NHL's Top Five Defensive Groups

Good morning. Cale Makar narrowly beat Erik Karlsson in last week’s poll, predicting the NHL’s top scoring defenseman this season. And Miro Heiskanen earned some well-deserved write-in votes.

With many NHL training camps starting tomorrow and preseason games starting this Saturday (YES, you read that right!), we have a lot to report today.

- Brandon Rubeo & Kevin Allen

Today’s Lineup:

• NHL's top five defensive groups

• Taylor Heise goes 1st overall

• Connor Bedard puts on a show

• And a lot more… 👇

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NHL's Top Five Defensive Groups Heading into 2023-24 Season

Defense is king in the NHL and teams with the best top six defenders rule. That’s one of the truths of staying competitive in the league.

General managers are constantly trying to upgrade their defensive groups with bigger, meaner, or harder to play against defensemen. Proven defensemen are always in high demand in the free agent market and at the trade deadline.

Here are teams with a noteworthy collection of defensemen heading into the 2023-24 NHL training camps, most of which open Thursday:

1. Carolina Hurricanes: In Brent Burns and Jaccob Slavin, the Hurricanes have one of the NHL’s best pairings. Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei are also a formidable duo. Then, GM Don Waddell put this group over the top by signing Dmitry Orlov. Bringing back Anthony DeAngelo adds another dynamic puck mover to Carolina’s blue line. Opponents don’t find much time and space in Carolina’s zone.

2. Colorado Avalanche: Because Cale Makar is a special difference-maker, we tend to overlook that the Avalanche have a strong defensive corps top to bottom. Every GM covets Devon Toews. Josh Manson and Samuel Girard are proven performers. Bowen Byram is a rising star. Jack Johnson and Kurtis MacDermid can at least be steady at No. 6.

3. New York Islanders: GM Lou Lamoriello’s group of Noah Dobson, Adam Pelech, Scott Mayfield, Ryan Pulock and Sebastian Aho is the league’s most underrated defensive group. The team’s depth is thin, but these six players, along with Ilya Sorokin, will keep the Islanders in the top five in goals-against.

4. Boston Bruins: GM Don Sweeney would have loved to have the cap space to re-sign Orlov. But that wasn’t the case. The top four of Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk, plus Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo. Let’s not forget that 6-foot-4 Derek Forbert was +12 last season with 104 hits in 54 games. This defensive group played a major role in Boston giving up the fewest number of goals (174) in 2022-23.

5. Vegas Golden Knights: Based on their performance in the postseason, you can’t keep this defensive group out of the top five. Alex Pietrangelo leads the group that includes Shea Theodore, Alex Martinez, Brayden McNabb, Zach Whitecloud and Nicolas Hague. This is a highly competitive unit. Each player understands his role.

POLL 🗳️

CAN’T MISS 🔥

☝️Minnesota Whitecaps selected Taylor Heise with the 1st overall pick in the inaugural PWHL draft on Tuesday. Heise is a forward from the University of Minnesota who won the Patty Kazmaier Award in 2022. Jocelyne Larocque and Alina Muller were selected 2nd and 3rd overall by Toronto and Boston, respectively. Read more →

🎩 Connor Bedard put on a show, scoring a hat trick and adding an assist in 1st game with the Blackhawks at the Prospect Showcase. The 18-year-old forward put his elite shot on display, scoring two power play highlight-reel goals before going left post-and-in off the rush in the third period to complete the hat trick. NHL goalies have officially been put on notice. Read more →

TRIVIA QUESTION 📚

Who holds the Chicago Blackhawks record for most points as a rookie?

MEME OF THE DAY 😂

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TRIVIA ANSWER ✅

Steve Larmer holds the Chicago Blackhawks rookie scoring record, collecting 90 points in the 1982-83 season.