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
  • The sixth defenseman, Hunt earned ice time on the power play with his point shot.
    — Sarah McLellan, Star Tribune, 11 Aug. 2020
  • That would mean the team would have to cut one forward, one defenseman and two goalies.
    — Matthew Defranks, Dallas News, 11 July 2020
  • 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
  • The defenseman wasn't dealt after his agent set a deadline of Oct. 9 for a trade.
    — Jose M. Romero, The Arizona Republic, 29 Oct. 2020
  • 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
  • The sophomore defenseman’s quick shot from the top of the slot was on net and Reedy tipped it past goalie Drew DeRidder.
    — News Services, Star Tribune, 4 Dec. 2020
  • Sergachev’s assist was the fourth point of the game for a Lightning defenseman.
    — Helene St. James, Detroit Free Press, 4 Feb. 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
  • But how well does the 21-year-old Stars defenseman stack up against the game’s other shining young stars?
    — Dallas News, 15 Dec. 2020
  • 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
  • The moves left the Sharks with eight defensemen, including Thrun, on one-way contracts.
    — Curtis Pashelka, Mercury News, 11 July 2025
  • The defenseman has also dealt with the loss of his mother, Jennifer, to breast cancer in 2024, as well as the death of his billet mother, Emily Matson, who died two months earlier.
    — Jacob Feldman, Sportico.com, 27 June 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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