Highest Scoring NHL Defensemen of All Time
Defensemen are essential to the makeup of a successful hockey team. Preventing attacks on goal, the best ones are also adept at lightning-fast counterattacks, pushing forward when needed. Thus, they require a very unique skill set that few others possess. But just who are the players that would rank as the highest scoring NHL defensemen of all time?
Ray Bourque
Ray Bourque still holds several records in the NHL. He remains the defenceman with the most career goals at 410, making him 4th of all time. He also holds the record for assists by a defenceman at 1,169 and points by a defenceman at 1,579. His record still stands for the most shots in a single game at 19.
In the 1979-1980 season, he was awarded the Calder Memorial Trophy. Between 1986 and 1990, he picked up the James Norris Trophy every year, reclaiming it once more in the 93 seasons.
He also gained the King Clancy Memorial trophy in the 91-92 season. Plenty of international accolades have also been awarded to him, as he played for Team Canada and as a member of the 1998 Winter Olympic team.
Bourque joined the Boston Bruins in 1979, where he would remain for two decades. He became synonymous with the team, becoming their longest-serving captain in his 21 seasons.
In many ways, the team never really lived up to expectations during this period. They made 29 consecutive playoff appearances between 1968 and 1996. Yet it is a period marked with near misses in Stanley Cup finals and second places.
Toward the end of his career, Bourque would play two seasons with the Colorado Avalanche before retirement. Rounding off a great career, in his final season, he won his only Stanley Cup. In 2004, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Paul Coffey
Paul Coffey is second only to Ray Bourque in terms of defenseman statistics and accolades when it comes to goals, assists, and points. Unlike Bourque, Coffey played for a range of NHL teams during his league tenure, doing stints for the Edmonton Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, and many other teams. This meant he managed to lift the Stanley Cup four times, three times with the Oilers and once with the Penguins.
In his second season of play, he managed to collect 96 points. This would have been outstanding at any other time, but it put him behind teammate Wayne Gretzky. Thus, he was part of what was termed the ‘Gretzky Era,’ where the Oilers were extremely dominant on the ice. Coffey picked up the James Norris Trophy three times in his career. The times he was named in the NHL All-Star first and second teams are too vast to mention. His final season was played with the Boston Bruins.
After this, he started a career in coaching, serving two seasons with the Pickering Panthers, before a hiatus of 8 years and a stint with the Oilers. In 2015, he was also awarded the Order of Sport by Canada, putting him into Canada’s Hall of Fame. He was also added to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2004.
Al MacInnis
Al MacInnis was known and feared for one thing in his career: His shot. He made his mark in his first season when he took a shot at St Louis Blues player Mike Luit. The puck hit his opponent in the face, smashing open his helmet, and then dropped into the goal. His reputation was forever cemented, and he would enhance it by winning the hardest shot competition at the NHL All-Star game seven times in a row.
Yet it was the fear of this shot that was even more deadly than the hit itself. He would use it in different ways, tricking opponents into thinking it was upon them, where he would delay or make an alternate play. When combined with his abilities as a defensive force, he was a powerful all-rounder.
While he did some chopping and changing, most of his career was spent at the Calgary Flames, then later the St Louis Blues. The Flames drafted him in 1981, based on the power of his slapshot alone.
However, he was notoriously bad at skating when he started and spent many of these early seasons working on his balance and coordination. With the former, he would manage to bag the 1989 Stanley Cup, though he would gain it again in 2019 as an executive for the latter. He received the James Norris Memorial trophy once and gained the Conn Smythe Trophy. There were numerous times he played in NHL All-Star games.
Internationally, he also represented Canada in the World Championships, Olympics, and the Canada Cup.
Phil Housley
Some people must work hard to become a hockey player, while some are just born with natural talent.
Housley was a once-in-a-lifetime child prodigy, tearing up the ice at junior level in his home of Minnesota. In 1982, the Buffalo Sabres drafted him. He would stay with them for eight seasons before a move to the Winnipeg Jets. His later career would see him regularly switch between a host of top-flight NHL squads.
His accolades included being part of the NHL Rookie All-Star team in 1983 and the main All-Star games multiple times. In 1992, he was runner-up for the Norris Trophy. In 2015, he was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
By retirement, Housley held a lot of records for American-born players in the league. He held the most points for an American at 1,232, though Mike Modano later beat this. He also had the record for the most games played at 1,495. Chris Chelios later broke this. Housley then went on to an illustrious career in coaching, where he took Team USA to a gold medal at the U20 Championship, and then worked with the Buffalo Sabres and Arizona Coyotes.
Denis Potvin
Despite an early stint with the Ottawa 76’s, all of Denis Potvin’s NHL career was spent with the New York Islanders. First drafted in the 1973 amateur draft, he played 1060 games for them.
In this time, he managed to score 310 goals, 742 assists, and 1052 points. In 1979, he would also take on the captaincy for the team. A game against the Toronto Maple Leaf’s in 1986 would see him break the record for the league's top scoring defenseman at 271, beating a record set by Bobby Orr.
When it comes to trophies, his cabinet was brimming. In 1974, he won the Calder Trophy, and was gifted the James Norris Memorial Trophy in 76, 78, and 79. In the first year, he gained this for recording 98 points in 76 games, making him the league's best defenseman.
However, the real prize was the four consecutive times in which he won the Stanley Cup with them. The first was in 1980, continuing until 1983. In 1991, he was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Larry Murphy
Few players have had an NHL career as fruitful as Larry Murphy.
While he may not have been top of the stats and accolades, he has been a mainstay of numerous NHL teams over a 20-year tenure. His NHL career started in 1980 when he came from the Peterborough Petes.
Later, he would move on to the Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leaf’s, and round off his career at the Detroit Red Wings.
There are still a few records that are held by Larry Murphy. These include the most points by a rookie defenceman at 76 and most assists at 60, both in the 80-81 season.
He also holds the record for most assists post-season by a defenceman for his work in the Stanley Cup at 9. Murphy would win this with Pittsburgh twice and repeat it as a two-time winner with Detroit. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2004, his first year of eligibility.
Bobby Orr
When talk of the greatest hockey player of all time is discussed, Bobby Orr is never far off the list. Part of the myth stems from the era he played in when the league was establishing itself as one of the key sports leagues in post-war North America. He began his career with the Boston Bruins in 66, changing to the Chicago Blackhawks in the 76 seasons.
His inaugural season saw him win the Calder Trophy for best rookie. He also managed to record his first point in his maiden NHL game. By 1970, he won his first Stanley Cup with Boston, something they had not done in 29 years. They would repeat the victory two years later. The list of all his accolades and achievements would fill an article. However, what makes them even more outstanding is that he would do them all in only 12 seasons. This would take place over 657 games, and only his first nine seasons were full ones. Only 47 of these were played after his 27th birthday, due to a recurring knee injury, which would eventually cause his retirement.
Nicklas Lidstrom
Nicklas Lidstrom is one of the few on the list born outside North America, being of Swedish origin. Drafted by the Detroit Red Wings in the 1989 season, he would play a huge 20 seasons for them. He started in 1991 and ended in 2012, with a brief break playing for Västerås IK during the NHL lockout. For the last six seasons of his career, he would become the captain of the team.
His greatest accolade is being one of the few players to join the Triple Gold Club. This is when a player manages to gain an Olympic Gold, Stanley Cup win, and a World Championship win. He would lift the Stanley Cup four times with the Red Wings and have a monopoly on the Norris Trophy between 2001 and 2011, winning it 7 times.
There is also no Hockey Hall of Fame that can be entered without Lidstrom being in it. This includes the IIHF, IIHF Sweden All Time, Michigan Sports, and the overall Hockey Hall of Fame. Many of his accolades also came with the addition that he was the first European to achieve them.
Brian Leetch
Brian Leetch was picked by the New York Rangers directly from high school. He then went off to the 1988 Olympic team and did a year for Boston College. This training served him well, and he began playing for the NHL side properly in the 87-88 season. It was the 91-92 season in which he made a real bang. He scored 102 points and managed to put in 22 goals, along with a team record of 80 assists.
The year of 92 also saw him become the only American defenseman to record 100 points in a season. Despite winning the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year, he would then have an offseason and a major ankle injury.
It was 94 that was a career highlight for him and the team. They won the President's Trophy as he managed to bag 23 goals. Rounding it off was a Stanley Cup win, and Leetch became the only non-Canadian to win the Conn Smythe Trophy.
Rob Blake
Rob Blake started his NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings in the 1988 Entry Draft. He would return to them later after a stint at the Colorado Avalanche, before rounding off his career at the San Jose Sharks. He played a total of 21 seasons.
In his first season, he played alongside Wayne Gretzky and was often seen as part of the excitement around him. This saw him gain 12 goals and 46 points, earning him the NHL Rookie of the Year trophy.
In 1993, he would make the first Stanley Cup final appearance with the Kings. In this first incarnation with the team, he would get the James Norris Memorial Trophy and soon become the captain. However, his only Stanley Cup win would come in 2001 as part of the Colorado Avalanche.
He also had a healthy international career, playing at the Olympics and joining the Triple Gold Club. After retirement, he also had an executive career in coaching and management.