List below are the Top 30 Salary Cap Numbers for defensemen heading into the 2011-12 NHL season. Due to front-loading contracts (back-loaded in some cases), and teams having to deal with the salary cap, a players cap number takes precedence over their actual salary. Drew Doughty for sure, and possibly Luke Schenn could be added to this list once they sign.
| Rk. | Player | Team | 2011-12 Cap Number | 2011-12 Salary |
| 1 | Shea Weber | NAS | $7,500,000 | $7,500,000 |
| 2 | Brian Campbell | FLA | $7,140,000 | $7,140,000 |
| 3 | Zdeno Chara | BOS | $6,917,000 | $8,500,000 |
| 4 | Jay Bouwmeester | CGY | $6,680,000 | $6,600,000 |
| 5 | Dan Boyle | SJS | $6,667,000 | $6,667,000 |
| 6 | Dion Phaneuf | TOR | $6,500,000 | $6,500,000 |
| Wade Redden | NYR | $6,500,000 | $6,500,000 | |
| 8 | Kimmo Timonen | PHI | $6,333,000 | $5,000,000 |
| 9 | Nicklas Lidstrom | DET | $6,200,000 | $6,200,000 |
| 10 | Brent Seabrook | CHI | $5,800,000 | $7,000,000 |
| 11 | Andrei Markov | MTL | $5,750,000 | $5,750,000 |
| 12 | Lubomir Visnovsky | ANA | $5,600,000 | $5,000,000 |
| 13 | Duncan Keith | CHI | $5,551,000 | $8,000,000 |
| 14 | Sergei Gonchar | OTT | $5,500,000 | $5,500,000 |
| James Wisniewski | CLB | $5,500,000 | $7,000,000 | |
| 16 | Mike Green | WAS | $5,250,000 | $5,000,000 |
| Keith Yandle | PHX | $5,250,000 | $5,250,000 | |
| 18 | Dustin Byfuglien | WPG | $5,200,000 | $4,250,000 |
| 19 | Paul Martin | PIT | $5,000,000 | $5,500,000 |
| Michal Rozsival | PHX | $5,000,000 | $3,000,000 | |
| 21 | Chris Pronger | PHI | $4,921,000 | $7,600,000 |
| 22 | Kevin Bieksa | VAN | $4,600,000 | $7,000,000 |
| 23 | Joni Pitkanen | CAR | $4,500,000 | $4,500,000 |
| Mike Komisarek | TOR | $4,500,000 | $5,500,000 | |
| Ron Hainsey | WPG | $4,500,000 | $5,000,000 | |
| Dan Hamhuis | VAN | $4,500,000 | $5,000,000 | |
| 27 | Jack Johnson | LAK | $4,357,000 | $3,500,000 |
| 28 | Anton Volchenkov | NJD | $4,250,000 | $4,250,000 |
| Tomas Kaberle | CAR | $4,250,000 | $4,000,000 | |
| 30 | John-Michael Liles | TOR | $4,200,000 | $4,550,000 |
| Keith Ballard | VAN | $4,200,000 | $4,200,000 |