Welcome to NHL.com's "On the 'D'-fence" fantasy hockey segment, where each week fantasy insider Brian Metzer will give you an in-depth analysis of fantasy defensemen. From updated defensemen rankings to players to keep a close eye on and much more, Metzer will be your fantasy defenseman expert all season long.

With that, here's his opening statement regarding the League's blueliners...

When people think about drafting a fantasy hockey team, they go through a ton of internal debate. Who should they select in the first round? What if they end up with the first selection? Should they go with Alex Ovechkin? Maybe take a chance on a previously concussed multi-tool talent like Sidney Crosby? They may even be considering a Sedin or wondering if Corey Perry can do it again.

Whenever the production of a proven NHL player drops from one season to the next, there’s always a cause for concern among fantasy owners who put their stock in this individual.

While seeing a top-tier member of your squad experience a bump in the road is not an enjoyable experience, it is important to refrain from abandoning the ship prematurely.

Here’s an example: San Jose Sharks' star forward Patrick Marleau saw his 78-point output (32 G, 46 A in 77 games) in the 2006-07 season drop to 48 points (19 G, 29 A in 78 games) in 2007-08. But just as Marleau’s fantasy value dipped entering the ensuing season, the potent goal-scorer re-discovered his rhythm, notching 38 goals and 33 assists in 2008-09. Marleau also improved on his minus-19 rating and low shot total (185) from '07-08 with an impressive plus-16 rating and 251-shot showing in '08-09.

Simply put, Marleau capitalized on the clean slate that came with the new season and was able to regain his form in leading San Jose to the President's Trophy.

Bounce-back seasons are far from rare, but the toughest part is detecting them in time to see your fantasy team reap the benefits. So, just in time for your fantasy draft, NHL.com takes a look at 10 players from around the league who are likely to bounce back and improve their numbers from a year ago in the 2011-12 season.

At various points throughout the 2011-12 season, NHL.com and its panel of fantasy experts will dissect individual matchups with "Fantasy Face-offs." Torn between two players? Look no further than NHL.com/Fantasy for the edge on the most compelling toss-ups as the twists and turns of the regular season impact your fantasy squad.

Here's how it works:

For each "Face-off," fantasy experts Sergei Feldman and Pete Jensen will make their case as to why a particular player deserves consideration in the particular debate. Resident fantasy hockey guru Matt Cubeta will then juggle the two arguments and reach a final verdict for who deserves the edge.

We continue with NHL.com's preseason goaltender fantasy rankings, where Nashville's rising star Pekka Rinne occupies the top-overall spot. Roberto Luongo, who turned in yet another prolific campaign in the crease for the Western Conference champion Canucks, is ranked second among netminders.

And with that, here's NHL.com's take on the matter...

A year ago, Corey Perry's average draft position in standard Yahoo! Fantasy Leagues was 43.5. Of course, he went on to put together the most well-rounded season of any player and finished as the No. 2 overall fantasy player, behind only Vancouver's Daniel Sedin. Hardly anyone saw that kind of season coming from Perry. Sure, the Ducks forward had a very solid 2009-10 campaign (27 goals and 76 points), but none of us expected what he did last season.

Here's how it works:

But every year we seem to see guys like this -- players that we don't know too much about that end up having a major breakout season. Some erupt for seasons like Perry or Dustin Byfuglien had last season, and some are just on a smaller scale, like Brandon Dubinsky or Kris Letang, but either way, there are always plenty of players that perform beyond our expectations.

The goal is to be lucky enough to have the right ones on your fantasy team. Whether it's on draft day, or picking up a player on waivers, or through a trade, the objective is to obtain players that are undervalued by everyone else.

The Finnish Flash is back -- well, for one more year anyway.

Anaheim forward Teemu Selanne announced on Thursday that he would return to the Ducks for at least one more season. Despite an aching left knee, the 41-year-old will be back for his 19th NHL season.

How does this affect you from a fantasy viewpoint?

Selanne was listed in our Top 175 fantasy rankings at 89th overall, as depicted by our panel of experts. In our positional rankings, Selanne came in at 15th among right wings, right behind Vancouver's Alex Burrows and ahead of San Jose's Joe Pavelski. Obviously these projections were done prior to the knowledge that Selanne would definitely be back this season.

Now, things change.

"Everything has chains...absolutely nothing's changed."

Ah, little did Eddie Vedder know his famous line in Pearl Jam's "Corduroy" would be so applicable in the fantasy hockey world. Yet here we are again and Washington's Alex Ovechkin remains chained to the No. 1 fantasy rank -- year after year, Ovechkin reigns supreme.

Despite a relatively quiet season offensively for Ovechkin -- at least by his standards -- an MVP-season from Corey Perry, an NHL-best 104-point season from Daniel Sedin, and a 45-goal season by Steven Stamkos weren't enough to knock Ovechkin from his spot at the top of the charts.

Some will disagree, but truthfully, Sidney Crosby was the only other real option for the top spot, and with Crosby's health still undetermined, there really wasn't a safer play for No. 1. So much so, that all three of our fantasy experts each ranked Ovechkin as the top fantasy player heading into the 2011-12 season.

Having recorded at least 50 goals and 109 points in his three previous seasons, plus his ability to dominate the NHL in the shots on goal category every season, we believe in Ovechkin and think a bounce-back performance to his "usual" self is more than likely in 2011-12.

From Ovi to Sid and many others, below is our explanation for how our ranking of the top 50 fantasy players was put together.

At this point of the summer, predicting is part of the hockey lover's human nature. Everyone's level of anticipation has boiled over for the new season, but amidst all the questions we try to stay sane by knowing training camps are just a few weeks away.

When it comes to predicting what might happen with the goaltenders, there's a lot to discuss because there are so many "unstable" situations. By unstable, I simply mean that the situation could result in a significant or negative impact on a goaltender's career, or for their team's overall success.

But this is nothing new. Every year, some goalies face the pressure of extremely high expectations due to a high salary, high skill level or their previous season's success. Others are simply expected to rebound from an inconsistent or injury-plagued season.