Top 120 Keeper League Defensemen – August 2025
Dobber
2025-08-02
Here are the top 120 defensemen to own in your points-only dynasty leagues – August edition!
But first, OUT NOW: The 20th edition – Dobber’s Fantasy Hockey Guide! Buy it on its own here, or package it with the Prospects Report here.
For this month, the rankings adjust for this year’s projections. As always, players between +/- 5.0 rating points should be considered equal and at that point become a matter of personal preference (upside, certainty, depth chart, injury risk, etc.)
Click any player name to be taken to his fantasy profile page, customized for you to make the best evaluations of players to suit your league settings.
| Def Rk | Player | Team | Rating | Aug | Jul | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cale Makar | COL | 182.8 | 10 | 12 | 2 |
| 2 | Quinn Hughes | VAN | 159.4 | 21 | 27 | 6 |
| 3 | Evan Bouchard | EDM | 135.9 | 33 | 55 | 22 |
| 4 | Rasmus Dahlin | BUF | 128.1 | 40 | 35 | -5 |
| 5 | Adam Fox | NYR | 120.3 | 46 | 44 | -2 |
| 6 | Lane Hutson | MON | 109.4 | 60 | 62 | 2 |
| 7 | Zach Werenski | CBJ | 103.7 | 65 | 70 | 5 |
| 8 | Josh Morrissey | WPG | 101.4 | 68 | 69 | 1 |
| 9 | Noah Dobson | MON | 99.1 | 69 | 100 | 31 |
| 10 | Victor Hedman | TBL | 93.4 | 73 | 87 | 14 |
| 11 | Jake Sanderson | OTT | 81.0 | 95 | 118 | 23 |
| 12 | Shea Theodore | VGK | 79.2 | 101 | 96 | -5 |
| 13 | Moritz Seider | DET | 78.9 | 103 | 122 | 19 |
| 14 | Mikhail Sergachev | UTA | 76.7 | 106 | 107 | 1 |
| 15 | Thomas Harley | DAL | 76.0 | 108 | 156 | 48 |
| 16 | Miro Heiskanen | DAL | 72.1 | 114 | 94 | -20 |
| 17 | Luke Hughes | NJD | 69.7 | 117 | 127 | 10 |
| 18 | Roman Josi | NSH | 61.6 | 135 | 142 | 7 |
| 19 | Jakob Chychrun | WAS | 60.5 | 139 | 124 | -15 |
| 20 | Erik Karlsson | PIT | 57.9 | 145 | 134 | -11 |
| 21 | Vince Dunn | SEA | 56.1 | 152 | 143 | -9 |
| 22 | Shayne Gostisbehere | CAR | 53.4 | 158 | 166 | 8 |
| 23 | Dougie Hamilton | NJD | 52.8 | 159 | 175 | 16 |
| 24 | Brandt Clarke | LAK | 52.3 | 161 | 190 | 29 |
| 25 | Zayne Parekh | CGY | 51.6 | 162 | 228 | 66 |
| 26 | John Carlson | WAS | 50.3 | 168 | 173 | 5 |
| 27 | Charlie McAvoy | BOS | 47.5 | 176 | 160 | -16 |
| 28 | Zeev Buium | MIN | 45.2 | 188 | 217 | 29 |
| 29 | Filip Hronek | VAN | 44.3 | 192 | 161 | -31 |
| 30 | Devon Toews | COL | 43.1 | 196 | 204 | 8 |
| 31 | Bowen Byram | BUF | 42.7 | 198 | 192 | -6 |
| 32 | Thomas Chabot | OTT | 42.4 | 199 | 179 | -20 |
| 33 | Jackson Lacombe | ANA | 41.7 | 200 | 215 | 15 |
| 34 | Noah Hanifin | VGK | 40.3 | 204 | 206 | 2 |
| 35 | Owen Power | BUF | 40.2 | 205 | 205 | 0 |
| 36 | Brandon Montour | SEA | 38.2 | 211 | 194 | -17 |
| 37 | Simon Nemec | NJD | 37.6 | 213 | 197 | -16 |
| 38 | Matthew Schaefer | NYI | 35.7 | 217 | 231 | 14 |
| 39 | Artyom Levshunov | CHI | 35.3 | 219 | 224 | 5 |
| 40 | Morgan Rielly | TOR | 35.0 | 222 | 268 | 46 |
| 41 | Axel Sandin Pellikka | DET | 33.8 | 226 | 419 | 193 |
| 42 | Mackenzie Weegar | CGY | 33.8 | 227 | 250 | 23 |
| 43 | Seth Jones | FLA | 33.7 | 229 | 182 | -47 |
| 44 | Alexander Nikishin | CAR | 33.6 | 230 | 243 | 13 |
| 45 | Cam Fowler | STL | 30.2 | 245 | 227 | -18 |
| 46 | Jamie Drysdale | PHI | 30.2 | 246 | 237 | -9 |
| 47 | Denton Mateychuk | CBJ | 29.9 | 247 | 273 | 26 |
| 48 | Sean Durzi | UTA | 29.7 | 248 | 229 | -19 |
| 49 | Brock Faber | MIN | 27.4 | 253 | 281 | 28 |
| 50 | Aaron Ekblad | FLA | 24.6 | 266 | 211 | -55 |
| 51 | Gustav Forsling | FLA | 24.4 | 268 | 296 | 28 |
| 52 | Drew Doughty | LAK | 24.1 | 271 | 298 | 27 |
| 53 | Rasmus Andersson | CGY | 23.3 | 276 | 263 | -13 |
| 54 | Neal Pionk | WPG | 22.7 | 280 | 319 | 39 |
| 55 | Simon Edvinsson | DET | 22.4 | 285 | 297 | 12 |
| 56 | Cole Hutson | WAS | 22.1 | 289 | 313 | 24 |
| 57 | Jake Walman | EDM | 22.1 | 290 | 245 | -45 |
| 58 | K’Andre Miller | CAR | 20.8 | 306 | 275 | -31 |
| 59 | Jordan Spence | OTT | 20.3 | 324 | 308 | -16 |
| 60 | Tony DeAngelo | NYI | 19.6 | 336 | 371 | 35 |
| 61 | Michael Kesselring | BUF | 18.4 | 362 | 415 | 53 |
| 62 | Ivan Provorov | CBJ | 18.1 | 368 | 331 | -37 |
| 63 | Mike Matheson | MON | 17.5 | 376 | 340 | -36 |
| 64 | Darnell Nurse | EDM | 17.3 | 384 | 325 | -59 |
| 65 | Travis Sanheim | PHI | 17.0 | 396 | 381 | -15 |
The Next Group (gap between 66 and 90 is same as gap between 17 and 20 – i.e. they are pretty equal)
| Pavel Mintyukov | ANA | Olen Zellweger | ANA | |
| Mason Lohrei | BOS | Jaccob Slavin | CAR | |
| Sam Rinzel | CHI | Samuel Girard | COL | |
| Kevin Korchinski | CHI | Nils Lundkvist | DAL | |
| Mattias Ekholm | EDM | Seamus Casey | NJD | |
| David Jiricek | MIN | Scott Morrow | NYR | |
| Kaiden Guhle | MON | Emil Andrae | PHI | |
| Tanner Molendyk | NSH | Ryker Evans | SEA | |
| Carter Yakemchuk | OTT | Luca Cagnoni | SJS | |
| Philip Broberg | STL | Sam Dickinson | SJS | |
| Logan Mailloux | STL | Colton Parayko | STL | |
| Darren Raddysh | TBL | Lukas Cormier | VGK | |
| Rasmus Sandin | WAS |
Vets who can chip in, injury risks, prospects with varying degrees of upside and wait time, other defensemen with lower upside and expectations but can chip in at times
| Tristan Luneau | ANA | Hampus Lindholm | BOS | |
| Dante Fabbro | CBJ | Conor Timmins | BUF | |
| Damon Severson | CBJ | Brent Burns | COL | |
| Alex Vlasic | CHI | Lian Bichsel | DAL | |
| Brady Skjei | NSH | Erik Gustafsson | DET | |
| Justin Barron | NSH | Jared Spurgeon | MIN | |
| Alexander Romanov | NYI | Anton Silayev | NJD | |
| Braden Schneider | NYR | Nick Perbix | NSH | |
| Cam York | PHI | Vladislav Gavrikov | NYR | |
| Egor Zamula | PHI | Kris Letang | PIT | |
| Owen Pickering | PIT | Henry Thrun | TOR | |
| Timothy Liljegren | SJS | Oliver Ekman-Larsson | TOR | |
| Justin Faulk | STL | Matt Grzelcyk | UFA | |
| J.J. Moser | TBL | Marcus Pettersson | VAN | |
| Dmitri Simashev | UTA |
Related Posts
Starting Goalies
Top Skater Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| RYAN LEONARD |
 WSH | |
| NAZEM KADRI |
 COL | |
| OWEN TIPPETT |
 PHI | |
| ROOPE HINTZ |
 DAL | |
| JOSH DOAN |
 BUF
| |
Top Goalie Profile Views
| Players | Team | |
|---|---|---|
| JAKUB DOBES |
 MTL | |
| JET GREAVES |
 CBJ | |
| KAREL VEJMELKA |
 UTA | |
| LINUS ULLMARK |
 OTT | |
| JESPER WALLSTEDT |
 MIN
| |
LINE COMBOS
| Frequency |
PHI Players
| |
|---|---|---|
| 20.8 | TREVOR ZEGRAS PORTER MARTONE TYSON FOERSTER | |
| 19.6 | GARNET HATHAWAY LUKE GLENDENING SEAN COUTURIER | |
| 19.4 | JETT LUCHANKO CARL GRUNDSTROM DENVER BARKEY | |
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