A pretty crazy trend has emerged in the National Hockey League this season: no fewer than seven defensemen have reached the top of their respective teams’ points in just over a month.
Quinn Hughes of the Vancouver Canucks is also a guard who has scored the most points in the entire Bettman circuit (30). Here are the defenders who stood out the most so far:
Quinn Hughes – Vancouver Canucks
Honestly, Quinn isn’t exactly the Hughes brother everyone was expecting this season. Jack had an incredible start to the season before getting injured, and Luke impressed in his rookie season with the New Jersey Devils. Except it’s the oldest that reaches almost unprecedented heights. Not since the legendary Bobby Orr in the 1974-75 season has a defenseman been the first player to reach 30 points. The former Boston Bruins had 135 points this year. Hughes has already equaled his personal best of eight goals.
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Cale Makar – Colorado Avalanche
With a team as talented as the Avalanche, it’s surprising to see a defenseman at the top of the scoring charts, but Cale Makar isn’t just any defenseman. The 24-year-old Albertan does everything good for his team, averaging more than four minutes on the power play and more than three on the penalty kill. After 17 games, Makar has 27 points, including 23 assists, as many points as Mikko Rantanen. Nathan MacKinnon isn’t far behind with 22 points.
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Vince Dunn – Seattle Kraken
Vince Dunn is used to being one of the Kraken’s primary offensive weapons and finished last season with 64 points, six fewer than point guard Jared McCann. The Ontario native has 18 points in 20 games, three more than Jaden Schwartz and Oliver Bjorkstrand. The fact that the Kraken remains in midfield in the Pacific region is largely due to Dunn’s performance.
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Travis Sanheim-Philadelphia Flyers
We don’t know what happened to Travis Sanheim this fall, but he quickly put himself in position to surpass his 23 points from 2022-23. The Manitoba defenseman leads the Flyers with 16 points in 18 games and his best single-season total is 35 points. Philadelphia’s offense ranks 11th in the National League with 60 goals scored, but Sanheim’s restarts appear to be particularly profitable. Here’s one who’s putting his new $6.25 million salary to good use.
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Rasmus Dahlin – Buffalo Sabres
The season is still young, but better things are certainly expected from the Sabers as the season begins. Tage Thompson was injured and no striker stood out in the lineup, so Rasmus Dahlin is in first place in points after 18 duels. The Swede is sailing at the same pace as last season with 15 points. Jeff Skinner, JJ Peterka and Casey Mittelstadt follow him with 14 points.
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Noah Dobson – New York Islanders
True to form, the Islanders don’t offer much offensively, with 40 goals against and 56 goals against. Like the Montreal Canadiens, they only have five players who have exceeded the 10-point plateau. Defenseman Noah Dobson and forward Mathew Barzal led the team with 15 points each. The Prince Edward Island native is a reliable contributor on offense, scoring a total of 100 points in his last two seasons.
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Ivan Provorov – Columbus Blue Jackets
In Columbus, it’s new addition Ivan Provorov leading the Jackets’ lackluster attack. The former Flyers has 12 points in 19 games, 18 fewer than Quinn Hughes. Nevertheless, the Russian dominates his team and the second best scorer is also a blue line specialist: Zach Werenski. After missing most of the 2022-2023 season, the American is doing well and has 11 points, as many as striker Boone Jenner.