Week 10: Fantasy top defenseman rankings for 2016-17

All season long, NHL.com's Brian Metzer will rank the top 50 fantasy defensemen for standard Yahoo leagues (goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power-play points, shots on goal). Players with long-term injuries have been removed from this list.
These rankings are based on expectations for the rest of the season. Value is quantified by defense pairs, power-play usage, past performance and overall upside in standard leagues. Changes in value each week are based on recent performance and/or lineup trends.

Nothing derails a fantasy team's momentum like an injury to a top player. That is especially true when the player in question is a minute-munching defenseman.
The waiver wire is always going to be a friend to owners who've sustained significant injuries, but sometimes it pays to research a team's internal options. In almost many instances, there is at least one player on the depth chart who stands to pick up a bigger role, shoulder more minutes and fill in on the power play.
Here are some high-profile defensemen who have hit the injured list or are day to day as the NHL's Christmas break approaches:
The Pittsburgh Penguins are currently playing without injured defensemen Kris Letang and Trevor Daley. Losing Letang, a top 10 fantasy D-man, stings on its own, but his absence has been magnified without Daley, who was the clear waiver-wire candidate to take on Letang's minutes and production prior to his own injury.
Justin Schultz (68 percent owned, 63rd in Yahoo) has quarterbacked Pittsburgh's top power-play unit, is logging a ton of minutes and has six goals, 20 points and is a plus-21 to lead Penguins defensemen. Ian Cole (31 percent owned, 148th) has two goals, 13 points and a plus-18 in 33 games, and Brian Dumoulin could also start to open some eyes in fantasy. Dumoulin (1 percent owned) had his seventh assist of the season against the New York Rangers on Tuesday and logged the second most power-play time (2:49) among Penguins defensemen. It is also worth noting Derrick Pouliot (1 percent owned, 767th) saw his power-play time jump to 1:34 against the Rangers.
The Nashville Predators have now played three games without injured P.K. Subban (upper body). There is no definitive answer to when he'll be back. His absence should push Ryan Ellis (25 percent owned) and Mattias Ekholm (19 percent owned) onto more fantasy rosters. Ellis and Ekholm rank third and fourth on the team in total and power-play ice time per game and have 11 points apiece.
Mike Green, who ranks second on the Detroit Red Wings in scoring with 18 points in 32 games, is out of the lineup with a lower-body injury. Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said Tuesday that Green would likely be out through the end of the week, which could see Niklas Kronwall (17 percent owned) and/or Ryan Sproul (less than 1 percent owned) take a more prominent role at 5-on-5 and with the man-advantage. Kronwall saw 5:16 and Sproul played 4:18 on the power play Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Lastly, the Philadelphia Flyers are without Mark Streit, who is out with a shoulder injury. Ivan Provorov (32 percent owned, 267th) has already leaped into a more prominent offensive role with the veteran sidelined. In the three games Streit has missed following his injury, the rookie leads the Flyers in ice time per game (24:07) and is getting more responsibility on the power play as well. Another guy to keep an eye on is Michael Del Zotto (10 percent owned), who spent a couple games in the press box as a healthy scratch earlier this month. He's since played in four straight, picking up one goal and five shots on goal. For the season he has four goals and nine points in 17 games.

Trending Up

Jeff Petry of the Montreal Canadiens (41 percent owned, 129th in Yahoo) was mentioned in our fantasy waiver wire piece on Monday, but he is still trending up. He has now scored goals in three consecutive games and has seven points in his past five. He's a plus-7 in the span and logged a season-high 25:07 Tuesday. He logged 7:47 on the power play in the game, a result of Andrei Markov missing time with a lower-body injury. Markov could return as early as Thursday, but Petry can help you for the rest of the season. He has seven goals, 16 points, five on the power play, 66 shots and is a plus-11 in 31 games. He can also help if you league counts hits (65) or blocked shots (57).

Trending Down

A tough season for Colorado Avalanche defenseman Tyson Barrie (364th in Yahoo) just continues to roll downhill. He appeared to be turning the corner when he picked up four points in a seven-game span from Nov. 29 to Dec. 11, but he's since gone four games without a point (minus-6 in span), all losses for Colorado. If there is a silver lining for Barrie, it is that he is still shooting the puck. He has 12 SOG in those four games and 71 on the season.

Worth Noting

John Carlson of the Washington Capitals (221st in Yahoo) missed practice on Tuesday with an illness. Coach Barry Trotz expects his top defenseman to play Wednesday against the Flyers. Carlson has started slow with 14 points in 30 games, with much of that damage coming on the power play (eight PPP). That said, he has shown signs of a rebound lately with points in six of his past eight games.
St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, who's also dealing with an illness, did not play Tuesday against the Dallas Stars. The Blues captain had two goals in his prior three games. His status for Thursday against the Lightning is in question.

Top 50 Fantasy Defensemen

These rankings were last updated Dec. 21
1. Brent Burns, SJS (SAME)
2. Erik Karlsson, OTT (+1)
3. Shea Weber, MTL (-1)
4. Victor Hedman, TBL (+1)
5. Zach Werenski, CBJ (+2)
6. Kevin Shattenkirk, STL (+2)
7. Dustin Byfuglien, WPG (+2)
8. P.K. Subban, NSH (DTD)
9. Roman Josi, NSH (+1)
10. Ryan Suter, MIN (+1)
11. Drew Doughty, LAK (+1)
12. Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF (+3)
13. Duncan Keith, CHI (SAME)
14. Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI (SAME)
15. Ryan McDonagh, NYR (+1)
16. Brent Seabrook, CHI (+3)
17. Keith Yandle, FLA (+3)
18. Mark Giordano, CGY (-1)
19. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI (-1)
20. Dougie Hamilton, CGY (+2)
21. Cam Fowler, ANA (+4)
22. John Carlson, WSH (DTD)
23. Andrei Markov, MTL (DTD)
24. Alex Pietrangelo, STL (DTD)
25. Colton Parayko, STL (+1)
26. Sami Vatanen, ANA (+1)
27. John Klingberg, DAL (+1)
28. Alec Martinez, LAK (+1)
29. Justin Faulk, CAR (+4)
30. Torey Krug, BOS (SAME)
31. Damon Severson, NJD (SAME)
32. Aaron Ekblad, FLA (SAME)
33. Justin Schultz, PIT (+5)
34. Seth Jones, CBJ (+2)
35. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, SJS (+2)
36. Ivan Provorov, PHI (+6)
37. Mike Green, DET (DTD)
38. Tyson Barrie, COL (-3)
39. Ian Cole, PIT (+5)
40. Morgan Rielly, TOR (-1)
41. Anton Stralman, TBL (-1)
42. Matt Niskanen, WSH (+1)
43. Jake Muzzin, LAK (-2)
44. Oscar Klefbom, EDM (+1)
45. Nick Leddy, NYI (+1)
46. Dion Phaneuf, OTT (+1)
47. Ryan Ellis, NSH (+1)
48. Matt Dumba, MIN (+1)
49. Jeff Petry, MTL (NEW)
50. Mattias Ekholm, NSH (NEW)
Key injuries: Kris Letang (PIT), Mark Streit (PHI), Trevor Daley (PIT), Tyler Myers (WPG), Alexander Edler (VAN)
READ: Last week's Top 50 defenseman rankings