This series has already covered the forwards who gave their teams the cheapest and most expensive cost per point last season. The blue line is next. Cost per point is a blunt measure for defensemen, who are paid to do far more than score, so treat this as a breakdown of the numbers rather than a ranking of the league’s best. With that in mind, here are the ten defensemen whose production came cheapest in 2025-26.

This list excludes players on entry-level contracts and requires at least 42 games played last season.

The list:

1. Brent Burns ($24K Per Point) — The cheapest points on last season’s books belong to the oldest player in the league. Burns, 41, put up 35 points and a career-best plus-33 across all 82 games for Colorado, then re-signed in late June for one more year at an $850K base. The motivations are obvious on both sides: Burns is 57 games from Phil Kessel’s all-time ironman record and still chasing his first Cup, and the Avalanche get a Norris winner’s twilight at the league minimum.

2. Charle-Edouard D’Astous ($30K Per Point) — The best story on the list. An undrafted 28-year-old who’d won defenseman-of-the-year honors in the ECHL, Finland’s Liiga, and the SHL before ever playing an NHL game, D’Astous made his debut in October, stepped into Tampa Bay’s injury-ravaged blue line, and produced 29 points in 70 games. The Lightning didn’t wait to see how the story ended, and they extended him in January on a one-year deal with an $875K AAV.

3. Parker Wotherspoon ($33K Per Point) — A career year with a twist ending. Wotherspoon spent the season on Pittsburgh’s top pair next to Erik Karlsson, setting career highs with 30 points in 80 games while leading the Penguins in blocked shots. He won’t be there to build on it: Pittsburgh traded him to Vegas on June 30, and with the Penguins retaining half his contract, the Golden Knights get his final year at an effective $500K.

4. Louis Crevier ($37K Per Point) — The 6-foot-8 throw-in who might become the best part of the summer blockbuster Bowen Byram trade. Crevier climbed from Chicago’s seventh defenseman to top-pairing minutes, finishing with 25 points in 78 games and one of the hardest shots in the league, before being packaged to Buffalo alongside the fourth-overall pick in June. He’ll suit up for the Sabres in 2026-27, with restricted free agency waiting next summer.

5. Matthew Robertson ($47K Per Point) — Six years and some 250 AHL games after New York drafted him, Robertson finally arrived, playing 72 games and chipping in 18 points as one of the few bright spots on the East’s worst team last season. He’s back with the Rangers for 2026-27 in the final year of his deal, after which he can become a Group 6 unrestricted free agent.

6. Adam Wilsby ($53K Per Point) — Nashville’s quiet Swedish find gave the Predators 16 points across an injury-interrupted 58-game season while drawing regular penalty-kill duty. He returns to Nashville for 2026-27 on the one-way portion of the extension he signed as a virtual NHL rookie, with restricted free agency to follow.

7. Tyler Tucker ($54K Per Point) — The Blues’ rugged depth defenseman turned a regular lineup spot into a career year, posting 17 points in 69 games. He’s signed in St. Louis through 2026-27, one more cheap season on the back end before he’s due for a new deal.

8. Uvis Balinskis ($58K Per Point) — The Latvian blueliner managed 15 points in 54 games in a depth role, exactly the kind of near-minimum contributor a cap-strapped contender needs. He stays in Florida for 2026-27, and, on a deal running through 2027-28, the season after that too.

9. Shayne Gostisbehere ($64K Per Point) — The one genuine star-value season on the list. Gostisbehere put up 50 points in just 55 games, a 0.91 points-per-game rate that laps this field, while helping Carolina win the Stanley Cup. He’s back with the Hurricanes for 2026-27 in the final year of his deal, one of the better bargains among puck-moving defensemen before unrestricted free agency beckons next July.

10. Logan Mailloux ($65K Per Point)  — The youngest name took the strangest route. Acquired from Montreal in last summer’s Zachary Bolduc swap, Mailloux weathered a rough St. Louis debut, including an early AHL stint GM Doug Armstrong called a “reset”, before settling in for 13 points in 67 games. The Blues re-signed him in January, so he’s back in St. Louis for 2026-27, betting a full season turns the former first-rounder into a fixture on the right side.