Some general managers like to build their team with a lot of offensive punch (Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks), while others prefer to build their team with a strong goalie tandem (Boston Bruins or Los Angeles Kings). Finally, some GMs prefer to build their team with a very deep defensive corps. Two months into the shortened 2013 season, let’s have a look at the top ten most expensive defensive groups in the NHL and where they rank in the overall rankings.

I’ll use the top seven defensemen of each team as a reference and will take the financial numbers from CapGeek.com (cap hits). Players that are injured are included in the calculation, except if they currently are on the long-term injury reserve such as Chris Pronger.

10. Ottawa Senators – $20.758 million

29 games 15 wins 8 losses 6 OTL = 36 points (5th EC)

Erik Karlsson – $6,500,000

Sergei Gonchar – $5,500,000

Chris Philipps – $3,083,333

Marc Methot – $3,000,000

Mike Lundin – $1,150,000

Patrick Wiercioch – $875,000

Andre Benoit – $650,000

9. Buffalo Sabres – $20.945 million

29 games 10 wins 15 losses 4 OTL = 24 points (14th EC)

Tyler Myers – $5,500,000

Robyn Regehr – $4,020,000

Cristian Ehrhoff – $4,000,000

Jordan Leopold – $3,000,000

Andrej Sekera – $2,750,000

Mike Weber – $950,000

Alexander Sulzer – $725,000

8. Columbus Blue Jackets – $21.472 million

29 games 11 wins 12 losses 6 OTL = 28 points (13th WC)

James Wisniewski – $5,500,000

Fedor Tyutin – $4,500,000

Jack Johnson – $4,357,143

Adrian Aucoin – $2,250,000

Nikita Nikitin – $2,150,000

Tim Erixon – $1,750,000

John Moore – $965,000

7. Montreal Canadiens – $21.500 million

28 games 19 wins 5 losses 4 OTL = 42 points (2nd EC)

Andrei Markov – $5,750,000

Tomas Kaberle – $4,250,000

Josh Gorges – $3,900,000

P.K. Subban – $2,875,000

Alexei Emelin – $2,000,000

Francis Bouillon – $1,500,000

Raphael Diaz – $1,225,000

6. Calgary Flames – $22.442 million

27 games 11 wins 12 losses 4 OTL = 26 points (14th WC)

Jay Bouwmeester – $6,680,000

Dennis Wideman – $5,250,000

Mark Giordano – $4,020,000

Anton Babchuk – $2,500,000

Cory Sarich – $2,000,000

Chris Butler – $1,250,000

T.J. Brodie – $741,666

5. Chicago Blackhawks – $22.588 million

29 games 24 wins 2 losses 3 OTL = 51 points (1st WC)

Brent Seabrook – $5,800,000

Duncan Keith – $5,538,462

Niklas Hjalmarsson – $3,500,000

Johnny Oduya – $3,383,333

Michal Rozsival – $2,000,000

Sheldon Brookbank – $1,250,000

Nick Leddy – $1,116,666

4. Florida Panthers – $22.668 million

29 games 7 wins 16 losses 6 OTL = 20 points (15th WC)

Brian Campbell – $7,142,875

Ed Jovanovski – $4,125,000

Filip Kuba – $4,000,000

Erik Gudbranson – $3,200,000

Dmitry Kulikov – $2,500,000

Mike Weaver – $1,100,000

Tyson Strachan – $600,000

3. Vancouver Canucks – $23.275 million

28 games 13 wins 9 losses 6 OTL = 32 points (7th WC)

Kevin Bieksa – $4,600,000

Jason Garrison – $4,600,000

Dan Hamhuis – $4,500,000

Keith Ballard – $4,200,000

Alexander Edler – $3,250,000

Andrew Alberts – $1,225,000

Chris Tanev – $900,000

2. Philadelphia Flyers – $23.708 million

30 games 13 wins 16 losses 1 OTL = 27 points (12th EC)

Kimmo Timonen – $6,333,333

Braydon Coburn – $4,500,000

Andrej Meszaros – $4,000,000

Luke Schenn – $3,600,000

Niklas Grossman – $3,500,000

Kurtis Forster – $950,000

Bruno Gervais – $825,000

1. San Jose Sharks – $24.127 million

28 games 14 wins 8 losses 6 OTL = 30 points (8th WC)

Dan Boyle – $6,666,667

Brent Burns – $3,550,000

Brad Stuart – $3.600.000

Marc-Edouard Vlasic – $3,100,000

Douglas Murray – $2,500,000

Jason Demers – $1,250,000

Justin Braun – $1,250,000

In comparison, the powerful St. Louis Blues with 34 points, are spending only $13.983 million on their defensive brigade this season.

As you can see, there is no guaranteed success if you spend a lot of money on your defensive brigade, as only the Blackhawks and the Canadiens are leading their division amongst the teams that spend the most money on their blue line. Teams like the Panthers, the Sabres and Flames are struggling mightily this season despite spending big bucks on their blue liners.

Follow Fred on Twitter @FredPoulin98