High Noon 2024: Ranking the NHL’s 30 best defensemen today

Aug 21, 2024

Credit: Apr 28, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) during the second period against the Winnipeg Jets in game four of the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

We’re back with the second instalment of the High Noon series — and the hotly contested order at the top.

Using a data-driven approach, we’re ranking the game’s best defensemen from #1 to #30 in what’s quickly becoming a golden age for the position. Our top five is comprised exclusively of Norris winners — three aged 26-and-under battling with a pair aged 33-plus. It’s the sweet spot for the gradual passing of the torch between generations.

With Evan Bouchard breaking the single-season playoff assist record by a defenseman, Brock Faber finishing as Calder runner-up this past season, and nine different Norris winners in the last nine years, both the present and future are bright on the blueline.

Fox. Hedman. Hughes. Josi. Makar… who’s the best and in what order?

If you missed Part 1 of the series, breaking down the top forwards, be sure to catch up here.

🕛 High Noon Refresh

Ahead of the rankings, here’s a quick blast on how they work. Reminder that eligibility begins after three seasons, so rookies like Luke Hughes or sophomores like Jake Sanderson aren’t yet under consideration.

A weighted three-year average is used: 2023-24 represents 50% of a player’s score; 2022-23 gets one-third (33%); 2021-22 gets one-sixth (17%). The split helps us from crowning the flavor of the month.
By leveraging point shares, the High Noon system is driven by boxscore stats — not advanced data.
Goals are more valuable than assists, having a more direct impact on scoring plays.
Players are broadly assigned credit for team defense based on ice time and team-relative plus-minus.
Playoffs aren’t factored in — post-season opportunities and opposition being too arbitrary to include.
Missing time isn’t punished, so long as the games played threshold over the three-year window is met.
High Noon doesn’t project results — it’s based solely on recent performance, irrespective of age.

The methodology favors offensive defensemen, which aligns with how the public tends to sort the game’s best. Despite the word ‘defense’ being in the name of the position, Hall of Fame selections, award voting, and contract values all reward offense. Still, you’ll find the top 30 rightfully includes plenty of well-rounded and shutdown blueliners, factoring in defensive contributions.

Part two of our three-part series: the 30 best defensemen in the NHL today…

👑 The Top 30

How to Read these Rankings: Victor Hedman’s score in the High Noon system is 10.0, making him the #5 defenseman in the NHL right now. In 2022, he was ranked #2; in 2023, he dropped to #6. The Change column is his increase of +1 from #6 to #5 in the last year. Hedman’s peak — his High Noon — is #2, which is the highest spot he’s ever been ranked (four times: 2018, 2019, 2021 and 2022).

1️⃣ Who’s #1?

Quinn Hughes rightfully cruised to the 2023-24 Norris Trophy. But in High Noon, it’s Cale Makar that holds on to the title of NHL’s best defenseman. Why? It’s a weighted three-year score and Makar still put up 90 points in 77 games last year. While both the eye test and analytics suggested Makar’s play fell short of his extremely high ceiling, his last three finishes in Norris voting speak for themselves: 3rd, 3rd, 1st.

For Hughes, it was his first time topping eight goals in a season or grabbing more than 6% of the Norris vote. At just 24 years old, Vancouver‘s captain has both the immense talent and runway to continue to rise. If this were a one-season ranking, Hughes would be at 13.1 and in first place. So, a repeat performance will almost certainly make him top dog.

As with McDavid, Makar’s lead has narrowed considerably. In the 2023 edition, Makar had the greatest High Noon score by a defenseman in the salary cap era (13.3) — a cushy 2.4 ahead of Roman Josi in second. This year, at 12.6, Makar leads Fox and Josi by 1.0, with Hughes lurking patiently in fourth (11.4). With three years at #1, Makar joins just four other defensemen to spend that long at the top in 30 years: Nicklas Lidstrom (5); Chris Pronger (3); Erik Karlsson (3); Brent Burns (3).

📈 Trending Up

Biggest Jumps Inside the Top 60:
- Evan Bouchard (+51, from #63 to #12)
- Dylan DeMelo (+44, from #85 to #41)
- tie: Vince Dunn (+27, from #36 to #9)
- tie: Jonas Brodin (+27, from #67 to #40)

📉 Trending Down

Exiting the Top 30:
- Alex Pietrangelo (from #14 to #36)
- Jared Spurgeon (from #20 to #33)
- Darnell Nurse (from #21 to #45)
- Mikhail Sergachev (from #23 to #49)
- Justin Faulk (from #24 to #38)
- Dmitry Orlov (from #25 to #44)
- Jakob Chychrun (from #29 to #48)

💥 Feature Player

Thriving in a non-traditional hockey market, Josi has quietly carved out a Hall of Fame career. He’s now spent nine consecutive years as a top-seven NHL blueliner. Having just been Norris runner-up, he’s likely to extend the run another year or two. Every other eligible defenseman since expansion that sustained this kind of run at the top of the league has been inducted.

🎯 Quick Hits

Is the ascent of Josh Morrissey (#6) or Vince Dunn (#9) the most impressive in the last two seasons?
If we only counted Evan Bouchard (#12)’s 2023-24 season pace, he would be the #2 defenseman with a score of 12.4. Expect a big move up in 2025.
Injuries have derailed Shea Theodore (#8), Dougie Hamilton (#22), and Aaron Ekblad (#24) in recent seasons. The weighted system protects their ranking, but only for so long.
Kris Letang (#23) has been a top-30 defenseman for 14 straight years. Brent Burns (#16) is on a 13-year streak. Long, successful careers with elite peaks like these wind up in the Hall of Fame…
10 teams now have a duo in the top 30, though Carolina (#21 Brady Skjei, signed with Nashville) and Florida (#29 Brandon Montour, signed with Seattle) featured a trio in their lineups last season.
Just missed the top 30: Morgan Rielly (#31) and MacKenzie Weegar (#32).
Having now played in three seasons, Owen Power debuted at #46 and Moritz Seider at #53.
Which active defensemen held the #1 crown before Makar? Erik Karlsson (2013-2015); Letang (2016); Burns (2017-2019); Josi (2020); and Dougie Hamilton (2021).

As we did last week, we ask: any big surprises? Players too high? Too low? Excluded entirely?

Stay tuned for the third and final instalment (Goaltenders) dropping next week…

Follow @AdjustedHockey on X; Data from Hockey-Reference.com

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