How to Use defenseman in a Sentence

defenseman

noun
  • The defenseman's shot clanged off the bottom of the cross bar and over the goal line.
    — José M. Romero, The Arizona Republic, 21 Nov. 2021
  • Rielly is the Leafs top defenseman and his 43 points is top-1o in the NHL.
    — Jay Ginsbach, Forbes, 22 Feb. 2024
  • The defenseman has served as one of the team’s captains the last couple of years.
    — Emmett Hall, sun-sentinel.com, 29 July 2021
  • The defenseman fired a wrist shot from the left circle.
    — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 3 Jan. 2025
  • Alex Ovechkin poked the puck from the Panthers defenseman at his blue line.
    — Dave Hyde, Sun Sentinel, 4 May 2022
  • The Blackhawks have four defensemen signed to NHL deals.
    — Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 24 June 2023
  • What options do the Stars have should a defenseman get hurt?
    — Matthew Defranks, Dallas News, 28 Sep. 2021
  • Rangers fans still chant the name of a defenseman (Denis Potvin) who wronged them 43 years ago.
    — Matt Porter, BostonGlobe.com, 19 May 2022
  • The Senators receive high marks for adding one of the best defensemen in the league on a cut-price deal.
    — Jeremy Cluff, The Arizona Republic, 2 Mar. 2023
  • Clarke, a defenseman, was the eighth overall pick last month.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 10 Aug. 2021
  • In his prime, DeKeyser was a solid shut-down defenseman, and one of the team's top workhorses.
    — Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 7 Mar. 2022
  • The second-youngest Star, 22-year-old defenseman Thomas Harley, logged 94 minutes of ice time against the Wild.
    — Brad Townsend, Dallas News, 30 Apr. 2023
  • Nilan did the same for Brian Leetch, the star Rangers defenseman.
    — David Waldstein, New York Times, 22 Sep. 2023
  • Werenski is a great, great defenseman, but even the best of the best are guilty of blunders.
    — Josh Yohe, The Athletic, 22 Mar. 2025
  • Seider is poised to be a top-four defenseman for the Wings starting this week.
    — Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 8 Oct. 2021
  • The 23-year-old broke the Stars’ franchise record for most points in a single season by a defenseman with 73.
    — Brice Paterik, Dallas News, 8 May 2023
  • The 6-foot-7 defenseman who shoots right was one of the most intriguing prospects in the draft class and can make a big impact in the future.
    — Jenna Ortiz, The Arizona Republic, 12 July 2022
  • Even the loss of top defenseman Aaron Ekblad to a fractured leg on March 28 didn’t slow them down.
    — Carol Schram, Forbes, 7 Apr. 2021
  • Fourth-year defenseman Matt Roy has the best plus/minus rating on the team’s blue line.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 2022
  • The defenseman drove around the net for a wrap attempt, and Mittelstadt was there to clean up the rebound at 14:25 of the second.
    — Corey Masisak, The Denver Post, 24 Oct. 2024
  • Tillman wants the Terps to have high standards on and off the field, says senior defenseman Brett Makar.
    — Jason Gay, WSJ, 12 May 2022
  • Fowler, the Ducks’ all-time leader in games played by a defenseman, picked up two assists for St. Louis.
    — Andrew Knoll, Orange County Register, 10 Mar. 2025
  • Karlsson might not fit the mold of a shutdown defenseman.
    — Ross McKeon, San Francisco Chronicle, 12 Mar. 2022
  • Trent Frederic dropped the puck for Coyle and spotted McAvoy coming off the bench and the defenseman buried it.
    — Stephen Conroy, Hartford Courant, 15 May 2024
  • As the area’s most complete defenseman, the Navy commit was able to put his stamp on a game in a variety of ways.
    — Glenn Graham, Baltimore Sun, 19 June 2023
  • Liam O’Brien, the latest in a string of brain injuries the lanky defenseman has incurred in his still-young career.
    — Steve Conroy, Hartford Courant, 24 Oct. 2022
  • The one ex-Wing not in the lineup was defenseman Dennis Cholowski.
    — Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 28 Oct. 2021
  • Kris Letang was the most creative puck-moving defenseman in the series.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 27 May 2021
  • He was stationed near the left post when Devon Toews’ shot was blocked in the slot, but the defenseman backhanded the loose puck to MacKinnon for a lay-up at 12:09 of the period.
    — Corey Masisak, Denver Post, 29 Mar. 2025
  • With the addition of Jake Walman, Edmonton addressed a major area of need with one of the best defensemen on the market.
    — Shayna Goldman, New York Times, 26 Mar. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'defenseman.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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