Like many of you, I'm a fantasy hockey addict. After all, despite Harvard Law School resting a few miles down the road, the harsh reality is that fantasy hockey's probably the closest I'll ever get to becoming an NHL general manager. Trades, cuts, and free-agent pick-up's are all the rage, but there's just nothing as exciting and nerve-racking as a draft.
And as a champion in various leagues throughout a fantasy career that's lasted just under five years now, I figure it's time to start preparing for my drafts.
Now while I think I'm somewhat crazy for opening up my vault of secrets, here goes nothing..Without further ado, here are who I believe are the top 10 fantasy hockey defensemen to draft in 2011-12.
Check out part one here!
10. P.K Subban (Montreal Canadiens)
ESPN Rank: 25th among defensemen, 134th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 13th among defensemen, 66th overall.
You won't see Montreal's
P.K Subban ranked in many top ten's when it comes to fantasy hockey defensemen, but the dude should be. Simple as that. Tallying 38 points and finishing the year with 124 penalty minutes, both tops among rookie d-men, the 22-year-old Hab has just begun his development into an elite puck-mover. A truly scary thought.
Receiving his wake-up call with a terrible month of December that saw him wind up in the press-box as Montreal's healthy scratch on more than one occasion, directly related to a career-worst minus-8 for the month, the often-dubbed cocky defensemen took his play to another level for the Habs' stretch run. Potting 12 goals and adding 15 assists in the final 43 contests of the season, the Ontario-born Subban enters his second year of full-time NHL duty with a much larger role on Montreal's defense. No longer with
James Wisniewski to bail him out on the power-play, and with the uncertainty around teammate
Andrei Markov, it's up to Subban to lead Montreal's offensive production from the blue-line.
It could even be argued that Subban's ranking should be even higher if you're involved in a keeper league. Especially if your league has a dives category. Only (half) kidding.
9. Duncan Keith (Chicago Blackhawks)
ESPN Rank: 15th among defensemen, 90th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 9th among defensemen, 58th overall.
It's hard to remember when a team was bit by the 'Stanley Cup hangover' as hard as the Chicago Blackhawks were. Something that 28-year-old
Duncan Keith seemed to avoid. Judging by his 10-point month of October, the doldrums of an NHL season seemed to finally take its toll on Keith when he tallied just 17 points in 37 contests from Jan. through March.
Yet what became most telling about Keith's struggles in 2010-11 was his inability to string together point-streaks that became the norm for the 'Hawks and fantasy owners the year before, as Keith put together point-streaks of three or more games just twice this past year.
But after a first round exit from the playoffs this past April, Keith and a recharged Blackhawks squad should be set to return to form as the potential beasts of the Central.
8. Dan Boyle (San Jose Sharks)
ESPN Rank: 6th among defensemen, 44th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 8th among defensemen, 49th overall.
Every year there seems to be a boatload of talk about the Sharks. But who's seemingly always the forgotten soul when the talk San Jose's power in the Pacific and Western Conference comes about? Defensemen
Dan Boyle. Finishing last season with 50 points, his lowest total since coming to San Jose in 2008, the 35-year-old enters 2011-12 as the key piece of a Sharks team poised to take their game up a level in 2011-12.
Now with a legitimate pairing partner with the acquisition of
Brent Burns, who finished with nearly 50 points on a Minnesota team that scored the fifth fewest goals in the league last year, Boyle's stats should only be padded with the addition of another capable blue-liner.
And if it's worth anything, Boyle's 'low-season' of 50 points was certainly put to rest by a ridiculous playoff stretch of four goals and 12 helpers in 18 games. Monster season on the horizon? One has to think it can't be much worse than last year's inconsistent run.
7. Zdeno Chara (Boston Bruins)
ESPN Rank: 2nd among defensemen, 16th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 7th among defensemen, 45th overall.
There's perhaps no defensemen in better shape than Boston's
Zdeno Chara. At nearly seven feet tall on skates, the 34-year-old blue-liner's effectiveness as Boston's anchor was simply immeasurable. Checking in with 14 goals and 30 assists and a league-best plus-33, the B's captain does it all for his club and your fantasy club.
He'll tally goals with his world-record slapshot, create offense from the back-end with an underrated passing game, check in with a strong plus/minus thanks to elite goaltending behind him, and chime in with the occasional slew of penalty minutes due to his sometimes over-aggressive play. Now while the Slovakian has registered 50 points or more just twice in his career, a feat he's failed to reach since 2008-09, Boston's addition of
Joe Corvo to aid the anemic power-play could open up more options to tally power-play points for Big Z, who finished with just 15 PPP's in 2010-11.
But like most Bruins player, approach with caution after a 25-game playoff run to end the season as the dreaded 'Cup hangover' could haunt the Bruins, especially the 6-foot-9 captain.
6. Lubomir Visnovsky (Anaheim Ducks)
ESPN Rank: 5th among defensemen, 38th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 4th among defensemen, 39th overall.
Okay, perhaps I'm skeptical here. But I think that's only fair. Despite an 18-goal and 68-point 2010-11, and a career in Anaheim that's seen the 35-year-old register 81 points in 97 games, can
Lubomir Visnovsky duplicate a season that saw him average .84 points per game? It seems unlikely, but on a top-heavy Anaheim club, it's surely not impossible.
For what it's worth, Visnovsky is Anaheim's number one defensemen. So he'll surely see his time on the power-play in addition to logging top-pairing minutes. But with the addition of
Kurtis Foster and continued development of
Cam Fowler could mean it's time for Visnovsky to share the wealth.
5. Drew Doughty (Los Angeles Kings, we think)
ESPN Rank: 14th among defensemen, 81st overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 2nd among defensemen, 27th overall.
You know you're a talent when it only takes you three years to be dubbed the modern day
Ray Bourque. But that's the world of Kings (again, we think) defensemen
Drew Doughty. Drafted with the second overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, the Ontario-born blue-liner has needed just three years to become one of the key forces in LA's rise to relevancy. But it wasn't all gravy for the third-year puck-mover. Following a 59-point 2009-10, the 21-year-old saw the inevitable up's and downs that come with life in the NHL. Finishing the year with a mild 40 points, and a 16-point dip in power-play points, Doughty's playoff run was noticeably quiet outside of a four-point Game 2 showing.
However, hope can be found in the additions Los Angeles made in the off-season. The Kings added forwards
Simon Gagne and
Mike Richards, who will undoubtedly boost the power-play that Doughty will be quarterbacking. And the biggest addition will come with a healthy
Anze Kopitar, the Kings' number one center who tallied 25 goals and 73 points in 75 games last year before an injury shelved him for the rest of the Kings' run.
But with all that being said, what bumps Doughty down in a lot of drafts is the uncertainty regarding his situation. As of this moment, the puck-mover remains at his home in London, Ont., deadlocked in a holdout situation with the Kings. Now while I don't anticipate Doughty being foolish enough to sit out an entire season, we should note that anything is possible given his refusal to sign the dotted line on a deal that would've paid him nearly 65 million over nine years.
4. Nicklas Lidstrom (Detroit Red Wings)
ESPN Rank: 9th among defensemen, 56th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 10th among defensemen, 60th overall.
This is very well the farewell tour for Detroit captain
Nicklas Lidstrom. But then again, how many times have we heard that? Even at the ripe ole' age of 41, the Swedish blue-liner has proven his doubters wrong time and time again, especially after a 2010-11 that saw him post 62 points, his highest total since 2007-08's 70.
Stealing the Norris Trophy away from Chara and Weber in the process, Lidstrom's 16-goal campaign, and 39-power-play point year put him in a league of his own. Now while the Red Wings' defense will certainly dip in production with the retirement of
Brian Rafalski, replaced by band-aid
Ian White, it's simply impossible to deny the potency of Lidstrom.
He's failed to post less than 49 points in the post-lockout NHL, has not played in less than 76 games since 1994-95, and has finished with at least 40 helpers for six straight seasons.
That being said, without Rafalski, the Detroit power-play could presumably suffer and put the strain on Lidstrom, something that may finally catch up with the 41-year-old.
3. Keith Yandle (Phoenix Coyotes)
ESPN Rank: 4th among defensemen, 30th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 6th among defensemen, 42nd overall.
Now with no disrespect to the Coyotes and their fans, it's fair to suggest that
Keith Yandle would be the talk of the town in just about any other city. But alas, playing the desert of Glendale, Ari. has really left the Boston-born defensemen in the land of the underrated. Shockingly. And with a resume and stat-line that continues to grow year after year, it's going to be almost impossible for the 25-year-old to build upon his 2010-11 campaign, but damned if he doesn't try.
Checking in with 59 points for the sixth-seeded Coyotes, largely thanks to a torrid winter that included six goals and 42 points in 41 games from December through February, the blue-liner enters 2011-12 as Phoenix's rock on the point. Now skating without veteran d-man
Ed Jovanovski, who traded in his 'Yotes reds for a different shade with the Florida Panthers, Yandle is the Coyotes' true and now uncontested number one defensemen.
Something Yandle owners will certainly see the pluses of, especially after a year that saw Yandle string together four different streaks of points in four or more consecutive contests, including a remarkable 10-game point-streak that saw him pot two goals and 15 points. But most impressive for Yandle and his owners is the consistency of no. 3, whose longest point-less skid checked in at four games, occurring just three times throughout the year.
But Yandle's biggest drop could very well come with the downgrades Phoenix made in net with the loss of
Ilya Bryzgalov, as Yandle's plus/minus (a plus-12 in 2010-11) seems likely to dip despite the addition of Tampa Bay's
Mike Smith.
2. Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins)
ESPN Rank: 3rd among defensemen, 23rd overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 11th among defensemen, 62nd overall.
It was always a matter of development with Pittsburgh's
Kris Letang. A smooth skater with underrated passing ability and standing at barely six feet tall, the young Pens blue-liner had puck-mover written all over him. But playing second fiddle to then-teammate
Sergei Gonchar, the time for Letang to shine was put on hold. And after a down-year in 2009-10 to the tune of just 27 points in 73 contests, the time for a true breakout year was upon the 24-year-old.
Breakout he did. Putting up 23 points in the first 26 games of the season, and finishing with 41 points in 50 pre-All Star game contests with a plus-22, it was a
Sidney Crosby-less line-up that seemed to hurt the Montreal-born Letang immensely. Registering just 12 points in 41 games without Crosby, it became clear that despite a 50-point season, Letang needed the Pens captain like Pippen needed Jordan. Or how A-Rod needed Jeter. Okay, I agree, that's enough sport-crossing.
But in the Penguins' first round bowout, the puck-moving Pen began to show signs of life even without Crosby in the line-up, registering assists on four of Pittsburgh's 14 goals in the series. Good for involvement in 28% of Pittsburgh's offensive production in the playoffs, it's a small sample size, but a sign that even without Crosby (who's yet to begin team drills), Letang can be the offensive-defensemen the Penguins desperately need moving forward.
1. Shea Weber (Nashville Predators)
ESPN Rank: 12th among defensemen, 74th overall.
Yahoo! Rank: 3rd among defensemen, 28th overall.
Normally a team whose leading scorer registers just 50 points doesn't present you with a fantasy hockey desirable. But that's not the case when it comes to Nashville and their captain,
Shea Weber. Finishing this past season with 48 points, third among Predators, and earning his first Norris nomination in the process, there's not many defensemen who bring the total package like Weber does.
With a wicked shot, evident by his 16 goals, six of which coming on the man-advantage, and dishing out a career-high 32 helpers, there's not much to knock on Weber for. While Weber finished the year with a minus rating in 30 contests this season, the 49th overall pick from the 2003 Draft's ability to respond with points in bunches makes you take the good with the bad.
Especially for intangible driven leagues, as the 26-year-old doled out 211 hits along with 113 blocked shots in 2010-11.
JUST MISSED THE CUT
Mike Green (Washington Capitals)
Yeah, I must be nuts for leaving Washington's
Mike Green off this list. The face of offensive-defensemen in the NHL, Green's inability to stay healthy and/or consistent in 2010-11 makes him a questionable choice to be your defense's anchor in 2011-12. Skating in just 49 contests and adding a mild 24 points, a pace that would've put him at 40 points if at full strength all season long, the 25-year-old has his undeniable upside as Washington's top defensemen entering the year, but could find himself in a reduced role with the presence of
Roman Hamrlik and
Dennis Wideman along with rising star
John Carlson.
Tobi Enstrom (Winnipeg Jets)
Winnipeg's
Tobias Enstrom may be the NHL's quietest two-time 50-point defensemen. With 10 multi-point games this past season, the 26-year-old Enstrom should continue to shine as the Jets' silent but lethal weapon from the point.
Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks)
As I mentioned with Boyle, this seems like a duo that will simply thrive off one another, indirectly through match-up's if not directly.
POTENTIAL DARKHORSES
Ryan Whitney (Edmonton Oilers)
When an ankle injury sidelined Edmonton blue-liner
Ryan Whitney for the season, a whopping 47 games of action, it wasn't exactly noticed just how crucial the Boston-born defensemen was to the budding Oil. With 27 points in 35 games, seven of which coming on the man-advantage, the finally healthy 28-year-old will return to action as Edmonton's number one defensemen. And despite Edmonton's unfortunate rank in the standings, expect Whitney to bring a stable presence to your line-up as he does the same for the Oilers.
Mark Giordano (Calgary Flames)
19 points in 2008-09. 30 points in 2009-10. And finally 43 points in 2010-11. Calgary's
Mark Giordano just keeps on improving. But now with the added pressure of a new deal that pays the 27-year-old 4.3 million dollars, just how will the Flames' underrated puck-mover respond? If we're judging by Giordano's 15 point in 18 game run to end the season, it's that nothing will change in Gio's approach to the game. Look for him to be a solid number two for your club.
John Carlson (Washington Capitals)
Playing for an offensive juggernaut in Washington, Massachusetts'
John Carlson rocked the red and more in 2010-11. Finishing with 30 assists, third among rookies, the 21-year-old Carlson enters the 2011-12 season as Washington's x-factor, and should build upon his 37-point campaign thanks to Washington's loaded roster.
WORTH THE RISK?
There's been a lot of focus on Winnipeg's
Dustin Byfuglien, but for all the wrong reasons. Following an arrest for drunk boating, the big-bodied 6-foot-4 clocked in at a reported 286 pounds. And for you not math savvy folks, that's a 29-pound weight gain from his 2010-11 total. Or one and a half
Jeff Skinner's.
Either way, a fat Byfuglien is not something I'm ready to gamble on, especially as my top defensemen, regardless of a 53-point campaign last year that's put him among the top of the fantasy charts entering the year.
Isles' blue-liner
Mark Streit played in a whopping zero games last year thanks to a preseason shoulder injury. But with the 33-year-old healthy and ready to return to the New York blue-line, potentially donning the 'C' on his jersey, the puck-moving d-man possesses all the qualities of a defensemen with a low-risk/high-reward factor for your club. Ranked 60th overall by ESPN, and 88th by Yahoo!, all signs point to normalcy for a defensemen who's scored 105 points in just 156 games as an Islander. Especially in a continually maturing Islander offense.
I used to consider
Andrei Markov among the best values in fantasy hockey. The 32-year-old blue-liner would usually linger well past where he should've been, put up nearly sixty points (nearly half of which coming on the power-play), and would rarely show up with a dud of a game. That was then, and this is now. 'Now' is an era where Markov's played in just seven games since April 2010 due to two major knee surgeries, and logged under three hours of time-on-ice in 2010-11 before suffering the same injury. I'd stay far, far away unless he dips down to the 10th round or later, but we both know somebody's stupid enough to draft him as their number two d-man.
Philly blue-liner
Chris Pronger was loathed by fantasy owners as if the 6-foot-6 defensemen stepped on their calves. Well, in a way, I suppose he did. Just one year after tallying 55 points for the Eastern Conference Champion Flyers, the 36-year-old put together one of his most injury-riddled campaigns, suiting up for just 50 contests and checking in with 25 points -- his lowest total since 2002-03, when he played in just five games for the St. Louis Blues. But can a new (strike that, real) goaltender and revamped offense steer the course for Pronger? Possibly, but it'll be the health of the anything-but-gentle giant that'll make the difference for owners. Draft with caution.
2010-11 seemed to leave Ottawa defensemen
Sergei Gonchar longing for offensive comfort of Pittsburgh. Left to handle the power-play load of the Sens, the aging Russian forward put together his worst season in almost a decade and a half. Averaging .403 points-per-game for the Senators, the lowest average by the 37-year-old since his .291 points-per-game marker in '97-98, a somewhat redeeming month of March with a goal and four helpers in 10 contests gave Sens fans and potential owners some much needed faith. And with Yahoo! ranking the 16-year vet at 168th overall and playing in front of a much more sound goaltender in
Craig Anderson, the five-time All-Star should be worth the gamble for your bottom pairing if there.
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