Counting stats

NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen

2025-26All situationsThrough 83 team games

This board ranks defensemen only by assists.

Assists credit the last one or two players to touch the puck before a goal. Playmaking centres and power-play quarterbacks on the blue line top the list, and secondary assists make the totals noisier than goals suggest. In leagues that split positions, use it to fill your defense slots, and check the per-60 board for defensemen getting more out of fewer minutes.

Leader in 2025-26: Evan Bouchard (EDM), 74 A.

Season2026-27 2025-26 2024-25 2023-24

Older seasons

2022-23 2021-22 2020-21 2019-20 2018-19 2017-18

Show

NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen, 2025-26, All situations
#	Player	Team	A	GP	Per game	G	PTS
1	Evan BouchardDEDM	EDM	74	82	0.90	21	95	24:41	86th	96th	100%
2	Quinn HughesDMIN	MIN	69	74	0.93	7	76	27:44	41st	78th	100%
3	Lane HutsonDMTL	MTL	66	82	0.80	12	78	23:46	50th	56th	99%▲3.1
4	Zach WerenskiDCBJ	CBJ	59	75	0.79	22	81	26:37	70th	82nd	100%
5	Cale MakarDCOL	COL	59	75	0.79	20	79	24:51	99th	95th	100%▲1
6	Rasmus DahlinDBUF	BUF	55	77	0.71	19	74	24:11	64th	66th	100%▲1
7	Miro HeiskanenDDAL	DAL	54	77	0.70	9	63	25:28	81st	95th	99%▲4.3
8	Erik KarlssonDPIT	PIT	51	75	0.68	15	66	23:36	63rd	87th	95%
9	Moritz SeiderDDET	DET	50	82	0.61	10	60	25:40	33rd	85th	100%▲0.6
10	Charlie McAvoyDBOS	BOS	50	69	0.72	11	61	24:23	40th	87th	97%▲6.2
11	Mikhail SergachevDUTA	UTA	49	78	0.63	10	59	24:18	83rd	89th	98%▲5.2
12	Jackson LaCombeDANA	ANA	48	82	0.59	10	58	24:15	56th	78th	98%▲9.6
13	Darren RaddyshDTBL	TBL	48	73	0.66	22	70	22:42	91st	88th	99%▲3.2
14	John CarlsonDANA	ANA	46	71	0.65	14	60	23:10	57th	62nd	99%▲2.4
15	Adam FoxDNYR	NYR	44	55	0.80	9	53	23:38	30th	71st	99%▲6.8
16	Roman JosiDNSH	NSH	42	68	0.62	13	55	24:53	27th	82nd	98%▼0.5
17	Filip HronekDVAN	VAN	41	82	0.50	8	49	25:00	5th	83rd	91%▲14
18	Josh MorrisseyDWPG	WPG	41	77	0.53	14	55	24:43	38th	85th	99%▲3.2
19	Jake SandersonDOTT	OTT	40	67	0.60	14	54	24:50	94th	97th	99%▲2.9
20	Shayne GostisbehereDCAR	CAR	37	55	0.67	13	50	19:14	95th	34th	96%▲16
21	Matthew SchaeferDNYI	NYI	36	82	0.44	23	59	24:41	26th	89th	100%
22	Brock FaberDMIN	MIN	36	80	0.45	15	51	24:41	74th	88th	94%▼4.2
23	Mattias EkholmDEDM	EDM	35	82	0.43	6	41	20:36	86th	94th	77%▲9.5
24	Noah DobsonDMTL	MTL	35	80	0.44	12	47	22:29	51st	96th	98%▼1.2
25	Dmitry OrlovDSJS	SJS	34	82	0.41	3	37	21:12	15th	80th	35%▲21
26	Jakob ChychrunDWSH	WSH	34	80	0.42	26	60	23:20	54th	56th	99%
27	Vince DunnDSEA	SEA	33	81	0.41	11	44	21:40	7th	95th	89%▲12
28	Brandt ClarkeDLAK	LAK	32	82	0.39	8	40	19:48	66th	56th	96%▲10
29	Sam MalinskiDCOL	COL	32	82	0.39	8	40	17:37	98th	47th	55%▲32
30	John MarinoDUTA	UTA	32	80	0.40	4	36	20:12	85th	71st	18%▲13
31	Bowen ByramDBUF	BUF	31	82	0.38	11	42	22:20	62nd	64th	96%▲6.5
32	Oliver Ekman-LarssonDTOR	TOR	31	78	0.40	8	39	20:36	8th	54th	43%▲32
33	Kris LetangDPIT	PIT	31	74	0.42	3	34	21:41	69th	66th	47%▼16
34	Rasmus AnderssonDVGK	VGK	30	81	0.37	17	47	23:12	50th	83rd	94%▼3.9
35	Mike MathesonDMTL	MTL	30	78	0.38	7	37	24:10	49th	99th	85%▼7.8
36	Tony DeAngeloDNYI	NYI	30	76	0.39	5	35	19:08	31st	47th	24%▲18
37	Thomas HarleyDDAL	DAL	30	70	0.43	6	36	23:03	79th	66th	88%▲8.6
38	Ryan SheaDPIT	PIT	29	80	0.36	6	35	18:53	68th	44th	16%▲11
39	K'Andre MillerDCAR	CAR	29	72	0.40	8	37	22:24	96th	87th	64%▲26
40	Shea TheodoreDVGK	VGK	29	70	0.41	10	39	22:50	92nd	92nd	91%▲28
41	Luke HughesDNJD	NJD	29	68	0.43	6	35	23:01	44th	61st	84%▲40
42	Philip BrobergDSTL	STL	28	81	0.35	6	34	23:21	63rd	88th	66%▲50
43	Mattias SamuelssonDBUF	BUF	28	78	0.36	13	41	22:50	68th	76th	79%▲9.3
44	Parker WotherspoonDPIT	PIT	27	80	0.34	3	30	20:10	66th	81st	20%▲19
45	Dougie HamiltonDNJD	NJD	27	77	0.35	12	39	21:32	42nd	68th	84%▲12
46	Cam FowlerDSTL	STL	26	82	0.32	4	30	21:05	57th	49th	14%▲1.8
47	Esa LindellDDAL	DAL	26	82	0.32	6	32	23:14	82nd	94th	37%▼31
48	Travis SanheimDPHI	PHI	26	81	0.32	11	37	24:13	79th	93rd	67%▼7.1
49	Gustav ForslingDFLA	FLA	26	80	0.33	2	28	22:38	64th	95th	42%▲18
50	Josh MansonDCOL	COL	26	79	0.33	5	31	17:47	98th	52nd	32%▲16
51	Jacob TroubaDANA	ANA	25	81	0.31	10	35	22:50	66th	68th	76%▼11
52	Artem ZubDOTT	OTT	25	81	0.31	5	30	20:48	94th	93rd	10%▲6.1
53	Morgan RiellyDTOR	TOR	25	78	0.32	11	36	21:08	8th	48th	76%▼5.1
54	Noah HanifinDVGK	VGK	25	71	0.35	3	28	22:36	87th	61st	53%▼22
55	Seth JonesDFLA	FLA	25	52	0.48	7	32	23:42	56th	76th	80%▲32
56	MacKenzie WeegarDUTA	UTA	24	79	0.30	4	28	22:28	31st	66th	93%▼7.2
57	Justin FaulkDDET	DET	24	78	0.31	16	40	22:01	48th	60th	55%▼22
58	Jamie DrysdaleDPHI	PHI	24	78	0.31	8	32	21:33	80th	54th	55%▲46
59	Ryan PulockDNYI	NYI	24	76	0.32	3	27	20:49	32nd	99th	10%▼1.4
60	Rasmus SandinDWSH	WSH	24	73	0.33	5	29	19:12	55th	53rd	14%▲11
61	Jordan SpenceDOTT	OTT	24	73	0.33	7	31	18:44	91st	30th	21%▲17
62	Damon SeversonDCBJ	CBJ	24	71	0.34	8	32	21:04	72nd	72nd	9.4%▲6.2
63	Thomas ChabotDOTT	OTT	24	57	0.42	7	31	22:35	94th	54th	83%▼12
64	Brent BurnsDCOL	COL	23	82	0.28	12	35	18:53	99th	51st	50%▼14
65	Brady SkjeiDNSH	NSH	23	82	0.28	3	26	22:37	28th	98th	18%▼31
66	Charle-Edouard D'AstousDTBL	TBL	23	70	0.33	6	29	18:45	86th	46th	22%▲17
67	Ivan ProvorovDCBJ	CBJ	22	82	0.27	9	31	24:49	72nd	73rd	36%▼27
68	Sean WalkerDCAR	CAR	22	81	0.27	9	31	21:49	96th	79th	61%▼11
69	Martin FehérváryDWSH	WSH	22	81	0.27	5	27	19:17	61st	77th	27%▼7.7
70	Alexander NikishinDCAR	CAR	22	81	0.27	11	33	18:11	98th	16th	67%▲8.1
71	J.J. MoserDTBL	TBL	22	79	0.28	7	29	21:34	90th	92nd	22%▲19
72	Cam YorkDPHI	PHI	22	74	0.30	4	26	22:32	81st	79th	20%▲18
73	Aaron EkbladDFLA	FLA	22	72	0.31	4	26	22:29	74th	97th	50%▲34
74	Artyom LevshunovDCHI	CHI	22	68	0.32	2	24	19:35	4th	59th	45%▲43
75	Sean DurziDUTA	UTA	22	60	0.37	5	27	19:16	84th	64th	38%▲36
76	Joel EdmundsonDLAK	LAK	21	82	0.26	2	23	18:29	79th	62nd	4.0%▲3.9
77	Vladislav GavrikovDNYR	NYR	21	82	0.26	14	35	23:44	32nd	73rd	41%▼5.9
78	Owen PowerDBUF	BUF	21	81	0.26	8	29	21:39	61st	68th	53%▲30
79	Devon ToewsDCOL	COL	21	68	0.31	3	24	22:22	99th	93rd	62%▼1
80	Hampus LindholmDBOS	BOS	21	67	0.31	5	26	21:37	35th	74th	17%▲15
81	Brandon MontourDSEA	SEA	21	64	0.33	11	32	22:34	11th	62nd	83%▲10
82	Ian ColeDUTA	UTA	20	82	0.24	3	23	18:16	81st	24th	4.9%▲4.3
83	Nikita ZadorovDBOS	BOS	20	81	0.25	2	22	20:53	36th	65th	39%▲21
84	Jake McCabeDTOR	TOR	20	80	0.25	5	25	22:24	9th	90th	34%▼15
85	Zeev BuiumDVAN	VAN	20	76	0.26	6	26	19:35	6th	39th	73%▲53
86	Alex VlasicDCHI	CHI	19	81	0.23	2	21	21:08	3rd	99th	9.0%▲7.7
87	Mason LohreiDBOS	BOS	19	73	0.26	7	26	16:54	41st	32nd	22%▲21
88	Adam LarssonDSEA	SEA	18	82	0.22	7	25	21:22	7th	95th	23%▼19
89	Louis CrevierDCHI	CHI	18	78	0.23	7	25	17:08	2nd	99th	15%▲15
90	Denton MateychukDCBJ	CBJ	18	75	0.24	13	31	19:11	73rd	62nd	42%▲40
91	Drew DoughtyDLAK	LAK	18	72	0.25	5	23	23:05	75th	74th	22%▲12
92	Nate SchmidtDUTA	UTA	17	82	0.21	5	22	19:42	85th	65th	4.9%▲4.5
93	Darnell NurseDEDM	EDM	17	82	0.21	7	24	20:58	48th	61st	69%▼13
94	Matt RoyDWSH	WSH	17	79	0.22	2	19	20:37	55th	69th	9.0%▲8.3
95	Logan StanleyDBUF	BUF	17	76	0.22	9	26	16:42	28th	26th	6.6%▲5.9
96	John KlingbergDSJS	SJS	17	56	0.30	10	27	20:28	18th	68th	0.2%
97	Dylan DeMeloDWPG	WPG	16	82	0.20	3	19	21:27	36th	84th	5.7%▲5.5
98	Jonas SiegenthalerDNJD	NJD	16	82	0.20	0	16	19:29	44th	66th	3.3%▲2.9
99	Mario FerraroDSJS	SJS	16	82	0.20	7	23	21:02	9th	69th	15%▼2.1
100	Braden SchneiderDNYR	NYR	16	82	0.20	2	18	20:27	25th	56th	20%▲18

How to read it

Total assists this season, all situations.

How reliable is it?

Totals reward games played and ice time as much as skill; see the per-60 version for the rate view.

About our data sources →

Projected next

Our fantasy projections for assists: who should lead the coming games.

Today →This week →Rest of season →

All NHL leaderboards →

Assists: defense leaderboard

How to read it

How reliable is it?

Projected next

Related leaderboards