Defensemen in fantasy hockey can be very hit or miss. Not many of them typically lead the offense, and there is mainly only one defenseman on the top power-play unit. This creates a bit of separation between the number one defenseman on each team and some later players you could pick up for your team. It is important to jump on a couple earlier. Don’t wait it out until your options have plummeted to 3rd/4th defensemen.
Consensus top picks among defensemen include Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, Zach Werenski, Evan Bouchard, Victor Hedman, and Josh Morrissey. These are the only six where all rankers had them in their top-10. You can’t go wrong with any of them, as they are on good teams that score. They will not be taken off the top power-play unit and will log plenty of minutes. Take your pick between Makar and Hughes, but Makar is the top d-man who will be taken off the board first in the majority of leagues.
Within the second tier of defensemen, you will find some guys who will address your needs for hits as well as do what the top d-men do, just potentially a little worse. Rasmus Dahlin, Moritz Seider, Mikhail Sergachev, and Mackenzie Weegar definitely play the body, but what you will also find is that they are on non-playoff teams, which could change this season.
A few big risers to keep an eye on are Jake Sanderson, Lane Hutson, Thomas Harley, and Jackson LaCombe, and potentially the next group of young players that could do the same this season in Zayne Perekh, Zeev Buium, Alexander Nikishin, and Sam Rinzel.
Some big hitters go late in drafts or not at all. They are important to have on your team as a later pick to keep you competitive in all areas. Don’t sleep on Luke Schenn, Radko Gudas, Jeremy Lauzon, Alexander Romanov, and some others you’ll find lower in the rankings for hits, particularly.
Meet the Rankers
In order to conserve space, the table below uses the initials of the analysts. They are as follows:
BA = Brandon Altomonte – @Brandon_Alto
LD = Logan Doyle
RC = Rob Couch – @RobCouch555
SL = Spencer Lazary – @SpencerLazary23
Fantasy Hockey Goalie Rankings for 2025-26
| Cons. Rnk | Player | Team | BA | LD | RC | SL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cale Makar | COL | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Quinn Hughes | VAN | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Zach Werenski | CBJ | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| 4 | Evan Bouchard | EDM | 4 | 5 | 4 | 9 |
| 5 | Victor Hedman | TB | 6 | 7 | 6 | 4 |
| 5 | Rasmus Dahlin | BUF | 3 | 4 | 5 | 11 |
| 7 | Josh Morrissey | WPG | 8 | 9 | 8 | 5 |
| 8 | Jake Sanderson | OTT | 11 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| 9 | Roman Josi | NSH | 13 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
| 10 | Adam Fox | NYR | 7 | 11 | 10 | 14 |
| 11 | Moritz Seider | DET | 9 | 10 | 13 | 15 |
| 12 | Lane Hutson | MTL | 12 | 13 | 15 | 10 |
| 13 | MacKenzie Weegar | CGY | 10 | 19 | 11 | 16 |
| 13 | Jakob Chychrun | WSH | 15 | 12 | 12 | 17 |
| 15 | Shea Theodore | VGK | 14 | 14 | 17 | 13 |
| 16 | Miro Heiskanen | DAL | 20 | 15 | 25 | 6 |
| 17 | Thomas Harley | DAL | 23 | 16 | 18 | 12 |
| 18 | Mikhail Sergachev | UTA | 16 | 18 | 14 | 23 |
| 19 | Dougie Hamilton | NJ | 19 | 17 | 16 | 24 |
| 20 | Brandon Montour | SEA | 27 | 21 | 26 | 18 |
| 21 | John Carlson | WSH | 17 | 22 | 23 | 33 |
| 21 | Charlie McAvoy | BOS | 30 | 25 | 21 | 19 |
| 21 | Seth Jones | FLA | 18 | 20 | 22 | 35 |
| 24 | Noah Dobson | MTL | 21 | 26 | 30 | 22 |
| 25 | Vince Dunn | SEA | 29 | 23 | 20 | 34 |
| 26 | Drew Doughty | LA | 28 | 30 | 28 | 28 |
| 27 | Erik Karlsson | PIT | 25 | 32 | 19 | 41 |
| 28 | Luke Hughes | NJ | 22 | 28 | 29 | 39 |
| 29 | Morgan Rielly | TOR | 26 | 29 | 32 | 32 |
| 30 | Neal Pionk | WPG | 31 | 33 | 39 | 25 |
| 31 | Shayne Gostisbehere | CAR | 24 | 34 | 35 | 40 |
| 32 | Jackson LaCombe | ANA | 33 | 27 | 24 | 51 |
| 33 | Brock Faber | MIN | 44 | 37 | 34 | 21 |
| 34 | Rasmus Andersson | CGY | 47 | 31 | 31 | 30 |
| 35 | Aaron Ekblad | FLA | 37 | 35 | 45 | 26 |
| 36 | Devon Toews | COL | 39 | 39 | 46 | 20 |
| 36 | Thomas Chabot | OTT | 33 | 36 | 38 | 37 |
| 38 | Cam Fowler | STL | 32 | 38 | 27 | 53 |
| 39 | Noah Hanifin | VGK | 38 | 45 | 36 | 32 |
| 40 | Filip Hronek | VAN | 45 | 42 | 51 | 38 |
| 41 | Colton Parayko | STL | 34 | 41 | 61 | 42 |
| 42 | Gustav Forsling | FLA | 41 | 51 | 60 | 27 |
| 43 | Kris Letang | PIT | 54 | 46 | 43 | 43 |
| 44 | Darnell Nurse | EDM | 40 | 43 | 52 | 55 |
| 45 | Jake Walman | EDM | 49 | 62 | 40 | 46 |
| 46 | Bowen Byram | BUF | 48 | 48 | 37 | 66 |
| 47 | Alexander Nikishin | CAR | 43 | 40 | 47 | 71 |
| 48 | Mattias Ekholm | EDM | 42 | 53 | 62 | 45 |
| 49 | Zayne Parekh | CGY | 36 | 57 | 58 | 52 |
| 49 | Sean Durzi | UTA | 62 | 44 | 50 | 47 |
| 49 | Owen Power | BUF | 59 | 33 | 42 | 69 |
| 52 | Justin Faulk | STL | 53 | 67 | 33 | 54 |
| 53 | Sam Rinzel | CHI | 46 | 50 | 41 | 72 |
| 54 | Mike Matheson | MTL | 50 | 65 | 57 | 44 |
| 55 | Jaccob Slavin | CAR | 58 | 68 | 66 | 28 |
| 56 | Brandt Clarke | LAK | 60 | 49 | 48 | 64 |
| 57 | Dmitry Orlov | SJ | 10 | 61 | 53 | 100 |
| 57 | Matthew Schaefer | NYI | 64 | 55 | 56 | 49 |
| 59 | Tony DeAngelo | NYI | 56 | 58 | 44 | 67 |
| 60 | Zeev Buium | MIN | 35 | 69 | 59 | 70 |
| 61 | Travis Sanheim | PHI | 69 | 54 | 54 | 58 |
| 61 | Philip Broberg | STL | 51 | 47 | 72 | 65 |
| 63 | Brady Skjei | NSH | 75 | 52 | 65 | 48 |
| 64 | K'Andre Miller | CAR | 63 | 64 | 71 | 57 |
| 65 | Alex Vlasic | CHI | 71 | 72 | 49 | 68 |
| 66 | Jacob Trouba | ANA | 100 | 63 | 64 | 56 |
| 67 | Brent Burns | COL | 66 | 100 | 100 | 36 |
| 67 | Alexander Romanov | NYI | 68 | 60 | 100 | 74 |
| 69 | Ivan Provorov | CBJ | 100 | 100 | 55 | 50 |
| 70 | Matt Roy | WSH | 72 | 75 | 100 | 59 |
| 71 | Esa Lindell | DAL | 100 | 71 | 74 | 62 |
| 72 | Hampus Lindholm | BOS | 100 | 70 | 69 | 75 |
| 73 | Jared Spurgeon | MIN | 52 | 100 | 100 | 63 |
| 74 | Adam Larsson | SEA | 74 | 73 | 100 | 73 |
| 75 | Simon Edvinsson | DET | 55 | 66 | 100 | 100 |
| 76 | Martin Fehervary | WSH | 100 | 100 | 68 | 61 |
| 77 | Radko Gudas | ANA | 65 | 100 | 67 | 100 |
| 77 | Mason Lohrei | BOS | 100 | 59 | 73 | 100 |
| 79 | Ryan Pulock | NYI | 100 | 74 | 100 | 60 |
| 80 | Cam York | PHI | 100 | 56 | 100 | 100 |
| 81 | Artyom Levshunov | CHI | 57 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 82 | Lian Bischel | DAL | 61 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 83 | Jeremy Lauzon | VGK | 100 | 100 | 63 | 100 |
| 84 | Damon Severson | CBJ | 67 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 85 | Kaiden Guhle | MTL | 100 | 100 | 70 | 100 |
| 85 | John Klingberg | SJ | 70 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 87 | Jake McCabe | TOR | 73 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 88 | Luke Schenn | WPG | 100 | 100 | 75 | 100 |
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