NHL Free-Agent Dmen: The 10 Best On A Thin Market

Free-agent defensemen are always the guys everybody wants at the deadline table and nobody wants to overpay for in July. This ranking looks at the top 10 names heading into a market that can get expensive in a hurry once the bidding starts. The real story is how quickly a so-so blue line can become a panic button for a contender with ambitions and no patience. When the market is thin, the biggest leverage belongs to the defensemen who can skate, survive, and not cost a GM his job.