Rookies are always hard to gauge in any non-rookies list. Was their one season a fluke? Will they become injury-prone? Will other teams figure out how to key on the rookie? Exactly how high are their ceilings and did they peak too early? These will be the key questions facing Ekblad owners for the next few seasons. But for now, he belongs on this list, and has as much potential as almost any young defencemen in the league. The Calder candidate scored 12 goals and 39 points, had a plus-12, 13 power play points, 170 shots, 109 hits and 80 blocked shots.

5. John Klingberg, 22

Klingberg would have had a great shot of the Calder trophy had it not been for the young phenom in Florida. I like Klingberg's upside for the next few years over Ekblad because of his teammates: Jason Spezza, Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin are all better options than Jaromir Jagr, Jonathan Huberdeau and Aleksander Barkov. Klingberg played just 65 games, as he was a mid-season call-up, and immediately stole the spotlight. He had 11 goals and 40 points, a plus-five, 12 power play points, 98 shots, 54 hits and 77 blocked shots. He really needs to improve on those peripheral numbers to move up this list, but his points should be top notch for the next little while.

4. Dougie Hamilton, 21

The heir is apparent in Boston, and while it looked like it would be Torey Krug for a while, Hamilton showed this season why he's the best fantasy option on the Boston blueline. Hamilton had a breakout season, with 10 goals, 42 points, 15 power play points, 188 shots, 106 hits and 53 blocked shots. His minus-three was disappointment for fantasy owners, but if the Bruins are even a margin better next season, then Hamilton will only improve on all of his totals.

3. Tyson Barrie, 23

He's the most underrated defencemen on this list, although part of it has to do with how bad the Colorado Avalanche was this past season. He just finished in the top 10 for scoring by a defencemen (the only dman on this list to be in the top 10), as he finished the season with 12 goals and 53 points. His plus-five wasn't great, but he led the Avs in the category, and was still ahead of guys like Doughty and Pietrangelo. Barrie also had 16 power play points, to go along with 80 hits, 90 blocked shots and 139 shots.

2. Justin Faulk, 23

Faulk ranks high on the list but has three big red flags: 1) He plays on the Hurricanes, a team that doesn't look to be getting better anytime soon, 2) he's a career minus-43 in just 262 games, and 3) I'm worried that Faulk will be this year's Andrej Sekera. Faulk did pot 15 goals, 49 points and 20 power play points this season. He also took 238 shots, 157 hits and 114 blocked shots, giving great value in those peripheral categories, and the only guy on the list to get 100 in each of the latter two categories.

1. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, 23

Doesn't it seem like OEL should be a 28-year-old veteran by now? It feels like he's been in the NHL forever. He's the easy choice for number one on this list, as he's been the only youngster to put up numbers consistently. Let's start with his health. He's only missed two games total in the past four seasons, so you know he's going to play every game. He has hit double digits in goals in three of the last four seasons, including 23 this past year. In the last two years, he's averaged around 44 points, nine power play goals, seven game-winning goals, and 21 power play points. He also took an amazing 264 shots last season, had 167 hits and 77 blocked shots last season. Yes, he had a minus-18, but his next worst season was minus-four. And at just 23 years old, just wait to see how good he is when he enters his prime.