It has earned a reputation as one of the finest in the League, and many teams are trying to emulate its composition.
Three defining characteristics are at the heart of the success being experienced by the Nashville defensemen: high involvement in the scoring, excellent shot-based metrics, and minutes played. The return of Ellis should have a positive impact on each of those categories.
Through 33 games, Nashville's top-four defensemen have combined for 70 points (20 goals, 50 assists). No other team has that many points from its four highest-scoring defensemen. The Lightning are next with 65. The League average is 52.2.
The scoring from the blue line is even more impressive on a percentage of total points for the team. The Predators have 287 points, and the Lightning have 352, so the Predators' top four has been responsible for 24.4 percent of Nashville's scoring, compared to 18.5 percent for Tampa Bay. The NHL average is 19.4 percent.
Ellis has 124 points (41 goals, 83 assists) in 288 NHL games from 2013-14 and 2016-17, which is No. 40 in scoring among defensemen during that span. He had 38 points (16 goals, 22 assists) in 71 games last season. Emelin has 53 points (eight goals, 45 assists) in 275 games, tied for No. 125. He has five assists in 32 games this season.
In that same span, Josi ranks No. 5 with 205 points (54 goals, 151 assists) in 306 games, and Subban ranks No. 6 with 204 points (41 goals, 163 assists) in 298 games.