2021-2022 FANTASY DEFENSEMEN RANKINGS

Defensemen in fantasy hockey can be tricky to evaluate. There are a select few that can be counted on to rack up even-strength and powerplay points, but often the success of your fantasy team comes from those defensemen who block shots, rack up the hits and help out those unsexy fantasy categories. Chase the points or not, that is the question?! We have put 4 of our fantasy experts together; Jesse, Victor, Brennan, and yours truly and compiled our pre-season fantasy rankings for defensemen.

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Fantasy Defensemen Notes

Youth is the rage in the NHL, so when preparing for your 2021-22 fantasy season be open to going young and letting go of some of the past. To go young or old is at the heart of who is our highest-rated defenseman, Cale Makar or Victor Hedman? Even though 3 of our experts have Makar in the #1 position, an 8th place ranking by Victor allowed Hedman to squeak to the top with an ever so slightly higher average than Makar. It would be difficult to argue against either of these two players in the top seed. The remaining 3 spots in the top 5 are completed with veterans; Roman Josi at #3, John Carlson at #4, and the New Jersey Devils, Dougie Hamilton at #5. I have to admit, despite having a couple of months to get used to it, Hamilton as a Devil still makes me do a double-take.

While Norris Trophy winner Adam Fox at the #6 position, represents the younger D, we have more veteran defensemen completing the top 10. Positions 7-10 are Jeff Petry, Kris Letang, Shea Theodore, and Tyson Barrie. While all these players have earned their spots, my personal top 10 would include Thomas Chabot(#11), Quinn Hughes (#12), and Darnell Nurse (#13). For the most part, our panel was not far off each other with their evaluations. Darnell Nurse being the biggest exception. Victor and I had Nurse at #4, while Brennan had him #18 and Jesse at #25.

Outside the top 10, there are few players who should be high on your radar for this season as potential top 10 fantasy players. Jakob Chychrun (#14) and Charlie McAvoy (#17) are examples of two players who continue to improve and now have excellent fantasy value. I can see both of these players continuing to move up the rankings. Also, keep your eye on a few of the vets, who have taken a step back the last year or two. Alex Pietrangelo at #24, Erik Karlsson at #30, and Ryan Ellis at #37 all still have fuel in the tank and are capable of bringing their production back up. Circle these guys as you may be able to get them undervalued.

Sleepers?

While a full article on defensemen that fantasy managers may be sleeping on will be coming soon, I’ll mention one rookie and one vet sleeper prediction here. Let’s ignore the situation in Buffalo as it looks like they will be rebuilding again. Rasmus Dahlin is the real deal. The former #1 overall will make our #28 ranking come back and bite us. On the rookie side, we have Moritz Seider at #67. While this is a fair ranking for someone who has not played any NHL games, all indications are that Seider will step into a top 4 role with the Red Wings this season. Seider has excellent fantasy upside. As a fantasy manager, this may be your one chance to grab him, before he becomes a perennial keeper.

2021 Fantasy Hockey Defensemen Rankings

For more rankings and analysis, check out our 2021 Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit. New content is added every day.

Cons. Rnk	Player	Team	Severe	Nuño	Klak	Whamond
1	Victor Hedman	TBL	3	3	2	2
2	Cale Makar	COL	1	8	1	1
3	Roman Josi	NSH	2	1	9	6
4	John Carlson	WSH	5	2	4	9
5	Dougie Hamilton	NJD	4	7	8	5
6	Adam Fox	NYR	6	11	5	3
7	Jeff Petry	MTL	7	6	7	14
8	Kris Letang	PIT	8	5	12	10
9	Shea Theodore	VGK	13	16	3	7
10	Tyson Barrie	EDM	9	12	11	15
11	Thomas Chabot	OTT	16	8	14	11
12	Quinn Hughes	VAN	12	24	6	8
13	Darnell Nurse	EDM	25	4	18	4
14	Jakob Chychrun	ARI	10	17	13	12
15	Aaron Ekblad	FLA	11	14	16	16
16	Seth Jones	CHI	21	10	17	15
17	Charlie McAvoy	BOS	28	15	10	13
18	Morgan Rielly	TOR	14	20	23	20
19	Zach Werenski	CBJ	27	21	15	23
19	Drew Doughty	LAK	15	25	21	25
21	Miro Heiskanen	DAL	17	19	30	21
22	Neal Pionk	WPG	22	13	28	26
23	MacKenzie Weegar	FLA	30	22	25	17
24	Alex Pietrangelo	VGK	23	27	26	19
24	John Klingberg	DAL	19	35	19	22
26	Brent Burns	SJS	32	23	20	24
27	Torey Krug	STL	20	28	32	27
28	Rasmus Dahlin	BUF	18	40	39	18
29	Ty Smith	NJD	NR	32	24	35
30	Erik Karlsson	SJS	29	34	33	28
31	Ivan Provorov	PHI	24	30	35	37
32	Jamie Drysdale	ANA	26	39	NR	30
33	Filip Hronek	DET	34	29	34	32
33	Samuel Girard	COL	44	30	22	33
35	Mario Ferraro	SJS	NR	NR	NR	33
36	Mark Giordano	SEA	33	46	29	34
37	Jared Spurgeon	MIN	42	36	37	29
38	Ryan Ellis	PHI	47	39	31	31
41	Vince Dunn	SEA	43	43	46	20
42	Alec Martinez	VGK	NR	35	47	36
43	Mathew Dumba	MIN	37	31	NR	52
44	Rasmus Sandin	TOR	NR	NR	41	NR
44	Shayne Gostisbehere	ARI	NR	41	NR	NR
46	Mikhail Sergachev	TBL	NR	38	38	49
47	Bowen Byram	COL	NR	44	NR	40
48	Devon Toews	COL	36	47	36	51
49	Joshua Morrissey	WPG	NR	NR	43	43
49	Mattias Ekholm	NSH	46	45	27	54
52	Tony DeAngelo	CAR	31	50	50	NR
54	Jake Muzzin	TOR	50	44	40	44
55	Adam Boqvist	CBJ	39	52	NR	46
56	Noah Dobson	NYI	NR	47	NR	45
58	Ryan Pulock	NYI	40	18	51	41
58	Oliver Ekman-Larsson	VAN	NR	42	NR	53
59	Rasmus Ristolainen	PHI	45	26	NR	42
59	Brett Pesce	CAR	NR	45	44	55
59	Dmitry Orlov	WSH	NR	NR	48	NR
59	Radko Gudas	FLA	NR	48	NR	NR
60	Jacob Trouba	NYR	48	31	57	38
61	Justin Faulk	STL	41	37	54	56
62	Justin Schultz	WSH	NR	56	42	NR
62	Nicolas Hague	VGK	NR	NR	49	NR
64	Rasmus Andersson	CGY	35	49	52	39
64	Matt Grzelcyk	BOS	38	51	53	59
65	Erik Cernak	TBL	49	54	NR	NR
66	Jaccob Slavin	CAR	NR	53	56	47
66	Colton Parayko	STL	NR	46	NR	58
68	Ryan Suter	DAL	NR	57	NR	48
68	Moritz Seider	DET	NR	55	NR	50
68	Nick Leddy	DET	NR	NR	45	60
71	Evan Bouchard	EDM	NR	NR	55	NR
72	Keith Yandle	PHI	NR	NR	NR	57

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