Fantasy Hockey League-Winners: 6 Must-Have Defensemen to Draft

September 22, 2026

Doug's fantasy hockey defensemen draft targets for Yahoo leagues. His league-winners at forward include Jackson LaCombe, Shea Theodore, and more.

Hey, RotoBallers! When we last met, I was giving you my six must-have, league-winning forwards, so it only makes sense that this time we head to the blue line and look for our six must-have, league-winning defenders. The list of potential candidates was much larger than I expected, but I think I narrowed it down to the six defenders most likely to outperform their ADP.

Some of the players you’ll see on this list are offensive-minded defenders, while others are defensive specialists who can help you in peripheral categories. While none of these players will win you a league on their own, each could be an integral part of your roster depending on the build you choose to use.

Be sure to follow RotoBaller on X for all of our league-winning content and me @Bankster17. Also, use discount code DOUG for 50% off any Premium Packages and get access to our Team Sync platform with customized lineup tools, projections, and more based on your league settings. Also, check out our full updated top 250 rankings. Let's dive in!

Fantasy Hockey Must-Have Defensemen

Jackson LaCombe (ANH - D; Yahoo ADP 79.3/D16)

Few teams in the NHL have a younger and more exciting future than the Anaheim Ducks. They have three stud forwards aged 22 or younger: Beckett Sennecke, Cutter Gauthier, and Leo Carlsson, all coming off stellar 2025-26 seasons. There is reason to be excited for the future of this organization, and at the center of it all (or, in defense of this stand) is defender Jackson LaCombe. 

LaCombe is the old man of the quartet of stars, starting the season at the ripe old age of 25. He mans the blue line for Anaheim’s power play, and he does it well. Last season was his best, as he produced 48 assists and averaged 3.5 SABS (shots and blocked shots). What’s most interesting about this is that LaCombe, by all accounts, was wildly unlucky last season. 

When he was on the ice in 5v5 situations, the team had a PDO score of 0.947. PDO measures a team's shooting percentage and save percentage, and over time it settles around 1.0. Anything above 1.02 is considered lucky, and a team should expect regression in production going forward. A score lower than 0.98 is considered unlucky, and a team should expect to see an improvement in production. 

Jackson LaCombe evens it up on the rush for the Ducks.

Great breakout from Tristan Luneau. Cutter Gauthier fights through to get into the zone and spy LaCombe. Nikita Klepov driving the center lane as well.@SportingTrib | #FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/MoElIHZvcm

— Zach Cavanagh (@ZachCav) September 20, 2026

A score of 0.947 is significant because it means Anaheim and LaCombe should see a massive increase in success when he’s on the ice this season. That’s scary considering how strong he was in all other aspects of his game. LaCombe was a top-30 defender in Corsi% (53.2%), and top-20 in ShotsFor% (55.07%), but he ranked 87th in GF% (48.53%). 

Those numbers don’t correlate and further prove how unlucky LaCombe was last year. With all the stars on the team heading into their prime, the upside is incredible, and LaCombe should see a massive spike in production with a strong chance of being a top-10 fantasy defender.

Shea Theodore (VGK - D; Yahoo ADP 100.9/D26)

Over the last 25 games of the 2025-26 NHL season, no defender in the entire league had a higher SF% (shots for) in 5-on-5 situations than Shea Theodore’s 62.96%. That’s nearly a full percentage point higher than the next highest player, Devon Toews of the Colorado Avalanche. Couple that with his Corsi (58.92%), which was good for ninth-best for defenders, and it’s easy to see why the Vegas veteran is a potential steal at his current ADP. 

When Theodore is on the ice, Vegas is at its most aggressive, as evidenced by Theodore’s 61.54% HDCF%, ranking seventh in the NHL. As the quarterback for Vegas’s second power play unit, Theodore will get extra opportunities for scoring chances that may not be available to other defenders being drafted around his ADP. 

By all accounts, last year was a down year for all Vegas players, and Theodore was no exception with just 29 assists. That was his lowest output in seven years, but at just 31, he’s still in the prime of his career and should be able to bounce back into a 40-point scorer. Add in his average of 3 SABS per game, and Theodore is a well-rounded player that you can grab near the 10th round of drafts as your second or third defender.

Jake Walman (EDM - D; Yahoo ADP 134.9/D50)

Most of this list features guys who either load up on assists or who can help you in your hits category. Walman doesn’t really do either of those things, although with Darnell Nurse moving on to San Jose, he could see an increase in assists. Instead, Walman is a SABS stud that you can grab late in your draft. 

Even in an injury-plagued season, Walman still averaged 3.7 SABS per game for Edmonton. Over his career, he averages 3.8 SABS per game, and at his three-year peak (2022-2025), he averaged 4.34 SABS per game. Playing for an elite Edmonton offense and projecting to see power-play time, it’s not unreasonable to think that Walman gets back to 4.0 SABS per game with 40+ assists. 

As the 50th defender off the board, Walman projects to be your fourth or fifth guy, and his SABS numbers are elite for that late in the draft. Although he is injury-prone, his per-game averages make him the perfect guy you can actually grab as your third defender if you wait on the position. Just make sure to pair him with a reliable veteran in case he misses time (Dmitry Orlov, perhaps, who I feature a little later).

K’Andre Miller (CAR - D; ADP 136.5/D56)

One of the more overlooked stats when drafting is hits. Goals, assists, and shots get all the love, but in a roto-style league, hits count just as much as the rest of the stats. K’Andre Miller ranked 50th among defenders in hits last season, racking up 101 for the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. 

While that number may not seem like much, it starts to look a lot more impressive when you realize that only three defenders with more hits than Miller had as many as his 29 assists (Orlov, Moritz Seider, Filip Hronek). Being a dual-threat player who can help you with offensive and defensive stats makes Miller one of the more valuable late-round punts that you can grab in drafts.  

Carolina goal!

Scored by Jordan Staal with 07:18 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by K'Andre Miller and Jordan Martinook.

Carolina: 3
Vegas: 3#VGKvsCAR #SoundTheSiren #ForgedInGold pic.twitter.com/eTTCUNIRcs

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) June 3, 2026

Over the final 25 games of last season, only two defenders had a higher CF% than Miller’s 61.57%. He also ranked in the top five in SCF/60 (34.57) and HDCF/60 (15.46). When Miller was on the ice, the Canes got aggressive, but they were also very unlucky, as his PDO score was just 0.958. That means positive regression could be coming his way, giving upside to his already stellar career year from 2025-26. 

Sam Malinski (COL - D; Yahoo ADP 141.1/D70)

Although he’s just entering his fourth year in the league, Sam Malinski is no youngster at 28 years of age. It took him a while to make it to the league, but he showed why the grind was worth it last season when he posted career highs in goals (8), assists (32), and SABS (259). 

Malinski ranked 29th in the league in assists by a defender, recording more than Kris Letang, Thomas Harley, and Dougie Hamilton, yet he is being drafted far below any of them. Part of what makes Malinski so valuable is that he plays on one of the league's best offenses: the Colorado Avalanche. Getting to pass the puck to guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Martin Necas will do wonders for a player’s bottom line, but there’s more to it than just being on the right team. 

Over the last 25 games of the season, Malinski ranked second in the league in Corsi% (61.94%) and GF% (73.33%). While the other Avs defenders ranked well in these categories, none ranked in the top nine in both categories other than Malinski. He was also ranked in the top five among defenders in SCF% (63.64%) and HDCF% (61.9%).  

Most impressively, Malkinski doesn’t play on either power-play line, which means he’s doing all of this without a man advantage. This suggests that when he was on the ice, the team played better and more aggressively. He’s an easy click late in the draft, especially if you’ve held off on defense and need one more player to round out your squad. 

Dmitry Orlov (SJ - D; Yahoo ADP 139.1/D66)

Dmitry Orlov is the grizzled veteran of this article at 35, but he’s coming off a career year, and it could get better this year as he patrols the blue line for the young and talented San Jose Sharks offense. Last season, Orlov recorded 34 assists, including 17 on the power play. 

The team, and Orlov, were very efficient with the man advantage, as Orlov’s 12.32 GF/60 on the power play ranked seventh in the league over the season’s final 25 games. While he’s getting older, the talent around him is getting better. This year, he will not only have Macklin Celebrini, Tyler Toffoli, and Will Smith skating in front of him on the power play, but the team has added Mason Marchment to its already stacked line. 

It’s only a matter of time before rookie Ivar Stenberg joins this line, adding to San Jose’s already embarrassment of riches. What makes Orlov so appealing is that he’s not only an offensive threat, but he also ranked 28th among defenders with 123 hits, while averaging about 2.0 SABS per game. 

Given the talent around him and the promising future for San Jose, it would not shock me if Orlov once again sets a career high in assists. He is not the type of player you build a roster around, but he’s a guy you add late in drafts to get you peripheral stats when you drafted other defenders with higher offensive upside but who stay out of the dirty work (like Walman). 

Additional Considerations: John Carlson (TB), Brandt Clarke (LAK), Zeev Buium (VAN), Luke Hughes (NJ)

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