Top NHL Defensemen by Expected Goals For %

2021-22·Regular Season·20+ GP

Aaron Ekblad (FLA) leads NHL defensemen with 61.8% expected goals for % across 61 games, 0.4 percentage points ahead of Charlie McAvoy. MacKenzie Weegar rounds out the top three at 60.0%. Rankings cover the 2021-22 NHL season among qualifying defensemen.

Position: DefenseMin GP: 20+

Player	Team	Pos	Age	GP	G	A	A1	P	P/60	S%	xGF%	CF%	+/-	TOI	Cap Hit
Aaron Ekblad DFLA#5	FLA	D	30	61	15	42	13	57	2.25	8.3%	61.8	58.1	+38	24.9	$7.50M
Charlie McAvoy DBOS#73	BOS	D	28	78	10	46	16	56	1.75	6.0%	61.4	57.6	+31	24.6	$4.90M
MacKenzie Weegar DFLA#52	FLA	D	32	80	8	36	17	44	1.41	3.9%	60.0	57.8	+40	23.4	$3.25M
Rasmus Sandin DTOR#38	TOR	D	26	51	5	11	5	16	1.11	10.9%	59.5	54.8	+9	17.0	$894,167
Matt Grzelcyk DBOS#24	BOS	D	32	73	4	20	9	24	1.05	3.4%	58.6	55.5	+22	18.7	$3.69M
Lucas Carlsson DFLA#36	FLA	D	29	40	3	6	3	9	1.06	7.3%	58.2	56.1	+3	12.7	$750,000
Cale Makar DCOL#8	COL	D	27	77	28	58	29	86	2.61	11.7%	58.0	55.3	+48	25.7	$9.00M
Jared Spurgeon DMIN#46	MIN	D	36	65	10	30	16	40	1.75	8.6%	57.6	55.0	+32	21.2	$7.58M
Mark Friedman DPIT#51	PIT	D	30	26	1	4	1	5	0.87	3.7%	57.6	49.7	+1	13.3	$725,000
Gustav Forsling DFLA#42	FLA	D	30	71	10	27	13	37	1.47	6.9%	57.4	55.4	+41	21.2	$2.67M
Mike Reilly DBOS#2	BOS	D	33	70	4	13	6	17	0.77	3.0%	57.4	56.4	−1	19.0	$3.00M
Chad Ruhwedel DPIT#5	PIT	D	36	78	4	9	3	13	0.65	4.9%	57.4	53.7	+2	15.3	-
Ian Cole DCAR#28	CAR	D	37	75	2	17	6	19	0.89	2.6%	57.3	57.9	+15	17.2	$2.90M
Nikita Zadorov DCGY#91	CGY	D	31	74	4	18	8	22	1.05	3.8%	57.3	59.5	+11	16.9	$3.75M
Timothy Liljegren DTOR#27	TOR	D	27	61	5	18	6	23	1.38	6.3%	57.1	54.9	+15	16.4	$863,334
Devon Toews DCOL#7	COL	D	32	66	13	44	11	57	2.04	8.2%	56.8	56.1	+52	25.4	$4.10M
Jaccob Slavin DCAR#74	CAR	D	32	79	4	38	14	42	1.36	2.4%	56.7	55.5	+35	23.5	$5.30M
Radko Gudas DFLA#7	FLA	D	36	77	3	13	7	16	0.69	3.0%	56.6	54.5	+27	18.0	$2.50M
Rasmus Andersson DCGY#4	CGY	D	29	82	4	46	21	50	1.61	2.6%	56.4	54.9	+30	22.7	$4.55M
Mike Matheson DPIT#8	PIT	D	32	74	11	20	11	31	1.34	7.9%	56.4	53.6	+12	18.8	$4.88M
Ethan Bear DCAR#25	CAR	D	29	58	5	9	6	14	0.90	5.2%	56.1	56.9	+1	16.1	$2.00M
Alexander Edler DLAK#2	LAK	D	40	41	3	16	7	19	1.51	5.6%	56.1	56.1	+18	18.5	$3.50M
Brandon Montour DFLA#62	FLA	D	32	81	11	26	10	37	1.53	7.2%	56.1	56.2	+15	17.9	$3.50M
Noah Hanifin DCGY#15	CGY	D	29	81	10	38	12	48	1.67	5.3%	56.1	55.3	+27	21.3	$4.95M
Chris Tanev DCGY#8	CGY	D	36	82	6	22	11	28	1.00	6.8%	55.9	53.5	+35	20.5	$4.50M
Oliver Kylington DCGY#58	CGY	D	29	73	9	22	8	31	1.40	6.5%	55.8	53.6	+34	18.2	$750,000
Brendan Smith DCAR#2	CAR	D	37	45	4	4	2	8	0.77	6.3%	55.7	57.1	+6	13.9	$800,000
Drew Doughty DLAK#8	LAK	D	36	39	7	24	10	31	1.85	7.1%	55.6	59.1	+4	25.7	$11.00M
Jonas Brodin DMIN#25	MIN	D	33	73	5	25	9	30	1.05	4.0%	55.0	52.4	+9	23.4	$6.00M
Travis Dermott DVAN#24	VAN	D	29	60	2	5	2	7	0.46	4.3%	55.0	52.9	+9	15.3	$1.50M
Tony DeAngelo DCAR#4	CAR	D	30	64	10	41	21	51	2.41	6.6%	54.9	54.1	+30	19.8	$1.00M
Alex Goligoski DMIN#33	MIN	D	41	72	2	28	11	30	1.32	2.5%	54.9	52.1	+41	18.9	$5.00M
Erik Gudbranson DCGY#44	CGY	D	34	78	6	11	5	17	0.72	4.7%	54.9	57.6	+15	18.1	$1.95M
Thomas Harley DDAL#55	DAL	D	25	34	1	3	2	4	0.52	2.8%	54.7	53.0	−4	13.7	$863,334
Connor Clifton DBOS#75	BOS	D	31	60	2	8	3	10	0.62	2.5%	54.6	54.2	−2	16.1	$1.00M
Kris Russell DEDM#6	EDM	D	39	31	2	7	3	9	1.13	5.9%	54.4	47.8	+7	15.4	$1.25M
William Lagesson DMTL#84	MTL	D	30	33	0	5	0	5	0.72	0.0%	54.3	53.9	+3	12.6	$725,000
Dylan DeMelo DWPG#2	WPG	D	33	76	1	12	6	13	0.55	1.3%	54.3	51.1	+10	18.5	$3.00M
Miro Heiskanen DDAL#4	DAL	D	27	70	5	31	18	36	1.24	3.2%	54.2	51.9	+3	24.9	$8.45M
Josh Morrissey DWPG#44	WPG	D	31	79	12	25	14	37	1.19	6.9%	54.2	52.4	−3	23.7	$6.25M
TJ Brodie DTOR#78	TOR	D	36	82	4	24	11	28	0.96	5.9%	54.1	52.7	+20	21.3	$5.00M
Morgan Rielly DTOR#44	TOR	D	32	82	10	58	32	68	2.10	4.5%	54.1	53.5	+16	23.7	$5.00M
Zach Whitecloud DVGK#28	VGK	D	29	59	8	11	8	19	1.03	8.5%	54.0	52.5	+21	18.8	$725,000
Justin Holl DTOR#3	TOR	D	34	69	3	20	6	23	0.99	4.7%	53.9	52.2	+14	20.2	$2.00M
Mikey Anderson DLAK#44	LAK	D	27	57	2	6	4	8	0.42	3.4%	53.8	54.3	+6	20.1	$925,000
Victor Hedman DTBL#77	TBL	D	35	82	20	65	34	85	2.48	9.1%	53.8	53.3	+26	25.1	$7.88M
Matt Roy DLAK#3	LAK	D	31	67	2	19	16	21	0.90	1.3%	53.7	55.4	+23	21.0	$3.15M
Jake Muzzin DTOR#8	TOR	D	37	47	3	11	5	14	0.86	4.0%	53.6	53.0	−6	20.7	$5.63M
Alec Martinez DVGK#25	VGK	D	39	26	3	5	1	8	0.94	9.4%	53.5	51.5	+6	19.5	$5.25M
Darnell Nurse DEDM#25	EDM	D	31	71	9	26	12	35	1.18	4.4%	53.4	53.7	+18	25.0	$5.60M

Showing 1–50 of 242 players

Legend

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GP: Games Played

Green: Above 50% (league avg)

Red: Below 50%