Six NHL players who underperformed defensively in 2025-26
Defense is always a tricky skillset to evaluate with NHL players. Considering how the average person evaluates players by on-ice events, and the entire concept of good defense is the lack of an event, it makes it tricky to go off of the eye test. How can you evaluate a player for defense when a good defensive player is one who doesn’t defend at all?
As a result, many people often resort to flawed stats like blocked shots, hits, faceoffs, plus/minus, giveaways and takeaways, or often just go off a player’s reputation around the league. Advanced stats have given us a better tool to use in this regard, through which at the very least, we can measure a player’s defensive impact. It’s not perfect, but it’s much better than what we’ve had to work with.
With that comes players whose defensive impacts are worse than the reputations which precede them. So which players would the average fan not expect to have struggled defensively this season? Let’s dive in.
Honorable Mentions: Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers; Brock Faber, Minnesota Wild; Bo Horvat, New York Islanders; Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings; Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche.
Anthony Cirelli, Tampa Bay Lightning
You may ask yourself, “Wasn’t Cirelli just named a finalist for the Selke Trophy? How could he have had a bad defensive season?” Well if there was ever an indication the Selke is about reputation more than performance, it’s Cirelli’s 2025-26 season. Despite the votes, he finished the year with a 0.089 5v5 regularized adjusted plus-minus expected goals against per 60 minutes (5v5 RAPM xGA/60) and a -3 defensive goals above replacement (GAR). Neither was close to the worst in the league, but neither was the best, and it isn’t close to the level he usually plays at defensively.
If anyone on the Lightning should have received Selke votes, it was Brandon Hagel. He and Cirelli were Tampa’s most common top-six forward pairing, and in the time they played together, the Lightning had a 59.74% 5v5 score-adjusted xG% and 2.81 5v5 xGA/60. But when apart, Hagel improved to a 60.15% 5v5 xG% and 2.27 5v5 xGA/60, while Cirelli dropped to a 43.38% 5v5 xG% and 2.91 5v5 xGA/60.
Cirelli did improve come playoff time, holding the Nick Suzuki line to a 41.46% 5v5 xGF% in the Lightning’s first-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, so Cirelli’s regular-season warts aren’t a cause for concern yet. But his season wasn’t Selke-worthy either, and he’s another lesson on falling on the crutch of “reputations” for defensive players. Very few players have defensive success year after year, so people do need to pay attention to performances in each given season.
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Crosby was a player who, at the start of his career, was commended for his offense. In fact, at the height of the debates over whether Jonathan Toews was better than Crosby, the large reason for the debate was how much better defensively Toews was. There’s since been a “course correction,” as the hockey world has applauded Crosby for his defensive ability. As a result, he’s received more votes for the Selke Trophy and is even talked of as a dark horse candidate for the award, even though he’s never finished as a finalist.
Here’s the problem though: Crosby’s never been a strong defensive player. At least, not consistently strong. This season wasn’t great with a 0.077 5v5 RAPM xGA/60 and -2.6 defensive GAR, but Crosby hasn’t had a season with a strong defensive impact since 2020-21 (-0.146 5v5 RAPM xGA/60, 1.2 defensive GAR). To make matters worse, he’s never strung together more than two seasons with a positive defensive impact in his career, and only did so in two consecutive seasons once: 2017-18 and 2018-19.
It’s easy to see why people get caught up in the narrative. By the eye test, Crosby appears defensively strong. He’s very active with his stick in his own end, and he generates a fair amount of turnovers. But as the Penguins have declined, he’s cheated for offense more than usual in hopes of improving the team that way. To be fair, it’s worked, especially this season, but it’s come at the expense of his defensive play.
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
The fact that the Lightning had such an excellent regular season, and yet find on this list two players who were the core of their defensive nucleus during the peak of their success, indicates how much the guard has changed in Tampa. Then again, Hedman was never relied on too heavily in shutdown minutes, even in Tampa’s glory years. The shutdown role was usually given to Ryan McDonagh and Erik Cernak, while Hedman was placed in a slightly more sheltered role to thrive offensively.
In Hedman’s defense, 2025-26 was a nightmare season for him all around. Physical and mental health issues restricted him to just 33 games, and he even missed the entirety of the first round against the Canadiens. He also lost his spot on the top power-play unit, which hindered his offensive production to one goal and 17 points.
But Hedman’s defense was not great this season either. He really struggled with a 0.111 5v5 RAPM xGA/60 (tied for 31st-worst among defensemen with 450 minutes) and -3.6 defensive GAR (tied for 21st-worst), and he hasn’t defended well for several seasons (his last positive defensive impact season was 2021-22). Perhaps his game would have turned around if he played in the playoffs, but the Lightning losing in seven might not have been due to Hedman’s absence.
Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs
Matthews will want to forget the last two seasons. Along with his well-documented offensive struggles (by his standard), during which he had just 60 goals and 131 points in 127 games, he also has struggled in his own zone with a 0.077 5v5 RAPM xGA/60 and a -3.6 defensive GAR. Once thought of as one of the game’s best two-way players, he hasn’t played at that level for two seasons.
However, unlike for most players on this list, there was a very easy solution to this issue: firing Craig Berube, which the Leafs did Wednesday morning. It’s no coincidence Auston has struggled to score goals and defend just for the two seasons which Berube was his head coach. Whether it’s his systems trapping the Leafs in their own end more than usual (the Leafs have the sixth-worst xGF% during his tenure), his dump-and-chase, grinding offensive schemes creating less space for Matthews when he fires the puck, or how the Leafs head coach deploys his captain as a shutdown center like Aleksander Barkov (30.71% 5v5 defensive zone starts and the highest RAPM xG+-/60 quality of competition in the league in the last two seasons) when Matthews should be used as an offensive weapon, it’s easy to see how Matthews’ game has fallen off under Berube.
Charlie McAvoy, Boston Bruins
McAvoy has been an interesting defenseman to follow throughout his career. He was luckier than most young defensemen, as he came onto the scene in 2017-18 and got to learn from one of the very best in Zdeno Chara. Once Chara left the Bruins, McAvoy was given the keys to Boston’s defense corps and, since then, has been thought of as an elite defenseman.
For a majority of McAvoy’s time in this role, he has performed at an elite level. But his defensive game has slipped in the past two seasons. In 2024-25, he put up OK defensive results, but they were still the worst of his career to that point with a 0.008 5v5 RAPM xGA/60 and 2.1 defensive GAR. This season, it was even worse, as his defensive impact dropped to a 0.082 5v5 RAPM xGA/60 and -4.7 defensive GAR.
The big question about McAvoy is whether this is an aberration or a trend. If it’s a blip, then he should be OK and we’ll see a return to form soon. But if this is an indication about the future for McAvoy, the Bruins could be in trouble unless they add another key player to their defense corps.
Vincent Trocheck, New York Rangers
Speaking of U.S. Olympians with questionable defensive results, Trocheck is another player who’s seen his defensive game slip. But unlike McAvoy, Trocheck’s wasn’t a one-off: he’s seen his defensive game trend downwards for three straight seasons. Since 2023-24, he’s had 5v5 RAPM xGA/60’s of 0.053, 0.098 and 0.138 and defensive GAR’s of 1, -2.5 and -4.9.
While casual fans thought recruiting Trocheck for the 4 Nations Face-Off and 2026 Olympics solely for his defense and penalty killing was misguided, others knew it was foolish because his defense wasn’t even good to begin with. It worked out for the USA in Milan, but otherwise Trocheck’s defensive game hasn’t been the same since the prime of his career.
The Rangers were shopping Trocheck at the deadline, and if I were them, I’d look to move him while his value is high and people still view him as a top-six shutdown center. Then again, perhaps New York’s struggles explain his poor defensive play.
All advanced stats courtesy of Evolving Hockey.
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