Teams are already having ups and downs in 2016-17 and that goes for fantasy owners as well. Some fantasy hockey teams are finding themselves near the bottom of their respective leagues and will do anything to find a way to turn things around.
Others are having a great first month – thanks in large part to some hot starts by some unexpected players. After just a month, there has been some significant movement on The Hockey Writers’ list of top fantasy defensemen.
While some leagues take ‘banger’ stats into consideration, these rankings will be strictly focused on offensive statistics. Their ranking on November’s list will take into account the players coaching situation, their positioning on the team’s depth chart as well as projected 2016-17 stats and injury history.
That being said, keep in mind that these are strictly month-to-month projective rankings. While some might not lineup with your personal rankings, we would love to hear where players line up for you in your fantasy leagues.
That being said, here’s a look at this month’s top 150 fantasy defensemen and where they ranked on our preseason list.
Top 10
1) Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators (131.3 – PR: 2)
2) Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks (121.7 – PR: 1)
3) Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings (116.0 – PR: 4)
4) Shea Weber, Montreal Canadiens (115.1 – PR: 15)
5) Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Arizona Coyotes (114.2 – PR: 7)
6) Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets (112.8 – PR: 3)
7) John Carlson, Washington Capitals (110.4 – PR: 10)
8) P.K. Subban, Nashville Predators (109.2 – PR: 5)
9) Shayne Gostisbehere, Philadelphia Flyers (108.3 – PR: 8)
10) Ryan Suter, Minnesota Wild (107.6 – PR: 36)
11 to 50
11) Brent Seabrook, Chicago Blackhawks (107.1 – PR: 30)
12) John Klingberg, Dallas Stars (106.7 – PR: 9)
13) Duncan Keith, Chicago Blackhawks (101.1 – PR: 16)
14) Ryan McDonagh, New York Rangers (100.9 – PR: 34)
15) Keith Yandle, Florida Panthers (100.5 – PR: 22)
16) Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins (93.7 – PR: 6)
17) Matt Niskanen, Washington Capitals (93.7 – PR: 45)
18) Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (93.4 – PR: 50)
19) Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning (92.8 – PR: 14)
20) Morgan Rielly, Toronto Maple Leafs (92.3 – PR: 48)
21) Rasmus Ristolainen, Buffalo Sabres (92.1 – PR: 19)
22) Anton Stralman, Tampa Bay Lightning (92.1 – PR: 39)
23) Andrei Markov, Montreal Canadiens (90.8 – PR: 52)
24) Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets (89.9 – PR: 33)
25) Brian Campbell, Chicago Blackhawks (88.8 – PR: 59)
26) Kevin Shattenkirk, St. Louis Blues (88.7 – PR: 18)
27) Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (88.6 – PR: 11)
28) Cam Fowler, Anaheim Ducks (88.5 – PR: 32)
29) Matt Dumba, Minnesota Wild (86.5 – PR: 38)
30) Torey Krug, Boston Bruins (86.3 – PR: 20)
31) Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks (85.3 – PR: 31)
32) Alex Goligoski, Arizona Coyotes (84.5 – PR: 43)
33) Jake Muzzin, Los Angeles Kings (84.2 – PR: 21)
34) Colton Parayko, St. Louis Blues (84.2 – PR: 27)
35) Niklas Hjalmarsson, Chicago Blackhawks (83.8 – PR: 78)
36) Nick Leddy, New York Islanders (83.5 – PR: 41)
37) Noah Hanifin, Carolina Hurricanes (83.3 – PR: 49)
38) Mattias Ekholm, Nashville Predators (82.1 – PR: 46)
39) Alex Petrovic, Florida Panthers (81.4 – PR: 87)
40) Hampus Lindholm, Anaheim Ducks (81.3 – PR: 37)
41) Aaron Ekblad, Florida Panthers (81.2 – PR: 13)
42) Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (80.3 – PR: 26)
43) Jake Gardiner, Toronto Maple Leafs (80.2 – PR: 56)
44) Karl Alzner, Washington Capitals (80.0 – PR: 99)
45) Marc Staal, New York Rangers (79.7 – PR: 94)
46) Mike Green, Detroit Red Wings (79.5 – PR: 60)
47) Mark Giordano, Calgary Flames (79.0 – PR: 12)
48) Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes (78.5 – PR: 23)
49) Dion Phaneuf, Ottawa Senators (77.5 – PR: 47)
50) Tyson Barrie, Colorado Avalanche (77.1 – PR: 17)
51 to 100
51) Sami Vatanen, Anaheim Ducks (77.0 – PR: 25)
52) Alec Martinez, Los Angeles Kings (76.7 – PR: 28)
53) Kris Russell, Edmonton Oilers (76.7 – PR: 42)
54) Nick Holden, New York Rangers (76.7 – PR: 121)
55) Michael Stone, Arizona Coyotes (76.5 – PR: 40)
56) Dougie Hamilton, Calgary Flames (76.3 – PR: 24)
57) Dan Girardi, New York Rangers (75.2 – PR: 149)
58) T.J. Brodie, Calgary Flames (74.8 – PR: 29)
59) Kevin Klein, New York Rangers (74.5 – PR: 76)
60) Andrej Sekera, Edmonton Oilers (74.2 – PR: 79)
61) Justin Schultz, Pittsburgh Penguins (74.0 – PR: 93)
62) Mark Streit, Philadelphia Flyers (73.0 – PR: 58)
63) Jack Johnson, Columbus Blue Jackets (72.8 – PR: 64)
64) Trevor Daley, Pittsburgh Penguins (72.6 – PR: 57)
65) Brayden McNabb, Los Angeles Kings (72.5 – PR: 98)
66) Tobias Enstrom, Winnipeg Jets (72.2 – PR: 95)
67) Nikita Zaitsev, Toronto Maple Leafs (72.0 – PR: 51)
68) Ryan Pulock, New York Islanders (71.3 – PR: 55)
69) Tyler Myers, Winnipeg Jets (71.0 – PR: 81)
70) Jason Demers, Florida Panthers (70.9 – PR: 65)
71) Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota Wild (70.8 – PR: 62)
72) David Savard, Columbus Blue Jackets (70.8 – PR: 75)
73) Dmitry Orlov, Washington Capitals (70.7 – PR: 88)
74) Johnny Boychuk, New York Islanders (70.6 – PR: 53)
75) Derrick Pouliot, Pittsburgh Penguins (70.3 – PR: 67)
76) Cody Ceci, Ottawa Senators (70.2 – PR: 73)
77) Andy Greene, New Jersey Devils (69.7 – PR: 150)
78) Ryan Ellis, Nashville Predators (69.6 – PR: 89)
79) Danny DeKeyser, Detroit Red Wings (69.5 – PR: 72)
80) Johnny Oduya, Dallas Stars (68.7 – PR: 106)
81) Francois Beauchemin, Colorado Avalanche (68.5 – PR: 83)
82) Jacob Trouba, Winnipeg Jets (68.4 – PR: 44)
83) Nathan Beaulieu, Montreal Canadiens (66.2 – PR: 105)
84) Zach Werenski, Columbus Blue Jackets (66.0 – PR: Not Ranked)
85) Nate Schmidt, Washington Capitals (65.9 – PR: 133)
86) Justin Braun, San Jose Sharks (65.6 – PR: 77)
87) Jake McCabe, Buffalo Sabres (65.1 – PR: 142)
88) Jaccob Slavin, Carolina Hurricanes (64.4 – PR: 127)
89) Brady Skjei, New York Rangers (64.0 – PR: Not Ranked)
90) Brett Pesce, Carolina Hurricanes (63.8 – PR: 135)
91) Thomas Hickey, New York Islanders (63.7 – PR: 129)
92) Jay Bouwmeester, St. Louis Blues (63.5 – PR: 91)
93) Dmitry Kulikov, Buffalo Sabres (63.5 – PR: 97)
94) Erik Johnson, Colorado Avalanche (63.3 – PR: 66)
95) Jeff Petry, Montreal Canadiens (63.0 – PR: 122)
96) Jonas Brodin, Minnesota Wild (63.0 – PR: 125)
97) Olli Maatta, Pittsburgh Penguins (62.8 – PR: 35)
98) Josh Manson, Anaheim Ducks (62.3 – PR: 104)
99) Jason Garrison, Tampa Bay Lightning (61.9 – PR: 74)
100) Cody Franson, Buffalo Sabres (61.9 – PR: 80)
101 to 150
101) Alexey Marchenko, Detroit Red Wings (61.6 – PR: 143)
102) Niklas Kronwall, Detroit Red Wings (61.5 – PR: 61)
103) Kevin Bieksa, Anaheim Ducks (61.4 – PR: 92)
104) Brian Dumoulin, Pittsburgh Penguins (60.7 – PR: 107)
105) Mark Pysyk, Florida Panthers (60.7 – PR: 141)
106) Chris Wideman, Ottawa Senators (60.6 – PR: 131)
107) Trevor van Riemsdyk, Chicago Blackhawks (60.4 – PR: 144)
108) Brenden Dillon, San Jose Sharks (60.2 – PR: 148)
109) Connor Murphy, Arizona Coyotes (60.1 – PR: 103)
110) Dennis Wideman, Calgary Flames (58.9 – PR: 70)
111) Kevin Connauton, Dallas Stars (58.7 – PR: 68)
112) Travis Hamonic, New York Islanders (58.5 – PR: 84)
113) John Moore, New Jersey Devils (58.4 – PR: 108)
114) Damon Severson, New Jersey Devils (58.3 – PR: 109)
115) Nikita Nesterov, Tampa Bay Lightning (57.7 – PR: 145)
116) Michael Matheson, Florida Panthers (57.0 – PR: Not Ranked)
117) Brandon Manning, Philadelphia Flyers (56.8 – PR: Not Ranked)
118) Ben Hutton, Vancouver Canucks (56.3 – PR: 114)
119) Marco Scandella, Minnesota Wild (55.6 – PR: 85)
120) Braydon Coburn, Tampa Bay Lightning (55.2 – PR: 138)
121) Jonathan Ericsson, Detroit Red Wings (54.9 – PR: 117)
122) Michael Del Zotto, Philadelphia Flyers (54.3 – PR: 100)
123) Calvin de Haan, New York Islanders (53.8 – PR: 132)
124) Darnell Nurse, Edmonton Oilers (53.7 – PR: 116)
125) Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues (53.0 – PR: 128)
126) Oscar Klefbom, Edmonton Oilers (52.8 – PR: 69)
127) Adam Larsson, Edmonton Oilers (52.3 – PR: 96)
128) Alexander Edler, Vancouver Canucks (51.7 – PR: 63)
129) Brendan Smith, Detroit Red Wings (51.2 – PR: 123)
130) Jakob Chychrun, Arizona Coyotes (51.0 – PR: Not Ranked)
131) Ben Lovejoy, New Jersey Devils (50.6 – PR: 115)
132) Dan Hamhuis, Dallas Stars (50.5 – PR: 119)
133) Zach Bogosian, Buffalo Sabres (49.3 – PR: 54)
134) Ian Cole, Pittsburgh Penguins (49.1 – PR: 134)
135) Ivan Provorov, Philadelphia Flyers (49.0 – PR: Not Ranked)
136) Brandon Davidson, Edmonton Oilers (48.7 – PR: 124)
137) Christopher Tanev, Vancouver Canucks (48.5 – PR: 113)
138) Luke Schenn, Philadelphia Flyers (47.7 – PR: 139)
139) Paul Martin, San Jose Sharks (47.2 – PR: 112)
140) Andrej Sustr, Tampa Bay Lightning (46.5 – PR: 111)
141) Jyrki Jokipakka, Calgary Flames (45.2 – PR: 136)
142) Dennis Seidenberg, New York Islanders (45.0 – PR: Not Ranked)
143) Radko Gudas, Philadelphia Flyers (44.3 – PR: 118)
144) Josh Gorges, Buffalo Sabres (44.1 – PR: 147)
145) Erik Gudbranson, Vancouver Canucks (43.2 – PR: 146)
146) Colin Miller, Boston Bruins (42.7 – PR: 130)
147) John-Michael Liles, Boston Bruins (41.6 – PR: 137)
148) David Schlemko, San Jose Sharks (39.4 – PR: 101)
149) Michal Rozsival, Chicago Blackhawks (32.5 – PR: 140)
150) Kevan Miller, Boston Bruins (31.0 – PR: 102)
Young Guns for the Future
1) Nikita Zadorov, Colorado Avalanche
2) Travis Sanheim, Philadelphia Flyers
3) Mikhail Sergachev, Montreal Canadiens
4) Derek Forbort, Los Angeles Kings
5) Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets
6) Brandon Carlo, Boston Bruins
7) Stephen Johns, Dallas Stars
8) Anthony DeAngelo, Arizona Coyotes
9) Esa Lindell, Dallas Stars
10) Shea Theodore, Anaheim Ducks
11) Julius Honka, Dallas Stars
12) Michal Kempny, Chicago Blackhawks
13) Nikita Tryamkin, Vancouver Canucks
14) Matthew Benning, Edmonton Oilers
If you’d like to talk more about your fantasy hockey season, leave your comments below or you can find me on Twitter.