Our fantasy hockey defenseman rankings project value for the next 1 to 2 seasons, and consider each player's track record, upside, age, team and injury history. Because fantasy league categories vary widely, these rankings focus on point production.
| RK | PLAYER | STOCK | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cale Makar, COL | One of very few dmen capable of 30+ goals | |
| 2 | Adam Fox, NYR | Could easily be #1 before long | |
| 3 | John Carlson, WAS | ||
| 4 | Victor Hedman, TB | ||
| 5 | Roman Josi, NAS | ||
| 6 | Quinn Hughes, VAN | ||
| 7 | Morgan Rielly, TOR | More relaxed with contract taken care of | |
| 8 | Aaron Ekblad, FLA | ||
| 9 | Tyson Barrie, EDM | ||
| 10 | Shea Theodore, VGK | Has to share offensive duties with Pietrangelo | |
| 11 | Seth Jones, CHI | Big ticket blueliner starting to produce | |
| 12 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | Not as many elite teammates in NJ | |
| 13 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | ||
| 14 | Kris Letang, PIT | A top talent, but the injury risk is real | |
| 15 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | ||
| 16 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | Stepping up as CBJ's clear top dog | |
| 17 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | ||
| 18 | Drew Doughty, LA | ||
| 19 | Miro Heiskanen, DAL | ||
| 20 | Darnell Nurse, EDM | ||
| 21 | Torey Krug, STL | ||
| 22 | Neal Pionk, WPG | ||
| 23 | Tony DeAngelo, CAR | Slowly earning trust of fantasy owners once again | |
| 24 | Moritz Seider, DET | Up | Rookie sensation is off to a great start |
| 25 | Rasmus Dahlin, BUF | Up | Now reliable, at least in fantasy |
| 26 | John Klingberg, DAL | Down | |
| 27 | Brent Burns, SJ | ||
| 28 | Devon Toews, COL | Up | Riding shotgun with Makar is always nice |
| 29 | Mackenzie Weegar, FLA | Lesser known blueliner is proving his worth | |
| 30 | Mikhail Sergachev, TB | ||
| 31 | Erik Karlsson, SJ | Up | Injuries, mobility issues cap his upside |
| 32 | Ryan Ellis, PHI | Injuries a barrier to higher upside | |
| 33 | Matt Dumba, MIN | ||
| 34 | Jakob Chychrun, AZ | Down | |
| 35 | Ivan Provorov, PHI | Better D-man in real life than in fantasy hockey | |
| 36 | Jared Spurgeon, MIN | ||
| 37 | Samuel Girard, COL | ||
| 38 | Shayne Gostisbehere, AZ | Up | Seems to have found a fit in Arizona |
| 39 | Filip Hronek, DET | ||
| 40 | Jeff Petry, MTL | Down | Worrisome dropoff, but he's not this bad |
| 41 | Bowen Byram, COL | Working his way up a crowded depth chart | |
| 42 | Justin Faulk, STL | ||
| 43 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson, VAN | Down | You hold out hope, but it hasn't looked good |
| 44 | Rasmus Andersson, CGY | ||
| 45 | Ryan Suter, DAL | ||
| 46 | Alex Goligoski, MIN | Revitalized by new opportunity in Minny | |
| 47 | Alec Martinez, VGK | ||
| 48 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | ||
| 49 | Keith Yandle, PHI | ||
| 50 | Cam Fowler, ANH | Hard to trust production, but it's there right now | |
| THE SPARES | |||
| Mark Giordano, SEA | |||
| Mattias Ekholm, NAS | |||
| Josh Morrissey, WPG | |||
| Adam Boqvist, CBJ | |||
| Jake Muzzin, TOR | |||
| Dmitry Orlov, WAS | |||
| Ryan Pulock, NYI | |||
| Kevin Shattenkirk, ANH | |||
| Oliver Kylington, CGY | |||
| Jacob Trouba, NYR | |||
| Rasmus Ristolainen, PHI | |||
| Matt Grzelcyk, BOS | |||
| Ty Smith, NJ | |||
| Jaccob Slavin, CAR | |||
| Duncan Keith, EDM | |||
| P.K. Subban, NJ | |||
| Nick Leddy, DET | |||
| Oscar Klefbom, EDM | |||
| Colton Parayko, STL | |||
| Erik Gustafsson, CHI | |||
| Brandon Montour, FLA | |||
| Alex Edler, LA | |||
| Noah Dobson, NYI | |||
| Justin Schultz, WAS | |||
| TJ Brodie, TOR | |||
| Vince Dunn, SEA | |||
| Will Butcher, NJ | |||
| Tyler Myers, VAN | |||
| Colin Miller, BUF | |||
| Ryan McDonagh, TB | |||
| Sami Vatanen, NJ | |||
| Hampus Lindholm, ANH | |||
| Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJ | |||
| Noah Hanifin, CGY | |||
| Brady Skjei, CAR | |||
| Mike Matheson, PIT | |||
| Nate Schmidt, WPG | |||
| Josh Manson, ANH | |||
| Esa Lindell, DAL | |||
| Damon Severson, NJ | |||
| Nikita Zaitsev, OTT | |||
| Brett Pesce, CAR | |||
| Jake Gardiner, CAR | |||