David Petrie's rankings can be found on The Hockey Writers and will be up
shortly on Fantasy Pros as well. Goalie rankings were posted earlier and a top
250 rankings will be posted later in August. These 2018-19 fantasy hockey
defence rankings are based on standard Yahoo! league categories, including
goals, assists, plus-minus, power-play points, penalty minutes and shots.

Brent Burns SJErik Karlsson OTTVictor Hedman TBDustin Byfuglien WPGP.K. Subban
NSHRoman Josi NSHDrew Doughty LAJohn Carlson WSHJohn Klingberg DALShayne
Gostisbehere PHISeth Jones CBJKristopher Letang PITDougie Hamilton CARTyson
Barrie COLTorey Krug BOSMark Giordano CGYKeith Yandle FLAAlex Pietrangelo
STLMorgan Rielly TORRasmus Dahlin BUFZachary Werenski CBJJake Gardiner
TOROliver Ekman-Larsson ARIAaron Ekblad FLAMathew Dumba MINIvan Provorov
PHIRasmus Ristolainen BUFDuncan Keith CHIKevin Shattenkirk NYRRyan Ellis
NSHColin Miller VGKJustin Faulk CARMikhail Sergachev TBRyan Suter MINJake
Muzzin LACharlie McAvoy BOSOscar Klefbom EDMJeff Petry MTLNick Leddy NYICam
Fowler ANATyler Myers WPGWill Butcher NJColton Parayko STLShea Weber MTLBrandon
 Montour ANAJacob Trouba WPGMattias Ekholm NSHJosh Manson ANAShea Theodore
VGKRyan Pulock NYIAlexander Edler VANJustin Schultz PITThomas Chabot OTTMike
Green DETJared Spurgeon MIN

Potential Future Trade Impacts

Erik Karlsson could potentially be traded at some point this year and if he is,
 Thomas Chabot';s value rises dramatically, though Chabot could potentially be
heavily in the minus on an Ottawa Senators team that may struggle to win this
season. Karlsson himself is so talented that his value won';t change much
wherever he is traded but he could impact other defencemen on his new team. For
 example, if Karlsson is traded to the Dallas Stars, I would lower John
Klingberg in my rankings, as Karlsson would take away from some of his prime
ice time.Erik Karlsson #65, Ottawa Senators - Feb. 3, 2018 (Amy Irvin / The
Hockey Writers)

Justin Faulk is another name on the trade block right now. If he is traded,
Dougie Hamilton';s value rises as he will become the clear top power play
defenceman for Carolina. Faulk';s value will depend on where he goes and
whether he will be on that team';s top power play or not.Pay Attention to
Categories in Your Fantasy League

I mentioned above that the categories used for these rankings are goals,
assists, plus-minus, power play points, penalty minutes and shots. If your
league is different you will need to take that into account. If you don';t have
 penalty minutes, Dustin Byfuglien is not nearly as useful. If you don';t have
shots, Brent Burns and Dougie Hamilton would be ranked a little lower. If you
don';t have plus-minus, Kevin Shattenkirk, Nick Leddy and Oliver Ekman-Larrson
become more valuable.Real Hockey vs. Fantasy Hockey

I have Charlie McAvoy ranked 36th in my rankings compared to 19th on NHL.com';s
 rankings. It';s not that I think he';s a bad player. In fact, I think he';s
fantastic. I just think McAvoy is much better in real hockey-where he shuts
down opposing teams'; top lines as a 20-year-old-than he is in fantasy hockey,
where he only took 77 shots last season and doesn';t get many power
play-points.

Hampus Lindholm, Ivan Provorov, Jacob Trouba, Colton Parayko and Jaccob Slavin
are other defencemen that I think are great in real life but not nearly as good
 in fantasy hockey.Potential Breakout Candidates

Aaron Ekblad scored 39 points in his rookie season and hasn';t managed to
improve on that total in the following three years. That';s very strange. The
Florida Panthers'; signing of Keith Yandle has obviously held Ekblad back from
a statistical standpoint, but Ekblad easily has 50-point potential if he can
get more offensive ice time. The Panthers now have a solid top-six forward unit
 including Alexander Barkov, Jonathan Huberdeau, Evgenii Dadonov, Vincent
Trocheck, Mike Hoffman and Nick Bjugstad, so it';s possible Ekblad';s breakout
will come this season.

Oscar Klefbom';s big breakout was supposed to come last season but it was
derailed by injuries. Barring a trade, he';s still the best bet to play key
power-play minutes alongside Connor McDavid, which makes him a good post-hype
breakout candidate.Oilers defenseman Oscar Klefbom (Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY
Sports)

Ryan Pulock had 10 goals, 32 points, and a whopping 184 shots in just 68 games
last season. He';s a good candidate for a breakout season personally, but I
still have him ranked relatively low since I have very little faith in the New
York Islanders as a team and his point and plus-minus totals could suffer as a
result.Defencemen Playing for a Contract

John Carlson had only scored more than 40 points once in his career prior to
the 2017-18 season, which happened to be his contract year. He scored 68 points
 and earned himself an eight-year, $64-million contract ($8-million AAV). He is
 just one of many examples of players that have fantastic seasons in their
contract years.

Looking ahead, the relevant defencemen in contract years in 2018-19 are Erik
Karlsson, Ryan Ellis, Tyler Myers, Jake Gardiner, Zach Werenski, Will Butcher,
Ivan Provorov, Jacob Trouba, Alexander Edler, Nate Schmidt, Esa Lindell and
Nikita Zadorov (who is already very useful in banger leagues that count penalty
 minutes and hits).

The post Fantasy Hockey: Defencemen Rankings appeared first on The Hockey
Writers.

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