Lots of tinkering in our first fantasy hockey defenseman rankings of August. Fantasy draft prep season is just about here!
| Rk | Player | Trend | Notes | Age |
| 1 | Cale Makar, COL | - | | 25.8 |
| 2 | Quinn Hughes, VAN | - | | 24.8 |
| 3 | Adam Fox, NYR | - | | 26.5 |
| 4 | Roman Josi, NAS | - | | 34.2 |
| 5 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | - | | 24.8 |
| 6 | Rasmus Dahlin, BUF | - | Can Ruff get Sabres scoring again? | 24.3 |
| 7 | Miro Heiskanen, DAL | - | | 25.1 |
| 8 | Victor Hedman, TB | - | PP1 role secure with no Sergachev | 33.7 |
| 9 | Josh Morrissey, WPG | - | | 29.4 |
| 10 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | - | | 26.7 |
| 11 | Noah Dobson, NYI | - | | 24.6 |
| 12 | Morgan Rielly, TOR | - | Only fear is OEL stealing PP1 minutes | 30.4 |
| 13 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | - | | 31.2 |
| 14 | John Carlson, WAS | - | | 34.6 |
| 15 | Shea Theodore, VGK | - | | 29.0 |
| 16 | Devon Toews, COL | - | Being glued to Makar doesn't hurt | 30.5 |
| 17 | Drew Doughty, LA | - | | 34.7 |
| 18 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | - | Health, weak team make him a gamble | 27.1 |
| 19 | Mikhail Sergachev, UTA | - | The main man in Utah following trade | 26.1 |
| 20 | Erik Karlsson, PIT | - | Hasn't missed a game since 2022(!) | 34.2 |
| 21 | Moritz Seider, DET | - | There's still another level here | 23.4 |
| 22 | Vince Dunn, SEA | - | | 27.8 |
| 23 | Kris Letang, PIT | - | | 37.3 |
| 24 | Michael Matheson, MTL | - | Won't fly under radar in drafts much longer | 30.5 |
| 25 | Mackenzie Weegar, CGY | - | | 30.6 |
| 26 | Brent Burns, CAR | - | | 39.5 |
| 27 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | - | Health continues to be main concern | 27.5 |
| 28 | Filip Hronek, VAN | - | Big value as Hughes' D partner | 26.8 |
| 29 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | - | | 34.6 |
| 30 | Luke Hughes, NJ | ⟰ | Return of Hamilton could slow his rise | 20.9 |
| 31 | Noah Hanifin, VGK | - | | 27.6 |
| 32 | Brandon Montour, SEA | - | Will he and Dunn be able to coexist? | 30.4 |
| 33 | Jakob Chychrun, WAS | - | Didn't fit in OTT, will WAS be better? | 26.4 |
| 34 | Rasmus Andersson, CGY | - | | 27.8 |
| 35 | Brock Faber, MIN | ⟰ | Monster extension says he's their guy | 22.0 |
| 36 | Thomas Harley, DAL | ⟰ | | 23.0 |
| 37 | Seth Jones, CHI | - | He's solid if you don't count +/- | 29.9 |
| 38 | Jake Sanderson, OTT | - | Could break out with Chychrun gone | 22.1 |
| 39 | Shayne Gostisbehere, CAR | - | | 31.3 |
| 40 | Gustav Forsling, FLA | - | Chance for bigger offensive role this year | 28.2 |
| 41 | Brady Skjei, NAS | - | | 30.4 |
| 42 | Justin Faulk, STL | - | Big opportunity with Krug sidelined | 32.4 |
| 43 | Mattias Ekholm, EDM | - | | 34.2 |
| 44 | Sean Durzi, UTA | - | | 25.8 |
| 45 | Aaron Ekblad, FLA | - | Not even 30, but already pretty banged up | 28.5 |
| 46 | Owen Power, BUF | - | Lots of upside, but may take time | 21.7 |
| 47 | Bowen Byram, BUF | - | | 23.2 |
| 48 | Pavel Mintyukov, ANH | - | | 20.7 |
| 49 | Cam York, PHI | - | | 23.6 |
| 50 | Travis Sanheim, PHI | - | Don't bank on same production this year | 28.4 |
Our fantasy hockey defensemen 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. Notes made in previous rankings may carry over to new rankings if they remain relevant.
