Fantasy top 60 'D': Predators, Stars lead in scoring

Every Wednesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey contributor Brian Metzer provides in-depth defenseman analysis. From updated weekly top 60 rankings to trending players and more, Metzer is your go-to guy for fantasy D-men advice all season long.

Long time readers of this column already know it, but defensemen can make or break your fantasy season. You definitely need the right mix of forwards, but you are not going to win your league unless you have solid players to fill out your four starting defensemen slots in Yahoo Standard Leagues.

There have always been a handful of guys capable of putting up big numbers from the backend, but it seems the number grows by the season. To demonstrate that fact, I pulled some numbers from a column I wrote following the 2011-12 season.

The top-60 defensemen that made up my final rankings accounted for 454 goals and 1,575 assists, or an average of 7.56 goals, 26.25 assists and roughly 34 points.

Of that group, there were 17 who scored 10 or more goals and 21 who had 30 or more assists.

Through the halfway point of this season, the top 60 have accumulated 313 goals and 933 assists, or an average of 5.21 goals, 15.5 assists and roughly 21 points, putting them on pace to eclipse the 2011-12 totals by a nice margin.

It is also worth noting there are already 10 defensemen with eight or more goals, two of whom have 14 or more, and 18 defensemen with 25 or more points.

With all this said, I wanted to take time to look at some of the top scoring blue lines in the NHL this season: how they're built, how many defensemen they have used, who gets the power-play time and if they have any options available for you on the waiver wire.

Before we jump in, here are a couple notes about the overall list. There are 13 teams that have gotten 80 or more points from their blue line collectively. The next 11 teams on the list have gotten at least 61 points from their groups. The Nashville Predators lead the way with 104 points and the Edmonton Oilers and New Jersey Devils bring up the rear with just 51 points apiece from their defensemen.

1. Nashville Predators

Total points from defensemen: 104

Total defenseman used this season: 9

The backbone of the Predators blue line is obviously the outstanding pair of Roman Josi and Shea Weber, who lead the group in scoring with 31 and 26 points respectively, but there are plenty of great options here.

Ryan Ellis continues to shoulder a bigger load and has already contributed five goals, 13 assists, and four power-play points. He plays close to 20 minutes a night, 2:14 coming with the extra man, and is available in well over 60 percent of Yahoo Leagues.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Mattias Ekholm -- He is available in 95 percent of Yahoo leagues and already has five goals and 16 points. He is skating on a pair with Ellis and averaging 18:32 per night. He's also getting occasional power-play time, averaging 16 seconds per game.

2. Dallas Stars

Total points from defensemen: 103

Total defensemen used this season: 8

John Klingberg is the clear top dog here. He has 38 points, skates over 23 minutes per night and is the only defenseman on the ice with the top power-play unit; however, there are four others who log 18 minutes or more per night and two that get decent power-play time.

Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers are the secondary power-play options, logging 1:45 and 1:35 minutes with the extra man respectively. Demers is the guy likely available in your league. He has four goals and 14 points with two coming on the power play, and he's owned in 38 percent of leagues.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Johnny Oduya -- He's matched Demers' point total and averages over 20 minutes per game. He doesn't get much in the way of power-play time, but he's owned in 11 percent of leagues.

T-3. Calgary Flames

Total points from defensemen: 94

Total defensemen used this season: 8

The Flames' blue line has been providing quality fantasy performers for over two seasons now, which is why Mark Giordano, TJ Brodie, Dougie Hamilton and Dennis Wideman are all owned in at least 60 percent of Yahoo leagues. They haven't all produced as hoped, but have combined for 22 goals and 81 points.

All four of the aforementioned players get power-play time and they've combined for 24 points with the extra man, Wideman leading the way with nine.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Kris Russell -- He's skating over 22 minutes per game, which includes 1:08 on the power play. He has two goals and 10 assists and carries more value in leagues that credit blocked shots, as he already has 127 on the season. He is owned in 13 percent of leagues.

T-3. Chicago Blackhawks

Total points from defensemen: 94

Total defensemen used this season: 10

Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are the ones stirring the drink on the Blackhawks' blue line; they’ve combined for 55 points, 23 of which have come on the power play. Things drop off significantly from there, as the third-leading scorer, Niklas Hjalmarsson, has 13 points. He could help in very deep leagues though, and is owned in 44 percent of leagues.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Erik Gustafsson -- He's played 14 games this season but has picked up seven assists, three in his past three games. He's getting over a minute of power-play time per game and should be readily available in all Yahoo Leagues. His ownership currently sits at zero percent.

5. San Jose Sharks

Total points from defensemen: 93

Total defensemen used this season: 8

Brent Burns is the main offensive weapon on the blue line. He gets all of the power-play time with the No. 1 unit, skates over 26 minutes per night and has 18 goals and 40 points. His 177 shots on goal lead his position and are second to only Alex Ovechkin in the League.

There's a deep dip behind him, but there is value. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who's been in and out of our rankings all season, skates over 23 minutes per game, with 2:04 coming on the power play. He's parlayed that into four goals and 19 points and is available in 83 percent of leagues.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Justin Braun -- Braun, who skates on a pairing with Vlasic, is averaging over 21 minutes per game, with 56 seconds coming on the power play. He has one goal and 16 assists and could help out in deeper formats. He's owned in five percent of leagues.

TOP 60 FANTASY DEFENSEMEN

These rankings are based on expectations for this season. Value is quantified by defense pairings, power-play usage, past performance and overall upside in standard Yahoo categories (goals, assists, plus-minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal).

1	Erik Karlsson, OTT (SAME)	31	Erik Johnson, COL (SAME)
2	John Klingberg, DAL (SAME)	32	Francois Beauchemin, COL (SAME)
3	Duncan Keith, CHI (SAME)	33	Dion Phaneuf, TOR (+1)
4	Brent Burns, SJS (SAME)	34	Andrej Sekera, EDM (+4)
5	Kevin Shattenkirk, STL (SAME)	35	Niklas Kronwall, DET (SAME)
6	P.K. Subban, MTL (SAME)	36	Mike Green, DET (SAME)
7	Justin Faulk, CAR (SAME)	37	Jason Demers, DAL (SAME)
8	Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI (SAME)	38	Dennis Wideman, CGY (+1)
9	Roman Josi, NSH (SAME)	39	Alex Goligoski, DAL (+4)
10	Shea Weber, NSH (SAME)	40	Matt Niskanen, WSH (+4)
11	Tyson Barrie, COL (+4)	41	Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI (DTD)
12	Drew Doughty, LAK (+1)	42	Nick Leddy, NYI (+4)
13	Brent Seabrook, CHI (+4)	43	Zdeno Chara, BOS (+2)
14	Dustin Byfuglien, WPG (-3)	44	Cody Franson, BUF (-4)
15	Andrei Markov, MTL (-3)	45	Morgan Rielly, TOR (-4)
16	Victor Hedman, TBL (SAME)	46	Dougie Hamilton, CGY (-4)
17	Kris Letang, PIT (SAME)	47	Ryan Ellis, NSH (+5)
18	Ryan Suter, MIN (+2)	48	Trevor Daley, PIT (+1)
19	Ryan McDonagh, NYR (SAME)	49	Tyler Myers, WPG (+6)
20	Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF (+1)	50	Colton Parayko, STL (-2)
21	Keith Yandle, NYR (+1)	51	Alexander Edler, VAN (-1)
22	TJ Brodie, CGY (+1)	52	Marek Zidlicky, NYI (-1)
23	Torey Krug, BOS (+1)	53	Jared Spurgeon, MIN (SAME)
24	Jake Muzzin, LAK (+1)	54	Olli Maatta, PIT (SAME)
25	Mark Streit, PHI (+1)	55	David Savard, CBJ (+4)
26	Anton Stralman, TBL (+3)	56	Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJS (NEW)
27	Mark Giordano, CGY (+3)	57	Colin Miller, BOS (-1)
28	Sami Vatanen, ANA (-2)	58	Michael Stone, ARI (-1)
29	Alex Pietrangelo, STL (+4)	59	Alec Martinez, LAK (-1)
30	Aaron Ekblad, FLA (-2)	60	Seth Jones, CBJ (NEW)

Dropped out: Jeff Petry

Key injuries: John Carlson, Johnny Boychuk, Cam Fowler, Oscar Klefbom, James Wisniewski

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