This week we are continuing our MVP series with defensemen. I have included a small snippet from the original article below that outlines the process we are using in this series.

'Most Valuable' is a tricky term that is going to be completely dependent on the league specific context. For the purposes of this article, we are going to use standard Yahoo point scoring to calculate fantasy points for each player. This year the stats include goals, assists, power-play points, shots, blocks and (unfortunately) plus/minus. Obviously, this means there might be some general deviations to your league, based on your settings, but it is at least a good starting point. In order to grab all of this data I am exporting the Multi-Category and Big Board Reports for the full season, and doing a bit of rearranging so I can have only the pertinent fields.

The table below contains the top five fantasy defensemen for the 2024-25 season. We start with basic player information on the left (name, position, team) then get into some season stats (games played and Yahoo fantasy points per game). The fantasy points column is using points per game to attempt to take into account players who had big changes in value because they missed time.

The list is really not surprising here at all. The note I would add is about Zach Werenski. He has often been knocking on the door of a most valuable conversation, but with injuries or disappointing Columbus squads he has always been a little bit on the outside edge looking in. In 2024-25 he upped his overall ice time, significantly improved his shot rates, played a full season, was surrounded by a team that was scoring, and hit a career high 83-point pace. Everything looks pretty reasonable under the hood as well so hopefully this is a consistent range for him going forward.

Our next table contains the players who provided the most value once we account for where they were drafted. I have included their ADP data, the fantasy points that were expected given that ADP and then the difference between those numbers.

Ivan Provorov and Colton Parayko fit a similar storyline for me. Both are consistent contributors across multiple categories, and at one point had the potential to take on a more offensive role. In 2024-25 Parayko put up a career high 46-point pace, and while Provorov did not, he was still that strong cross category contributor. They are often less sought-after players on draft day because of those low point performances but were very much stronger contributors across multiple categories in 2024-25.

While Jake Walman was valuable in Detroit, transitioning to San Jose and getting a crack at some consistent power-play time should have jumped him way up the ADP list. It did a little, but clearly not enough. A 50-point pace (a significant career high), as well as career high time on ice, shot rates, and power-play time made him quite valuable across the board. The further trade to Edmonton, though, killed any power-play potential. There might be some point osmosis given the top end talent at 5-on-5, but it won't fill that gap. Given his contract goes through 2025-26, it is unlikely Walman's point pace will sustain through next season.

Now we move on to the least valuable. These guys all underperformed their draft slot by significant margins.

Jamie Drysdale was a late round flyer as a potential power-play quarterback in Philly. He did get some opportunities there, but there was a significant rotation, and overall, he lost out on a little of power-play time compared to 2023-24. The result was a 23-point pace, certainly not an improvement on past performance.

Brock Faber was coming off of a pretty incredible rookie season, even if the points didn't always come as hoped. He still played a ton of time in 2024-25, but eventually lost out on the top power play. He also didn't really rack up the kinds of peripherals we might expect to see given his ice time totals. Overall, he actually dropped in point pace, as well as shot, hit, and block rates from his rookie season.

Morgan Rielly has not historically contributed much in the way of peripherals, so his value came predominantly from his use on the top power play in Toronto, which in recent years has been quite a good place to be. Unfortunately, in 2024-25 Rielly spent a significant chunk of the season off of that top power play. He accrued 14 power-play points, which seems okay, but then you realized he put up six power-play points over three games in November when he was still on the top unit and only put up seven through the rest of the season after November 15. Without the power play, his value falls significantly and he was certainly droppable in many formats through much of the later half of the season.

Finally I will wrap the column with a couple of players who provided the most value but generally weren't drafted.

Dylan Samberg and Dante Fabbro are kind of in the same boat here. Sure, they both had career high point paces, but still not overly impressive ones. They were mostly valuable in deep league contexts because they also saw big increases in their time on ice which helped them increase their peripheral contributions as well.

Jackson Lacombe, on the other hand, was a bit of a revelation. Preseason it was a question of whether Pavel Mintyukov or Olen Zellweger would take the reins in Anaheim, but it turns out it was Lacombe. He was excellent across the board, averaging more than 22 minutes of overall ice time, typically on the top power-play, putting up almost two shots per game, and a 47-point pace.  There are some potential flags like his personal shooting percentage, but overall, there was a lot to like about his performance. There is still a bit of a question mark with deployment given the pedigree of those around him and a new coach, but Lacombe clearly has the inside edge for now.

That is all for this week. Do your part to support organizations working to make hockey for everyone.

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