Ok fantasy hockey poolies, we are just over two weeks from the start of the NHL season. To help you with your hockey pool picks, the Hockey Fanatic has compiled the NHL’s top 50 defensemen from last season.
Fantasy Hockey Pool Tips: Top 50 Defensemen
Need some scoring from the backend? Here is a list of the top defensive point-getters from last season. A couple of notes:
- Kris Letang from the Penguins was the only defenseman within the top 50 that averaged more than a point per game (1.09) last season
- the top defensemen averaged 46 our of 48 games played last season (look for durability)
- Andrei Markov of the Montreal Canadiens led NHL d-men with eight powerplay goals, his teammate PK Subban was second with seven
- Francois Beauchemin led all D from the top 50 with a +19 rating
- Justin Schultz of the Oilers led all rookie D-men with 27 points in 48 games last season
| Rank | Player | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP |
| 1 | P.K. Subban | MTL | 42 | 11 | 27 | 38 | 12 | 57 | 7 |
| 2 | Kris Letang | PIT | 35 | 5 | 33 | 38 | 16 | 8 | 1 |
| 3 | Ryan Suter | MIN | 48 | 4 | 28 | 32 | 2 | 24 | 3 |
| 4 | Andrei Markov | MTL | 48 | 10 | 20 | 30 | -9 | 14 | 8 |
| 5 | Keith Yandle | PHX | 48 | 10 | 20 | 30 | 4 | 54 | 5 |
| 6 | Niklas Kronwall | DET | 48 | 5 | 24 | 29 | -5 | 44 | 2 |
| 7 | Kimmo Timonen | PHI | 45 | 5 | 24 | 29 | 3 | 36 | 3 |
| 8 | Cody Franson | TOR | 45 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 4 | 8 | 3 |
| 9 | Shea Weber | NSH | 48 | 9 | 19 | 28 | -2 | 48 | 3 |
| 10 | Dion Phaneuf | TOR | 48 | 9 | 19 | 28 | -4 | 65 | 3 |
| 11 | Dustin Byfuglien | WPG | 43 | 8 | 20 | 28 | -1 | 34 | 4 |
| 12 | Brian Campbell | FLA | 48 | 8 | 19 | 27 | -22 | 12 | 6 |
| 13 | Justin Schultz | EDM | 48 | 8 | 19 | 27 | -17 | 8 | 4 |
| 14 | Mark Streit | NYI | 48 | 6 | 21 | 27 | -14 | 22 | 3 |
| 15 | Duncan Keith | CHI | 47 | 3 | 24 | 27 | 16 | 31 | 2 |
| 16 | Sergei Gonchar | OTT | 45 | 3 | 24 | 27 | 4 | 26 | 2 |
| 17 | Alex Goligoski | DAL | 47 | 3 | 24 | 27 | 4 | 18 | 0 |
| 18 | Mike Green | WSH | 35 | 12 | 14 | 26 | -3 | 20 | 4 |
| 19 | Slava Voynov | LAK | 48 | 6 | 19 | 25 | 5 | 14 | 1 |
| 20 | Francois Beauchemin | ANA | 48 | 6 | 18 | 24 | 19 | 22 | 1 |
| 21 | Alex Pietrangelo | STL | 47 | 5 | 19 | 24 | 0 | 10 | 2 |
| 22 | Dan Hamhuis | VAN | 47 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 23 | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | PHX | 48 | 3 | 21 | 24 | 5 | 26 | 0 |
| 24 | Paul Martin | PIT | 34 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 14 | 16 | 2 |
| 25 | Kevin Shattenkirk | STL | 48 | 5 | 18 | 23 | 2 | 20 | 2 |
| 26 | Alexander Edler | VAN | 45 | 8 | 14 | 22 | -5 | 37 | 5 |
| 27 | Jay Bouwmeester | CGY, STL | 47 | 7 | 15 | 22 | -6 | 22 | 1 |
| 28 | Drew Doughty | LAK | 48 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 4 | 36 | 3 |
| 29 | Dennis Wideman | CGY | 46 | 6 | 16 | 22 | -9 | 12 | 4 |
| 30 | John Carlson | WSH | 48 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 11 | 18 | 0 |
| 31 | Christian Ehrhoff | BUF | 47 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 6 | 34 | 1 |
| 32 | Matthew Carle | TBL | 48 | 5 | 17 | 22 | 1 | 4 | 2 |
| 33 | Fedor Tyutin | CBJ | 48 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 9 | 28 | 0 |
| 34 | Michael Del Zotto | NYR | 46 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 6 | 18 | 0 |
| 35 | Brent Seabrook | CHI | 47 | 8 | 12 | 20 | 12 | 23 | 3 |
| 36 | Dan Boyle | SJS | 46 | 7 | 13 | 20 | 3 | 27 | 5 |
| 37 | Victor Hedman | TBL | 44 | 4 | 16 | 20 | 1 | 31 | 0 |
| 38 | Zdeno Chara | BOS | 48 | 7 | 12 | 19 | 14 | 70 | 3 |
| 39 | Jack Johnson | CBJ | 44 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 12 | 3 |
| 40 | Patrick Wiercioch | OTT | 42 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 9 | 39 | 3 |
| 41 | Ryan McDonagh | NYR | 47 | 4 | 15 | 19 | 13 | 22 | 0 |
| 42 | Marek Zidlicky | NJD | 48 | 4 | 15 | 19 | -12 | 38 | 1 |
| 43 | Nick Leddy | CHI | 48 | 6 | 12 | 18 | 15 | 10 | 2 |
| 44 | Roman Josi | NSH | 48 | 5 | 13 | 18 | -7 | 8 | 1 |
| 45 | Sheldon Souray | ANA | 44 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 19 | 52 | 2 |
| 46 | Joe Corvo | CAR | 40 | 6 | 11 | 17 | -3 | 14 | 3 |
| 47 | Dennis Seidenberg | BOS | 46 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 18 | 10 | 0 |
| 48 | Sami Salo | TBL | 46 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 5 | 16 | 1 |
| 49 | Jason Garrison | VAN | 47 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 18 | 28 | 3 |
| 50 | Jake Muzzin | LAK | 45 | 7 | 9 | 16 | 16 | 35 | 3 |
Next we’ll take a look at the top 30 goalies from the past season.
