Victor Hedman holds onto the top ranking of our defensemen rankings. Hedman continues to set the bar for two-way defensemen in the NHL as he continues to average just over a PPG while bringing positive contributions right across most fantasy point categories.
The top 5 remains mostly unchanged with Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and John Carlson holding onto spots 2-4. We could not dismiss Darnell Nurse any longer and we have moved him into the top 5. Nurse is proving he is not a flash in the pan, putting up excellent fantasy point totals all season.
While Dougie Hamilton has rejoined the top 15, other than some juggling of spots, all positions are held by the same players as our last ranking,
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Return of the Veterans
The early part of this season created a challenge for many players to get into game shape. There were the long layoffs, COVID cancellations, and new divisions to sort out. Accordingly, a number of vets had a slow start and there was concern in some cases it may be indicative of the beginning of a decline. While we are still dealing with some game postponements due to COVID protocols, we have seen a number of veterans regain their form and the hot starts of rookies such as Noah Dobson, Ty Smith and Alexander Romanov subside. This has resulted in the resurgence of perennial top 50 defensemen like Kris Letang, Drew Doughty and Erik Karlsson back into the rankings and into spots we are more accustomed to seeing them.
2021 Updated Fantasy Hockey Defenseman Rankings
| Rnk | Player | Team | Prev. Rnk |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victor Hedman | TBL | 1 |
| 2 | Cale Makar | COL | 2 |
| 3 | Quinn Hughes | VAN | 3 |
| 4 | John Carlson | WAS | 4 |
| 5 | Darnell Nurse | EDM | 9 |
| 6 | Dougie Hamilton | CAR | 17 |
| 7 | Jeff Petry | MTL | 10 |
| 8 | Thomas Chabot | OTT | 7 |
| 9 | Jakub Chychrun | ARZ | 11 |
| 10 | Seth Jones | CBJ | 6 |
| 11 | Adam Fox | NYR | 13 |
| 12 | Morgan Rielly | TOR | 12 |
| 13 | Tyson Barrie | EDM | 14 |
| 14 | Neil Pionk | WPG | 15 |
| 15 | Shea Theodore | VGK | 18 |
| 16 | Charlie McAvoy | BOS | 8 |
| 17 | Roman Josi | NSH | 5 |
| 18 | Kris Letang | PIT | 39 |
| 19 | Drew Doughty | LAK | 33 |
| 20 | Aaron Ekblad | FLA | 25 |
| 21 | Brett Burns | SJS | 23 |
| 22 | Mikhail Sergachev | TBL | 28 |
| 23 | Shea Weber | MTL | 27 |
| 24 | John Klingberg | DAL | 16 |
| 25 | Justin Faulk | STL | 30 |
| 26 | Torey Krug | STL | 21 |
| 27 | Ivan Provorov | PHI | 26 |
| 28 | Mackenzie Weeger | FLA | NR |
| 29 | Devon Toews | COL | NR |
| 30 | Alex Pietrangelo | VGK | 20 |
| 30 | Sam Girard | COL | 44 |
| 31 | Mark Giordano | CAL | 43 |
| 32 | Mario Ferraro | SJS | 37 |
| 33 | Jake Muzzin | TOR | 32 |
| 34 | Miro Heiskanen | DAL | 20 |
| 35 | Rasmus Andersson | CAL | 45 |
| 36 | Zach Werenski | CBJ | 24 |
| 37 | Rasmus Dahlin | BUF | 22 |
| 38 | Filip Hronek | DET | 38 |
| 39 | Rasmus Ristolainen | BUF | 36 |
| 40 | Ryan Pulock | NYI | 48 |
| 41 | Josh Morrisey | WPG | NR |
| 42 | Alec Martinez | VGK | NR |
| 43 | Tyler Myers | VAN | 50 |
| 44 | Duncan Keith | CHI | 46 |
| 45 | Colton Parayko | STL | 29 |
| 46 | Jacob Trouba | NYR | 40 |
| 47 | Ryan Ellis | NSH | 31 |
| 48 | Erik Karlsson | SJS | NR |
| 49 | KAndre Miller | NYR | 41 |
| 50 | Noah Dobson | NYI | 42 |
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