It's go time. The NHL season has finally arrived. Here's our latest top 50 fantasy hockey defensemen ranking.
| Rk | Player | Trend | Notes | Age |
| 1 | Cale Makar, COL | - | Best Dman, but Hughes will challenge | 25.9 |
| 2 | Quinn Hughes, VAN | - | Similar upside to Makar | 25.0 |
| 3 | Adam Fox, NYR | - | | 26.6 |
| 4 | Roman Josi, NAS | - | Will he slow down? Not a spring chicken | 34.4 |
| 5 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | - | | 25.0 |
| 6 | Rasmus Dahlin, BUF | - | | 24.5 |
| 7 | Miro Heiskanen, DAL | - | | 25.2 |
| 8 | Josh Morrissey, WPG | - | | 29.5 |
| 9 | Victor Hedman, TB | - | PP1 role secure with no Sergachev | 33.8 |
| 10 | Noah Dobson, NYI | - | | 24.8 |
| 11 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | - | | 26.8 |
| 12 | Morgan Rielly, TOR | - | Only fear is OEL stealing PP1 minutes | 30.6 |
| 13 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | - | | 31.3 |
| 14 | John Carlson, WAS | - | | 34.8 |
| 15 | Shea Theodore, VGK | - | | 29.2 |
| 16 | Devon Toews, COL | - | Being glued to Makar doesn't hurt | 30.6 |
| 17 | Mikhail Sergachev, UTA | - | The main man in Utah following trade | 26.3 |
| 18 | Erik Karlsson, PIT | - | Hasn't missed a game since 2022(!) | 34.4 |
| 19 | Moritz Seider, DET | - | There's still another level here | 23.5 |
| 20 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | - | Health, weak team make him a gamble | 27.2 |
| 21 | Vince Dunn, SEA | - | | 28.0 |
| 22 | Kris Letang, PIT | - | | 37.5 |
| 23 | Brent Burns, CAR | - | | 39.6 |
| 24 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | - | Health continues to be main concern | 27.7 |
| 25 | Filip Hronek, VAN | - | Big value as Hughes' D partner | 26.9 |
| 26 | Mackenzie Weegar, CGY | - | | 30.8 |
| 27 | Michael Matheson, MTL | - | Won't fly under radar in drafts much longer | 30.6 |
| 28 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | - | | 34.7 |
| 29 | Noah Hanifin, VGK | - | | 27.7 |
| 30 | Brandon Montour, SEA | - | Will he and Dunn be able to coexist? | 30.5 |
| 31 | Luke Hughes, NJ | - | Return of Hamilton could slow his rise | 21.1 |
| 32 | Jakob Chychrun, WAS | - | Didn't fit in OTT, will WAS be better? | 26.5 |
| 33 | Brock Faber, MIN | ⟰ | Monster extension says he's their guy | 22.1 |
| 34 | Jake Sanderson, OTT | - | Could break out with Chychrun gone | 22.3 |
| 35 | Drew Doughty, LA | ⟱ | Kings young D are on the rise | 34.8 |
| 36 | Seth Jones, CHI | - | He's solid if you don't count +/- | 30.0 |
| 37 | Thomas Harley, DAL | ⟰ | | 23.1 |
| 38 | Shayne Gostisbehere, CAR | - | | 31.5 |
| 39 | Brady Skjei, NAS | - | | 30.5 |
| 40 | Gustav Forsling, FLA | - | Chance for bigger offensive role this year | 28.3 |
| 41 | Justin Faulk, STL | - | Big opportunity with Krug sidelined | 32.6 |
| 42 | Rasmus Andersson, CGY | - | | 28.0 |
| 43 | Mattias Ekholm, EDM | - | | 34.4 |
| 44 | Sean Durzi, UTA | - | | 26.0 |
| 45 | Bowen Byram, BUF | - | | 23.3 |
| 46 | Owen Power, BUF | - | | 21.9 |
| 47 | Aaron Ekblad, FLA | - | Not even 30, but already pretty banged up | 28.7 |
| 48 | Cam York, PHI | - | | 23.8 |
| 49 | Travis Sanheim, PHI | - | Don't bank on same production this year | 28.5 |
| 50 | Lane Hutson, MTL | - | Rookie stud could have growing pains | 20.7 |
