The fantasy hockey season is upon us and, like last year, I’ve taken the time to rank my top defencemen for single-season leagues and box pools.
This year’s Big List is 165 deep, plus five players currently in limbo and 15 prospects to keep tabs on during training camp in case they crack their respective rosters.
I’ve ranked these 160 defencemen based solely on point potential for this season — who I think will record the most points — rather than on overall ability. Therefore you’ll notice that defence-first (stay-at-home/shutdown) types are ranked lower, if at all. I went with 165 this year — up from 100 last year — because I felt comfortable with that number based on my keeper-league experience where 20 teams dress six defencemen each (120) on their active roster and carry a couple more on their bench.
These lists are always difficult to compile and often involve some bias, or personal preference, so I don’t expect everybody to agree with my rankings. Feel free to leave a comment below if you feel certain players are too high or too low and I’ll elaborate on my reasoning.
Without further ado, here are my top 165 defencemen for the 2015-16 fantasy season:
Erik Karlsson is simply on another level when it comes to producing points from the back end. His offensive instincts are second to none and he could put up 10 more points than the next-best defenceman, so don’t be afraid to grab him early in your draft if you need a certain number of D. If he’s in a box pool with other blue-liners, that’s a no-brainer.
1) Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators
2) Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
3) P.K. Subban, Montreal Canadiens
4) Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins
5) Kevin Shattenkirk, St. Louis Blues
6) Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes
7) Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche
8) Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
9) John Carlson, Washington Capitals
10) Keith Yandle, New York Rangers
11) Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks
12) Roman Josi, Nashville Predators
13) Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings
14) Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
15) Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames
16) Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets
17) Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
18) John Klingberg, Dallas Stars
19) Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks
Aaron Ekblad had a pretty incredible rookie season for the Florida Panthers — finishing tied for 28th in scoring amongst defencemen with 39 points in 81 games. I don’t foresee a sophomore slump for the 2014 first overall pick, instead believing Ekblad will take another step forward into the top 20.
20) Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers
21) Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues
22) Mike Green, Detroit Red Wings
23) Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers
24) Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild
25) Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers
26) Erik Johnson, Colorado Avalanche
27) Jack Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets
28) Dougie Hamilton, Calgary Flames
29) Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks
30) Jake Muzzin, Los Angeles Kings
31) Cody Franson, Buffalo Sabres
32) David Savard, Columbus Blue Jackets
33) Justin Schultz, Edmonton Oilers
34) Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens
35) Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings
36) James Wisniewski, Carolina Hurricanes
37) Torey Krug, Boston Bruins
38) Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim Ducks
The Toronto Maple Leafs are probably going to struggle to score goals this season, but Morgan Rielly should have the green light to get involved offensively at every opportunity. That’s good news for your fantasy team.
39) Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs
40) Adam Larsson, New Jersey Devils
41) Seth Jones, Nashville Predators
42) Cam Fowler, Anaheim Ducks
44) Michael Del Zotto, Philadelphia Flyers
45) Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks
46) Alex Goligoski, Dallas Stars
47) Dan Boyle, New York Rangers
48) Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins
49) Dion Phaneuf, Toronto Maple Leafs
50) Dan Hamhuis, Vancouver Canucks
51) Travis Hamonic, New York Islanders
52) Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres
53) Ryan Ellis, Nashville Predators
54) Mathew Dumba, Minnesota Wild
55) Nick Leddy, New York Islanders
56) Matt Niskanen, Washington Capitals
57) Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota Wild
58) Trevor Daley, Chicago Blackhawks
59) Dennis Wideman, Calgary Flames
* 60) T.J. Brodie, Calgary Flames (hand)
61) Johnny Boychuk, New York Islanders
62) Tyler Myers, Winnipeg Jets
63) Brian Campbell, Florida Panthers
64) Ryan Murray, Columbus Blue Jackets
65) Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg Jets
66) Jake Gardiner, Toronto Maple Leafs
67) Cody Ceci, Ottawa Senators
68) Simon Despres, Anaheim Ducks
69) Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins
70) Noah Hanifin, Carolina Hurricanes
71) Marek Zidlicky, New York Islanders
72) Jeff Petry, Montreal Canadiens
73) Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers
74) Tobias Enstrom, Winnipeg Jets
75) Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild
76) Dmitry Kulikov, Florida Panthers
Consider Patrick Wiercioch of the Ottawa Senators as a sleeper pick this season. He made big strides last season and finished off on the power play alongside Erik Karlsson in the playoffs. He’ll be 25 when the season starts and his career year actually came during the 2012-13 lockout-shortened campaign when Wiercioch produced 19 points in 42 games. You can basically double that for an 82-game season, and I could see him nearing 40 points in 2015-16.
77) Patrick Wiercioch, Ottawa Senators
78) Marco Scandella, Minnesota Wild
79) Michael Stone, Arizona Coyotes
80) Kevin Connauton, Columbus Blue Jackets
81) Calvin de Haan, New York Islanders
82) Oscar Klefbom, Edmonton Oilers
83) Damon Severson, New Jersey Devils
84) Brandon Gormley, Colorado Avalanche
85) Adam Clendening, Pittsburgh Penguins
86) Ryan Murphy, Carolina Hurricanes
87) Eric Gelinas, New Jersey Devils
88) Brayden McNabb, Los Angeles Kings
89) Jon Merrill, New Jersey Devils
90) Nathan Beaulieu, Montreal Canadiens
91) Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
92) Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning
93) Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks
94) Jay Bouwmeester, St. Louis Blues
95) Paul Martin, San Jose Sharks
96) Francois Beauchemin, Colorado Avalanche
97) Christian Ehrhoff, Los Angeles Kings
98) Jason Garrison, Tampa Bay Lightning
* 99) Zach Bogosian, Buffalo Sabres (lower-body)
* 100) Danny DeKeyser, Detroit Red Wings (foot)
101) David Rundblad, Chicago Blackhawks
102) Nikita Zadorov, Colorado Avalanche
103) Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals
104) Erik Gudbranson, Florida Panthers
105) Brendan Smith, Detroit Red Wings
106) Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators
Yannick Weber won’t be a sexy pick this season, but he might be a good one. The Canucks were utilizing him on their power play to end last season and he had some success in that role. So if Weber picks up where he left off, he could turn his 21 points into 30-some.
107) Yannik Weber, Vancouver Canucks
108) Jason Demers, Dallas Stars
109) Tom Gilbert, Montreal Canadiens
110) Chris Tanev, Vancouver Canucks
111) Kevin Bieksa, Anaheim Ducks
112) Karl Alzner, Washington Capitals
113) Andy Greene, New Jersey Devils
114) Kris Russell, Calgary Flames
115) Kevin Klein, New York Rangers
116) Matthew Carle, Tampa Bay Lightning
117) John Moore, New Jersey Devils
118) Jakub Kindl, Detroit Red Wings
119) Matt Bartkowski, Vancouver Canucks
120) Ben Chiarot, Winnipeg Jets
121) Matt Hunwick, Toronto Maple Leafs
122) Zach Trotman, Boston Bruins
123) Brandon Manning, Philadelphia Flyers
124) Jyrki Jokipakka, Dallas Stars
125) Christian Folin, Minnesota Wild
126) Connor Murphy, Arizona Coyotes
127) Nate Schmidt, Washington Capitals
128) Mark Pysyk, Buffalo Sabres
129) Chris Wideman, Ottawa Senators
130) Johnny Oduya, Dallas Stars
131) Marc Staal, New York Rangers
132) Fedor Tyutin, Columbus Blue Jackets
133) Dan Girardi, New York Rangers
Brenden Dillon seemed to be coming on strong towards the end of last season with the San Jose Sharks despite finishing with only two goals and nine points. He’s definitely capable of doubling those totals and reaching 20 points for the first time in his young career.
134) Brenden Dillon, San Jose Sharks
135) Alec Martinez, Los Angeles Kings
136) Justin Braun, San Jose Sharks
137) Carl Gunnarsson, St. Louis Blues
138) Ian Cole, Pittsburgh Penguins
139) John-Michael Liles, Carolina Hurricanes
140) Braydon Coburn, Tampa Bay Lightning
141) Ron Hainsey, Carolina Hurricanes
142) Griffin Reinhart, Edmonton Oilers
143) Stefan Elliott, Arizona Coyotes
144) Joe Morrow, Boston Bruins
145) Ben Hutton, Vancouver Canucks
146) Colin Miller, Boston Bruins
147) Jared Cowen, Ottawa Senators
* 148) Thomas Hickey, New York Islanders (upper-body)
* 149) Dennis Seidenberg, Boston Bruins (back)
150) Luca Sbisa, Vancouver Canucks
151) Zbynek Michalek, Arizona Coyotes
152) Marc Methot, Ottawa Senators
It’ll be interesting to see how Radko Gudas rebounds from a serious knee injury and also how he fits in Philadelphia. Gudas should be a prototypical Flyer with a chip on his shoulder, but he can chip in offensively.
153) Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers
154) Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning
155) Alexei Emelin, Montreal Canadiens
156) Martin Marincin, Toronto Maple Leafs
157) Matt Tennyson, San Jose Sharks
158) Paul Postma, Winnipeg Jets
159) Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres
160) Trevor van Riemsdyk, Chicago Blackhawks
161) Frank Corrado, Toronto Maple Leafs
162) Alex Petrovic, Florida Panthers
163) Klas Dahlbeck, Arizona Coyotes
164) Dylan DeMelo, San Jose Sharks
165) Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues
In Limbo
Andrew MacDonald, Philadelphia Flyers
Nikita Nikitin, Edmonton Oilers
Lubomir Visnovsky
Sergei Gonchar
Andrej Meszaros
Prospect Watch
Derrick Pouliot, Pittsburgh Penguins
Darnell Nurse, Edmonton Oilers
Ryan Pulock, New York Islanders
Ville Pokka, Chicago Blackhawks
Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers
Mike Reilly, Minnesota Wild
Mirco Mueller, San Jose Sharks
Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues
Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
Anthony DeAngelo, Tampa Bay Lightning
Madison Bowey, Washington Capitals
Shea Theodore, Anaheim Ducks
Kristian Nakyva, Nashville Predators
Larry Fisher is a sports reporter for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.
Larry Fisher is a senior writer and head scout for The Hockey Writers, having been an at-large contributor for THW since August 2014. Fisher covers both the NHL and the WHL, specializing in prospects and NHL draft content, including his annual mock drafts that date back to 2012. Fisher has also been a beat writer for the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets since 2008, formerly working as a sports reporter/editor for The Daily Courier in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada from 2008-2019. Follow him on Twitter: @LarryFisher_KDC.
