Defence wins championships.

But not in the traditional sense.

When I've run the defence in my career, I've always enjoyed the pack mentality. On the bench, you've got a unit of six, seven, or eight in practice, and I like to say that it starts with us. As defencemen, we prevent the rush, we start the breakout, and we get the puck moving in the right direction. We're the most important players on the team, don't listen to the forwards.

The saying goes that you defend your way to a championship, but if you're defending constantly, then you're never going to attack and you won't score much. Every player's worth is measured by their contribution to winning, even if that contribution comes as a third-pair or even seventh defenceman. Those minutes matter.

Once again, the 2026 playoffs have revealed a masterclass in defined roles for defencemen. The final two teams, the Carolina Hurricanes and Las Vegas Golden Knights had me curious about who was skating on their top defence pair. Colorado has Cale Makar and Devon Toews, Edmonton has Mattias Ekholm and Evan Bouchard.

The Golden Knights, just for comparison's sake, have Noah Hanifin on their top pair. This is based on minutes played in the postseason. Brayden McNabb and Shea Theodore aren't far behind. Who's leading the way for Carolina? It's close.

All these numbers are from Natural Stat Trick.

Maybe it makes more sense to have a well-rounded top four on D instead of a de facto first pair. What got me wondering about this is the fact that I've watched Carolina's entire playoff run with my own eyeballs, and I just assumed whatever pair Jacob Slavin was on was the first pair. Woe is me and my insufficient eyeballs!

It's K'Andre Miller and Sean Walker by a whisker. Again, strictly by ice time.

Miller & Walker by the Numbers

• 5-on-5: 210 mins in 13 games

• PK: 26 mins

• PP: 25 mins for Miller only (2nd Unit)

• Scoring Chances: 66%

Miller and Walker own 66% of the scoring chances when they're on the ice at 5-on-5. That's huge! And they've been on the ice for 13 goals for and only 3 against. This pair is starting a lot of shifts on offensive-zone faceoffs. That's a nice luxury they've no doubt earned from the coaching staff, and they're making the most of it. They're creative, they keep the play alive in the O-zone, and they've got a lot of skill to contribute offensively.

Role: play against second-tier competition, 2nd and 3rd lines, start in the offensive zone

Skills: active sticks while defending in the D-zone, puck retrieval skills in the D-zone, moving the puck, creating offence from the blue line

Slavin & Chatfield by the Numbers

• 5-on-5: 204 mins in 13 games
• PK: 44 mins
• Scoring Chances: 55%

Only six fewer minutes than Miller and Walker. Slavin and Chatfield don't bring the same offensive numbers, but they also play against stiffer competition. There's a shorthanded PK goal mixed into those clips as well, which these two always start. Just because you're playing a defensive role doesn't mean you can't score, right? You just have to do it shorthanded! Easy.

Because of this tough-minutes role, Miller and Walker don't have to play against Nick Suzuki and 50-goal man Cole Caufield as much. They defend more, but they still have room to be creative, which isn't an easy task when you watch how much they skate up and down the ice.

Role: play against top competition, 1st lines, start in the defensive zone

Skills: keep pucks in at the blue line, deny zone entries, retrieve pucks, and move them north

Gostisbehere & Nikishin & Reilly

• 5-on-5: 133 mins in 11 games

• Gostisbehere: 20 mins at 5-on-5 in two games with Mike Reilly

• Gostisbehere: 58 mins on the PP in 13 games

One of the two best teams on Earth is playing their top four defencemen nearly equally in terms of time on ice, while their actual deployment is drastically different. All this while Shane Gostisbehere leads the team in power-play minutes.

What's the takeaway? There are more ways than one to earn ice at the next level. Specific skill sets, a positive approach, and the ability to contribute in specific areas of the game are more important than ever.