While “goons” have basically been taken out of circulation in the NHL, it doesn’t mean the league is without rough and tough players. These guys are known as enforcers as their job is to hold opponents accountable for their actions on the ice, especially when it comes to roughing up their smaller and more passive teammates and star players.
The following list highlights the NHL’s top 10 enforcers for the current 2023/24 season:
1. Tom Wilson, Washington Capitals
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Height: 6’4”
Weight: 220 lbs
It may seem a little odd that winger Tom Wilson is just 29 years old as he’s currently playing in his 11th NHL season. He was drafted 16th overall by the Washington Capitals in 2012 and broke into the league the following campaign. In his first 652 league games Wilson has posted 128 goals and 167 assists for 295 points while serving 1,306 minutes in penalties and playing an average of 14:38 minutes per game.
He helped Washington win the Stanley Cup in 2017/18 and isn’t a defensive liability as he’s a +39 for his career and has also broken the 20-goal barrier three times. He could very well be the most skilled player on this list as well as the most feared.
He’s known for his physical play and has been suspended by the NHL on five occasions, including a 20-game ban in for an illegal hit to Oskar Sundqvist’s head during a 2017 preseason game.
At the time it was the power forward’s fourth league suspension in a span of 105 games but the ban was reduced to 14 games after it was appealed. In total he’s been suspended for a total of 36 games (served 30) and fined three times.
2. Arber Xhekaj, Montreal Canadians
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Height: 6’4”
Weight: 240 lbs
Defenceman Arber Xhekaj of the Montreal Canadiens is something of a cult hero with the hometown fans as he isn’t afraid to dish out big hits and drop the gloves with any of the league’s top heavyweights. He wasn’t drafted as a junior or into the NHL and ended up with the Canadiens after being invited to training camp in 2021.
He then signed a three-year, entry-level deal and returned to the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for the 2021/22 campaign. He was nicknamed the “Sheriff” in the OHL and his aggressive physical play earned him a spot on Montreal’s roster.
Xhekaj, who’s now nicknamed “Wi-Fi” because his last name resembles an internet password, played 51 games as a rookie before being injured and picked up five goals and eight assists for 13 points. The 22-year-old led his squad in penalty minutes with 101 while seeing an average of 15:16 minutes per contest.
3. Ryan Reaves, Toronto Maple Leafs
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Height: 6’2”
Weight: 226 lbs
Reaves is the the son of former Canadian Football League (CFL) and National Football League (NFL) player Willard Reaves and was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 2005 with the 156th pick overall. The right-winger broke into the league in 2010/11 and is now with the Toronto Maple Leafs, his sixth NHL team.
The most penalty minutes he’s racked up in an NHL campaign has been 126 in 63 games with the Blues in 2013/14. The 36-year-old is likely going to play in 1,000 league games as he controversially inked a three-year deal with the Leafs in the summer and entered the season with 828 games under his belt.
Reaves is known for being handy with his fists as well as for his aggressive forechecking; however, he’s been suspended three times for a total of six games during his NHL career, including three in the playoffs. After 821 games Reaves had chipped in with 59 goals and 70 assists for 129 points with 1,033 penalty minutes while playing an average of 8:51 minutes per game.
3. Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins
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Height: 6’3”
Weight: 236 lbs
At the age of 35, it seems that winger Milan Lucic has been around forever. In fact, he was drafted back in 2006 with the 50th overall pick by the Boston Bruins and broke into the league in 2007/08. He’s now back with the Bruins after signing a one-year contract with the club in July.
In between, he played with the Los Angeles Kings, Edmonton Oilers, and Calgary Flames. Lucic was known as a power forward in his younger days and had a career-best 30 goals and 32 assists for 62 points in 2010/11 to lead Boston in goals and tying for the lead in points. Lucic amassed a career-high 135 penalty minutes the next season and has scored at least 20 goals in five of his NHL campaigns.
After 1,175 contests he had 585 points on 233 goals and 352 assists with 1,301 penalty minutes while seeing 15:01 minutes of ice per night. He’s also picked up 229 penalty minutes in 136 playoff games with 77 points and won a Stanley Cup with Boston in 2010/11. Lucic has been fined four times and suspended four times in his career for a total of five games.
4. Tanner Jeannot, Tampa Bay Lightning
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Height: 6’2”
Weight: 220 lbs
Winger Tanner Jeannot was also undrafted into the NHL as he signed as a free agent with the Nashville Predators in 2018. He played 15 games with Nashville in 2020/21 and notched five goals and seven points while serving just two minutes in penalties. Jeannot then found his niche the next season when he totaled 24 goals and 41 points in 81 games with 130 minutes in penalties due to his aggressive play.
He led all rookies in goals and hits (318) that season, but his production slipped in 2022/23. However, the Tampa Bay Lightning thought so much of Jeannot that in February, 2023 they traded defenceman Cal Foote for his services along with five draft picks including a first-rounder in 2025.
After his first 176 NHL games, the 26-year-old had 36 goals and 33 assists for 69 points, along with 241 penalty minutes while playing an average of 14:52 minutes per outing. Jeannot was fined for kneeing in March, 2022.
5. Nicolas Deslauriers, Philadelphia Flyers
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Height: 6’1”
Weight: 218 lbs
While the current edition of the Philadelphia Flyers doesn’t resemble the Broad Street Bullies in any way, shape or form, the team still has its share of toughness thanks to enforcer/grinder Nicolas Deslauriers. The 32-year-old winger was drafted in 2009 by the Los Angeles Kings with the 84th pick overall and broke into the league in 2013/14 with the Buffalo Sabres.
The former defenceman is now with his fifth team as he’s also laced up the skates with the Montreal Canadiens, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild. He signed as a free agent with the Flyers in July, 2022 on a four-year deal worth $7 million. Deslauriers racked up a career-high 136 minutes in penalties last season while his best offensive output came back in 2014/15 when the tallied five goals and 15 points with the Sabres.
He led the NHL in fights in 2022/23 with 14 and as supplied some much-needed grit to the Flyers. Deslauriers had a total of 50 goals and 97 points in his first 589 regular-season games with 659 penalty minutes while playing an average of 10:39 minutes per game.
6. Kurtis MacDermid, Colorado Avalanche
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 233 lbs
Even the skilled Colorado Avalanche have an enforcer in the lineup in defenceman Kurtis “Big Mac” MacDermid, and although he won the Stanley Cup with the team in 2021/22, he didn’t appear in the postseason. MacDermid is tied as the tallest enforcer on this list at 6-feet-5-inches and is another player who went undrafted into the NHL.
He signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012, but didn’t make his NHL debut until 2017/18. In July, 2021, MacDermid was selected from Los Angeles by the Seattle Kraken in the NHL Expansion Draft and a few days later was traded to Colorado for a fourth-round draft pick in 2023 and signed a two-year contract extension in April, 2022.
MacDermid served a career-high 89 minutes in penalties in 2021/22 in 58 games. He was suspended for two games in 2020 while with Los Angeles for an illegal check to the head. He’s notched nine goals and 28 points in his first 221 games with an average of 10:21 minutes of ice time a night. MacDermid’s father Paul MacDermid played in the NHL as did his brother Lane MacDermid.
8. Patrick Maroon, Minnesota Wild
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Height: 6’3”
Weight: 234 lbs
Pat Maroon was drafted by the Philadelphia Flyers with the 161st overall pick back in 2007 but never played with the team. He’s now at his sixth club as he patrols the wing for the Minnesota Wild. He debuted in 2010/11 with the Anaheim Ducks and enjoyed his best offensive season in 2017/18 with the Edmonton Oilers when he banged in 27 goals and added 14 helpers for 41 points.
Maroon has been suspended twice for a total of three games during his NHL career. It appears he hasn’t slowed down at all when it comes to his enforcing job, as he served a career-high 150 penalty minutes last season and ranked second in the league in fighting majors with 12. Maroon had 117 goals and 171 assists for 288 points after 732 games with 920 penalty minutes while playing an average of 13:19 minutes per contest.
He also won the Stanley Cup in three consecutive seasons as he hit the jackpot with the St. Louis Blues in 2018/2019 and with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019/20 and 2020/21.
9. Matt Martin, New York Islanders
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Height: 6’3”
Weight: 215 lbs
Matt Martin is a 34-year-old winger who was drafted 148th overall by the New York Islanders in 2008 and became a regular with the team in 2010/11. He signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2016 and was traded back to the Islanders in 2018, then signed a four-year extension for $6 million.
Martin is known for his forechecking and hitting abilities, with his best offensive seasons coming in 2015/16 and 2022/23 when he chipped in with 19 points. The most goals he’s scored in a season was 10 in 2015/16, with the most penalty minutes served being 147 in 2010/11.
Martin has been suspended three times for a total of seven games in his NHL career. After 900 contests, Martin had 71 goals and 91 assists for 168 points with 1,115 minutes in penalties.
10. Ross Johnston, Anaheim Ducks
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Height: 6’5”
Weight: 234 lbs
Winger Ross Johnston is yet another undrafted NHL enforcer as he signed as a free agent with the New York Islanders in 2015 and made his league debut that season by playing in one game. The 29-year-old played sparingly with the club since then but was with the team to start the 2023/24 season before being claimed on waivers by the Anaheim Ducks.
The most games Johnston appeared in with the Islanders in a season was 32 in 2019/20 and 2021/22 with his best offensive production being two goals and seven points in 2021/22. His career-high in penalty minutes came in 2019/20 with 78.
After 136 career games, Johnston had accumulated nine goals and 24 points while serving 285 penalty minutes and playing an average of 8:50 minutes per match. He was suspended for three games in 2022/23 for an illegal hit to the head of A.J. Greer of the New Jersey Devils.
Evolution of the Role “Enforcer” in the NHL
While the NHL’s top all-time penalty-minute leaders such as Dave ‘Tiger’ Williams, Tie Domi, Marty McSorley, Bob Probert, Tim Hunter, and Chris Nilan have seen their NHL careers come and go with varying degrees of success, all of them were known to be excellent enforcers.
The main job of an enforcer these days is to respond to and deter violent or dirty play by the opposition. If one of their teammates suffers a dirty or even a clean hit for that matter, the enforcer typically takes it into his hands to respond aggressively. This usually happens by fighting with the offending player. In the 1970’s and 80’s the job of the enforcer was a little different as they set out to create as much havoc on the ice as possible and to intimidate and instill fear into their opponents, usually via fisticuffs or by reckless use of the stick.
Back then these players were typically known as goons since they possessed very little when it came to any other hockey skills. In this era enforcers don’t set out to agitate their opponents or entice them into taking penalties like pests do, as they simply patrol the ice to take care of any potential trouble. Enforcers usually play on a team’s third or fourth line and see less than 10 minutes of ice time a night.
While there are still some enforcers in the league, some teams don’t bother dressing any as their overall hockey skills often make them a liability. That being said, some of the league’s best all-time enforcers such as Probert, Williams, Terry O’Reilly and Dale Hunter could also put the puck in the net on a semi-regular basis at least.
The NHL now focuses on speed, skill and scoring as fighting is decreasing in general. This means teams don’t really want to use up a roster spot and part of their salary cap on one-dimensional players. That’s why today’s enforcers need to develop their other skills to keep their jobs.
Ian is an experienced ice hockey writer with a passion for the game. He has been covering hockey for over 25 years and has contributed to various publications. He covers all aspects of the sport, from NHL rules to in-depth analysis of the game as well as previews. Ian is also an avid fan who attends numerous games and has played hockey regularly since moving to Canada at the age of 10.