DEC 31st UPDATE: First update post-holiday break/shutdown, last of 2021. Enjoy.
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 | TREND | 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 | Shea Theodore, VGK | | Has to share offensive duties with Pietrangelo |
| 10 | Tyson Barrie, EDM | | |
| 11 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | | Not as many elite teammates in NJ |
| 12 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | | |
| 13 | Seth Jones, CHI | | Big ticket blueliner starting to produce |
| 14 | Kris Letang, PIT | | A top talent, but the injury risk is real |
| 15 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | | |
| 16 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | | |
| 17 | Drew Doughty, LA | | |
| 18 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | | Stepping up as CBJ's clear top dog |
| 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 | Samuel Girard, COL | | |
| 30 | Mackenzie Weegar, FLA | | Lesser known blueliner is proving his worth |
| 31 | Mikhail Sergachev, TB | | |
| 32 | Erik Karlsson, SJ | UP | |
| 33 | Ryan Ellis, PHI | | Injuries a barrier to higher upside |
| 34 | Matt Dumba, MIN | | |
| 35 | Jared Spurgeon, MIN | | |
| 36 | Shayne Gostisbehere, AZ | UP | Seems to have found a fit in Arizona |
| 37 | Filip Hronek, DET | | |
| 38 | Ivan Provorov, PHI | | Better D-man in real life than in fantasy hockey |
| 39 | Jakob Chychrun, AZ | DOWN | |
| 40 | Bowen Byram, COL | | Working his way up a crowded depth chart |
| 41 | Justin Faulk, STL | | |
| 42 | Jeff Petry, MTL | DOWN | Bizarre dropoff, but he's not this bad |
| 43 | Rasmus Andersson, CGY | | |
| 44 | Alex Goligoski, MIN | | Revitalized by new opportunity in Minny |
| 45 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | | |
| 46 | Cam Fowler, ANH | | Hard to trust production, but it's there right now |
| 47 | Ryan Suter, DAL | | |
| 48 | Alec Martinez, VGK | | |
| 49 | Jaccob Slavin, CAR | | |
| 50 | Jacob Trouba, NYR | | |
| | | | |
| | THE BENCH | | |
| | Keith Yandle, PHI | | |
| | Mark Giordano, SEA | | |
| | Oliver Ekman-Larsson, VAN | | |
| | Mattias Ekholm, NAS | | |
| | Josh Morrissey, WPG | | |
| | Adam Boqvist, CBJ | | |
| | Jake Muzzin, TOR | | |
| | Dmitry Orlov, WAS | | |
| | Ryan Pulock, NYI | | |
| | Kevin Shattenkirk, ANH | | |
| | Oliver Kylington, CGY | | |
| | Rasmus Ristolainen, PHI | | |
| | Matt Grzelcyk, BOS | | |
| | Ty Smith, NJ | | |
| | 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 | | |
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