunn's production didn't dip in the process is a great sign that he's ready for the responsibility, and that he's earning the coaching staffs trust. In his 400 or so minutes playing with Pietrangelo, the Blues have come out well ahead, with a 54.8 percent shot share and 55.2 percent of the goals scored.
Teams can be frustratingly conservative and risk-averse, particularly with how they handle young defensemen. Even if Dunn makes some mistakes along the way, they need to stick with him in a big role this postseason. The reward is well worth the risk.
9. Boston Bruins
A recurring issue that the Bruins have been bumping into in recent years is that their top players have been burning out too early. Most recently, by the time they reached their Round 2 meeting with the Lightning in the 2018 playoffs, they'd already emptied the tank, looking like a shell of themselves as that series progressed.
Managing the workload of those players was of utmost importance this season, for none more so than Zdeno Chara. While he's built unlike anyone else, even a freak of nature like him will eventually succumb to Father Time, and we've begun to see that. The Bruins know that, and Bruce Cassidy did an admirable job of subtly dialing back Chara's usage this season in an attempt to keep him fresh and preserve him for when it matters most.
With another long, tough series against the Leafs looming, the Bruins will need him to be at his best. It's always dicey relying on a 43-year-old with nearly 1,500 career games under his belt to do that at this point, but this new plan gives Chara the best chance of extending his career and continuing to impact the game with his unparalleled reach and physicality.
8. Winnipeg Jets
For the Jets, the individual talent isn't really in question. What is up for debate however is whether those players can all be healthy at the same time, and why the whole is currently less than the sum of its parts.
It's been tough to evaluate Winnipeg in recent weeks, because while the Jets have struggled, there's been the built-in excuse that they've been without arguably their two most important defensemen. Dustin Byfuglien is back now, and it sounds like Josh Morrissey will be ready to go for the start of the first-round series against the Blues. With their preferred top-four reunited, there's certainly reason for optimism. Those two top pairings have each comfortably been net positives in all of the key performance indicators, including shot share, goal share, and expected goals.
However, there remains some concern with the third pair, which looks like it'll be a liability that can be exposed by a deep forward group like the one the Blues boast. Despite the fact that they make nearly $10 million annually against the cap, Tyler Myers and Dmitry Kulikov have mightily struggled this season, and they'll presumably continue to be picked on for as long as they remain together.
7. Dallas Stars
We've spent a lot of time wondering whether the Stars should be loading up their top forward line or spreading the wealth around throughout the lineup, but maybe we should instead be focusing on the way they deploy their defensemen.
It shouldn't be surprising considering how talented each of them are, but it's still staggering to see the splits of how John Klingberg and Miro Heiskanen have performed when playing together compared to without each other.
Those minutes they've spent together have been something special. The results apart aren't necessarily disastrous, but they're also likely not good enough to take them far in the postseason barring a miraculous performance from their goaltending. Considering how little depth the team has, it makes sense that Jim Montgomery would prefer to split them up and have at least one of them out there as often as possible. But at some point, the reward of sticking them together and taking your chances elsewhere becomes so high that you at least have to entertain the idea.
6. Columbus Blue Jackets
Everyone talks about how the Blue Jackets will be in trouble if all of the big name free agents walk this summer, but that's not necessarily true. Assuming Zach Werenski's restricted free agency goes smoothly and he signs a long-term extension to stay in Columbus, they'll at the very least have a foundational cornerstone top pairing to build around, with Seth Jones also in the mix. Young, skilled defensemen are as hot a commodity as any in the league, and with two of them at just 21 and 24 years old, respectively, the Blue Jackets are already well ahead of the game. Jones will win a Norris Trophy one day, with that being more of a question of when than if.
It's a shame that Ryan Murray is banged up and out of commission with an injury. Both because the Blue Jackets could really use him in a series against a Lightning team that has so many different threats, but also for him personally. He's taken a lot of flak over the years -- labelled as a bust after going second overall in 2012 -- but he really showed major strides this season while he was in the lineup. When healthy, he's a delight to watch because of how smoothly and effortlessly it seems he does everything with the puck, finally showing the masses why scouts were so enamored with him as a prospect. With a plus-10.6 goals above replacement, he was tied for 30th among all defensemen, with John Klingberg, and was actually ahead of both Jones and Werenski in that category for the season.
5. Calgary Flames
There's so much to like about this Flames team. They turned on the jets to end the season, running away with not only the Pacific Division but the top seed in the West. They finished behind only the Lightning in goals scored, and there's very few noticeable weak links throughout the entire lineup. That's especially true on their blue line, where all three of their preferred defense pairings have more than held up their end of the bargain.
It's fair to say that Mark Giordano has earned himself the Norris Trophy this season, checking off all the boxes voters typically like to see. What he did this season was remarkable, somehow getting even better in his age-35 season without Dougie Hamilton around.
But just as vital for the Flames' future outlook this season is what happened beneath him on the depth chart. The combination of Rasmus Andersson realizing his potential and Oscar Fantenberg being acquired at the deadline have given Calgary a very useful bottom pairing, the importance of which can't be overstated. Travis Hamonic has also returned to form following a troubling down season in his first campaign in a Flames uniform. Playoff matchups are all about exposing your opponents' weaknesses, which is something whoever plays the Flames will seemingly have trouble doing.
4. Tampa Bay Lightning
Arguably the biggest development for the Lightning this season has been the return to form by Ryan McDonagh. Whether it's because he's finally healthy or because it just took time for him to acclimate to his new surroundings, he's back to playing like he did during his peak seasons with the Rangers. It's also helped that he's found beautiful chemistry playing with Erik Cernak, who has been quite the revelation since seamlessly seizing the opportunity created by Anton Stralman's bouts with injury. The two of them have somewhat surprisingly been Tampa Bay's most frequently used defense pairing this season, and the Lightning have been quite dominant with them out there.
For anyone who has been holding their breath waiting for the Lightning to fall back down to the pack next season because of the customary financial crunch we typically see contenders deal with, I've got some bad news for you. Because of the shrewd manner in which they've accumulated assets, they're brilliantly set up to cut costs this summer by letting veterans walk and filling their spots with young players still on entry-level deals. For a quarter of the price, they may even be better off taking those minutes played by Dan Girardi, Braydon Coburn and Anton Stralman and just giving them to Erik Cernak and Mikhail Sergachev instead.
3. Carolina Hurricanes
At this point the Hurricanes may not have as many household brand names on their blue line as some other teams on this list, but national exposure in a playoff series against the reigning champions will go a long way toward changing that.
Despite all of the unfounded character assassinations that he's dealt with over the years, Dougie Hamilton is one of the most dominant defensemen in the game. He's been driving positive results to a high degree for years, and his first season in Carolina was no different. Jaccob Slavin is likely never going to put up the type of counting stats that he'd need to get into the Norris Trophy conversation, but he's going to be one of this generation's vintage shutdown defensemen. He almost seemingly never makes a mistake, and when he does, he instantly atones for it with nifty stickwork.
If there's one thing to nitpick here, it's that there's way too much Justin Faulk on the power play in Carolina. He was 16th in total number of shot attempts with the man advantage this season, ahead of bona fide goal scorers like Vladimir Tarasenko, Leon Draisaitl, John Tavares and Mark Scheifele. Shots from the point are a low-percentage play, and a power-play unit that's built around that strategy is one that is outdated in 2019. As big of a shot as Faulk may have, it's no surprise that the Hurricanes were 20th in power-play conversion rate considering how heavily they featured those inefficient looks.
2. Nashville Predators
The Predators' blue line speaks for itself, with its heralded top four firmly cementing itself deep in the national consciousness during their inspired run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017. It's a great problem to have, but at some point we'll inevitably reopen the debates about how to rank the contributions of the four and which one is most expendable if the team decides it can't keep all of them. As flashy and exciting as Roman Josi and Ryan Ellis are as a pairing, it's the combination of P.K. Subban and Mattias Ekholm that serves as this team's engine. When they're going, the Predators are at their absolutely best, because they can almost single-handedly take the other team's top attackers out of commission by grinding any offensive forays they may have in mind into rubble.
On a smaller scale, it'll be interesting to see what Peter Laviolette's third pairing will look like. Most recently it's been the duo of Dante Fabbro and Dan Hamhuis, which has looked quite good in its limited run thus far. Fabbro has only appeared in four career games after finishing his collegiate career at Boston University this season, so it's impossible to know at this point just how ready he is and how long of a leash he'll get. But, he's intriguing because he's immensely talented. For as solid as Matt Irwin and Yannick Weber have been in that gig over the years, their ceiling is capped at this point. With Fabbro, there's the tantalizing unknown that he could turn into something special if given the opportunity.
The role itself actually isn't the easiest one either, because despite the theoretically sheltered minutes, it's also a pairing that the opposing team will try to actively target whenever possible.
1. San Jose Sharks
Assuming Erik Karlsson really is back and operating at peak capacity, this Sharks blue line is armed with an almost unheard of amount of firepower. At 5-on-5, they have the luxury of shortening the game by having either Karlsson or Brent Burns on the ice at nearly all times. That essentially provides them with not only a fourth forward that they can run the offense through, but one that can cause all sorts of unique matchup issues by jumping up into the play whenever the opportunity presents itself.
Everyone is aware of Burns' offensive acumen at this point. He just put the finishes touches on another elite campaign that'll likely get him a fair share of Norris Trophy votes, leading both the Sharks as a team, and the defense position across the league as a whole, with his 83 points and 300 shots. Because he came out of the gate somewhat slowly based on his sky-high expectations and then missed a good chunk of time with injury, Karlsson's impact hasn't been discussed as much of late, but he's just as vital to the team's success as Burns (or anyone else, frankly). When he was on the ice at 5-on-5 this season, he was every bit as dominant as we've been become accustomed to him being throughout his illustrious career:
One of the important trickle-down effects of having those two hybrid horses is that it ultimately allows Pete DeBoer to get creative with how he allocates the minutes to other defensemen. It also means that he can mercifully ease up on Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun by giving them different partners and softer minutes, hopefully putting them in a better position to succeed. The two of them have put in admirable work over the years as the team's shutdown pairing of choice, but at this point continuing to feed them to the lions like that isn't ideal.