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Player impact · Defensemen · 2026-27 · updated Oct 10, 2026

The best defensemen, at both ends.

Goals added per game over a replacement-level player, the kind of call-up any team can find. Points are part of it; so is everything else a player does with the puck and without it.

188 defensemen with 3+ games · ranked per game

The board

5v5 offensePower play5v5 defenseOver replacementPenalty killPenaltiesFinishing + faceoffs

#	Player	Team	GP	TOI/G	G-A	Per game	Season
1	Evan Bouchard	EDM	4	24.1	6-5	+0.20	+0.79
2	Quinn Hughes	MIN	4	27.5	2-4	+0.17	+0.67
3	Moritz Seider	DET	4	23.4	0-2	+0.17	+0.66
4	Lane Hutson	MTL	4	25.5	0-4	+0.17	+0.66
5	Zach Werenski	CBJ	3	30.0	0-3	+0.16	+0.47
6	Rasmus Dahlin	BUF	4	26.8	1-1	+0.15	+0.60
7	Adam Fox	NYR	6	20.7	0-5	+0.15	+0.88
8	Jordan Spence	OTT	4	22.5	0-0	+0.14	+0.57
9	Sam Malinski	COL	3	16.0	0-0	+0.14	+0.41
10	Miro Heiskanen	DAL	4	22.1	2-0	+0.12	+0.49
11	Noah Hanifin	VGK	5	19.6	1-0	+0.12	+0.59
12	Mattias Ekholm	EDM	4	20.4	0-1	+0.12	+0.47
13	Shayne Gostisbehere	CAR	5	18.9	1-3	+0.11	+0.55
14	Jaccob Slavin	CAR	5	21.3	0-2	+0.11	+0.55
15	Matthew Schaefer	NYI	4	23.7	0-3	+0.11	+0.43
16	Josh Manson	COL	4	17.1	1-2	+0.10	+0.42
17	Nate Schmidt	UTA	5	20.7	0-1	+0.10	+0.52
18	Devon Toews	COL	4	19.7	2-2	+0.10	+0.41
19	Kaedan Korczak	PIT	5	17.1	0-4	+0.10	+0.49
20	Owen Power	BUF	4	26.5	1-4	+0.10	+0.39
21	Drew Doughty	LAK	3	19.5	0-1	+0.10	+0.29
22	Shea Theodore	VGK	5	20.3	1-2	+0.09	+0.46
23	Cale Makar	COL	4	21.3	3-3	+0.09	+0.37
24	K'Andre Miller	CAR	5	22.5	1-1	+0.09	+0.45
25	Thomas Chabot	OTT	4	26.2	1-1	+0.09	+0.36
26	Seth Jones	FLA	4	27.2	1-0	+0.09	+0.35
27	Philip Broberg	STL	4	22.0	0-2	+0.09	+0.35
28	Ryan Shea	EDM	4	21.9	1-2	+0.09	+0.34
29	Jakob Chychrun	WSH	4	23.5	1-2	+0.09	+0.34
30	Jackson LaCombe	ANA	4	26.9	0-4	+0.09	+0.34
31	Erik Cernak	TBL	4	18.8	0-1	+0.08	+0.33
32	Brandt Clarke	LAK	3	19.1	0-2	+0.08	+0.25
33	Darren Raddysh	TOR	5	22.2	0-2	+0.08	+0.41
34	Ryker Evans	SEA	5	21.6	0-2	+0.08	+0.41
35	John Marino	UTA	5	20.1	0-1	+0.08	+0.40
36	Adam Pelech	NYI	4	20.3	0-2	+0.08	+0.32
37	Samuel Girard	PIT	5	19.5	1-4	+0.07	+0.37
38	Dylan Samberg	WPG	5	20.8	0-2	+0.07	+0.37
39	Dougie Hamilton	NJD	3	21.8	1-1	+0.07	+0.21
40	Brayden McNabb	VGK	5	18.3	0-4	+0.07	+0.34
41	Sean Walker	CAR	5	20.7	0-4	+0.07	+0.34
42	Brett Pesce	NJD	3	19.6	0-0	+0.07	+0.20
43	Olen Zellweger	BUF	3	16.0	0-0	+0.07	+0.20
44	Denton Mateychuk	CBJ	3	26.1	0-1	+0.07	+0.20
45	Erik Karlsson	PIT	5	21.3	0-5	+0.07	+0.33
46	Dylan DeMelo	WPG	5	20.3	1-2	+0.07	+0.33
47	Hampus Lindholm	BOS	5	19.4	1-2	+0.07	+0.33
48	Jonas Brodin	MIN	4	20.5	0-0	+0.07	+0.26
49	Esa Lindell	DAL	4	19.7	0-0	+0.07	+0.26
50	Niko Mikkola	FLA	4	20.4	0-0	+0.07	+0.26

Show all 188 ranked defensemen ↓

#	Player	Team	GP	TOI/G	G-A	Per game	Season
51	Connor Clifton	BOS	5	19.5	0-1	+0.06	+0.31
52	Brandon Montour	SEA	5	22.9	0-4	+0.06	+0.30
53	Mike Reilly	CAR	3	12.4	0-0	+0.06	+0.18
54	Josh Morrissey	WPG	4	18.9	0-3	+0.06	+0.23
55	Timothy Liljegren	WSH	4	17.8	1-0	+0.06	+0.23
56	J.J. Moser	TBL	4	15.4	0-0	+0.06	+0.23
57	Jared Spurgeon	MIN	4	20.8	1-3	+0.06	+0.22
58	Trevor van Riemsdyk	PIT	5	18.6	0-0	+0.05	+0.27
59	Ian Cole	CHI	5	16.0	0-0	+0.05	+0.26
60	John Carlson	TBL	4	18.8	2-2	+0.05	+0.21
61	MacKenzie Weegar	UTA	5	19.9	1-0	+0.05	+0.25
62	Travis Sanheim	PHI	5	23.8	1-1	+0.05	+0.25
63	Parker Wotherspoon	VGK	5	17.9	0-0	+0.05	+0.25
64	Ryan McDonagh	TBL	4	15.3	0-0	+0.05	+0.20
65	Vincent Desharnais	WSH	4	18.6	0-1	+0.05	+0.20
66	Luke Hughes	NJD	3	22.7	1-0	+0.05	+0.15
67	Cody Ceci	LAK	3	17.5	0-1	+0.05	+0.14
68	Jamie Drysdale	PHI	5	20.3	0-0	+0.05	+0.23
69	Radko Gudas	FLA	4	13.3	0-0	+0.04	+0.18
70	Mikhail Sergachev	UTA	5	21.1	1-5	+0.04	+0.22
71	Brent Burns	COL	4	16.5	0-3	+0.04	+0.17
72	Cam Fowler	STL	4	22.8	0-0	+0.04	+0.17
73	Gustav Forsling	FLA	3	20.8	1-0	+0.04	+0.13
74	Jeremy Lauzon	VGK	5	16.2	0-0	+0.04	+0.21
75	Nick Seeler	PHI	5	17.7	0-1	+0.04	+0.20
76	Colton Parayko	STL	4	20.6	0-1	+0.04	+0.16
77	Charle-Edouard D'Astous	TBL	4	14.8	1-0	+0.04	+0.16
78	Rasmus Ristolainen	PHI	3	18.0	1-0	+0.04	+0.12
79	Jonathan Aspirot	BOS	3	16.0	0-0	+0.04	+0.12
80	Vladislav Gavrikov	NYR	6	20.7	1-3	+0.04	+0.23
81	Dmitry Orlov	SJS	4	19.0	0-0	+0.04	+0.15
82	Nils Lundkvist	DAL	4	17.4	0-1	+0.04	+0.15
83	Mattias Samuelsson	BUF	4	20.6	1-1	+0.04	+0.14
84	Nikolas Matinpalo	OTT	4	17.6	0-0	+0.04	+0.14
85	Alexandre Carrier	MTL	4	17.6	1-1	+0.03	+0.13
86	Cole Hutson	WSH	4	18.1	1-1	+0.03	+0.13
87	Cam York	PHI	5	21.3	0-0	+0.03	+0.15
88	Dmitry Kulikov	FLA	4	16.8	0-1	+0.03	+0.12
89	Albert Johansson	DET	4	16.9	0-0	+0.03	+0.11
90	Emil Andrae	CBJ	3	12.3	0-1	+0.03	+0.08
91	Oliver Ekman-Larsson	TOR	5	16.4	0-0	+0.03	+0.13
92	Adam Wilsby	NSH	4	16.5	0-2	+0.03	+0.10
93	Mason Lohrei	BOS	5	18.6	1-2	+0.02	+0.12
94	Declan Carlile	PIT	5	18.2	2-2	+0.02	+0.12
95	Brian Dumoulin	LAK	3	15.1	1-0	+0.02	+0.07
96	David Jiricek	PHI	3	15.9	0-0	+0.02	+0.07
97	Brady Skjei	NSH	4	20.3	0-2	+0.02	+0.09
98	Morgan Rielly	TOR	5	19.9	0-3	+0.02	+0.10
99	Jake McCabe	TOR	5	18.2	0-0	+0.02	+0.10
100	Brandon Carlo	STL	4	17.4	0-0	+0.02	+0.08
101	Sam Rinzel	CHI	4	17.4	1-1	+0.02	+0.08
102	Theo Lindstein	STL	3	14.7	0-1	+0.02	+0.06
103	Vince Dunn	SEA	5	21.5	2-3	+0.02	+0.09
104	Victor Hedman	TBL	4	13.8	0-0	+0.02	+0.07
105	Jonas Siegenthaler	NJD	3	18.8	0-0	+0.02	+0.05
106	Jake Middleton	CGY	4	18.2	0-0	+0.01	+0.06
107	Lian Bichsel	DAL	4	16.9	0-0	+0.01	+0.06
108	Filip Hronek	VAN	5	24.7	0-5	+0.01	+0.07
109	Logan Stanley	NYI	4	18.6	0-4	+0.01	+0.05
110	Noah Dobson	MTL	4	21.8	0-1	+0.01	+0.05
111	Michael Kesselring	SJS	4	19.4	0-0	+0.01	+0.05
112	Olli Maatta	MIN	3	19.9	0-1	+0.01	+0.04
113	Carson Soucy	CBJ	3	17.8	0-0	+0.01	+0.04
114	Mikey Anderson	LAK	3	17.1	0-1	+0.01	+0.04
115	Jayden Struble	MTL	3	12.1	0-0	+0.01	+0.04
116	Uvis Balinskis	FLA	3	13.5	0-0	+0.01	+0.04
117	Sean Durzi	NYR	6	19.9	1-1	+0.01	+0.07
118	Kris Letang	PIT	5	18.8	0-3	+0.01	+0.06
119	Rasmus Andersson	VGK	5	17.9	0-1	+0.01	+0.06
120	Nikita Zadorov	BOS	5	19.7	0-2	+0.01	+0.05
121	Zach Bogosian	MIN	4	15.6	0-0	+0.01	+0.04
122	Zach Whitecloud	CGY	4	20.4	0-0	+0.01	+0.04
123	Louis Crevier	BUF	4	14.9	0-1	+0.01	+0.04
124	Brenden Dillon	NJD	3	13.2	0-0	+0.01	+0.03
125	Tyler Myers	DAL	4	15.4	0-0	+0.01	+0.03
126	Connor Murphy	EDM	4	19.6	0-0	+0.01	+0.03
127	Tony DeAngelo	NYI	4	15.9	0-0	+0.01	+0.03
128	Nicolas Hague	NSH	4	18.2	0-0	+0.01	+0.03
129	Martin Fehérváry	WSH	4	20.2	0-0	+0.01	+0.03
130	Bowen Byram	CHI	4	23.9	0-0	+0.01	+0.02
131	Thomas Harley	DAL	4	22.6	0-1	+0.01	+0.02
132	Tyler Kleven	OTT	4	19.9	0-1	+0.01	+0.02
133	Zach Metsa	BUF	4	11.3	0-1	+0.01	+0.02
134	Jalen Chatfield	CAR	5	19.9	0-1	+0.00	+0.02
135	Troy Stecher	TOR	5	17.2	0-0	+0.00	+0.02
136	Kevin Bahl	CGY	4	21.2	1-0	+0.00	+0.01
137	Declan Chisholm	NJD	3	13.9	0-1	+0.00	+0.01
138	Pavel Mintyukov	ANA	4	19.2	0-0	+0.00	+0.01
139	Axel Sandin-Pellikka	DET	3	14.2	0-0	+0.00	+0.01
140	Darnell Nurse	SJS	4	20.7	1-0	+0.00	+0.00
141	Daemon Hunt	MIN	4	11.8	0-0	+0.00	+0.00
142	Dmitri Simashev	UTA	5	15.6	0-2	+0.00	+0.00
143	Tyrel Bauer	WPG	3	7.2	0-0	-0.00	-0.01
144	Carter Yakemchuk	OTT	4	16.1	1-1	-0.00	-0.01
145	Marcus Pettersson	NYR	6	19.8	0-0	-0.00	-0.02
146	Will Borgen	BOS	5	18.9	0-1	-0.00	-0.02
147	Roman Josi	NSH	4	25.7	1-4	-0.01	-0.02
148	Tristan Luneau	ANA	4	21.5	0-1	-0.01	-0.02
149	Luca Cagnoni	SJS	4	19.2	1-1	-0.01	-0.02
150	William Trudeau	NSH	3	9.3	0-0	-0.01	-0.02
151	Tyson Hinds	ANA	4	12.2	0-0	-0.01	-0.03
152	Wyatt Kaiser	CHI	5	19.4	0-1	-0.01	-0.04
153	Noah Juulsen	COL	3	12.8	0-1	-0.01	-0.03
154	Simon Nemec	CGY	4	20.4	0-0	-0.01	-0.04
155	Neal Pionk	WPG	5	22.4	0-1	-0.01	-0.05
156	Alberts Smits	NYR	6	14.4	0-0	-0.01	-0.07
157	Alexander Romanov	NYI	3	16.4	0-0	-0.01	-0.04
158	Nick Perbix	NSH	4	19.0	0-0	-0.01	-0.05
159	Noah Warren	ANA	4	16.4	0-2	-0.01	-0.05
160	Braden Schneider	NYR	6	16.8	0-0	-0.01	-0.08
161	Alex Vlasic	CHI	5	19.5	0-2	-0.01	-0.07
162	Justin Faulk	DET	4	19.2	1-1	-0.01	-0.06
163	Ryan Lindgren	SEA	4	12.6	0-0	-0.01	-0.06
164	Travis Mitchell	ANA	4	15.6	0-0	-0.01	-0.06
165	Adam Jiricek	STL	4	16.9	0-0	-0.01	-0.06
166	Andrew Peeke	UTA	5	14.7	1-1	-0.02	-0.08
167	Mario Ferraro	WPG	5	19.1	1-0	-0.02	-0.08
168	Elias Pettersson	VAN	5	16.1	1-0	-0.02	-0.08
169	Joel Edmundson	LAK	3	14.0	0-0	-0.02	-0.05
170	Mike Matheson	MTL	4	23.7	0-1	-0.02	-0.07
171	Anton Johansson	DET	4	17.0	0-0	-0.02	-0.07
172	Chris Tanev	TOR	5	19.0	0-1	-0.02	-0.10
173	Adam Larsson	SEA	5	21.5	0-0	-0.02	-0.10
174	Ben Chiarot	DET	4	17.5	0-0	-0.02	-0.09
175	Yan Kuznetsov	CGY	3	18.8	0-0	-0.03	-0.08
176	Jacob Trouba	SJS	4	21.5	0-2	-0.03	-0.11
177	Luke Schenn	VAN	4	12.3	0-2	-0.03	-0.12
178	Arber Xhekaj	MTL	4	11.7	0-0	-0.03	-0.12
179	Jamie Oleksiak	VAN	5	18.8	1-2	-0.03	-0.17
180	Jake Walman	EDM	4	14.3	0-0	-0.04	-0.15
181	Simon Benoit	PHI	4	14.4	0-0	-0.04	-0.15
182	Zeev Buium	VAN	5	21.3	0-1	-0.04	-0.19
183	Ryan Pulock	NYI	4	17.4	0-0	-0.04	-0.17
184	Zayne Parekh	CGY	4	18.9	0-1	-0.05	-0.19
185	Erik Gudbranson	CBJ	3	17.1	0-0	-0.05	-0.16
186	Artyom Levshunov	CHI	5	20.1	0-1	-0.06	-0.32
187	Brett Kulak	COL	4	18.0	0-3	-0.07	-0.26
188	Tom Willander	VAN	5	20.4	0-3	-0.09	-0.47

Per game = goals added over a replacement player, divided by games played, so nobody is ahead because his team has played more. Season = the total so far. The bar shows where the season total comes from: right of the line adds, left subtracts. 35 defensemen under 3 games are not ranked yet.

Our model, our data

How it's built

Everything a player does, in goals

Add the parts and you get goals added over a replacement player. Ranked per game so the schedule can't pick winners, and ice time stays in on purpose: a 25-minute player adds more per night. Tested on 2023-24 to 2025-26, summed player ratings predicted each team's next-season goal differential at r = 0.649, above five-on-five play alone (0.645). Model skater-impact-v1, rebuilt every morning.

5v5: How much more his team creates, and how much less it allows, with him on the ice, after adjusting for linemates, opponents, score and zone starts (a ridge regression over every shift).
Special teams: The same idea on the power play and penalty kill. The penalty kill is mostly system and goalie, so it moves players least.
Finishing: Goals above what his shots usually produce, heavily discounted: finishing barely repeats, so a shooter keeps only his chances ÷ (chances + 110) of it.
Penalties: Minors drawn minus taken, at 0.161 goals each, pulled toward the league rate until he has played enough minutes for them to mean something.
Faceoffs: Net wins, worth 0.007 goals in the offensive and defensive zones and 0.0034 at centre.
Replacement: What a call-up would have cost over the same 5v5 minutes (-0.37 goals per 60 for forwards, -0.18 for defensemen, measured from the players who fill in).