Ranking the NHL's 7 Best Defensive Pairs Right Now

Every successful team needs to have defensemen they can rely on. Whether it's taking care of business in their own end and denying opposing scoring chances or controlling the puck and creating opportunities of their own, having guys who can do one or both of those things goes a long way toward winning.

What's better than having one or two or three defenders you can count on? Having a pair working together to own the ice for 20 or more minutes per game. That's why we're not just taking a look at some of the best defense pairs in the league, we're also ranking them.

We'll be taking a look at point totals generated by these pairs as well as which twosomes are best at denying chances, quality and otherwise, to best determine the order. Heck, even reputation can be enough to earn a spot in the rankings. In any case, we're positive you have a take on it.

Let's count it down and stir up some feelings.

We can hear your reactions already.

"Who?! What are you talking about?!"

Believe us, we understand that, but the Philadelphia Flyers' rise to become one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference wouldn't have happened without how steady they've played defensively.

And while we've watched Travis Sanheim show he's got more offensive game than he's let on in the past (21 points in 29 games), we're also watching the pairing of Nick Seeler and Sean Walker become the advanced-stat darlings no one expected.

Although Seeler has been in Philly for a couple of seasons, Walker was a new addition in the offseason, and these two have created a formidable duo.

Walker's ability to move the puck and make smart decisions with passes goes well with Seeler's physical play and shot blocking, and the two of them have helped the forwards along that hit the ice with them.

Their expected-goal percentage is north of 60 percent at five-on-five, and they've played nearly 300 minutes together already this year. It's impressive work from a pairing that may not be generating a ton of points but is helping make the Flyers one of the best surprises of the season.

The Carolina Hurricanes have been well-known for their superb defensive corps for a few years, but even with the star power they carry in Brent Burns and Dmitry Orlov, the pairing of Brady Skjei and Brett Pesce is setting the standard.

Skjei is Carolina's leading scorer on defense, and his 18 points put him in the top 25 in the NHL among blue liners. Skjei leading the way highlights the growth he's made throughout his career, and that he's teamed up with Pesce to do it also shows how having players with opposite focuses often makes the best pairs.

For as good as Skjei's been at controlling the puck and setting up scorers, Pesce's been that good at minding his gaps and locking down opposing scorers. In over 330 minutes together at five-on-five, Skjei and Pesce are responsible for 55.5 percent of the expected goals for their team.

Having a pairing with a point generator and a shutdown defender capable of boosting the offense in that many minutes together gives the Hurricanes a tremendous advantage, and chances are they'd get a lot more attention for it if they were getting any kind of positive goaltending.

They haven't escaped our attention, and they probably haven't lost the eyes of GMs around the league, either. Both Skjei and Pesce can become unrestricted free agents July 1.

Ever since the Los Angeles Kings put Drew Doughty and Mikey Anderson together, it's been the exact right thing for the team and for Doughty in particular.

The 34-year-old Doughty, the 2016 Norris Trophy winner and three-time finalist otherwise, had the appearance of a great player headed toward the downside of his career in 2018-2019 when he had a minus-34 rating to go with his 45 points. But two years later, Anderson arrived on the scene, and since 2020-2021 the two have been inseparable.

Doughty, forever an elite puck-mover, shooter and scorer, needed a defensive stalwart to partner with him. Every top offensive blue liner needs a guy who will do everything possible to stop opposing scorers, to balance things out. Anderson answered that bell with aplomb, establishing himself as a defense-at-all-costs blue liner with the kind of physical game to get fans out of their seats in L.A.

With the 24-year-old Anderson holding it down on the back end, Doughty again had more freedom to help jump into the offensive rushes and create scoring opportunities, and the Kings have been on the upswing ever since—to the tune of 54.6 percent expected goals for this season when together in over 425 minutes at five-on-five.

The New York Rangers' top defense pair of Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren is the ultimate tale of the hero and the unsung hero.

Fox is one of the NHL's best puck-movers and playmakers, and after he won the Norris Trophy in 2021, he served notice that he was going to be part of the league's elite for years.

Fox's ability to set up scorers like Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad in Manhattan have helped make the Rangers one of the NHL's top teams. But Fox owes a lot of credit to Lindgren for giving him the space needed to do that.

Lindgren is the ultimate blue-collar Blueshirts player, digging into the corners and battling hard along the walls to grind down opponents and make them wary of entering the defensive zone when carrying the puck.

His physical play gets overshadowed in New York because of Jacob Trouba and his penchant for deeply upsetting opponents with his occasionally borderline hits, but Lindgren hits like a truck all on his own in the kind of way that earns him respect as opposed to ire.

Fox teaming up with Lindgren allows the star to push the pace and create with the Rangers' high-pressure attacking ability. But Lindgren always being the last man back to mind the shop means opponents don't always have an easy go of things if they can turn the play around.

Their numbers together are a little down this season (No. 133 in expected goals percentage), but in previous years together they've consistently been one of the best pairs in the NHL, and their reputation makes them feared.

These two are the relative new kids on the block together, but what the Edmonton Oilers' Evan Bouchard and Mattias Ekholm are doing this season is showing everyone another reason why the Oilers have been able to climb out of the depths of the Western Conference.

Bouchard has broken out in a big way offensively. He is scoring more than a point per game, racking up 32 in 28 contests via eight goals and 24 assists. For comparison's sake, over his last two seasons, he had 42 and 40 points, respectively, and now he's well on his way to surpassing that before he even plays 40 games. That his breakout coincides with Ekholm teaming up with him is perhaps not a coincidence.

Ekholm's reputation since he entered the NHL was as one of the league's toughest defensive defensemen. That reputation led to Edmonton trading for him last season to shore up its porous defense corps. Last season and this year together, Ekholm and Bouchard have played more than 600 minutes together at five-on-five and have better than 60 percent in both shot attempts for (60.9) and expected goals for (63.3).

Sure, playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl definitely helps boost those numbers, but also have you considered what Oilers defensemen have done before them?

When it comes to raw point-scoring destruction, the Vancouver Canucks have been a dynamic team this season, and their top defensive pair of Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek are the guys helping drive the goal-scoring bus at a million miles per hour.

Hughes leads all defensemen in scoring with 39 points and in goals with nine. Hronek is tied for fifth among defensemen with Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman in scoring with 28 points—26 of those being assists.

Since we don't add teammate points, as that's a silly thing to do (and quite very wrong), those individual point totals tell us on their own that Hughes and Hronek have been making opposing defenses and goalies miserable all season by helping the likes of J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser score bucketloads of goals.

Putting Hughes with Hronek might've seemed like a dangerous plan to many coaches given that both players are outstanding with the puck and capable of scoring points, but Rick Tocchet looked at things differently and went for the "all gas, no brakes" means of assembling his top defense pair, and boy, is it ever working well. (Pay no mind to their 47.8 percent expected goals for. We love goals, baby)

When it comes to defense pairs that are capable of scoring a ton of points and stunting opponent opportunities, the Colorado Avalanche's top duo of Cale Makar and Devon Toews set the gold standard.

Having Makar anchor the pairing perhaps makes things a bit unfair. He's a do-it-all blue liner who creates scoring opportunities and gets his own goals—and then uses his speed and hockey IQ to make sure he's never out of position on the defensive end. He's a blue-line cheat code in action for more than 20 minutes every game, but what makes him even more dangerous is that he's got Toews next to him capable of doing a lot of the same things.

Toews himself is a fantastic puck-mover with the kind of hockey knowledge to ensure he's in the right place at the right time all the time. He has a great shot that he's able to use to keep opposing defenses honest but also the passing skills to set up teammates. Toews was a very good player before teaming up with Makar, and now he's capable of doing a lot more alongside him.

While Makar is second among defensemen in points with 37, Toews has 16 of his own. What's more is their 55.1 percent expected goals for is in the top 15 in the NHL for defense pairs who have 200 or more minutes together at five-on-five. Elite scoring and elite defending will get you to the top of the list with ease.

Advanced stats via MoneyPuck unless otherwise noted.