Counting stats

NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen

2022-23All situationsThrough 85 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 2022-23: Erik Karlsson (SJS), 76 A.

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

2022-23

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

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NHL Assists Leaders: Defensemen, 2022-23, All situations
#	Player	Team	A	GP	Per game	G	PTS
1	Erik KarlssonDSJS	SJS	76	82	0.93	25	101	25:37	95%
2	Quinn HughesDVAN	VAN	69	78	0.88	7	76	25:40	100%
3	Miro HeiskanenDDAL	DAL	62	79	0.78	11	73	25:29	99%▲4.3
4	Adam FoxDNYR	NYR	60	82	0.73	12	72	24:23	99%▲6.8
5	Josh MorrisseyDWPG	WPG	60	78	0.77	16	76	24:14	99%▲3.2
6	Rasmus DahlinDBUF	BUF	58	78	0.74	15	73	25:48	100%▲1
7	Brandon MontourDFLA	FLA	57	80	0.71	16	73	24:08	83%▲10
8	Mikhail SergachevDTBL	TBL	54	79	0.68	10	64	23:49	98%▲5.2
9	Dougie HamiltonDNJD	NJD	52	82	0.63	22	74	21:46	84%▲12
10	Vince DunnDSEA	SEA	50	81	0.62	14	64	23:40	89%▲12
11	Cale MakarDCOL	COL	49	60	0.82	17	66	26:23	100%▲1
12	Charlie McAvoyDBOS	BOS	45	67	0.67	7	52	22:18	97%▲6.2
13	Brent BurnsDCAR	CAR	43	82	0.52	18	61	23:13	50%▼14
14	Drew DoughtyDLAK	LAK	43	81	0.53	9	52	26:14	22%▲12
15	Hampus LindholmDBOS	BOS	43	80	0.54	10	53	23:11	17%▲15
16	Devon ToewsDCOL	COL	43	80	0.54	7	50	25:06	62%▼1
17	Alex PietrangeloDVGK	VGK	43	73	0.59	11	54	23:59	4.0%▲3.7
18	Tyson BarrieDNSH	NSH	42	85	0.49	13	55	19:47	—
19	Roman JosiDNSH	NSH	41	67	0.61	18	59	25:10	98%▼0.5
20	Victor HedmanDTBL	TBL	40	76	0.53	9	49	23:43	93%▲11
21	Justin FaulkDSTL	STL	39	82	0.48	11	50	23:23	55%▼22
22	Cam FowlerDANA	ANA	38	82	0.46	10	48	24:10	14%▲1.8
23	Rasmus AnderssonDCGY	CGY	38	79	0.48	11	49	24:05	94%▼3.9
24	Moritz SeiderDDET	DET	37	82	0.45	5	42	23:09	100%▲0.6
25	Morgan RiellyDTOR	TOR	37	65	0.57	4	41	21:42	76%▼5.1
26	Noah DobsonDNYI	NYI	36	78	0.46	13	49	20:23	98%▼1.2
27	Erik GustafssonDTOR	TOR	35	70	0.50	7	42	19:46	3.2%▲3.2
28	K'Andre MillerDNYR	NYR	34	79	0.43	9	43	21:57	64%▲26
29	Shea TheodoreDVGK	VGK	33	55	0.60	8	41	21:26	91%▲28
30	Evan BouchardDEDM	EDM	32	82	0.39	8	40	18:31	100%
31	Darnell NurseDEDM	EDM	31	82	0.38	12	43	23:30	69%▼13
32	Noah HanifinDCGY	CGY	31	81	0.38	7	38	22:39	53%▼22
33	Owen PowerDBUF	BUF	31	79	0.39	4	35	23:48	53%▲30
34	Samuel GirardDCOL	COL	31	76	0.41	6	37	21:30	9.0%▲8.6
35	Tony DeAngeloDPHI	PHI	31	70	0.44	11	42	22:04	24%▲18
36	Juuso VälimäkiDARI	ARI	30	78	0.38	4	34	18:11	0.1%
37	Thomas ChabotDOTT	OTT	30	68	0.44	11	41	24:58	83%▼12
38	Filip HronekDVAN	VAN	30	64	0.47	9	39	21:42	91%▲14
39	Sean DurziDLAK	LAK	29	72	0.40	9	38	19:47	38%▲36
40	Dmitry OrlovDBOS	BOS	29	66	0.44	7	36	22:33	35%▲21
41	Kris LetangDPIT	PIT	29	64	0.45	12	41	24:51	47%▼16
42	Gustav ForslingDFLA	FLA	28	82	0.34	13	41	23:26	42%▲18
43	Jake SandersonDOTT	OTT	28	77	0.36	4	32	21:55	99%▲2.9
44	Shayne GostisbehereDCAR	CAR	28	75	0.37	13	41	20:49	96%▲16
45	Rasmus SandinDWSH	WSH	28	71	0.39	7	35	19:20	14%▲11
46	MacKenzie WeegarDCGY	CGY	27	81	0.33	4	31	21:06	93%▼7.2
47	Justin SchultzDSEA	SEA	27	73	0.37	7	34	17:47	—
48	Damon SeversonDNJD	NJD	26	81	0.32	7	33	19:57	9.4%▲6.2
49	Calen AddisonDMIN	MIN	26	62	0.42	3	29	16:07	—
50	Jeff PetryDPIT	PIT	26	61	0.43	5	31	22:21	0.1%
51	Mike MathesonDMTL	MTL	26	48	0.54	8	34	24:27	85%▼7.8
52	Adam LarssonDSEA	SEA	25	82	0.30	8	33	23:38	23%▼19
53	Brett PesceDCAR	CAR	25	82	0.30	5	30	22:01	0.3%
54	Seth JonesDCHI	CHI	25	72	0.35	12	37	24:27	80%▲32
55	Torey KrugDSTL	STL	25	63	0.40	7	32	18:35	0.0%
56	Brian DumoulinDPIT	PIT	24	82	0.29	1	25	20:38	0.4%
57	J.J. MoserDARI	ARI	24	82	0.29	7	31	21:03	22%▲19
58	Nick JensenDWSH	WSH	24	77	0.31	5	29	20:37	0.1%
59	Aaron EkbladDFLA	FLA	24	71	0.34	14	38	23:24	50%▲34
60	Jakob ChychrunDOTT	OTT	24	48	0.50	9	33	22:42	99%
61	Neal PionkDWPG	WPG	23	82	0.28	10	33	21:56	32%▲31
62	Jared SpurgeonDMIN	MIN	23	79	0.29	11	34	21:49	10%▲8.2
63	Colton ParaykoDSTL	STL	23	79	0.29	4	27	23:00	37%▼42
64	Mattias EkholmDEDM	EDM	23	78	0.29	9	32	21:28	77%▲9.5
65	Matt BenningDSJS	SJS	23	77	0.30	1	24	19:47	—
66	Kevin ShattenkirkDANA	ANA	23	75	0.31	4	27	19:18	—
67	Marcus PetterssonDPIT	PIT	23	68	0.34	1	24	20:35	6.6%▲6.2
68	John KlingbergDMIN	MIN	23	67	0.34	10	33	20:37	0.2%
69	Ryan SuterDDAL	DAL	22	82	0.27	3	25	20:23	—
70	Jacob TroubaDNYR	NYR	22	82	0.27	8	30	21:12	76%▼11
71	Jake McCabeDTOR	TOR	22	76	0.29	3	25	19:28	34%▼15
72	Matt GrzelcykDBOS	BOS	22	75	0.29	4	26	17:14	0.1%
73	Brenden DillonDWPG	WPG	21	82	0.26	2	23	19:35	9.7%▲9.1
74	Ryan PulockDNYI	NYI	21	82	0.26	5	26	20:54	10%▼1.4
75	Ivan ProvorovDPHI	PHI	21	82	0.26	6	27	23:01	36%▼27
76	Nick LeddyDSTL	STL	21	78	0.27	2	23	21:07	0.0%
77	Dylan DeMeloDWPG	WPG	21	75	0.28	6	27	19:34	5.7%▲5.5
78	Brady SkjeiDCAR	CAR	20	81	0.25	18	38	21:49	18%▼31
79	Mark GiordanoDTOR	TOR	20	78	0.26	4	24	18:57	—
80	Jaccob SlavinDCAR	CAR	20	76	0.26	7	27	21:59	16%▲4.6
81	Alexander RomanovDNYI	NYI	20	76	0.26	2	22	19:27	15%▲15
82	Oliver Ekman-LarssonDVAN	VAN	20	54	0.37	2	22	20:11	43%▲32
83	John CarlsonDWSH	WSH	20	40	0.50	9	29	23:23	99%▲2.4
84	Adam BoqvistDCBJ	CBJ	19	46	0.41	5	24	18:38	0.0%
85	Scott MayfieldDNYI	NYI	18	82	0.22	6	24	21:02	0.1%
86	Connor CliftonDBOS	BOS	18	78	0.23	5	23	17:51	7.4%▲6.7
87	Ryan GravesDNJD	NJD	18	78	0.23	8	26	19:57	0.1%
88	Ryan McDonaghDNSH	NSH	18	71	0.25	2	20	21:32	7.3%▲6.8
89	Sebastian AhoDNYI	NYI	18	71	0.25	5	23	16:46	—
90	Luke SchennDTOR	TOR	18	70	0.26	4	22	16:21	7.3%▲6.9
91	Cam YorkDPHI	PHI	18	54	0.33	2	20	19:39	20%▲18
92	Brett KulakDEDM	EDM	17	82	0.21	3	20	17:31	0.3%
93	Will BorgenDSEA	SEA	17	82	0.21	3	20	16:22	4.1%▲3.8
94	Matt RoyDLAK	LAK	17	82	0.21	9	26	18:47	9.0%▲8.3
95	Jonas SiegenthalerDNJD	NJD	17	80	0.21	4	21	20:09	3.3%▲2.9
96	Marc-Edouard VlasicDSJS	SJS	17	78	0.22	1	18	17:28	—
97	Olli MaattaDDET	DET	17	78	0.22	6	23	18:42	0.2%
98	Rasmus RistolainenDPHI	PHI	17	74	0.23	3	20	19:01	8.3%▲7.7
99	Ryan LindgrenDNYR	NYR	17	63	0.27	1	18	18:50	0.1%
100	David SavardDMTL	MTL	17	62	0.27	3	20	22:23	—

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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