Fantasy top 60 'D': Values spike on deadline day

Wednesday, 03.04.2015 / 12:44 PM / Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings, Advice and Analysis

By Brian Metzer - NHL.com Correspondent

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Fantasy top 60 'D': Values spike on deadline day
Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey correspondent Brian Metzer will provide you with defensemen rankings and in-depth analysis.

Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey correspondent Brian Metzer will provide you with in-depth defensemen analysis. From updated weekly top 60 rankings to trending players and more, Metzer will be your go-to guy for fantasy blue line advice all season long.

UPDATED TOP 60 DEFENSEMEN RANKINGS

The NHL Trade Deadline is in the books, and again defensemen were the currency of the land. That seems to be the case more times than not as general managers look to strengthen their blue lines for the stretch run and Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The final day of trading, which wrapped Monday afternoon, saw 14 defensemen change zip codes. That number doesn't factor in the likes of Keith Yandle, Andrej Sekera, and Kimmo Timonen, who moved in the days prior to the deadline.

Fantasy owners should pay close attention around the deadline because these changes bring with them new roles and responsibilities for the players involved.

Someone who might not have had much fantasy value a week ago could now get the chance to quarterback a power play or play more minutes, and that could turn into big-time production as the fantasy season begins to wind down.

Here are a few of the more intriguing moves that were made at the deadline or in the days that proceeded it, and the fantasy impact that comes with them.

James Wisniewski and Yandle were both heavily owned fantasy assets that saw their values increase even more by moving to new teams. They leave the Columbus Blue Jackets and Arizona Coyotes respectively and immediately jump into playoff races with the Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers.

Each has the ability to roll up points, especially on the power play, but their plus-minus ratings have been a concern for owners.

Yandle has 41 points, 26 coming on the power play, but he carries a League-worst minus-33 rating. That is sure to turn around with the Rangers, as he has been paired with Kevin Klein, who carries a plus-22 rating. He will also get a chance to add to his power-play totals.

He logged a team high two minutes with the extra man during his debut with the Rangers on Monday.

Wisniewski may make an even bigger impact with the Ducks, but owners will have to wait to see it play out since he's nursing a bruised foot. That injury could be a blessing in disguise, since you might find him sitting on the waiver wire after an impatient owner drops him to stream in healthier options.

James Wisniewski
STATS PRIOR TO MAR. 4 GAMES
GOALS: 8 | ASST: 21 | PTS: 29
SOG: 127 | +/-: -10
He'll surely get time with the Ducks' top power-play unit when he makes his debut and should have no trouble adding to his 29 points. He is currently averaging .52 points per game and has a chance to see that go up.

Marek Zidlicky had 23 points in 63 games with the New Jersey Devils this season, but landed with the Detroit Red Wings on Monday. They have been coveting another right-handed shooting defenseman and Zidlicky fits the bill. He'll start out on a pairing with Brendan Smith and will get a share of the power-play pie. The 38-year-old may not be the player he was several seasons ago, but this could be a great spot for him. He is owned in 29 percent of Yahoo Standard Leagues, so you have a crack at adding him off of the waiver wire.

We looked at Timonen's situation last week and rightly predicted a trade for the veteran. He lands with the Chicago Blackhawks, where he'll be given every opportunity to show he is still capable of matching his career average of .52 points per game. He’s skating on a pairing with Brent Seabrook, getting No. 1 power-play time and is owned in nine percent of Yahoo Leagues.

Several other players might see their fantasy value bolstered in new environments, but we don't yet know how they'll be used.

Ben Lovejoy and Ian Cole end up with the Pittsburgh Penguins, where they'll have the opportunity to skate with the likes of Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Jeff Petry joined the Montreal Canadiens and is skating on a pairing with Sergei Gonchar, but his role could expand moving forward.


TRENDING UP

Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes -- Faulk adds to a career season with each point that he scores, and he has been collecting them at a breakneck pace. Since picking up two assists in the All-Star Game back on Jan. 25, he has 14 points in 16 games. He leads the Hurricanes in time on ice and power-play time on ice with 24:11 and 2:40 respectively. He's two points ahead of Eric Staal for the Hurricanes lead in scoring with 40 points and ranks fourth in goals with 12. He has 16 power-play points, 172 shots on goal and four game-winning goals. If there is a drawback, it comes in the form of a minus-18 rating, but he's a must-own.

Trevor Daley
STATS PRIOR TO MAR. 4 GAMES
GOALS: 16 | ASST: 17 | PTS: 33
SOG: 110 | +/-: -10
TRENDING DOWN

Trevor Daley, Dallas Stars -- We're pre-emptively moving Daley to our injured reserve list after he was knocked out of a game against the New York Islanders on Tuesday. He took a knee-on-knee hit from Islanders forward Matt Martin and Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he expected Daley to miss weeks during his postgame comments. Daley is in the midst of a career season that's seen him collect a career high 16 goals and 33 points.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Matt Irwin, San Jose Sharks -- Irwin has been on the radar of fantasy owners before, but hasn't been a big scorer this season. He has been hot lately though and could help down the stretch. He has points in four straight games, collecting two goals and two assists over that span. He has six points in his past eight games and has pushed his season total to seven goals and seven assists. He's owned in one percent of Yahoo Standard Leagues.


TOP 60 FANTASY DEFENSEMEN

These rankings are based on expectations for the season ahead. Value is quantified by defense pairings, overall upside and past performance in standard Yahoo categories (goals, assists, plus-minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal). NOTE: Players with D/RW eligibility in Yahoo leagues (Dustin Byfuglien, Brent Burns) have been ranked as defensemen.

1 Kris Letang, PIT (SAME) 31 Alex Goligoski, DAL (+1)
2 Brent Burns, D/RW, SJS (SAME) 32 Aaron Ekblad, FLA (+3)
3 Shea Weber, NSH (+3) 33 Mike Green, WSH (+1)
4 Erik Karlsson, OTT (+1) 34 Jake Muzzin, LAK (+3)
5 P.K. Subban, MTL (+1) 35 Nick Leddy, NYI (+4)
6 John Carlson, WSH (+1) 36 Kimmo Timonen, CHI (NR - IR)
7 Keith Yandle, NYR (+2) 37 Dougie Hamilton, BOS (-1)
8 Dustin Byfuglien, D/RW, WPG (SAME) 38 Michael Del Zotto, PHI (+2)
9 Roman Josi, NSH (+1) 39 Christian Ehrhoff, PIT (NR - IR; DTD)
10 Victor Hedman, TBL (+2) 40 James Wisniewski, ANA (-2)
11 Duncan Keith, CHI (-1) 41 Dion Phaneuf, TOR (NR - IR)
12 Andrei Markov, MTL (+2) 42 Anton Stralman, TBL (+2)
13 TJ Brodie, CGY (SAME) 43 Damon Severson, NJD (NR - IR)
14 Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI (+1) 44 Jacob Trouba, WPG (-3)
15 Mark Streit, PHI (+3) 45 Marek Zidlicky, DET (+2)
16 Drew Doughty, LAK (SAME) 46 Andrej Sekera, LAK (+12)
17 Alex Pietrangelo, STL (SAME) 47 Tobias Enstrom, WPG (-5)
18 Tyson Barrie, COL (+1) 48 Hampus Lindholm, ANA (-5)
19 Niklas Kronwall, DET (+2) 49 Jason Garrison, TBL (SAME)
20 Johnny Boychuk, NYI (+2) 50 Seth Jones, NSH (-4)
21 Ryan McDonagh, NYR (-1) 51 Lubomir Visnovsky, NYI (-6)
22 Dennis Wideman, CGY (+2) 52 Justin Schultz, EDM (-4)
23 Cody Franson, NSH (+2) 53 Kevin Klein, NYR (+2)
24 Ryan Suter, MIN (-1) 54 Jack Johnson, CBJ (-3)
25 Justin Faulk, CAR (+4) 55 Brian Campbell, FLA (-5)
26 Cam Fowler, ANA (SAME) 56 Kris Russell, CGY (+3)
27 Zdeno Chara, BOS (SAME) 57 Travis Hamonic, NYI (NEW)
28 John Klingberg, DAL (+2) 58 Tyler Myers, WPG (+2)
29 Torey Krug, BOS (-1) 59 Danny DeKeyser, DET (-7)
30 Brent Seabrook, CHI (+3) 60 Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJS (-8)

Dropped out: Matt Niskanen, Cody Ceci, Zach Bogosian

Key injuries: Mark Giordano, Kevin Shattenkirk, Sami Vatanen, Erik Johnson, Trevor Daley, Matt Carle, Kevin Bieksa, Jared Spurgeon, Alexander Edler, Olli Maatta

*DTD: Day-to-Day; NR - IR: Not ranked last week because of injury

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