In today’s NHL, the upper echelon of defensemen is unimposing, quick-thinking, and positionally sound.

Looking for big and nasty? Keep looking. A quartet listed at six-feet or less and under 200 pounds – Adam Fox, Cale Makar, Josh Morrissey, and Quinn Hughes – are among the very best of the blueliners.

If you’re new to the High Noon series, check out last week’s kickoff, which ranked the NHL’s top 50 forwards. The method uses a three-year weighted average of adjusted point shares to systematically rank the league’s players by position – hockey’s answer to the individual global hierarchies of golf and tennis.

Can Makar make it four straight years as the league’s #1 defenseman? Where does polarizing talent Evan Bouchard fit among the game’s best? How high will blossoming defenders Thomas Harley and Jake Sanderson ascend after statement seasons? We’re ranking the top 40 defensemen, debating the #1 spot, analyzing the surprises, and highlighting the biggest movers in the NHL’s positional pecking order.

Part two of our three-part series by position: the top 40 defensemen in the NHL today.

🕛 High Noon Background

Before we begin, here’s a reminder on the methodology. Originally a Hall of Fame tool, you can read about High Noon’s mechanics in this original post. It uses a weighted three-year average: 2024-25 counts 50% of a player’s score; 2023-24 gets one-third (33%); 2022-23 is one-sixth (17%). The split allows a long-range view of performance. One great season won’t rank a player among the game’s elite.

Here is some additional background on the approach:

By leveraging point shares, the High Noon system is driven by box score stats, not advanced data. The rankings reflect production over process.
The methodology does not project. The rankings cover what a player has done, not what they might do. If a 23-year-old and 36-year-old perform similarly over three seasons, they will rank similarly.
Goals are more valuable than assists, having a more direct impact on scoring overall.
Players are broadly assigned credit for a team’s defense using ice time and team-relative plus-minus.
Playoffs aren’t factored, as post-season opportunities are too arbitrary and team dependent.
Players that haven’t played half the schedule each of the last three seasons are included but are penalized. Each season’s divisor is 41 games. In previous versions, players needed to participate in three seasons to be eligible. That’s since changed. Rookies now enter the rankings in their debut seasons and gradually build a score, which becomes complete after three full seasons.

Despite the word ‘defense’ being in the name of a defenseman’s job, contract values, Norris Trophy voting, and Hall of Fame inductions more heavily reward offense. This methodology also favors offensive defensemen, which fairly or not, aligns with how the public tends to tier the position’s best.

👑 The Top 40

How to Read the Rankings: Roman Josi’s score in the High Noon system below is 8.7, ranking him the NHL’s #9 defenseman in 2025. The Change column (-6) shows his drop from #3 to #9 since last summer. Josi’s career peak — his High Noon — is #1, the highest he’s been ranked previously (2020).

1️⃣ Who’s #1?

That’s four straight years at #1 for Makar. Rarified air. Since expansion, only three other defensemen have kept the crown longer than three consecutive years: Bobby Orr (nine, 1968-1976); Ray Bourque (eight, 1988-1995); and Denis Potvin (five, 1978-1982). Even Nicklas Lidstrom’s legendary dominance was occasionally interrupted in High Noon by one of Al MacInnis, Chris Pronger, or Scott Niedermayer.

Over the last two seasons, Makar’s 82-game pace — 27 goals, 68 assists, 95 points, plus-23 — would be elite for a forward, let alone a defenseman with above-average defensive chops. Hughes, meanwhile, continues to outperform everyone not named Makar. The 2023-24 Norris winner is easily #2 — his High Noon score a comfortable 2.0 ahead of the rest of the pack. For perspective, Hughes’ gap on #3 Josh Morrissey is wider than Morrissey’s gap on #13 Gustav Forsling.

How about some love for Morrissey? Three years ago, the late bloomer was ranked #62. Now, he’s scored at least 62 points and finished top-seven in Norris balloting for three straight years. His defensive game continues to evolve as a key contributor on the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets. Fox holds down the #4 spot despite nagging injuries and dysfunction on Broadway hindering his season for stretches. Still, that’s a four-year run in the top five for the underappreciated Fox: #5, #3, #2, #4.

High Noon: Top 3 Defensemen, Last 15 Years

Year	#1 (# of times)	#2	#3
2011	Green (2)	Visnovsky	Chara
2012	Chara	Weber	Letang
2013	Letang	Karlsson	Subban
2014	Karlsson	Letang	Subban
2015	Subban	Karlsson	Letang
2016	Letang (2)	Karlsson	Burns
2017	Burns	Karlsson	Hedman
2018	Burns (2)	Hedman	Doughty
2019	Burns (3)	Hedman	Giordano
2020	Josi	Carlson	Hamilton
2021	Hamilton	Hedman	Carlson
2022	Makar	Hedman	Josi
2023	Makar (2)	Josi	Fox
2024	Makar (3)	Fox	Josi
2025	Makar (4)	Hughes	Morrissey

⬆️ Too High?

Evan Bouchard (#5), Edmonton: Bouchard’s net impact continues to be divisive. It shouldn’t be. The 25-year-old is worthy of his first turn in the top five. Bouchard’s aggressive style creates the odd memorable error. Visually, we often prefer ‘safe’ defensemen. But they quietly create turnovers the old-fashioned way – by rifling pucks off the glass or firing grenades in forwards’ skates. With Bouchard on the ice, the play overwhelmingly tilts in Edmonton’s favor. Counting the playoffs, he’s plus-68 with 204 points in his last 210 games. The contributions of dynamic players of his unique archetype remain undervalued.

Vince Dunn (#11), Seattle: Playing in a newer market for a Kraken team that’s crashed back to reality, Dunn’s subtle stardom hasn’t gotten much light. By missing 43 games over the last two seasons, it’s been even easier to miss Dunn’s elite scoring punch. Since 2022-23, he’s 10th in goals-per-game and 14th in points-per-game among defensemen, quietly producing a 15-goal, 60-point pace despite modest power play success.

Thomas Chabot (#18), Ottawa: Was there a more forgotten man than Chabot the last few years? Once an exciting prospect, Chabot was badly over-relied upon in his early 20s, eating huge minutes on helpless teams. He then endured a three-year run of frustrating injuries. But 2024-25 represented redemption. At 28, the longest-serving Senator enjoyed a healthy season on an improving roster. Aided by the emergence of Sanderson, Chabot thrived, hitting 45 points for the first time since 2018-19, and finally seeing postseason hockey nine years into his career.

⬇️ Too Low?

Zach Werenski (#12), Columbus: How is the Norris runner-up and seventh-place finisher for the Hart Trophy only the #12 defenseman in hockey? Werenski’s ranking is sure to offend. But let’s walk through why. In the first season of this three-year weighted cycle, Werenski played only 13 games. Season-ending surgery in 2022-23 dropped his ranking to #99 at the time. So, he’s playing catch-up. Werenski was very good in 2023-24, but not the flat-out weapon that dominated last season. This is why multiple seasons are factored — when career 51-point players suddenly score 82 points, we need to chill. Werenski’s 2024-25 season in isolation was #3 with a score of 11.0, trailing only Makar (15.0) and Hughes (13.1). A strong follow-up and he’ll rocket upward in 2026.

Miro Heiskanen (#17), Dallas: Heiskanen remains an offensive and defensive play driver with few equals. But the Stars’ workhorse has dealt with injuries and a significant drop in production. His 82-game point pace fell from 76 to 62 to just 41 last season. Some of the trend relates to puck luck, but Heiskanen is unlikely to see High Noon’s top 10 (or meaningful Norris love) until his counting stats rise again. I’m expecting a Victor Hedman-like career ascent at age 26, projecting him the NHL’s #7 defenseman in 2030.

Jaccob Slavin (#36), Carolina: What do we want? Justice for Jaccob! When do we want it? Now! Players like Slavin are underrated in High Noon’s methodology, the nuance in his game unseen by traditional stats. He is the rarest of finds — a defensive savant that plays brutal minutes, kills penalties brilliantly, rarely takes a penalty, and drives five-on-five offense. If the NHL had a Selke for defensemen, Slavin’s reputation might conjure future Hall of Famer Patrice Bergeron’s. But by averaging just nine seconds of power play time last season, Slavin’s 27 points were 71st in the league among defenders. Despite his absence from the scoresheet, Slavin’s analytical profile makes a legitimate case for top-10 status.

📈 Trending Up

Four Biggest Jumps Into the Top 40:
- 1. Colton Parayko, St. Louis: +48 spots (from #83 to #35)
- 2. Thomas Harley, Dallas: +47 spots (from #62 to #15)
- 3. Jake Sanderson, Ottawa: +39 spots (from #70 to #31)
- 4. Jake Walman, Edmonton: +34 spots (from #74 to #40)

Four Biggest Jumps Into the Top 80:
- 1. Luke Hughes, New Jersey: +104 spots (from #168 to #64)
- 2. Dylan Samberg, Winnipeg: +90 spots (from #139 to #49)
- 3. Brock Faber, Minnesota: +73 spots (from #138 to #65)
- 4. Dante Fabbro, Columbus: +45 spots (from #122 to #77)

📉 Trending Down

Eight Biggest Drops Among Last Year’s Top 80:
- 1. Ryan Graves, Pittsburgh: -96 spots (from #77 to #173)
- 2. Jacob Trouba, Anaheim: -83 spots (from #60 to #143)
- 3. Timothy Liljegren, San Jose: -67 spots (from #68 to #135)
- 4. Erik Gustafsson, Detroit: -64 spots (from #47 to #111)
- 5. Hampus Lindholm, Boston: -56 spots (from #25 to #81)
- 6. Brandon Carlo, Toronto: -45 spots (from #63 to #108)
- 7. Tony DeAngelo, NY Islanders: -44 spots (from #73 to #117)
- 8. Rasmus Andersson, Calgary: -41 spots (from #34 to #75)

⏳ Young Gun Watch

Players don’t earn a full High Noon score until they play half the schedule in three consecutive seasons. So, recent rookies and sophomores will only have begun their ascents up the ladder. Here’s a check-in on three young, high-profile defensemen who were Calder finalists in the last two seasons.

Luke Hughes (#64), New Jersey: Hughes has been deployed charitably, leading to a career 49-point pace and this generous ranking. Ranking if based on 2024-25 alone: #31

Brock Faber (#65), Minnesota: Unlike Hughes, Faber was forced into heavy, challenging minutes. He took a step backward from his rookie year. Expect a rebound. Ranking if based on 2024-25 alone: #62

Lane Hutson (#99), Montreal: Remember, this is a three-season weighted average and Hutson has just one season under his belt. In isolation, the Calder winner’s season scores 8.1. That’s second-best by a rookie defenseman aged 20 or younger in a decade, trailing only Werenski (8.5 in 2016-17). Ranking if based on 2024-25 alone: #18

💥 Feature Player

Both Charlie McAvoy’s career trajectory and Boston’s relevance are facing crossroads. Door #1? Optimism. Under this scenario, McAvoy’s nightmare season, featuring a serious shoulder injury and scary infection, proves only that… a nightmare. The Bruins manage to avoid a full rebuild and McAvoy returns to top-10 form. After missing the 4 Nations Face-Off finals, a motivated player comes out hot and plays a central role for U.S. Olympic coach (and father-in-law) Mike Sullivan. Door #2? In this version, Boston’s wasting its time, their competitive window already sealed shut. McAvoy’s solid but unexceptional, the effects of major surgery limiting his game, the days of Norris votes in the past.

Most of the time, we get something in between such extreme outcomes. Here’s hoping McAvoy makes a full recovery and his High Noon arc above swings back north.

Stay tuned for next week’s third and final segment in the 2025 High Noon series: Goaltenders.

Follow @AdjustedHockey on X; visit www.adjustedhockey.com; data from Hockey-Reference

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