NHL Network ranks the league's top 20 defensemen.

It is just about the worst time of the year to be a hockey fan but thankfully the National Hockey League is well aware of this and is doing their very best to keep us entertained, although perhaps keeping us arguing would be a better way to describe the reaction that this list will provoke.

On Sunday the National Hockey League's NHL Network released a list of the NHL's top 20 defensemen, at least what they consider to be the NHL's top 20 defensemen. Now it is important to note that any list of this nature will include some subjective elements that not everyone is going to agree with, but arguing about who should be ranked where is about 75% of the fun when it comes to these things. So without further ado here are the Top 20 defensemen in the NHL as per the NHL Network.

#1 Brent Burns.

Right away we have a very interesting pick. Burns of course did not win the Norris Trophy as the NHL's top defenseman this year, however the NHL Network feels his offensive production over the past few seasons pushes his over the edge. There's no question that Burns is one of the most dynamic defensemen in the NHL however, and there's no question he deserves to be ranked high on this list.

#2 Victor Hedman.

Once again this year's Norris Trophy winner is snubbed by the NHL Network. The towering Tampa Bay Lightning blue liner has been one of the most dominant forces on the blue line for several seasons now, although he sometimes does not get the credit he deserves. At times outshined by superstars like Nikita Kucherov or Steven Stamkos who both play on the same team, there's no question that Hedman remains one of the NHL's truly elite defensemen.

#3 Mark Giordano.

Fans in Calgary will not be happy to see Giordano this far down the list, and they may have a point. Giordano is the reigning Norris Trophy winner and there's no question he is coming off a rather insane campaign during the 2018 - 2019 NHL regular season. If I had to guess I would suspect that Calgary's rather rapid exit from the playoffs this summer played a significant role in both Hedman, who was also eliminated in the firts round, and Burns being ranked ahead of Giordano.

#4 Erik Karlsson.

In spite of the fact that he has been severely hampered by injuries in recent years Erik Karlsson somehow continues to be one of the NHL's premier defensemen. No defenseman for any team has produce more points from the blue line that Karlsson has since he entered the league, and in fact the only man even close is fellow teammate Brent Burns who claimed the #1 spot on this list.

#5 Seth Jones.

The fact that at 25 years of age Jones already ranks this high on the list is a rather impressive accomplishment, but one he certainly deserves. Since being traded by the Nashville Predators Jones has been one of the few consistent bright spots for the Blue Jackets and this most recent season was absolutely no exception. The young defenseman clocked in an average of 25:49 per game this season, only 3 other defensemen in the entire league played more.

Here, in order, is how the NHL Network's Top 20 rounds out.

#6 John Carlson

#7 Morgan Rielly

#8 Roman Josi

#9 Drew Doughty

#10 Kris Letang

#11 Alex Pietrangelo

#12 John Klingberg

#13 P.K. Subban

#14 Charlie McAvoy

#15 Jacob Trouba

#16 Torey Krug