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 | ||
| 2 | Adam Fox, NYR | Last season wasn't a one-off | |
| 3 | John Carlson, WAS | ||
| 4 | Victor Hedman, TB | Arguably the best all around Dman in the game | |
| 5 | Quinn Hughes, VAN | ||
| 6 | Roman Josi, NAS | ||
| 7 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | ||
| 8 | Morgan Rielly, TOR | ||
| 9 | Tyson Barrie, EDM | ||
| 10 | Aaron Ekblad, FLA | Now the undisputed centerpiece of the Cats D | |
| 11 | Shea Theodore, VGK | Has to share offensive duties with Pietrangelo | |
| 12 | Seth Jones, CHI | Big ticket blueliner starting to produce | |
| 13 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | Up | |
| 14 | Miro Heiskanen, DAL | ||
| 15 | Kris Letang, PIT | A top talent, but the injury risk is real | |
| 16 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | ||
| 17 | Drew Doughty, LA | ||
| 18 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | He'll get the opportunities with Jones gone | |
| 19 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | ||
| 20 | Darnell Nurse, EDM | ||
| 21 | Torey Krug, STL | ||
| 22 | Neal Pionk, WPG | ||
| 23 | Tony DeAngelo, CAR | Up | He's elite, but do you trust him? |
| 24 | Rasmus Dahlin, BUF | Up | He's looked better under Granato |
| 25 | John Klingberg, DAL | Down | |
| 26 | Moritz Seider, DET | Up | Rookie sensation is off to a great start |
| 27 | Brent Burns, SJ | ||
| 28 | Mikhail Sergachev, TB | ||
| 29 | Ryan Ellis, PHI | Injuries a barrier to higher upside | |
| 30 | Mackenzie Weegar, FLA | Lesser known blueliner is proving his worth | |
| 31 | Devon Toews, COL | Riding shotgun with Makar is always nice | |
| 32 | Erik Karlsson, SJ | Injuries, mobility issues cap his upside | |
| 33 | Jeff Petry, MTL | Down | Massively disappointing start for Petry, Habs |
| 34 | Ivan Provorov, PHI | Better D-man in real life than in fantasy hockey | |
| 35 | Matt Dumba, MIN | ||
| 36 | Jakob Chychrun, AZ | Down | |
| 37 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson, VAN | Down | |
| 38 | Jared Spurgeon, MIN | ||
| 39 | Samuel Girard, COL | ||
| 40 | Filip Hronek, DET | ||
| 41 | Josh Morrissey, WPG | ||
| 42 | Bowen Byram, COL | Up | Working his way up a crowded depth chart |
| 43 | Shayne Gostisbehere, AZ | Up | Seems to have found a fit in Arizona |
| 44 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | ||
| 45 | Justin Faulk, STL | ||
| 46 | Mark Giordano, SEA | ||
| 47 | Mattias Ekholm, NAS | Down | |
| 48 | Jake Muzzin, TOR | ||
| 49 | Alec Martinez, VGK | ||
| 50 | Adam Boqvist, CBJ |