New York Rangers Fantasy Hockey: McDonagh is the Lone Top 50 D-man

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

Mar 3, 2016; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; New York Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh (27) gathers the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the second period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports /

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

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.

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