Just which defensemen are tops in fantasy depends on your league. It’s a very close call for many. Sometimes top scorers have poor plus/minus, penalty, hits or blocked shots stats rendering them less valuable in multi-category leagues. There is frequent overlap though, as the top ones often excel at many facets of the game. I’ll do my best to account for both types of leagues here, but with the growing number of pools emphasizing more than points totals, I’ll lean a bit more multi-cat in my rankings. Counting down the top ten…

10. Ten is the toughest spot. John Klingberg, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Ryan EIllis, and plus/minus demon Ryan Suter all are worthy candidates. Ultimately I’ll take Klingberg. Though his hits and penalty minutes aren’t top-notch, his 49 points (17 on the power play) during a sluggish offensive Dallas year that promises 2017-18 resurgence puts him above those mentioned. Add 117 blocks, new top-paring Marc Methot to help Klingberg focus more on points, and a career plus-29 (including a plus-2 in last year’s difficult Dallas defensive campaign) and he sneaks into the top-ten.

9. Roman Josi makes it over fellow Predator and pairing Ellis due to better scoring numbers. If plus/minus is more of a factor in your league than points (not sure I’ve seen such a thing), consider Ellis’ lifetime plus-50 over Josi’s plus-11. If not, Josi’s it. His 49 points tied Klingberg for fifth among West defensemen. He also finished sixth in power play points with 18, fourth with 217 shots, tied for fourth in assists (37) and a respectable 119 blocks. Nashville’s Assistant Captain will continue to rack up stats on that prolific blue line.

8. Blackhawk Duncan Keith had a very well-rounded 2016-17. He tied for top West blueliner in assists (47), was second in points (53), tied for third in plus/minus (plus-22), tied for tenth in power play points (15), was ninth in shots on goal (183), and made the top fifty in blocks with 107. His 25:37 minutes per game average was fourth-highest and, whether statistical blessing or curse, that may increase with Brian Campbell retired, Nikals Hjalmarsson off to Arizona (although bet on Connor Murphy to do well) and Keith reaching age 34. His hits, goals, and penalty minutes remained few last year, but even fewer match Keith’s across the board quality.

7. After early-year adjustments, P.K. Subban excelled in Nashville and will likely up his game in 2017-18 with post-Finals momentum and an entire campaign in Tennessee to draw upon. One of the game’s best scoring defenseman with hits and blocks totals in the West’s top 50, Subban should bounce back toward his usual mid-50s in points after registering 40 (10 goals, 30 assists) last year, including 16 on the power play, and the 20^th-most shots with 142.

6. Drew Doughty had another solid year, and with a new offensive philosophy espoused in LA his scoring totals could make another leap. The 2016-17 campaign saw him as ninth among West defensemen with 32 assists and eighth in points with 44, 19 of those on the power play which tied for third place. With a higher tempo his 181 shots could increase, as his playing time likely remains near last year’s 27:06 average ice time, second only to Dustin Byfuglien. This, combined with 129 hits and 109 blocks, brings great multi-cat value.

5. Alex Pietrangelo is another impressive multi-cat as well as standard league performer. He finished seventh in the West in defenseman points (48), eighth in assists (34), third in goals (14), tied for third in power play points (19), fifth in power play goals (6) and tied for 11^th with 181 shots on goal. As with most snipers, hit and penalty minute totals were low, but Pietrangelo still cracked the top ten with 158 blocks. What’s more, while many imagined Colton Parayko as the primary Blues’ beneficiary with Kevin Shattenkirk’s deadline departure, Pietrangelo registered 17 points in his final 19 regular season contests after the deal, including seven on the power play. That’s not to guarantee the trend will continue, especially as newly re-signed Parayko continues to develop, but with these numbers far exceeding his overall 0.60 points-per-game average last year, Pietrangelo may be in for an even bigger 2017-18. 

4. While Mark Giordano’s scoring totals aren’t elite among West blueliners, last year’s 39 points, 151 shots, 14 power play points and 27 assists ranked 15th, 15th again, tied for 13th, and tied for 20th respectively. These are bonuses to go with peripheral numbers among the best, as he tied for third with a 22-plus, second in blocks (181), 59 penalty minutes (tied for 13^th) and even top-50 hits totals. While Travis Hamonic’s arrival and a full year of Mark Stone with the Flames may eat into some of these, they’ll be somewhat offset by defenseman Deryk Engelland’s move to Vegas after his own impressive multi-category campaign.

3. Calgary’s Dougie Hamilton deserves a top-three spot as a prolific scorer with solid power play points (14) and shots-on-goal (222) numbers. Other than the penalty minutes, blocks, and hits his 13 goal, 37 assist 2016-17 line looks remarkably like Byfuglien’s. Of course those peripheral are all very important, but even they aren’t bad for the 6’6”, 23-year-old who is 50 pounds lighter than Big Buff. Landing seventh among West rearguards in penalty minutes (64) is solid, and his shot totals rank third behind only Burns and Buff. His plus-12 is also no slouch. And all that in just 19:41 average ice time compared with Burns’ 24:51 and Byfuglien’s 27:26.   

2. Dustin Byfuglien is a no-brainer for the second slot. Just one point behind Keith in 2016-17 Western defensemen scoring with 52, the Jet is as much a force with the peripheral stats as he is on the ice. Tops in penalty minutes (117), second in shots (241), fifth in hits (183), tied for 13th in power play points (14), and 26th in blocks (124) among rearguards from Nashville to Vancouver. He should put up similar stats in 2017-18.

1. Any way you slice it it’s Brent Burns. Leading the West in blue line power play points (25) and overall scoring (beating second place Duncan Keith by 23 points with 76), and everyone in the league with 320 shots, his offensive skills are remarkable. Regarding peripheral stats his plus-19 places him sixth, and 142 blocks 16th, among West defensemen. Add to that a reasonable amount of hits for such a prolific scorer and we have the West’s best. We’ll see how the departure of Patrick Marleau and another year of aging influences San Jose, but I’ll bet on Burns.

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