The NHL centers with the best defensive-zone faceoff percentages work in a circle where losing cleanly can become a scoring chance before a tired winger takes two strides.
Picture an icing late in the third period.
Five defenders cannot change. The opposition sends its best line over the boards. A defenseman bends at the waist. The strong-side winger looks toward the half wall. Everyone knows where the next puck will land.
Then the linesman drops it.
Win cleanly and the entire shift changes. A defenseman gets the first touch. The puck moves toward the boards. Suddenly, five exhausted skaters have an escape route.
Lose it backward and the danger arrives immediately.
The 2023-24 season produced several centers who consistently tilted those moments in their team’s favor. Some handled massive workloads. Others turned defensive wins into transition chances. A few showed why an impressive overall faceoff percentage can look very different once the puck moves beside their own net.
That is where this ranking begins.
Why the defensive-zone dot changes everything
A faceoff is over almost before it starts.
Its consequences can last an entire shift.
An offensive-zone loss usually forces a team to retreat. There is plenty of ice between the puck and its own goalie.
A defensive-zone loss offers no such cushion.
The attacking team may have a shooter waiting above the circle. Another forward can crash the slot. A defenseman walks down the wall. One clean pull can turn into a shot through traffic within seconds.
Centers know all of this before they crouch.
That changes how they attack the draw.
Sometimes the play calls for a clean pull directly onto a defenseman’s stick. Another situation demands a tie-up. The center drives through his opponent’s hands, kills the stick and waits for a winger to dive into the pile.
A skate can matter as much as a blade.
So can leverage.
Raw faceoff percentage cannot explain every detail. A center can technically lose the draw but create the loose puck his teammate retrieves. He can win it cleanly and watch the next pass get intercepted.
Over hundreds of attempts, though, the numbers become harder to dismiss.
The best draw men keep giving their teams first possession.
1. John Tavares Toronto Maple Leafs
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 59.0%
Defensive-zone faceoffs: 354
Overall faceoff percentage: 59.3%
Total faceoffs: 1,352
John Tavares owned the strongest defensive-zone rate in this group.
NHL.com’s 2023-24 faceoff review credited the Toronto center with 354 defensive-zone draws and a 59.0 percent success rate. Among players who took at least 1,000 faceoffs overall, NHL.com noted that nobody posted a better defensive-zone percentage. He also won 59.3 percent of his 1,352 total draws.
The number matters because Toronto did not employ Tavares as a checking-line specialist.
He had offensive work to do.
Every defensive start places a scoring center almost 200 feet from the opponent’s net. Lose the draw and the entire line may spend twenty seconds chasing before it can think about creating anything.
Tavares shortened that problem.
A clean pull to the defense can start the breakout instantly. A hard tie-up gives the winger a chance to attack the puck rather than defend a set play.
Toronto could leave him on the ice after an icing without treating the draw as a liability.
That creates options for a coach.
2. Leon Draisaitl Edmonton Oilers
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 58.6%
Defensive-zone faceoffs: 428
Overall faceoff percentage: 56.9%
Total faceoffs: 1,451
Leon Draisaitl became more effective when the puck moved closer to his own net.
That is the interesting part.
The Edmonton center won 56.9 percent of 1,451 total faceoffs, but his defensive-zone percentage climbed to 58.6 percent across 428 draws. His neutral-zone mark reached 58.3 percent.
For one of hockey’s most dangerous offensive players, those defensive wins carry extra value.
Draisaitl does not merely want to clear the zone.
He wants the puck.
Once Edmonton owns possession, the entire character of the shift can flip. A defenseman makes the first pass. Draisaitl supports through the middle. Within seconds, the Oilers can go from protecting their crease to attacking through open ice.
That starts with the dot.
Strong hands matter. So does body position.
Draisaitl’s size lets him battle through contact when a draw turns ugly. He does not need every puck to come cleanly backward.
Sometimes winning means making sure the other center cannot win it cleanly either.
3. Vincent Trocheck New York Rangers
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 58.3%
Overall faceoff percentage: 58.7%
Total faceoffs: 1,500
Vincent Trocheck did almost everything for the Rangers in 2023-24.
Faceoffs were no exception.
He took 1,500 draws, won 58.7 percent overall and finished at 58.3 percent in the defensive zone. NHL.com’s defensive-forward review also noted his physical workload, including 175 hits and 86 blocked shots.
That volume separates him from a situational specialist.
Trocheck did not wait on the bench for one favorable matchup. He handled offensive draws, defensive starts, special teams and long nights against top-six centers.
Then he did it again two nights later.
That matters when evaluating faceoff percentages.
A smaller sample can swing quickly. Fifteen hundred attempts drag a center through every type of game state.
Late lead.
Early icing.
Penalty kill.
Final-minute scramble.
Trocheck stayed effective through all of them.
The Rangers could trust his stick, but they could also trust what happened if the puck became a scrum.
He plays through bodies.
That is useful real estate in a defensive circle.
4. Jordan Staal Carolina Hurricanes
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 56.5%
Overall faceoff percentage: 58.1%
Total faceoffs: 1,375
Jordan Staal has built a career around shifts other players would rather avoid.
The defensive faceoff fits perfectly.
Staal took 1,375 draws during the 2023-24 season and won 58.1 percent overall. NHL.com reported a 56.5 percent defensive-zone rate while also noting his heavy penalty-killing workload for Carolina.
Nothing about Staal’s job requires decoration.
Get low.
Get heavy on the stick.
Make sure the puck does not travel cleanly toward the dangerous ice behind you.
Carolina’s aggressive system makes the first possession particularly valuable. When the Hurricanes win a defensive draw, their skaters can attack the exit instead of immediately collapsing around their own net.
That saves legs, too.
After an icing, a defense pair may already be running on fumes. A clean Staal win can turn a potential forty-second defensive shift into five seconds and a line change.
That is not flashy hockey.
It wins coaches over.
5. Roope Hintz Dallas Stars
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 55.7%
Overall faceoff percentage: 56.2%
Total faceoffs: 566
Roope Hintz did not carry the same faceoff volume as Tavares, Trocheck or Staal.
His defensive-zone results still deserve attention.
NHL.com credited Hintz with a 55.7 percent defensive-zone faceoff rate and 56.2 percent overall. He won 318 of 566 total draws while playing 80 games for Dallas.
Hintz offers a different kind of payoff after the win.
Speed.
A defensive faceoff begins from a dead stop. Hintz wants the next few seconds to look nothing like that.
Win the puck. Let the defenseman make the first pass. Get moving.
Suddenly, the center who started beside his own net can be flying through the neutral zone while opposing defensemen backpedal.
The draw becomes part of the transition game.
That is why defensive-zone success should not be treated as a statistic reserved for checking centers.
Possession has offensive value wherever it begins.
Hintz can prove it quickly.
6. Aleksander Barkov Florida Panthers
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 54.9%
Overall faceoff percentage: 57.3%
Total faceoffs: 1,100
Aleksander Barkov did not lead this group in defensive-zone faceoff percentage.
He did win the Selke Trophy.
That distinction tells us something important about the stat.
Barkov took 1,100 faceoffs, winning 57.3 percent overall and 54.9 percent in the defensive zone. He also led Florida with 61 takeaways and helped anchor the defensive structure of the eventual Stanley Cup champions.
A faceoff represents only the first decision in Barkov’s defensive sequence.
What happens next may matter more.
He supports the puck below the forecheck. He closes passing lanes. He gives defensemen an outlet through the middle without leaving early for offense.
That is why a center can rank sixth here and still produce a more complete defensive season than anyone above him.
The draw gives Barkov possession.
His reads help Florida keep it.
There is a difference.
7. J.T. Miller Vancouver Canucks
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 54.9%
Overall faceoff percentage: 56.3%
Total faceoffs: 1,461
J.T. Miller tied Barkov at 54.9 percent in the defensive zone.
Barkov gets the higher spot here because his overall percentage finished slightly better, but the gap between them on defensive draws was zero.
Miller won 56.3 percent of 1,461 faceoffs during a 103-point season for Vancouver. NHL.com’s defensive-forward review highlighted his 54.9 percent defensive-zone figure alongside his physical game.
That combination makes Miller difficult to classify.
He can score.
He can distribute.
He can lean into a center at the dot and turn a clean faceoff into a wrestling match.
The Canucks did not have to protect him from ugly starts.
That matters because offensive stars often pay for defensive deployments with lost attacking time. If the opponent wins the first puck, the entire shift can disappear below the circles.
Miller gave Vancouver a better chance to prevent that.
Win the draw.
Get north.
Go back to attacking.
8. Auston Matthews Toronto Maple Leafs
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 53.0%
Overall faceoff percentage: 53.5%
Total faceoffs: 1,319
Auston Matthews scored 69 goals in 2023-24.
He also took 1,319 faceoffs.
Those two numbers belong in the same conversation because Toronto could not simply deploy its best scorer in easy situations all season.
Matthews won 53.5 percent overall and 53.0 percent in the defensive zone. NHL.com’s defensive-forward review also noted his 85 takeaways and 93 blocked shots, part of a season that put him third in Selke Trophy voting.
His percentage will not make anyone stare at the page.
That is not the point.
A top-line center who stays above 50 percent in his own zone does not require constant protection.
Toronto can send Matthews over the boards after an icing.
He can take the draw.
If he wins it, the Leafs do not merely escape pressure. They put one of hockey’s most dangerous shooters on a shift that now has possession.
The first battle happens beside Toronto’s net.
The next one may happen around the opponent’s crease.
9. Anze Kopitar Los Angeles Kings
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 50.3%
Overall faceoff percentage: 55.1%
Total faceoffs: 1,560
Anze Kopitar shows why zone splits matter.
Look only at his overall number and everything seems comfortable.
The Los Angeles captain took 1,560 faceoffs and won 55.1 percent. His neutral-zone rate climbed to 59.2 percent, while he won 56.8 percent in the offensive zone.
The defensive zone told a different story.
Kopitar won 50.3 percent there.
That is essentially a coin flip.
It does not suddenly make Kopitar a poor defensive player. Few centers have built a stronger two-way résumé.
It does expose the weakness of using one overall faceoff percentage to describe every situation.
Different zones create different matchups.
Different strategies appear.
Handedness can matter. So can where a winger lines up and which direction the center wants to pull the puck.
Kopitar remained excellent overall.
The defensive circle simply tightened the margins.
10. Mikael Backlund Calgary Flames
Defensive-zone faceoff percentage: 49.8%
Defensive-zone faceoffs: 717
Overall faceoff percentage: 50.3%
Total faceoffs: 1,547
Mikael Backlund’s percentage sits at the bottom of this group.
His workload may be the most revealing number in the entire article.
Backlund took 717 defensive-zone faceoffs, more than any player highlighted in NHL.com’s 2023-24 faceoff-specialist review. He won 49.8 percent of them and finished at 50.3 percent overall across 1,547 draws.
Calgary kept sending him back anyway.
That is worth examining.
Coaches do not hand out 717 defensive-zone faceoffs by accident. The assignment includes more than the center’s probability of recording a clean statistical win.
Backlund has to know the coverage behind him.
He has to recognize where support will arrive.
On a tie-up, he needs to keep the opposing center from reaching the puck even if the official faceoff result eventually goes the other way.
His 49.8 percent says he essentially broke even.
The workload says Calgary trusted him with the problem more than almost anyone.
Both facts matter.
Volume changes how we read the percentage
Tavares leads this group at 59 percent.
Backlund finishes more than nine percentage points behind him.
That does not mean the statistic tells us everything about either player’s defensive value.
Backlund took 717 defensive-zone draws.
Draisaitl took 428.
Tavares handled 354.
The assignments were not identical.
Volume exposes a center to more situations.
More strong-side draws.
More weak-side draws.
More late-game pressure.
More nights when the hands feel heavy and the opponent knows exactly what is coming.
Usage also reflects what happens around the player.
One team may send its center into the circle with a winger specifically assigned to crash the tie-up. Another may emphasize a clean pull toward the strong-side defenseman.
The percentage records the result.
It does not explain the plan.
That is why faceoff statistics work best when paired with workload and role.
The real value appears five seconds later
Watch the puck after the draw.
That is when defensive-zone faceoff value becomes visible.
A center snaps it backward.
The defenseman retrieves it.
Now the winger slides low enough to become an outlet.
The defending team suddenly has choices.
Reverse behind the net.
Move the puck up the wall.
Hit the center underneath.
If pressure arrives too fast, fire it off the glass and live to fight another shift.
A clean loss erases most of those options.
The opponent starts with possession already inside dangerous ice. A defenseman can walk toward the middle. A winger can attack the slot. Tired defenders must turn from potential breakout mode into coverage instantly.
Winning the draw buys time.
In the defensive zone, time feels expensive.
Faceoff percentage is the start of the argument
The NHL centers with the best defensive-zone faceoff percentages in this 2023-24 group do not share one style.
Tavares brought scoring touch and nearly 60 percent efficiency near his own net.
Draisaitl turned defensive possession into a possible runway for Edmonton’s attack.
Trocheck mixed elite volume with a heavy, confrontational game.
Staal handled the kind of ugly minutes Carolina has trusted him with for years.
Hintz connected the draw to speed.
Barkov showed why winning the puck represents only one part of elite defense.
Miller gave Vancouver another top scorer who could survive difficult starts.
Matthews proved a 69-goal center still has to take care of dirty work.
Kopitar exposed how much an overall percentage can hide.
Backlund showed that coaching trust sometimes survives even when the number hovers around 50.
Different players.
Different jobs.
Same circle.
When the game shrinks to one puck drop
Late in a one-goal game, season-long percentages disappear from everyone’s mind.
The crowd does not care whether the center sits at 59 percent or 53.
The defense pair has been trapped.
An icing whistle blows.
Nobody can change.
The opponent sends out its best scorers.
Now the entire game shrinks to a few feet of chopped-up ice.
The center lowers his shoulders.
A winger inches toward the circle.
The linesman looks at both sticks.
One puck drops.
Most good defensive-zone faceoff wins will never become memorable.
That may be the point.
The center pulls the puck back.
A defenseman moves it.
The winger chips it over the blue line.
Five exhausted players skate toward the bench.
Nothing dangerous happens.
For a defensive-zone draw, sometimes nothing is exactly the result everyone wanted.
READ ALSO: NHL 9-game rule turns Game 10 into a franchise decision
FAQs
Who had the best defensive-zone faceoff percentage in this 2023-24 group?
John Tavares led the group at 59.0 percent across 354 defensive-zone faceoffs.
How good was Leon Draisaitl on defensive-zone faceoffs in 2023-24?
Draisaitl won 58.6 percent of 428 defensive-zone draws. His overall faceoff percentage finished at 56.9 percent.
Why does defensive-zone faceoff percentage matter?
A clean win can start a breakout and relieve pressure near the net. A clean loss can give the opponent an immediate scoring chance. Pasted text
Who took the most defensive-zone faceoffs in this article?
Mikael Backlund took 717 defensive-zone faceoffs. He won 49.8 percent of them.
Was Auston Matthews good on defensive-zone faceoffs in 2023-24?
Matthews won 53.0 percent of his defensive-zone draws while scoring 69 goals, giving Toronto another option for difficult starts.
