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In the late 1970s and during the 1980s, the NHL saw the rise of two new dynasties in the New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers – both teams were blessed with a plethora of Hall of Fame forwards (e.g. Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy for the Islanders, Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier, and Jari Kurri for the Oilers, just to name a few), star goalies (Billy Smith in New York, Grant Fuhr/Andy Moog in Edmonton), and on the blue line, offensively gifted defensemen in Denis Potvin (Islanders) and Paul Coffey (Oilers). With multiple Norris Trophies and over 1,000 career points apiece, these two Hall of Fame blueliners are among the greatest defensemen in league history – from their jaw-dropping statistics to individual accolades to team successes, it is only natural to compare the pair and ask:
Who was better – Paul Coffey or Denis Potvin?
The Beginning
Both Coffey and Potvin grew up in the Canadian province of Ontario and parlayed outstanding junior careers into being first-round draft picks and becoming immediate impact players at the NHL level.
A native of the Toronto area, Coffey starred as a junior for a few years with both the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL); from there, he was selected sixth overall in the 1980 NHL Entry Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. As a rookie in 1980-1981, he had a solid season with 9 goals and 23 assists for 32 points with a +5 +/- rating.
Similarly, Potvin spent his formative years in Ottawa and joined the hometown Ottawa 67’s in the OHL at age 15; there, he played his junior hockey for five years before becoming the top overall pick in the 1973 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders, an expansion team coming off the worst regular season in league history. Nevertheless, Potvin was an immediate star, posting 17 goals and 37 assists for 54 points and -17 +/- rating in 1973-1974 to win the Calder Trophy as top rookie.
Career Comparison
On one hand, Coffey suited up for nine(!) different NHL teams during his career, while on the other hand, Potvin played his entire career on Long Island; nevertheless, both players set scoring records at the position and were honored as the league’s best defenseman on numerous occasions.
Coffey was far and away the highest-scoring defenseman of the 1980s and broke out in his second season in 1981-1982 with 29 goals and 60 assists for 89 points and a +35 +/- rating to finish third for the Norris Trophy; this marked the first of six straight seasons of top-five Norris finishes and would be his lowest-scoring output for the next half-decade. Starting in 1983-1984, he would post three consecutive 100-point seasons (40 goals and 86 assists for 126 points with a +52 +/- rating that season) – the 40 goals were only the second time a blueliner had scored 40 goals in a season (Bobby Orr had 46 in 1974-1975) and as a result, Coffey was second for the Norris to Rod Langway and 10th for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. In turn, this was followed by back-to-back Norris Trophies:
- 1984-1985: 37 goals and 84 assists for 121 points and a +57 +/- rating
- 1985-1986: 48 goals (a single-season record for a defenseman that still stands today) and 90 assists for 138 points (second only to Orr’s 139 points in 1970-1971 among defensemen) and a +61 +/- rating; career-highs in all categories and also a fourth-place Hart finish
Though he posted another top-five Norris finish in 1986-1987, a contract dispute with the Oilers led to Coffey being traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in a seven-player deal.
In four-and-a-half years with Pittsburgh, Coffey was top-five for the Norris Trophy in each of his full seasons, though he posted a negative +/- rating each year. This included another 100-point campaign in 1988-1989 (30 goals and 83 assists for 113 points with a -10 +/- rating), resulting in a runner-up finish to Chris Chelios for the Norris. To close out the decade, Coffey tallied his final 100-point season in 1989-1990 (29 goals and 74 assists for 103 points with a -25 +/- rating); not only was he fourth in the Norris voting, but he also became just the second defenseman in NHL history (after Potvin) to reach 1,000 career points, accomplishing the feat in just 770 games. Then, in 1991-1992, he would surpass Potvin for most career goals, assists, and points by a defenseman, though was traded midway through the season to the Los Angeles Kings (thus reuniting with Edmonton teammates Gretzky and Kurri).
During his 30s, Coffey began a bit of a nomadic existence – following a year-and-a-half in Los Angeles, he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings, where he notably won a third and final Norris Trophy (and finished fourth for the Hart Trophy) by leading the team with 58 points (14 goals and 44 assists with a +18 +/- rating) during the lockout-shortened 1994-1995 season. Finally, he notched the last of 11 top-five Norris showings in 1995-1996 with 14 goals and 60 assists for 74 points and a +19 +/- rating. However, conflicts with the team once again led to Coffey being sent to the then-Hartford Whalers in 1996-1997 for Brendan Shanahan; after just 20 games with the Whalers, though, he was once again traded to the Philadelphia Flyers. Over the next few seasons, Coffey had stints with the Chicago Blackhawks, the Carolina Hurricanes (the old Whalers franchise), and finally, the Boston Bruins before retiring at age 39 in 2000-2001. Upon retirement, Coffey was the highest-scoring defenseman in league history, though was soon surpassed by Ray Bourque.
Likewise, in his second season in 1974-1975, Potvin also ascended to superstardom with 21 goals and 55 assists for 76 points and a +27 +/- rating, finishing second for the Norris Trophy to the aforementioned Bobby Orr and seventh for the Hart Trophy. With Orr’s injuries and resulting decline into retirement, Potvin quickly assumed the mantle as the NHL’s best defenseman in the mid-to-late 1970s. During the 1975-1976 season, he posted the best scoring totals up to that point by a defenseman not named Orr with 31 goals and 67 assists for 98 points and a +12 +/- rating, winning his first Norris Trophy and finishing second for the Hart Trophy to Bobby Clarke in the process. Following a third-place finish in 1976-1977 (25 goals and 55 assists for 80 points with a +42 +/- rating), Potvin would win back-to-back Norris Trophies to end the decade on a high note:
- 1977-1978: 30 goals and 64 assists for 94 points and a +57 +/- rating; also finished seventh for the Hart
- 1978-1979: career-bests of 31 goals and 70 assists for 101 points and a +71 +/- rating; finished fourth for Hart
Though injuries limited him to just 31 games played in 1979-1980, Potvin nevertheless still had yet another top-10 Hart showing.
In the 1980s, Potvin’s offensive production dipped from his peak (somewhat ironic given the league was entering its highest-scoring era ever), but he remained an elite defenseman. In fact, he nearly won a fourth Norris Trophy in 1980-1981, finishing second to Randy Carlyle (and ninth for the Hart) with 20 goals and 56 assists for 76 points with a +39 +/- rating. As an encore, Potvin tallied yet another top-10 finish: 24 goals and 37 assists for 61 points and another +39 +/- rating. His highest-scoring season of the 1980s came in 1983-1984, when he scored 85 points (22 goals and 63 assists with a +54 +/- rating), thus finishing fourth for the Norris (his last of seven top-five finishes). Though his physical defense game led to more nagging injuries, Potvin continued to produce at nearly a point-per-game pace and at the end of the 1986-1987 season, he became the first defenseman ever with 1,000 career points. In his final NHL season at age 34 in 1987-1988, he fittingly was top-10 for the Norris Trophy yet again (19 goals and 32 assists for 51 points and a +26 +/- rating) and hung up his skates with the most career goals and points ever by a blueliner.
With an NHL career that spanned five additional seasons and nearly 350 more games (as well as eight more teams), Coffey not only surpassed Potvin in all scoring categories (goals, assists, and points), but ended up with almost 500 more points than his blue line counterpart with a better per-game scoring rate (1.09 vs. 0.99 points per game); on the other hand, with his strong all-around play on defense, Potvin’s career +/- rating was significantly better. Both defensemen won the Norris Trophy 3x, though Coffey’s longevity resulted in more All-Star Game selections (14 vs. 9), whereas Potvin was also a Calder Trophy winner. As two of the highest-scoring blueliners in league history, each player was a first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, Potvin in 1991 and Coffey in 2004.
Regular Season Statistics
| Paul Coffey | Player | Denis Potvin |
| 21 (1980-2001) | Seasons | 15 (1973-1988) |
| 1,409 | Games Played | 1,060 |
| 396 | Goals | 310 |
| 1,135 | Assists | 742 |
| 1,531 | Points | 1,052 |
| +298 | +/- | +456 |
| 14x | All-Star Games | 9x |
| – | Hart Trophies | – |
| 3x | Norris Trophies | 3x |
| 4x | Stanley Cups | 4x |
| – | Conn Smythes | – |
| – | Other Awards | ROY |
| 2004 | Hall of Fame Induction | 1991 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
In addition to their regular season prowess, Coffey and Potvin each won multiple Stanley Cup titles as part of high-flying dynasty teams, even facing off against each other in the Finals a couple of times.
During the 1982-1983 season, the Islanders swept the Oilers in the Finals to win their fourth consecutive Stanley Cup – Potvin compiled 8 goals and 12 assists for 20 points with a postseason-best +20 +/- rating, while Coffey was quiet with 6 points (1 goal and 5 assists) and a -4 +/- rating. However, going for their fifth consecutive title the next year, New York fell to Edmonton in a Finals rematch in five games, breaking a record-streak of 19 straight playoff series won and effectively marking the end of one dynasty and the beginning of a new one – this time, Coffey posted 8 goals and 14 assists for 22 points and a playoff-best +18 +/- rating.
Coffey appeared in the playoffs 16x with six of his nine teams and holds the all-time playoff records for most goals and points by a defenseman. After winning his first Cup, he helped the Oilers repeat in 1984-1985 in a five-game victory over the Flyers and had one of the most remarkable postseasons ever: not only did he scoring the title-clinching goal, but he also set defenseman scoring records for a single postseason with 12 goals and 25 assists for 37 points and a +23 +/- rating. A couple of years later, in a rematch with Philadelphia in 1986-1987, Coffey contributed 11 postseason points (3 goals and 8 assists) with a +7 +/ rating as the Oilers prevailed in seven games. Finally, he won his fourth Cup as part of Mario Lemieux’s Penguins in 1990-1991 over the then-Minnesota North Stars in six games, though was relatively quiet offensively with 11 points. Overall, Coffey played in the Stanley Cup Finals 7x, also making it to the title round in the mid-to-late 1990s with both the Red Wings and the Flyers.
Incredibly, Potvin made the playoffs with the Islanders in all but his rookie campaign, notably winning the four Stanley Cup titles – though a different Islander won the Conn Smythe each time, Potvin was not among the individual award winners. In addition to the aforementioned fourth Cup against the Oilers:
- 1979-1980: beat the Flyers in six games; 6 goals and 13 assists for 19 points and a +10 +/- rating
- 1980-1981: beat the North Stars in five games; 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points and a +18 +/- rating
- 1981-1982: swept the Vancouver Canucks; 5 goals and 16 assists for 21 points and a +9 +/- rating
Though neither star had the honor of representing Team Canada at the Winter Olympics, both nevertheless won numerous medals on the international stage – Coffey won three gold medals at the Canada Cup and one World Cup silver, while Potvin earned a gold and a silver medal at the Canada Cup and a bronze medal at the World Championships.
Playoff Statistics
| Paul Coffey | Player | Denis Potvin |
| 194 | Games Played | 185 |
| 59 | Goals | 56 |
| 137 | Assists | 108 |
| 196 | Points | 164 |
| +53 | +/- | +64 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Every athlete goes through a natural career lifecycle, from starting off as a rookie to reaching peak years of performance and finally, declining into the inevitable retirement due to a combination of age and/or injury; Coffey became a bit of a nomadic mercenary later on in his career, while physical play and age would temper Potvin’s dominance in his 30s. For Hall of Fame caliber players across sports, I like to look at a concept I call a “decade of dominance.” The thinking behind this is that for most Hall of Fame type careers, there are roughly 10 great seasons that define an athlete, though due to injury or other factors, they might not be 10 consecutive years.
Decade of Dominance
| Paul Coffey | Player | Denis Potvin |
| 1981-1986, 1988-1991, 1992-1993, 1994-1995 | Decade of Dominance | 1974-1979, 1980-1985 |
| 755 | Games Played | 748 |
| 292 | Goals | 233 |
| 732 | Assists | 572 |
| 1,024 | Points | 805 |
| +238 | +/- | +406 |
Source: Hockey-Reference.com
Normalizing across decades of dominance, Coffey remains the superior offensive force with more total goals, assists, and points, as well as a better scoring rate (1.36 vs. 1.08 points per game); in fact, he reached 1,000 total points in his 10 best seasons, essentially rivaling the type of scoring numbers usually put up by forwards. On the other hand, Potvin’s strong all-around game not only resulted in 800+ points of his own, but also a substantial advantage in terms of +/- rating.
My Thoughts
In terms of the difference between Paul Coffey and Denis Potvin, I would say the following: Coffey was a better offensive defenseman, but Potvin was the better defenseman, period. In other words, if you needed a quarterback from the blueline to score points, then Coffey was your man, but if you needed a true leader who could score, play defense, and lead a team, then the pick should be Potvin – while +/- rating is certainly not the be-all, end-all, Potvin’s vastly superior career +/- rating certainly speaks to his overall value (meanwhile, outside of his time in Edmonton, Coffey was only slightly above even for his career). This is certainly not meant as a slight to Coffey – he would definitely rank top-five among the greatest offensive defensemen in NHL history alongside Orr, Bourque, etc.. However, I think Potvin’s greatness has been overlooked historically, as his career resume basically includes everything a player could hope to achieve: Calder Trophy for top rookie, career scoring records at the defenseman position for his day, multiple Norris Trophies, captaining the Islanders to four Stanley Cups, etc. Both are all-time top-10 defensemen for me, but within that ranking, I have Potvin just a notch above Coffey.
Thus, after weighing their careers against each other in terms of statistics, achievements, and impact, the winner of this faceoff is:
Denis Potvin
As always, vote for your choice and leave your thoughts and comments below.
Further Reading
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