With just days before the NHL season begins, you need to get your fantasy hockey teams in order!
A few days ago, I talked about my fantasy hockey forward rankings. That one was really fun to talk about because it featured a bunch of New York Rangers in it including Mika Zibanejad, Mats Zuccarello, Chris Kreider, Rick Nash and Derek Stepan.
Now, as we take a look at the defense ranks, you will see that there is only one New York Rangers player anywhere near the top 50. Care to guess who that is?
Well, no need, because here are my top 50 defensemen in fantasy hockey this year!
Erik Karlsson, OTT
Brent Burns, SJS
Kris Letang, PIT
Dustin Byfuglien, WPG
Roman Josi, NSH
Shea Weber, MTL
John Klingberg, DAL
Mark Giordano, CGY
Victor Hedman, TB
PK Subban, NSH
Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI
Keith Yandle, FLA
Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI
Aaron Ekblad, FLA
John Carlson, WSH
Drew Doughty, LAK
Duncan Keith, CHI
Justin Faulk, CAR
Torey Krug, BOS
Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF
Kevin Shattenkirk, STL
Tyson Barrie, COL
Ryan Suter, MIN
Seth Jones, CBJ
Jake Muzzin, LAK
More from Editorials
- Rangers’ Playoff Redemption Recipe: Grit and Fresh Hopes
- Rangers’ Roster Chatter: Who’s Making the Cut and Who’s in the Penalty Box?
- These Rangers must learn Peter Laviolette’s ropes before they can fly
- Filip Chytil Could Take Major Steps in the 2023-24 Season
- Looking forward to the upcoming season for Artemi Panarin
Alex Pietrangelo, STL
Brent Seabrook, CHI
Trevor Daley, PIT
Marc- Edouard Vlasic, SJS
Dougie Hamilton, CGY
Colton Parayko, STL
Ryan McDonagh, NYR
Sami Vatanen, ANA
TJ Brodie, CGY
Hampus Lindholm, ANA
Morgan Rielly, TOR
Zdeno Chara, BOS
Alec Martinez, LAK
Anton Stralman, TB
Matt Dumba, MIN
Johnny Boychuck, NYI
Andrei Markov, MTL
Jacob Trouba, WPG
Erik Johnson, COL
Francois Beauchemin, COL
Mike Green, DET
Nick Leddy, NYI
Alex Goligoski, ARI
Jared Spurgeron, MIN
Dion Phaneuf, OTT
The Lone Ranger
32. Ryan McDonagh- The 27-year-old McDonagh is going to be relied upon a lot this year. These responsibilities include being the captain, being the best defender on the team, scoring a few goals as he inevitably quarterbacks a powerplay unit, and providing some fantasy relevance for the New York Rangers blueline.
McDonagh hasn’t played 80+ games since his first full season in the league in 2011-2012. Since then, he has irritated a shoulder injury that he sustained a few seasons ago against the Vancouver Canucks multiple times, often sidelining him for at least 2 weeks a year.
McDonagh had a really weird season offensively last year. McDonagh scored 9 goals last season, 1 more than he did in the 2014-2015 campaign. He managed to do this by taking 35 less shots on goal. Ironically enough, McDonagh posted the best shooting percentage he has ever produced, scoring at a 8% clip.
McDonagh will see plenty more powerplay time this season, as powerplay quarterbacks Keith Yandle (via free agency) and Dan Boyle (retirement) have left the team. This will probably mean McDonagh’s goals, assists and points totals will be at an all-time high this year. Put that all together with the best forward group the team has had in over a decade–or possibly ever–and you have McDonagh having a career year offensively.
Since this is a fantasy article, I won’t get into the defensive stuff right now, but it is worth noting to monitor his defensive partner.
Is he ranked too high?
There are a few guys below McDonagh that I am sure I will get some heat about. Sami Vatanen is one of them. After all, Vatanen is known to have more offensive prowess. Vatanen posted just 4 more points (9 goals and 29 assists) in 71 games for the Ducks last year. I think the reason I have McDonagh higher on the list is because of the powerplay minutes he will get, how much better his career plus/minus stats are, and also because I think the Ducks are going to have a really rough year (Randy Carlyle is not a good coach, just saying.)
Next: Fantasy Hockey: Top 100 Forwards Rankings Feature Plenty of New York Rangers
Maybe I am too high on McDonagh, maybe I am too low on McDonagh, but all I know is the New York Rangers don’t have one other defenseman that is worth owning in a standard scoring league. Maybe, Clendening, Skjei or Klein have their moments, but as of now, none of them are worth drafting.