Counting stats

NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen

2021-22All situationsThrough 82 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 2021-22: Roman Josi (NSH), 73 A.

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

2021-22

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

Show

NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen, 2021-22, All situations
#	Player	Team	A	GP	Per game	G	PTS
1	Roman JosiDNSH	NSH	73	80	0.91	23	96	25:33	98%▼0.5
2	Victor HedmanDTBL	TBL	65	82	0.79	20	85	25:05	93%▲11
3	Adam FoxDNYR	NYR	63	78	0.81	11	74	23:54	99%▲6.8
4	Quinn HughesDVAN	VAN	60	76	0.79	8	68	25:15	100%
5	Morgan RiellyDTOR	TOR	58	82	0.71	10	68	23:44	76%▼5.1
6	Kris LetangDPIT	PIT	58	78	0.74	10	68	25:47	47%▼16
7	Cale MakarDCOL	COL	58	77	0.75	28	86	25:40	100%▲1
8	John CarlsonDWSH	WSH	54	78	0.69	17	71	23:49	99%▲2.4
9	Rasmus AnderssonDCGY	CGY	46	82	0.56	4	50	22:40	94%▼3.9
10	Seth JonesDCHI	CHI	46	78	0.59	5	51	26:13	80%▲32
11	Charlie McAvoyDBOS	BOS	46	78	0.59	10	56	24:38	97%▲6.2
12	Brent BurnsDSJS	SJS	44	82	0.54	10	54	26:09	50%▼14
13	Devon ToewsDCOL	COL	44	66	0.67	13	57	25:22	62%▼1
14	Moritz SeiderDDET	DET	43	82	0.52	7	50	23:02	100%▲0.6
15	Aaron EkbladDFLA	FLA	42	61	0.69	15	57	24:55	50%▲34
16	John KlingbergDDAL	DAL	41	74	0.55	6	47	22:13	0.2%
17	Tony DeAngeloDCAR	CAR	41	64	0.64	10	51	19:49	24%▲18
18	Rasmus DahlinDBUF	BUF	40	80	0.50	13	53	24:01	100%▲1
19	Noah HanifinDCGY	CGY	38	81	0.47	10	48	21:18	53%▼22
20	Noah DobsonDNYI	NYI	38	80	0.47	13	51	21:28	98%▼1.2
21	Jaccob SlavinDCAR	CAR	38	79	0.48	4	42	23:32	16%▲4.6
22	Shea TheodoreDVGK	VGK	38	78	0.49	14	52	23:08	91%▲28
23	Shayne GostisbehereDARI	ARI	37	82	0.45	14	51	22:11	96%▲16
24	Zach WerenskiDCBJ	CBJ	37	68	0.54	11	48	25:40	100%
25	MacKenzie WeegarDFLA	FLA	36	80	0.45	8	44	23:22	93%▼7.2
26	Damon SeversonDNJD	NJD	35	80	0.44	11	46	23:36	9.4%▲6.2
27	Tyson BarrieDEDM	EDM	34	73	0.47	7	41	18:58	—
28	Torey KrugDSTL	STL	34	64	0.53	9	43	20:34	0.0%
29	Filip HronekDDET	DET	33	78	0.42	5	38	22:02	91%▲14
30	Cam FowlerDANA	ANA	33	76	0.43	9	42	24:25	14%▲1.8
31	Evan BouchardDEDM	EDM	31	81	0.38	12	43	19:48	100%
32	Alex PietrangeloDVGK	VGK	31	80	0.39	13	44	24:39	4.0%▲3.7
33	Mikhail SergachevDTBL	TBL	31	78	0.40	7	38	22:28	98%▲5.2
34	Neal PionkDWPG	WPG	31	77	0.40	3	34	21:08	32%▲31
35	Justin FaulkDSTL	STL	31	76	0.41	16	47	23:12	55%▼22
36	Miro HeiskanenDDAL	DAL	31	70	0.44	5	36	24:53	99%▲4.3
37	Thomas ChabotDOTT	OTT	31	59	0.53	7	38	26:12	83%▼12
38	Brady SkjeiDCAR	CAR	30	82	0.37	9	39	21:09	18%▼31
39	Jared SpurgeonDMIN	MIN	30	65	0.46	10	40	21:09	10%▲8.2
40	Colton ParaykoDSTL	STL	29	80	0.36	6	35	23:34	37%▼42
41	Jacob TroubaDNYR	NYR	28	81	0.35	11	39	22:26	76%▼11
42	Jamie DrysdaleDANA	ANA	28	81	0.35	4	32	19:53	55%▲46
43	Vladislav GavrikovDCBJ	CBJ	28	80	0.35	5	33	22:17	41%▼5.9
44	Nate SchmidtDWPG	WPG	28	77	0.36	4	32	20:13	4.9%▲4.5
45	Vince DunnDSEA	SEA	28	73	0.38	7	35	20:41	89%▲12
46	Alex GoligoskiDMIN	MIN	28	72	0.39	2	30	18:56	—
47	Kevin ShattenkirkDANA	ANA	27	82	0.33	8	35	21:25	—
48	Alexandre CarrierDNSH	NSH	27	77	0.35	3	30	20:59	14%▲12
49	Mark GiordanoDTOR	TOR	27	75	0.36	8	35	20:53	—
50	Gustav ForslingDFLA	FLA	27	71	0.38	10	37	21:13	42%▲18
51	Brandon MontourDFLA	FLA	26	81	0.32	11	37	17:54	83%▲10
52	Darnell NurseDEDM	EDM	26	71	0.37	9	35	25:03	69%▼13
53	Ryan SuterDDAL	DAL	25	82	0.30	7	32	23:39	—
54	Josh MorrisseyDWPG	WPG	25	79	0.32	12	37	23:40	99%▲3.2
55	Adam PelechDNYI	NYI	25	78	0.32	3	28	21:17	3.2%▲3
56	Mattias EkholmDNSH	NSH	25	76	0.33	6	31	23:29	77%▲9.5
57	Jonas BrodinDMIN	MIN	25	73	0.34	5	30	23:26	5.0%▲4.3
58	Erik KarlssonDSJS	SJS	25	50	0.50	10	35	23:28	95%
59	TJ BrodieDTOR	TOR	24	82	0.29	4	28	21:19	—
60	John MarinoDPIT	PIT	24	81	0.30	1	25	20:38	18%▲13
61	Travis SanheimDPHI	PHI	24	80	0.30	7	31	22:58	67%▼7.1
62	Oliver Ekman-LarssonDVAN	VAN	24	79	0.30	5	29	22:19	43%▲32
63	Sean DurziDLAK	LAK	24	64	0.38	3	27	19:36	38%▲36
64	Drew DoughtyDLAK	LAK	24	39	0.62	7	31	25:44	22%▲12
65	Cody CeciDEDM	EDM	23	78	0.29	5	28	20:54	0.3%
66	Dmitry OrlovDWSH	WSH	23	76	0.30	12	35	20:58	35%▲21
67	Samuel GirardDCOL	COL	23	67	0.34	5	28	21:39	9.0%▲8.6
68	Chris WidemanDMTL	MTL	23	64	0.36	4	27	14:53	—
69	Chris TanevDCGY	CGY	22	82	0.27	6	28	20:28	6.0%▲5
70	Ivan ProvorovDPHI	PHI	22	79	0.28	9	31	24:53	36%▼27
71	Ryan GravesDNJD	NJD	22	75	0.29	6	28	20:43	0.1%
72	Oliver KylingtonDCGY	CGY	22	73	0.30	9	31	18:10	—
73	Ryan McDonaghDTBL	TBL	22	71	0.31	4	26	22:27	7.3%▲6.8
74	Hampus LindholmDBOS	BOS	22	71	0.31	5	27	22:30	17%▲15
75	Esa LindellDDAL	DAL	21	76	0.28	4	25	22:03	37%▼31
76	Nick LeddyDSTL	STL	21	75	0.28	3	24	21:25	0.0%
77	Brett PesceDCAR	CAR	21	70	0.30	7	28	21:42	0.3%
78	Jeff PetryDMTL	MTL	21	68	0.31	6	27	22:07	0.1%
79	Dante FabbroDNSH	NSH	21	66	0.32	3	24	19:03	3.2%▲3.1
80	Dougie HamiltonDNJD	NJD	21	62	0.34	9	30	21:13	84%▲12
81	Mike MathesonDPIT	PIT	20	74	0.27	11	31	18:48	85%▼7.8
82	Matt GrzelcykDBOS	BOS	20	73	0.27	4	24	18:44	0.1%
83	Justin HollDTOR	TOR	20	69	0.29	3	23	20:12	—
84	Duncan KeithDEDM	EDM	20	64	0.31	1	21	19:44	—
85	Mathew DumbaDMIN	MIN	20	57	0.35	7	27	23:06	0.1%
86	Justin SchultzDWSH	WSH	19	74	0.26	4	23	16:55	—
87	Matt RoyDLAK	LAK	19	67	0.28	2	21	20:59	9.0%▲8.3
88	Keith YandleDPHI	PHI	18	77	0.23	1	19	13:59	—
89	Jake McCabeDCHI	CHI	18	75	0.24	4	22	20:18	34%▼15
90	Nikita ZadorovDCGY	CGY	18	74	0.24	4	22	16:55	39%▲21
91	Jake BeanDCBJ	CBJ	18	67	0.27	7	25	20:34	0.1%
92	Timothy LiljegrenDTOR	TOR	18	61	0.30	5	23	16:24	4.8%▲4.7
93	Tyler MyersDVAN	VAN	17	82	0.21	1	18	21:59	4.1%▲3.7
94	Adam LarssonDSEA	SEA	17	82	0.21	8	25	22:17	23%▼19
95	Dmitry KulikovDMIN	MIN	17	80	0.21	7	24	18:12	3.2%▲3.1
96	Brenden DillonDWPG	WPG	17	79	0.22	3	20	18:50	9.7%▲9.1
97	Erik JohnsonDCOL	COL	17	77	0.22	8	25	17:17	—
98	P.K. SubbanDNJD	NJD	17	77	0.22	5	22	18:18	—
99	Ian ColeDCAR	CAR	17	75	0.23	2	19	17:09	4.9%▲4.3
100	Ben ChiarotDFLA	FLA	17	74	0.23	9	26	22:51	13%▲11

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