Top 40 Defensemen - Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings for 2019-2020

We're back with fantasy hockey coverage at RotoBaller. Just like last year, over the course of the 2019-2020 NHL season, we'll be providing weekly updates to our fantasy hockey rankings - listing each player in terms of his rest-of-season value. Today we'll look at defensemen.

Below you can find the inaugural version of our fantasy hockey defensemen draft rankings - our preseason top 40 defensemen. The rankings are the result of a collective effort from RotoBaller staff writers Chase Davis, Scott Cullen and Chris Wassel.

Note: Rankings are determined considering a standard Yahoo league format (goals, assists, plus-minus, power play points, shots on goal, and hits for skaters; wins, goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts for goalies). Value is based on factors such as past production, future NHL potential, age, stat projections, line/defensive pair combinations, quality of a player's team and contract status.

Top 40 Defensemen - Preseason Draft Rankings

Fantasy Hockey Defensemen - Rankings Analysis 

Sitting at the top of our defensemen rankings are a pair of San Jose Sharks, Brent Burns and Erik Karlsson. It's simply an embarrassment of riches out on the blueline in Northern California. Even at 34-years-old, Burns has showed little to no signs of slowing down, having registered 83 points (16 goals, 67 assists) to go along with a plus-13 rating, 28 power-play points and 300 shots on goal last season. He's now checked off at least 65 points, 25 PPP and 300 shots in four consecutive seasons and looks poised to do the same in 2019-2020. His defensive partner on the man advantage, Karlsson, only skated in 53 games in his debut season in San Jose after fighting nagging injuries but appears 100 percent healthy and transitioned to hockey in the Shark Tank. He should duel with Burns for the NHL defensemen scoring lead.

Roman Josi, lauded for having one of the best contracts in hockey ($4 million AAV), is going to get paid next summer. Entering the final year of his seven-year, team-friendly deal, Josi will use the 2019-2020 campaign to earn significant raise and rightfully become one of the league's highest-earning blueliners. Following the departure of P.K. Subban via trade, the 29-year-old is now a lock to quarterback a likely much-improved top power-play unit in Nashville, something that should organically improve his production. In addition to the points, Josi adds value in peripheral categories (274 shots, plus-nine rating, 144 blocks) and should be targeted as a top-five rearguard in nearly all fantasy formats.

An unfortunately pectoral injury ruined what looked to be a career-season for Matthew Dumba in 2018-2019. Before sustaining the injury in a fight, the 25-year-old was leading all blueliners with 12 goals and had also registered 10 assists, 93 shots, 12 power-play points and 60 hits in just 32 games played. He's fresh off a long summer of training and will immediately jump back into seeing top-pair usage while running the Wild's PP1. With five seasons of NHL hockey under his belt, look for Dumba to take another step forward and potentially earn consideration as one of the league's most valuable fantasy defenseman in 2019-2020.

There's not a defenseman that will benefit more from a change of scenery than Jacob Trouba following his trade from Winnipeg to the Big Apple this summer. Hindered by his presence in one of the league's deepest defensive cores over the past few seasons, Trouba will look to prove to live up to the massive ticket he signed in July (seven years, $56 million) and become an undisputed number-one defenseman for the first time in his career. The Michigan native should see his ice time increase by at least two minutes (22:52 last season) and will inherit quarterbacking duties on the Ranger's top PP unit. Coming off a career-best 50-point season in 2018-2019, Trouba should post excellent peripheral production as well - described by the 162 shots, 112 hits and 171 blocks he showcased last year.

More Fantasy Hockey Articles

NHL Power Rankings: Vezina Trophy Rankings (Final Update)

The 2025-26 NHL regular season is officially in the books, and the Stanley Cup Playoffs are in full swing. With that being said, award season is just around the corner, and it is time to provide our final update to our top-10 Vezina Trophy rankings. Be sure to check out our final Norris Trophy power […]

Andy Smith April 29, 2026

NHL DFS Picks and Heat Map (Premium Content) - April 29, 2026

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Each night, we will bring you our award-winning NHL DFS Heat Map with expert research and picks for cash games and GPPs. Here are a few notes about the sheet: Blue means ELITE, Green means GO (good for the player), Yellow means value/supplemental play, […]

Doug Shain PREMIUM April 29, 2026

NHL DFS Picks and Heat Map (Premium Content) - April 28, 2026

All other Premium Tools can be accessed on the premium dashboard. Each night, we will bring you our award-winning NHL DFS Heat Map with expert research and picks for cash games and GPPs. Here are a few notes about the sheet: Blue means ELITE, Green means GO (good for the player), Yellow means value/supplemental play, […]

Doug Shain PREMIUM April 28, 2026

NHL Power Rankings: Where Do All 16 Playoff Teams Stand (Round 1 Update)?

With the opening stretch of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the books, some teams may have already begun to clear out their lockers, while others are on the brink of elimination. So far, we have seen both top seeds in each conference take care of business, winning their respective series in a week, and several […]

Andy Smith April 28, 2026