The best defencemen for your pool

Defencemen rankings

Updated November 15, 2026.

#	Player	Team	Pos	Season proj.	Current pts	GP	Stats
1	Evan Bouchard	EDM	D	107.6	34	21	12 G · 22 A
2	Quinn Hughes	MIN	D	89.8	30	22	7 G · 23 A
3	Lane Hutson	MTL	D	73.0	18	20	3 G · 15 A
4	Zach Werenski	CBJ	D	72.6	15	18	2 G · 13 A
5	Cale Makar Out	COL	D	72.1	23	19	5 G · 18 A
6	Roman Josi	NSH	D	69.8	23	20	2 G · 21 A
7	Matthew Schaefer	NYI	D	69.6	21	19	6 G · 15 A
8	Jackson LaCombe	ANA	D	69.5	22	20	1 G · 21 A
9	Mikhail Sergachev	UTA	D	69.0	22	21	6 G · 16 A
10	Erik Karlsson	PIT	D	68.7	19	20	3 G · 16 A
11	Adam Fox	NYR	D	67.4	23	21	2 G · 21 A
12	John Carlson	TBL	D	60.3	16	20	6 G · 10 A
13	Rasmus Dahlin	BUF	D	58.9	11	17	3 G · 8 A
14	Darren Raddysh	TOR	D	57.7	13	22	1 G · 12 A
15	Jakob Chychrun	WSH	D	57.4	13	18	2 G · 11 A
16	Seth Jones	FLA	D	54.9	22	21	3 G · 19 A
17	Shayne Gostisbehere	CAR	D	53.8	16	21	3 G · 13 A
18	Moritz Seider	DET	D	53.7	13	21	1 G · 12 A
19	Charlie McAvoy	BOS	D	48.4	9	14	1 G · 8 A
20	Filip Hronek	VAN	D	48.1	13	21	1 G · 12 A
21	Miro Heiskanen Out	DAL	D	47.8	11	15	3 G · 8 A
22	Brandt Clarke	LAK	D	46.2	13	18	3 G · 10 A
23	Devon Toews	COL	D	45.9	19	21	6 G · 13 A
24	Jake Sanderson	OTT	D	45.5	10	13	1 G · 9 A
25	Thomas Harley	DAL	D	43.2	13	19	2 G · 11 A
26	Vince Dunn	SEA	D	43.2	10	18	3 G · 7 A
27	Luke Hughes	NJD	D	42.8	14	21	6 G · 8 A
28	Owen Power	BUF	D	42.3	15	20	3 G · 12 A
29	Mattias Samuelsson	BUF	D	41.6	11	20	2 G · 9 A
30	Dmitry Orlov	SJS	D	41.2	13	22	3 G · 10 A
31	Philip Broberg Day-To-Day	STL	D	40.0	13	20	4 G · 9 A
32	Brandon Montour	SEA	D	40.0	12	17	3 G · 9 A
33	Noah Dobson	MTL	D	39.5	8	20	0 G · 8 A
34	Mattias Ekholm	EDM	D	39.1	10	19	3 G · 7 A
35	Charle-Edouard D'Astous	TBL	D	38.8	13	19	3 G · 10 A
36	Dougie Hamilton	NJD	D	38.0	10	21	2 G · 8 A
37	Josh Morrissey	WPG	D	37.3	5	7	0 G · 5 A
38	Rasmus Andersson	VGK	D	37.0	7	21	3 G · 4 A
39	Sam Malinski	COL	D	36.8	9	20	0 G · 9 A
40	Justin Faulk	DET	D	36.8	9	21	3 G · 6 A
41	Kris Letang	PIT	D	36.2	10	20	1 G · 9 A
42	Sean Walker	CAR	D	35.7	11	21	3 G · 8 A
43	Thomas Chabot	OTT	D	35.5	11	17	2 G · 9 A
44	Jacob Trouba	SJS	D	35.3	10	22	2 G · 8 A
45	Morgan Rielly Out	TOR	D	35.1	12	18	0 G · 12 A
46	Travis Sanheim	PHI	D	34.6	9	22	3 G · 6 A
47	Jamie Drysdale	PHI	D	33.8	10	22	1 G · 9 A
48	K'Andre Miller	CAR	D	33.5	8	21	1 G · 7 A
49	Shea Theodore	VGK	D	32.8	7	21	2 G · 5 A
50	Cole HutsonRookie	WSH	D	32.7	15	18	5 G · 10 A
51	Damon Severson	CBJ	D	31.1	7	16	2 G · 5 A
52	Vladislav Gavrikov	NYR	D	30.7	7	21	1 G · 6 A
53	Denton Mateychuk	CBJ	D	30.6	7	18	4 G · 3 A
54	Neal Pionk	WPG	D	29.3	13	21	4 G · 9 A
55	Brent Burns	COL	D	29.0	6	21	0 G · 6 A
56	Tony DeAngelo	NYI	D	28.6	5	19	1 G · 4 A
57	Drew Doughty	LAK	D	28.0	8	17	1 G · 7 A
58	Aaron Ekblad	FLA	D	27.9	8	19	1 G · 7 A
59	Brock Faber	MIN	D	27.7	1	1	0 G · 1 A
60	Ryan Shea	EDM	D	27.4	5	21	1 G · 4 A

Classic scoring · Yetii Pool projections · NHL data

How we calculate

Classic scoring: goal 1, assist 1, win 2, shutout 2. Season projection = points already scored + the rest of the season at the player's projected pace (last season weighted at 0.7 plus this season, pulled toward his position's average when the sample is small), multiplied by his share of his team's remaining games (injuries included). These are the same projections as Yetii Pool's draft kit, which recalculates them with your pool's exact scoring.

Defence strategy

• The power play makes the difference: a defenceman on the first unit piles up easy assists.
• Tiers drop off fast: after a dozen elite defencemen, the gap with the rest is big. Don't miss the tier.
• Detailed scoring? Blocked shots and hits push defensive defencemen up: check your scoring in the kit.

Frequently asked questions