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 | ||
| 2 | Adam Fox, NYR | ||
| 3 | John Carlson, WAS | ||
| 4 | Victor Hedman, TB | ||
| 5 | Roman Josi, NAS | Making strong case to crack top 3 | |
| 6 | Quinn Hughes, VAN | Rounds out a fairly defined top tier of defensemen | |
| 7 | Morgan Rielly, TOR | ||
| 8 | Aaron Ekblad, FLA | Finally getting opportunities that make him a top 10 stud | |
| 9 | Shea Theodore, VGK | ||
| 10 | Dougie Hamilton, NJ | ||
| 11 | Seth Jones, CHI | ||
| 12 | Drew Doughty, LA | ||
| 13 | Alex Pietrangelo, VGK | ||
| 14 | Kris Letang, PIT | ||
| 15 | Charlie McAvoy, BOS | ||
| 16 | Zach Werenski, CBJ | Has the top spot on blueline all to himself | |
| 17 | Miro Heiskanen, DAL | ||
| 18 | Thomas Chabot, OTT | Righting the ship after slow start | |
| 19 | Torey Krug, STL | ||
| 20 | Tyson Barrie, EDM | DOWN | Not meeting last year's lofty standards |
| 21 | Tony DeAngelo, CAR | ||
| 22 | Rasmus Dahlin, BUF | ||
| 23 | Darnell Nurse, EDM | ||
| 24 | Brent Burns, SJ | ||
| 25 | Moritz Seider, DET | ||
| 26 | Mackenzie Weegar, FLA | ||
| 27 | Devon Toews, COL | UP | Gets forgotten on top Avs team, but he's legit |
| 28 | Neal Pionk, WPG | ||
| 29 | Samuel Girard, COL | ||
| 30 | John Klingberg, DAL | Trade could be coming soon | |
| 31 | Erik Karlsson, SJ | UP | Vintage Karlsson! Enjoy it while it lasts |
| 32 | Mikhail Sergachev, TB | ||
| 33 | Ryan Ellis, PHI | Top 15 upside, but he can't stay healthy | |
| 34 | Matt Dumba, MIN | ||
| 35 | Shayne Gostisbehere, AZ | UP | Is he back? Opportunity with 'Yotes paying dividends |
| 36 | Jared Spurgeon, MIN | ||
| 37 | Filip Hronek, DET | ||
| 38 | Bowen Byram, COL | Working his way up a crowded depth chart | |
| 39 | Jakob Chychrun, AZ | DOWN | On the trade block - keep an eye on this one |
| 40 | Justin Faulk, STL | ||
| 41 | Ivan Provorov, PHI | DOWN | Better D-man in real life than in fantasy hockey |
| 42 | Alex Goligoski, MIN | UP | Revitalized by new opportunity in Minny |
| 43 | Evan Bouchard, EDM | ||
| 44 | Jeff Petry, MTL | DOWN | Injuries, inconsistency derailing Petry's year |
| 45 | Cam Fowler, ANH | Hard to trust production, but it's there right now | |
| 46 | Alec Martinez, VGK | ||
| 47 | Rasmus Andersson, CGY | ||
| 48 | Kevin Shattenkirk, ANH | We know he can produce; Anaheim a good fit | |
| 49 | Oliver Kylington, CGY | One of season's biggest surprises | |
| 50 | Nate Schmidt, WPG | ||
| THE BENCH | |||
| Ryan Suter, DAL | |||
| Mattias Ekholm, NAS | |||
| Jaccob Slavin, CAR | |||
| Keith Yandle, PHI | |||
| Jacob Trouba, NYR | |||
| Mark Giordano, SEA | |||
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson, VAN | |||
| Josh Morrissey, WPG | |||
| Adam Boqvist, CBJ | |||
| Jake Muzzin, TOR | |||
| Dmitry Orlov, WAS | |||
| Ryan Pulock, NYI | |||
| 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 | |||
| Noah Hanifin, CGY | |||
| Brady Skjei, CAR | |||
| Mike Matheson, PIT | |||
| Josh Manson, ANH | |||
| Esa Lindell, DAL | |||
| Damon Severson, NJ | |||
| Nikita Zaitsev, OTT | |||
| Brett Pesce, CAR | |||
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