Three young defensemen set to take off with increased responsibility in 2023–24

Mike Gould
Mike Gould
Three young defensemen set to take off with increased responsibility in 2023–24
Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

We’re still in the early days of the 2023–24 NHL regular season, but the winds of change are already beginning to blow. New faces are starting to emerge around the league, while other, more experienced players have begun declining.

Obviously, it’s way more fun to talk about the up-and-comers. Everyone has seen more than their fair share of Connor Bedard highlights by now, and fellow youngsters Logan Cooley, Zach Benson, and Ridly Greig are taking the league by storm.

But this isn’t a piece about them. Instead, we’re going to take a gander at three overlooked young defensemen who are taking major strides early on this season with the benefit of increased responsibility.

All three of these guys are under 25 and entered the league with pretty solid pedigree — and all three are exceeding expectations in the early goings of the new season. We’ll start out in the desert and work our way north from there.

Sean Durzi (Arizona Coyotes)

When the Coyotes acquired Sean Durzi from the Los Angeles Kings in June, he was coming off a season in which he had scored 38 points in 72 games. It seemed like he was ready to take on more responsibility on a rebuilding team looking to take the next step.

So far, so good. Through his first three games with the Coyotes, Durzi is averaging an eye-popping 25:07 of ice time while being leaned upon to contribute on both the power play and penalty kill.

Durzi, who turns 25 on Saturday, is right up there with the likes of Rasmus Dahlin and Victor Hedman in terms of his per-game usage. And while he’s not as impactful in his own zone as either of those players, he has all the skill to be a 50-point guy in the right situation.

The de facto No. 1 on this Arizona team, Durzi has stepped right into the role Jakob Chychrun occupied when healthy in his final four seasons with the Coyotes. Durzi isn’t the biggest guy, but he’s capable of playing both sides and putting up huge numbers when deployed correctly.

Individually, Durzi leads all Coyotes skaters in shot attempts in all situations through three games this season. He’s tops among defenders in scoring chances. And in the Coyotes’ season-opening game against the New Jersey Devils on October 13, Durzi drilled home a one-timer from the point for the team’s first power-play goal of the year.

Nicolas Hague (Vegas Golden Knights)

It might seem a little counter-intuitive to put someone who’s already reached the pinnacle of the sport onto a list like this, but Nicolas Hague is thriving with more responsibility with the Vegas Golden Knights to begin his fifth NHL season.

With Alex Pietrangelo, Zach Whitecloud, and Alec Martinez all currently on the injured list, Hague’s average ice time has skyrocketed north of 21 minutes per night through the first four games of the 2023–24 season. He’s managed three points so far while positively influencing play at both ends of the ice.

Hague started the season on a pairing with Pietrangelo but is now skating alongside Brayden McNabb on the Golden Knights’ second unit. With Hague on the ice, Vegas has controlled 53.85 percent of all 5-on-5 shot attempts and 55.17 percent of the expected goals, per Natural Stat Trick. Not bad at all!

With Martinez entering what is likely his final year with the Golden Knights and McNabb pushing into his 30s, Vegas needs players like Hague and Whitecloud to blossom into legit top-four defenders. For the first time in his career to date, Hague is being deployed like one on a regular basis — and he’s holding his own.

Even with more than 250 games of NHL experience (including playoffs) to his credit, Hague won’t turn 25 until December. The 6’6″ pillar from Kitchener has all kinds of upside, especially if he keeps shooting the puck like this:

Brock Faber (Minnesota Wild)

The Minnesota Wild seem to have made the right call in targeting hometown boy Brock Faber in the Kevin Fiala trade. (By the way, it’s absolutely a coincidence that the first two players on this list are formerly of the Los Angeles Kings organization).

Faber turned 21 in August and has played in exactly five regular-season games with the Wild since turning pro at the end of his 2022–23 collegiate season, but he certainly doesn’t look the part of an inexperienced rookie.

Through three games with the Wild this year, Faber has logged 23:06 of ice time per game — more than any other skater on the team. Jonas Brodin, Kirill Kaprizov, you name it. Jared Spurgeon’s injury-related absence has opened the door for Faber to establish himself, and he’s done so with gusto.

The Wild have outshot and outchanced their opponents by a decent margin with Faber on the ice, and he hasn’t been sheltered whatsoever. He’s played practically all of his minutes at 5-on-5 and on the PK, with barely any PP usage. Barely any veteran NHLers are able to perform like Faber has in his first dozen-ish games with the Wild.

Even when Spurgeon returns, Faber should remain a fixture in Minnesota’s top four. If he keeps up this level of play, he could be in right in the conversation with the likes of Connor Bedard and Logan Cooley for the Calder Trophy by season’s end.

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