Drafting well and keeping up with your fantasy hockey team is how you will come out on top in your league. But it’s not that simple. The fantasy hockey rankings can never be 100 percent accurate. There will be players who are overvalued and those who are undervalued. To have a great draft, you have to find those sleeper picks later in the draft. This is more and more important the deeper the league is. Today we are going to take a look at four of the top sleeper defensemen to draft in fantasy hockey in 2023.
Defensemen are typically overlooked earlier in drafts unless you can manage to get the elite ones. Other owners will target defense and get better ones, so great and obvious options aren’t always there for you. This is why finding sleeper picks is so important. Let’s get into it.
Fantasy Hockey Sleeper Defensemen to Draft
J.J. Moser, Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes are a different-looking team and they have a fresh feel to them. For the first time in a long time, they aren’t taking on bad contracts and are trying to win. They have a great young core that isn’t quite there, but they are trying to establish a winning culture nonetheless. The defense has been worked around, but one name that has stayed and will play in a similar role is J.J. Moser. Not only did he log a good amount of minutes, he got time in all situations. The power play is what is important here.
Power-play points are valuable in fantasy and it raises or lowers a player’s value depending on where he slots in. The team did add Sean Durzi and have Juuso Valimaki, but Moser will surely still get a fair bit of time on the top unit. Last season he was more limited with Shayne Gostisbehere and Jakub Chychrun on the team. Moser is likely to log the most minutes on the team this season on the top pair and is coming off seven goals and 31 points on a poor Coyotes team. He adds physicality and a defensive presence but could shoot more. Maybe with more offensive zone time and better players, his shot volume will rise a bit.
Jamie Drysdale, Anaheim Ducks
The Anaheim Ducks weren’t expected to be good last season by any means, but they really missed Jamie Drysdale. This young defenseman was coming off a great first full season in the NHL and suffered a major injury after just eight games. This kept him out the rest of the season and the defense was bare. Well, he is back and expected to line up on the top pair beside Cam Fowler this season and push him for key ice time.
Related: 2023 Fantasy Hockey Sleepers: Anaheim Ducks
Drysdale will play a lot in all situations, including even potentially taking some time away from Fowler on the power play. This is something to watch for. While Drysdale will get time on the top unit as he had 167 minutes on the man advantage in 2021-22, this will definitely up his value. Many will just assume Fowler will have the spot locked down and Drysdale could be forgotten about on a team like Anaheim. Don’t be one to forget about him as he can easily put up 35-40 points this season with the potential for more.
Cam York
With key defensemen leaving the Philadelphia Flyers this offseason, Cam York is set for a much bigger role. His spot in the top-four is now without question and he should even be able to be one of the two most impactful defensemen on the team. The power play is up for grabs and York will likely get it. Tony DeAngelo had that role last season, but with 94 minutes for York on the power play, that will rise significantly.
Not only will the departure of DeAngelo help get York more offensive minutes, but the young defenseman flourished without Ivan Provorov playing beside him. When separated, York had excellent numbers. Playing his off side doesn’t seem like a big deal as he will likely have to do so again this season. He had 20 points in 54 games last season in the NHL and great numbers in the AHL. Expect him to reach 35 this season at the very least. Despite selling, the Flyers still have scoring and work ethic for head coach John Tortorella.
Rasmus Sandin
All it took was a trade and an opportunity for Rasmus Sandin to break out into the player that the Toronto Maple Leafs had hoped he would turn into. With so many defensemen last season, especially once moves were made at the trade deadline, it only made sense for Sandin to be moved to the Washington Capitals where he was immediately utilized properly. With John Carlson injured and Erik Gustafsson moved the other way in the same deal, Sandin got top power-play minutes.
On the Maple Leafs, the young defenseman scored four goals and 20 points in 52 games. But he scored three goals and 15 points in 19 games with the Capitals to end the season. Carlson is back and Sandin won’t get full-time top unit duties, but his confidence is now high and he will be used much better in Washington. He hit 35 points last season. So a full season with the Capitals could bring an even larger improvement.
Don’t be too worried if a lot of top defensemen have been taken in your draft. Keep these sleepers in mind and you will have some great depth with lots of upside in the later rounds. Not all of them might hit, but they are young and hungry for greater opportunities this season.