This week and next, Brennan Des and I will tier defense and forwards from the East and West. I will start with the West today but just a reminder that these tiers are subjective and meant as a guide to help you for fantasy purposes, not necessarily the level of skill of each defender. I've tiered all the players with multi-category pools in mind.

Tier 1

Cale Makar – Colorado Avalanche – Makar is still on an upward career trajectory, even after 28 goals and 86 points last season. At 23 years of age, he is the best defender in the West and the best defender in the NHL. An added bonus for Makar is that he throws the odd hit and blocks shots and almost made it to the 100 club last season with 95 hits and 110 blocked shots. The only fear with a player like Makar is injury as he has missed seven, 12 and 13 games in his first three seasons in the NHL.

Roman Josi – Nashville Predators – At the age of 32, Josi exploded for career-highs in goals (23) and points (96). It will be difficult for him to duplicate this year, but his three-year average over 82 games is still 81 points, which is probably a more realistic expectation for this season. Josi has always been amongst the league leaders in blocked shots (133 last year).

Tier 2

Devon Toews – Colorado Avalanche – Toews broke out last year with 13 goals and 57 points in only 66 games last year. He had 54 hits and 85 blocked shots while averaging 25:22 of ice time. If he can put up another 55-60 point season he will cement his spot here.

Darnell Nurse – Edmonton Oilers – Nurse has his fair share of detractors and he is certainly not an elite-level offensive contributor with a career-high of 41 points. What elevates him to this tier in my opinion is his propensity to throw hits (196) and block shots (132) and provide pretty good offense for a player that gets very limited time on the power play.

Mckenzie Weegar – Calgary Flames – Weegar is similar to Darnell Nurse in production with very limited power play time. He had 44 points last year with Florida and had 179 hits and 156 blocked shots while averaging 23:22 of ice time. His production and other numbers might come down slightly in Calgary next season, but his position in this tier is still deserved.

Tier 3

Alex Pietrangelo – Vegas Golden Knights – Pietrangelo's three-year average is 15 goals and 36 assists, with 61 hits and 143 blocked shots while averaging 24:26 of ice time. He has very similar peripherals to Roman Josi, minus the elite-level offense. I expect Vegas to be a little better this season and with that Pietrangelo could see better production.

Drew Doughty – Los Angeles Kings – Doughty missed 43 games last year with injury and will hope to be 100% this season. His three-year average is 11 goals and 39 assists, with 130 hits and 113 blocked shots while averaging 26:14 per night. As the Kings improve his plus/minus should as well. If he stays healthy this season, he moves back to Tier Two.

Shea Theodore – Vegas Golden Knights – His three-year average is 14 goals and 43 assists, with 32 hits and 85 blocked shots while averaging 22:40 of ice time. He is not a multi-category beast, but he has 33 even-strength goals over the last three seasons and only two on the power play. His career-high is 16 power-play points and there might be more there for him to shatter his career-high of 52 points.

Seth Jones – Chicago Blackhawks – His three-year average is seven goals and 40 assists with 114 hits and 164 blocked shots while averaging 25:39 of ice time. There isn't much support for him in Chicago this season, but he will get plenty of opportunities and should have similar stat lines to last season. His plus/minus will suffer but that is more of a team stat so I find it difficult to place the blame solely on him. On a better team he would probably slot into Tier Two.

Quinn Hughes – Vancouver Canucks – In his three seasons in the NHL, Hughes has averaged 31 PPP per 82 games, which has elevated his three-year average to eight goals and 59 assists, but only 18 hits and 59 blocked shots while averaging 23:25 per night. He is knocked down to this tier because of his lack of secondary stats.

Tier 4

Evan Bouchard – Edmonton Oilers – Bouchard had a very good rookie season last year with 12 goals and 31 assists, 80 hits, and 112 blocked shots while he averaged 19:48 per game. His ice time will only increase and he should see more power play time than 29.4% in the next season or two. He could rise a tier or two in the next one to two years.

Miro Heiskanen – Dallas Stars – Heiskanen shouldn't be in this tier. He should be in Tier 2 in my opinion, but he just hasn't put up the numbers yet to deserve it. His three-year average is nine goals and 33 assists with 59 hits and 97 blocked shots while averaging 24:31 per night. I think we are all waiting for the 2019-20 playoff version of Heiskanen who in 27 games had six goals and 20 assists, 50 hits and 34 blocked shots while averaging 25:58. He will rise up these tiers soon enough.

Justin Faulk – St. Louis Blues – Faulk has a three-year average of 11 goals and 24 assists with 146 hits and 108 blocked shots while playing 22:35 per game. Last season's 16 goals and 31 assists and plus 41 will be difficult to duplicate. If he does have a similar year to last, he will move up a tier for sure. 

Jakob Chychrun – Arizona Coyotes – If Chychrun does get traded it should only help his fantasy value as his plus/minus will get battered in Arizona no matter his play. In six NHL seasons, he has yet to play more than 68 games, so injuries are another concern. If healthy his three-year average is 18 goals and 25 assists, 91 hits and 123 blocked shots while averaging 22:55. If healthy, he is a Tier Three easily.

Neal Pionk – Winnipeg Jets – Two things that stand out with Pionk are how physical he is and how much his production relies on the power play. His three-year average is five goals and 40 assists with 198 hits and 99 blocked shots while averaging 22:09 per game. He has averaged 19 PPPs over the past three years. He is a borderline Tier Three defender.

Jared Spurgeon – Minnesota Wild – Spurgeon has missed 17 and 20 games in two of the past three seasons and now that he is 32 years old, the undersized defender needs to be considered a band-aid boy. His three-year average is 13 goals and 31 assists with 71 hits and 130 blocked shots while averaging 21:55.

Colton Parayko – St. Louis Blues – Parayko missed 18 and 24 games in the two years prior to last season. He put to rest his injury concerns and played 80 games last year with six goals and 29 assists, 72 hits and 169 blocked shots while averaging 23:33 per night. He's not as physical as we would like for fantasy for a player that stands 6-6 and is 228 lbs.

Torey Krug – St. Louis Blues – Krug hasn't played more than 64 games in any of the past four seasons. His three-year average is nine goals, 48 assists, 65 hits and 82 blocked shots while averaging 21:07 of ice time. If healthy he has averaged 28 PPP over the past three years. With Faulk, Parayko and Scott Perunovich in the fold, there is pressure on Krug to produce.

Noah Hanifin – Calgary Flames – Hanifin broke out last season with 10 goals and 38 assists with 13 PPPs. His three-year average is probably more realistic as it is eight goals, 27 assists, 72 hits and 88 blocked shots while averaging 20:57 per night.

Rasmus Andersson – Calgary Flames – Much like his teammate Hanifin, Andersson broke out for 50 points last season with 19 PPPs. His three-year average is six goals, 31 assists, 64 hits and 109 blocked shots while averaging 21:21 of ice time. With the addition of Weegar, it will be interesting to see how the production of Hanifin and Andersson is affected.

Alec Martinez – Vegas Golden Knights – Martinez is a shot-blocking machine and would lead the league in that category most seasons if healthy. He hasn't played more than 60 games in any of the past four years and only managed 26 last year. His three-year average assuming 82 games played is nine goals, 26 assists, 71 hits and 221 blocked shots while averaging 21:33. His absence last season was one of the reasons that Vegas struggled amongst a few other issues and injuries.

Tier 5

Tyson Barrie – Edmonton Oilers – Barrie's role in Edmonton is diminishing as he only averaged 18:58 of ice time last year in 73 games. He was still a fixture on the power play and had 21 of his 41 points there. His three-year average is eight goals and 45 assists, with 41 hits and 86 blocked shots while averaging 20:40 per game. I think he might lose some PP time to Bouchard this season or be traded at some point.

Josh Morrissey – Winnipeg Jets – Morrissey has a three-year average of nine goals and 28 assists with 107 hits and 102 blocked shots while averaging 23:21 per game. Last season saw him score 12 goals (six on the PP) and put up 150 hits. He has been up and down on the Winnipeg power play unit over the past four years, so it is tough to say if he will get any more time or not. They seem to change him and Pionk in and out often. If he duplicates last season, he should move to Tier Four.

Erik Karlsson – San Jose Sharks – Karlsson hasn't played more than 56 games in any of the past four seasons so is definitely a certified band-aid boy. His three-year average for 82 games is 12 goals and 38 assists with 33 hits and 98 blocked shots while averaging 23:53 per night. In his prime he was a 70-80-point defender who had close to 100 hits and 175-200 blocked shots which was easily Tier One. He won't have to share minutes with Brent Burns, so it might be interesting what Karlsson can produce if he plays 70 games this year.

Mattias Ekholm – Nashville Predators – Ekholm's three-year average is nine goals and 29 assists, 64 hits and 103 blocked shots while averaging 23:17. At 32-years of age his production in most categories have remained pretty consistent on a yearly basis. 

Matt Dumba – Minnesota Wild – Dumba will be an unrestricted free agent after this season if the Wild don't trade or re-sign him. He hasn't played more than 69 games in any of the past four seasons. His three-year average is nine goals and 25 assists with 132 hits and 114 blocked shots while averaging 22:38 per night.

Sean Durzi – Los Angeles Kings – In his rookie season Durzi played 64 games last year with three goals, 24 assists, 74 hits and 121 blocked shots while averaging 19:36 per game. With Doughy back, Durzi won't be afforded the same number of power play minutes as he was last year, but he could still put up 30-35 points and get into the 100 club for hits and blocked shots.

Esa Lindell – Dallas Stars – Lindell has a bit of an offensive ceiling but will certainly put up hits and blocked shots for you. His three-year average is five goals and 21 assists, 128 hits and 155 blocked shots while averaging 22:50 per night. He could benefit with the departure of John Klingberg below.

John Klingberg – Anaheim Ducks – Klingberg can still provide some offense, but he struggled defensively on a pretty good team in Dallas, so he will be hard-pressed to put up better defensive numbers with his new team in Anaheim. His three-year average is eight goals and 43 assists, minus 23 in plus/minus, 60 hits and 89 blocked shots while averaging 22:20.

Jonas Brodin – Minnesota Wild – Brodin has improved his offense in the past three seasons and has averaged seven goals, 27 assists, 50 hits and 142 blocked shots while averaging 22:30 a night. He is probably a borderline Tier Six defender but he's been getting better at 29-years of age so he gets the nod this year.

Shayne Gostisbehere – Arizona Coyotes – After two injury plagued seasons with Philadelphia where he played 42 and 41 games back to back, Gostibehere got his game back to his prior level last season. He had 14 goals, 37 assists, 60 hits and 115 blocked shots while averaging 22:11. With Jakob Chychrun healthy, Gostisbehere will find it difficult to duplicate his numbers this season.

Tier 6

This tier includes the defenders who typically average 30-40 points but not great peripherals, or they have pretty good peripherals but tap out at 20-25 points. We've also included some risers below who are still young and developing and have some definite upside this year or next.

Alex Goligoski, Oliver Kylington, Alex Edler, Erik Johnson, Connor Murphy, Cam Fowler, Kevin Shattenkirk, Samuel Girard, Bowen Byram, Jamie Drysdale, Ryan Suter, Matt Roy, Sean Walker, Ryan McDonagh, Alexandre Carrier, Dante Fabbro, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Tyler Myers, Brayden McNabb, Nicolas Hague, Zach Whitecloud, Nate Schmidt.

Tier 7

This tier is the best of the rest who we would suggest taking a flier on to fill out a roster or if you are in need of a specific stat line for your pool.

Dysin Mayo, Juuso Valimaki, Nikita Zadorov, Jake McCabe, Josh Manson, Jani Hakanpaa, Colin Miller, Cody Ceci, Brett Kulak, Jacob Middleton, Jeremy Lauzon, Mario Ferraro, Nick Leddy, Scott Perunovich, Carson Soucy, Jamie Oleksiak, Justin Schultz, Will Borgen, Luke Schenn, Ben Hutton, Dylan Samberg, Brendan Dillon, Logan Stanley.

Any tier after this would be considered waiver material, but please let me know if you think we've missed anyone or mis-tiered some defensemen.

Thanks for reading and if you have any questions or players you'd like me to look at please message or follow me on Twitter @gampbler15.