Counting stats

NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen

2019-20All situationsThrough 71 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 2019-20: John Carlson (WSH), 60 A.

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

2019-20

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

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NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen, 2019-20, All situations
#	Player	Team	A	GP	Per game	G	PTS
1	John CarlsonDWSH	WSH	60	69	0.87	15	75	24:38	99%▲2.4
2	Roman JosiDNSH	NSH	49	69	0.71	16	65	25:47	98%▼0.5
3	Quinn HughesDVAN	VAN	45	68	0.66	8	53	21:53	100%
4	Victor HedmanDTBL	TBL	44	66	0.67	11	55	24:04	93%▲11
5	Ryan SuterDMIN	MIN	40	69	0.58	8	48	24:38	—
6	Keith YandleDFLA	FLA	40	69	0.58	5	45	19:42	—
7	Torey KrugDBOS	BOS	40	61	0.66	9	49	20:29	0.0%
8	Neal PionkDWPG	WPG	39	71	0.55	6	45	23:23	32%▲31
9	Tony DeAngeloDNYR	NYR	38	68	0.56	15	53	19:17	24%▲18
10	Cale MakarDCOL	COL	38	57	0.67	12	50	21:01	100%▲1
11	Alex PietrangeloDSTL	STL	36	70	0.51	16	52	24:11	4.0%▲3.7
12	Aaron EkbladDFLA	FLA	36	67	0.54	5	41	22:59	50%▲34
13	Rasmus DahlinDBUF	BUF	36	59	0.61	4	40	19:18	100%▲1
14	Tyson BarrieDTOR	TOR	34	70	0.49	5	39	21:53	—
15	Adam FoxDNYR	NYR	34	70	0.49	8	42	18:54	99%▲6.8
16	Erik KarlssonDSJS	SJS	34	56	0.61	6	40	24:31	95%
17	Shea TheodoreDVGK	VGK	33	71	0.46	13	46	22:14	91%▲28
18	Thomas ChabotDOTT	OTT	33	71	0.46	6	39	26:00	83%▼12
19	Brent BurnsDSJS	SJS	33	70	0.47	12	45	25:25	50%▼14
20	Samuel GirardDCOL	COL	30	70	0.43	4	34	21:19	9.0%▲8.6
21	Jaccob SlavinDCAR	CAR	30	68	0.44	6	36	23:24	16%▲4.6
22	Ryan EllisDNSH	NSH	30	49	0.61	8	38	23:30	—
23	Jeff PetryDMTL	MTL	29	71	0.41	11	40	23:39	0.1%
24	Oscar KlefbomDEDM	EDM	29	62	0.47	5	34	25:25	—
25	Kris LetangDPIT	PIT	29	61	0.48	15	44	25:44	47%▼16
26	Darnell NurseDEDM	EDM	28	71	0.39	5	33	23:27	69%▼13
27	Alex GoligoskiDARI	ARI	28	70	0.40	4	32	23:03	—
28	Drew DoughtyDLAK	LAK	28	67	0.42	7	35	25:49	22%▲12
29	Alexander EdlerDVAN	VAN	28	59	0.47	5	33	22:37	—
30	Rasmus RistolainenDBUF	BUF	27	69	0.39	6	33	22:48	8.3%▲7.7
31	Miro HeiskanenDDAL	DAL	27	68	0.40	8	35	23:46	99%▲4.3
32	Charlie McAvoyDBOS	BOS	27	67	0.40	5	32	23:10	97%▲6.2
33	Kevin ShattenkirkDTBL	TBL	26	70	0.37	8	34	18:54	—
34	Jonas BrodinDMIN	MIN	26	69	0.38	2	28	21:33	5.0%▲4.3
35	Josh MorrisseyDWPG	WPG	26	65	0.40	5	31	22:46	99%▲3.2
36	Mark GiordanoDCGY	CGY	26	60	0.43	5	31	23:53	—
37	John KlingbergDDAL	DAL	26	58	0.45	6	32	22:10	0.2%
38	Dougie HamiltonDCAR	CAR	26	47	0.55	14	40	23:17	84%▲12
39	Matt NiskanenDPHI	PHI	25	68	0.37	8	33	21:54	—
40	Mattias EkholmDNSH	NSH	25	68	0.37	8	33	23:22	77%▲9.5
41	Ryan PulockDNYI	NYI	25	68	0.37	10	35	22:24	10%▼1.4
42	Mikhail SergachevDTBL	TBL	24	70	0.34	10	34	20:22	98%▲5.2
43	Duncan KeithDCHI	CHI	24	61	0.39	3	27	24:23	—
44	Nate SchmidtDVGK	VGK	24	59	0.41	7	31	21:41	4.9%▲4.5
45	Seth JonesDCBJ	CBJ	24	56	0.43	6	30	25:17	80%▲32
46	Morgan RiellyDTOR	TOR	24	47	0.51	3	27	24:12	76%▼5.1
47	Dmitry OrlovDWSH	WSH	23	69	0.33	4	27	22:10	35%▲21
48	Damon SeversonDNJD	NJD	23	69	0.33	8	31	22:58	9.4%▲6.2
49	Ivan ProvorovDPHI	PHI	23	69	0.33	13	36	24:51	36%▼27
50	Erik GustafssonDCGY	CGY	23	66	0.35	6	29	20:23	3.2%▲3.2
51	Devon ToewsDNYI	NYI	22	68	0.32	6	28	20:31	62%▼1
52	Ian ColeDCOL	COL	22	65	0.34	4	26	17:42	4.9%▲4.3
53	Filip HronekDDET	DET	22	65	0.34	9	31	23:54	91%▲14
54	Oliver Ekman-LarssonDARI	ARI	21	66	0.32	9	30	23:01	43%▲32
55	Shea WeberDMTL	MTL	21	65	0.32	15	36	24:00	—
56	Zach WerenskiDCBJ	CBJ	21	63	0.33	20	41	23:59	100%
57	Jacob TroubaDNYR	NYR	20	70	0.29	7	27	22:34	76%▼11
58	Esa LindellDDAL	DAL	20	69	0.29	3	23	23:25	37%▼31
59	Marcus PetterssonDPIT	PIT	20	69	0.29	2	22	19:24	6.6%▲6.2
60	Jake GardinerDCAR	CAR	20	68	0.29	4	24	16:40	—
61	Jared SpurgeonDMIN	MIN	20	62	0.32	12	32	22:34	10%▲8.2
62	Cam FowlerDANA	ANA	20	59	0.34	9	29	21:59	14%▲1.8
63	John MarinoDPIT	PIT	20	56	0.36	6	26	20:15	18%▲13
64	Hampus LindholmDANA	ANA	20	55	0.36	2	22	23:04	17%▲15
65	Sean WalkerDLAK	LAK	19	70	0.27	5	24	18:50	61%▼11
66	Chris TanevDVAN	VAN	18	69	0.26	2	20	19:32	6.0%▲5
67	Mathew DumbaDMIN	MIN	18	69	0.26	6	24	22:30	0.1%
68	Colton ParaykoDSTL	STL	18	64	0.28	10	28	23:00	37%▼42
69	Nick LeddyDNYI	NYI	18	60	0.30	3	21	21:07	0.0%
70	Sami VatanenDNJD	NJD	18	47	0.38	5	23	21:45	—
71	Noah HanifinDCGY	CGY	17	70	0.24	5	22	21:10	53%▼22
72	Rasmus AnderssonDCGY	CGY	17	70	0.24	5	22	19:56	94%▼3.9
73	Ryan GravesDCOL	COL	17	69	0.25	9	26	18:57	0.1%
74	Travis SanheimDPHI	PHI	17	69	0.25	8	25	20:09	67%▼7.1
75	Matt GrzelcykDBOS	BOS	17	68	0.25	4	21	18:04	0.1%
76	Will ButcherDNJD	NJD	17	56	0.30	4	21	17:55	—
77	Jake MuzzinDTOR	TOR	17	53	0.32	6	23	21:36	—
78	Ethan BearDEDM	EDM	16	71	0.23	5	21	21:58	0.0%
79	Justin HollDTOR	TOR	16	68	0.24	2	18	18:31	—
80	Brady SkjeiDCAR	CAR	16	67	0.24	8	24	20:41	18%▼31
81	Justin BraunDPHI	PHI	16	62	0.26	3	19	17:16	—
82	Tyler MyersDVAN	VAN	15	68	0.22	6	21	21:30	4.1%▲3.7
83	Brandon CarloDBOS	BOS	15	67	0.22	4	19	20:29	0.3%
84	TJ BrodieDCGY	CGY	15	64	0.23	4	19	20:27	—
85	Michal KempnyDWSH	WSH	15	58	0.26	3	18	18:38	—
86	Mike ReillyDOTT	OTT	15	44	0.34	1	16	18:01	0.1%
87	Vince DunnDSTL	STL	14	71	0.20	9	23	16:16	89%▲12
88	Matt RoyDLAK	LAK	14	70	0.20	4	18	18:07	9.0%▲8.3
89	Anton StralmanDFLA	FLA	14	69	0.20	5	19	21:04	—
90	Jakob ChychrunDARI	ARI	14	63	0.22	12	26	22:26	99%
91	Brett PesceDCAR	CAR	14	61	0.23	4	18	21:53	0.3%
92	Connor MurphyDCHI	CHI	14	58	0.24	5	19	21:15	6.0%▲5.1
93	Madison BoweyDDET	DET	14	53	0.26	3	17	17:54	—
94	Brenden DillonDWSH	WSH	13	69	0.19	1	14	19:27	9.7%▲9.1
95	Vladislav GavrikovDCBJ	CBJ	13	69	0.19	5	18	18:59	41%▼5.9
96	Joel EdmundsonDCAR	CAR	13	68	0.19	7	20	18:27	4.0%▲3.9
97	Olli MaattaDCHI	CHI	13	65	0.20	4	17	18:25	0.2%
98	Radko GudasDWSH	WSH	13	63	0.21	2	15	16:44	25%▲22
99	Ryan LindgrenDNYR	NYR	13	60	0.22	1	14	16:34	0.1%
100	Erik JohnsonDCOL	COL	13	59	0.22	3	16	21:03	—

How to read it

Total assists this season, all situations.

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

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