Our fantasy hockey defenseman rankings project the next 2 to 3 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 | John Carlson, WAS | ||
| 3 | Adam Fox, NYR | Last season wasn't a one-off | |
| 4 | Victor Hedman, TB | ||
| 5 | Quinn Hughes, VAN | ||
| 6 | Roman Josi, NAS | ||
| 7 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | ||
| 8 | Morgan Rielly, TOR | ||
| 9 | Tyson Barrie, EDM | ||
| 10 | Shea Theodore, VGK | Has to share offensive duties with Pietrangelo | |
| 11 | Aaron Ekblad, FLA | Now the undisputed centerpiece of the Cats D | |
| 12 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | Up | |
| 13 | Miro Heiskanen, DAL | ||
| 14 | Seth Jones, CHI | Big ticket blueliner starting to produce | |
| 15 | Kris Letang, PIT | A top talent, but the injury risk is real | |
| 16 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | ||
| 17 | Torey Krug, STL | ||
| 18 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | He'll get the opportunities with Jones gone | |
| 19 | Drew Doughty, LA | ||
| 20 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | Down | |
| 21 | Darnell Nurse, EDM | ||
| 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 | Brent Burns, SJ | ||
| 26 | Mikhail Sergachev, TB | ||
| 27 | John Klingberg, DAL | Down | |
| 28 | Moritz Seider, DET | Up | Rookie sensation is off to a great start |
| 29 | Ryan Ellis, PHI | Injuries a barrier to higher upside | |
| 30 | Jeff Petry, MTL | Down | |
| 31 | Mackenzie Weegar, FLA | Lesser known blueliner is proving his worth | |
| 32 | Devon Toews, COL | Riding shotgun with Makar is always nice | |
| 33 | Ivan Provorov, PHI | Better D-man in real life than in fantasy hockey | |
| 34 | Matt Dumba, MIN | ||
| 35 | Jakob Chychrun, AZ | Down | |
| 36 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson, VAN | Down | |
| 37 | Jared Spurgeon, MIN | ||
| 38 | Erik Karlsson, SJ | Injuries, mobility issues cap his upside | |
| 39 | Shayne Gostisbehere, AZ | Up | Seems to have found a fit in Arizona |
| 40 | Filip Hronek, DET | ||
| 41 | Samuel Girard, COL | ||
| 42 | Josh Morrissey, WPG | ||
| 43 | Bowen Byram, COL | Up | Working his way up a crowded depth chart |
| 44 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | ||
| 45 | Justin Faulk, STL | ||
| 46 | Ryan Suter, DAL | Now in a secondary role, but still produces | |
| 47 | Mark Giordano, SEA | ||
| 48 | Mattias Ekholm, NAS | Down | |
| 49 | Jake Muzzin, TOR | ||
| 50 | Rasmus Andersson, CGY | ||
| THE SPARES | |||
| Dmitry Orlov, WAS | |||
| Ryan Pulock, NYI | |||
| Kevin Shattenkirk, ANH | |||
| Keith Yandle, PHI | |||
| Cam Fowler, ANH | |||
| Oliver Kylington, CGY | |||
| Jacob Trouba, NYR | |||
| Rasmus Ristolainen, PHI | |||
| Matt Grzelcyk, BOS | |||
| Ty Smith, NJ | |||
| Jaccob Slavin, CAR | |||
| Duncan Keith, CHI | |||
| Adam Boqvist, CHI | |||
| 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 | |||
| Alex Goligoski, MIN | |||
| Will Butcher, NJ | |||
| Alec Martinez, VGK | |||
| 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 | |||