Week 8: Fantasy top 50 defenseman rankings for 2017-18

Each week during the regular season, NHL.com has you covered with an overview of the fantasy defenseman landscape. With production trends, injury news and top 50 rankings based on performance and upside in standard Yahoo leagues, fantasy owners should use this information as a basis for roster decision-making.

MORE FANTASY RANKINGS:
Top 100 forwards
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Top 25 goalies
TRENDING UP
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI: The Arizona Coyotes have the worst goal differential (minus-32) in the NHL, and plus/minus has remained the weak point of Ekman-Larsson's fantasy profile (minus-19; minus-25 last season). That said, he's heating up offensively and providing his trademark category coverage again. Taking advantage of a heavy workload (25:12 per game, 3:52 on power play), Ekman-Larsson has exploded for seven points (four goals, three assists), four power-play points and 20 shots on goal during his current six-game point streak. He has added value in formats that count hits (66 in 27 games) and/or blocked shots (30). His buy-low window has closed in most leagues; he's suddenly tied for fifth among defensemen in points (18).
Nick Leddy, NYI: The New York Islanders defenseman is off to the best start of his NHL career and has 18 points (six goals, 12 assists) over his past 15 games. He's averaging three SOG per game over that span (45) with one-third of his points coming on the power play (six). He has gone from a late-round pick (Yahoo average draft position: 166.3) to being tied for second among defensemen in scoring (20 points in 24 games) behind John Klingberg (21 in 24 games) of the Dallas Stars. Skating on the top pair with Johnny Boychuk (32 percent owned in Yahoo) and first power-play unit with centers John Tavares and Mathew Barzal, Leddy looks like a safe bet to surpass his NHL career highs in goals (11), points (46) and SOG (137) from last season.
Colton Parayko, STL: After five points (one goal, four assists) and one PPP in his first 18 games, Parayko has seven points (one goal, six assists) and three PPP in his past six games. The St. Louis Blues rank fifth in goals per game (3.42) and have scored four or more goals in 13 of their 24 games this season. They have scored six or more goals three times this month, and Parayko brings the coveted exposure to that offense. He has helped himself with a slight uptick in SOG per game (2.7; 2.3 last season), and has become the complementary scoring defenseman behind Alex Pietrangelo, the top-ranked fantasy player at the position. Parayko is paired with Joel Edmundson and averaging 21:34 per game with 1:55 on the power play.

TRENDING DOWN
Dustin Byfuglien, WPG: The Winnipeg Jets defenseman is still providing top-notch category coverage in SOG (57), penalty minutes (43) and hits (52) but has no points over his past nine games. The Jets are still 7-2-0 in that span, and Byfuglien leads them by a wide margin with 24:05 per game. Even with his recent scoring drought, he's 55th in Yahoo based on standard-category performance. He's a buy-low candidate in a points-only league (no goals, 10 assists in 22 games) because he's likely to finish with double-digit goals yet again alongside forwards Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor on the first power-play unit. He has scored at least 12 goals in each of his nine full NHL seasons.
Aaron Ekblad, FLA: The Florida Panthers defenseman set a high standard for himself by combining for 75 points (27 goals, 48 assists) and a plus-30 in 159 games over his first two NHL seasons. But he was limited to 68 games because of injuries last season, scoring 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) with a minus-23 and 225 SOG. That high of a shot volume (3.3 per game) is rare among defensemen, but it has declined (2.5) through 24 games this season. He started the season with seven points (three goals, four assists), three PPP and a plus-7 over his first 11 games, but has no goals and one assist in 13 games since. The opportunities have clearly been there (36 SOG, 23:51 per game in span), but the results have been hard to come by. Fantasy owners need to hope his lower shooting percentage over the past two seasons (4.6) eventually reverts back to the level of his first two NHL seasons (7.7).
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TOP 50 DEFENSEMAN RANKINGS
Standard Yahoo categories include goals, assists, plus/minus, PIMs, PPP and SOG for skaters. ... Value has been quantified based on factors including but not limited to past production, defense pairs, power-play usage, team's offseason changes, injury history, age, sleeper, bounce-back or breakout potential, anticipated regression, contract status, Yahoo ADP and overall upside for the rest of the season. Any players with day-to-day injury concerns (DTD) are noted. NEW - INJ. indicates a player who has returned from injury and rejoined the rankings.
1. Alex Pietrangelo, STL (SAME)
2. Victor Hedman, TBL (SAME)
3. John Klingberg, DAL (+1)
4. Drew Doughty, LAK (+3)
5. Roman Josi, NSH (+1)
6. Erik Karlsson, OTT (-3)
7. P.K. Subban, NSH (-2)
8. Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI (+2)
9. John Carlson, WSH (-1)
10. Kevin Shattenkirk, NYR (-1)
11. Brent Burns, SJS (+1)
12. Kris Letang, PIT (+1)
13. Nick Leddy, NYI (+4)
14. Duncan Keith, CHI (+1)
15. Dustin Byfuglien, WPG (-4)
16. Zach Werenski, CBJ (-2)
17. Will Butcher, NJD (-1)
18. Mikhail Sergachev, TBL (SAME)
19. Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF (NEW - INJ.)
20. Morgan Rielly, TOR (SAME)
21. Dougie Hamilton, CGY (SAME)
22. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI (+5)
23. Torey Krug, BOS (SAME)
24. Mike Green, DET (-2)
25. Tyson Barrie, COL (SAME)
26. Justin Schultz, PIT (+6)
27. Jake Muzzin, LAK (+1)
28. Brandon Montour, ANA (DTD)
29. Colton Parayko, STL (+9)
30. Mattias Ekholm, NSH (+10)
31. Aaron Ekblad, FLA (-7)
32. Ryan Suter, MIN (-6)
33. Keith Yandle, FLA (SAME)
34. Seth Jones, CBJ (-3)
35. Ivan Provorov, PHI (SAME)
36. Ryan McDonagh, NYR (DTD)
37. Justin Faulk, CAR (+2)
38. Charlie McAvoy, BOS (-2)
39. Mark Giordano, CGY (-5)
40. Matt Niskanen, WSH (+3)
41. Cam Fowler, ANA (+3)
42. TJ Brodie, CGY (-5)
43. Jake Gardiner, TOR (+4)
44. Oscar Klefbom, EDM (-2)
45. Erik Johnson, COL (SAME)
46. Shea Theodore, VGK (NEW)
47. Sami Vatanen, NJD (NEW)*
48. Josh Manson, ANA (SAME)
49. Jared Spurgeon, MIN (DTD)
50. Johnny Boychuk, NYI (NEW)
\Fantasy spin: Vatanen can boost Devils defense, power play after trade
Dropped out: Brent Seabrook, CHI; Colin Miller, VGK; Jacob Trouba, WPG
Key injuries: Shea Weber, MTL (dropped out); Ryan Ellis, NSH; Andrej Sekera, EDM*
READ: Last week's Top 50 defenseman rankings