Defensemen getting more involved offensively without sacrificing coverage

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2025-26 season by former NHL coaches and assistants who turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. In this edition, Drew Bannister, former coach of the St. Louis Blues and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, and defenseman with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Edmonton Oilers, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and New York Rangers, provides insight into the impact defensemen are making by becoming more offensively involved without sacrificing defensive-zone coverage.

Over the past 10 years, we've seen defensemen being more active. Whether it's on breakouts or in the offensive zone, there's been a real push to have them more involved in the offense.

The thing I've noticed, since the NHL paused the 2019-20 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been with the defense being more active in counters in the neutral zone and not necessarily to counter some of the traps that teams are playing whether it's a 1-2-2, 1-1-3, or 1-3-1. You're seeing what I would call more D-2 play, which would be the defenseman without the puck being more active.

The D-1, who is getting the first touch on the puck, is rolling middle ice and then that D-2 climbs and there's a lot less, what I would say, flat D-to-D in the neutral zone, where instead of beating that first forechecker, you're now seeing them trying to pick on that first forechecker where they can roll middle. It's similar to a power play where you want to beat that first forechecker with a pass either to the defenseman or the forward filling the opposite lane, getting above that first coverage and then being involved in the offense and the attack on entries into the zone. Personally, I've seen a big change in that.

When you think of the Florida Panthers and Carolina Hurricanes, and the aggressiveness each exhibits on the forecheck, having their weak-side defender really being able to press down, whether it's on pucks that come out the weak side of the wall or direct passes to the winger, they're really allowing their defensemen to be very active. It happens probably with the understanding that they're OK giving up the odd 2-on-1 or breakaway because they expect their goalie to make a save or their defense to make a big play. But it's what comes off that and the offensive opportunities they generate from their defender being really active on the forecheck and creating turnovers.

I feel every team is looking for puck-moving defensemen. Back in my day, everybody wanted a Craig Ludwig or a Kevin Hatcher-type who could defend and play hard. Now, it's about puck moving and being able to get in the play and on the offensive. I think the talk has changed a lot on puck-moving defensemen being able to skate. Size isn't as much a factor now even though people covet defensemen that have size, skill and can skate. Being able to defend with your body and your feet and having a good stick is very valuable too.

Getting your defensemen involved offensively creates more chaos for the defending team. Some teams are in man-on-man situations, but more teams play a zone defense and when in that zone, and teams start to roll high, you'll see teams rolling three and four forwards higher with the defensemen.

It creates a little bit of chaos for the defenders, especially if they're playing a quad defense where they're just owning their zone. It creates some chaos for them to be able to identify who to pick up at the time. I think it's kind of morphed into this because of how well teams have defended now that they have to have a more active defense.

Early on in my career, I played with Roman Hamrlik (Tampa Bay Lightning), and we were the first two players chosen by the Lightning in the 1992 NHL Draft (Hamrlik, No. 1; Bannister No. 26). Roman was really good.

Another player I had a lot of respect for when I was in Edmonton (1996-98) was Boris Mironov. He was a really good offensive defenseman. When Erik Karlsson came over from Sweden, he was actually my defense partner in Binghamton of the American Hockey League (in 2009-10), but he didn't spend much time there before moving on to the NHL.

But what a player Karlsson was. Obviously, he's a very gifted defenseman.

When I was coaching the St. Louis Blues, Colton Parayko was a unique player. To watch someone that big (6-foot-6, 228 pounds) who can get up the ice, skate as well as he did and create, was pretty special. As a coach in the Canadian Hockey League (in 2017-18) with Sault Ste. Marie (Ontario Hockey League), Rasmus Sandin was a very dynamic offensive player and is now starting to put up really good numbers in the NHL for the Washington Capitals.

It's no secret a lot of goals scored today in the offensive zone are from tips, screens, and rebounds that come off those point shots. They might not be dangerous shots, but they become dangerous when you have that second layer. So, you have your primary screen at net-front and your secondary screen in the high slot and those plays become a lot more difficult to defend. But when the point shot is coming, the defending team is turning their back. That's when you see that D-2 become active and able to get down on pucks and keep the offensive zone alive.