On Wednesday night, the NHL Network released their Top 20 Defensemen Right Now list for the 2024-25 season. Without any surprise, Tampa Bay Lightning superstar Victor Hedman made their list.
However, Hedman not only made their list this time around but also jumped up in the rankings. Last year, Hedman was ranked as the fourth-best defenseman in the NHL. This year, Hedman has secured the No. 3 spot.
Only Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche) and Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks) were ranked ahead of Hedman this year. He also beat out some notable names, like Roman Josi (Nashville Predators), Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars), Gustav Forsling (Florida Panthers), and Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins).
Seeing Hedman move up in the rankings is entirely understandable. After posting nine goals and 49 points in 2022-23, Hedman dominated this past season, recording 13 goals, 76 points, and a plus-18 rating in 78 games.
Hedman will now look to build off his incredible season and put together another strong one in 2024-25. If he does, it will help his case to maintain his Top 3 spot in next year's rankings as well.
On a side note, former Lightning defenseman Mikhail Sergachev did not make the cut this year. Last year, he secured the No. 17 spot in the NHL Network's rankings.
