The Superstar Defensemen

If you were to ask me (which it looks like you are), in some cases, defensemen in the fantasy leagues are quite valuable, getting more points than forwards for goals, but the way I run my pool doesn't see that sort of benefit. Personally, defensemen are either really good offensively or they aren't, there is very little middle ground when it comes to picking defensemen. If a defenseman is going to get a lot of points in a season, he can be extremely valuable. So much so, they could end up going in the first round of a draft.

In my pool, the defensemen are scored the same as the forwards and my scoring is far more straight-forward than some of those fantasy leagues. If a defender is going to have an awesome year, that, to me, doesn't make him top drawer in quality, he could go as high as the late second or early third, if you were smart, but certainly not first.

Without a doubt, the big prize in the defensemen pool will be Mike Green of the Washington Capitals. No matter what kind of fantasy league you're in, you should be looking at trying to nab Green early. His 31 goals in 2009 should be more than enough reason for you to snap him up, especially in the first round (if your pool rewards defenders for their goal scoring). As of today, depending on what pick I would have received in the draft, I would have Green going in the second round, easily. He should be as good as most forwards in the second round would be.

Splitting up second and third could be a bit difficult, as this one is a bit of a toss-up to me, but in the end, I would probably go with veteran savvy over natural scoring ability for my next best defender, Nicklas Lidstrom. Lidstrom had a bit of downturn year, but he should be able to pick his socks up again and get a 70-point season out of it. He doesn't score as many goals, but he does do a lot of good for the Red Wings, who will need his offensive talents this year.

If you were going to go in the opposite direction, then I would point towards Andrei Markov of the Canadiens, who is a deathly accurate goal-scorer with one hell of a cannon. Markov has been picking up his numbers as his career has gone on, jumping up to being the second best point production defender in the my pool last year. It was an off-year for goals, with only 12, but as the new quarterback for the Montreal powerplay, he did pick up a boatload of points. Look for him to shoot more with the new offense that's in place.

Forming the deadliest pairing in the NHL, Brian Rafalski joins my list at number four, expecting him to have a pretty good season with his teammate, Lidstrom. The Red Wings have a lot of cap space taken up by these two defenders, but they are doing their job at both ends of the ice. Rafalski was no slouch in 2009, racking up 59 points, but I expect a little bit better from him, as the Red Wings may lean a little bit more on their top blueline pairing for more shots and better looks at the net.

I certainly wouldn't be disappointed if I was to get Scott Niedermayer as my first defenseman on my fantasy team. He may look really old in the playoffs, but at only 36 years old, he's still got plenty left in the tank. Last season's 59-point campaign was good, especially since he played all 82 games. With some of the younger talent maturing in Anaheim, Niedermayer's passes out of the zone could be more useful for goals, which could very well mean that he'll rack up some assists this year. A pairing with either James Wisniewski or Ryan Whitney is also quite appealing this season.

Does the emergence of John Tavares make Mark Streit better? I'd probably have to go with a yes on that one. Streit has turned into one of the best offensive defenders in the NHL and even with being on a terrible team on Long Island, he still managed to pick up 56 points. Now, the Islanders have used their first overall pick to get one of the more offensively gifted forwards, which means Streit may have someone to pass it to down low for a one-timer. I wouldn't hesitate to pick Streit this year, as his numbers could go through the roof a bit.

I have a lot of interest in seeing how much better Shea Weber is going to be in Nashville this season. Weber finished 2009 with 23 goals and 30 assists and he opened up a lot of eyes and minds to the fact that he's still in this league and wants to do well. Weber should have opened up an opportunity to skate with Canada at the Olympics in February and with a good opening half to the season, that should become a reality for him. If he has the drive to play for February, he could be a hard defender to stop from scoring and a hard defender to get past at the blueline.

I would have to believe that there were a lot of disappointed poolies out there with Dan Boyle on their team. With all the hype and expectation that was involved with his move to San Jose last summer, he only picked up 16 goals and 41 assists on a team with Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Rob Blake, Jonathan Cheechoo and Devin Setoguchi. With the Sharks in limbo, in regards to their roster for training camp, there is no telling who will be on the team and who will join the team, if there are any moves made. This uncertainty can't help the confidence much, so I would be keen to drop Boyle down a peg or two, just for the time being. He has the potential to be a bust this year, especially with the Sharks revamping.

Let's not forget our friend, Sergei Gonchar, who had some injury troubles last season. It may be easy to forget about him if you are going by last year's scoring list only, since he only played in 25 games, but let's remember that he plays on a high-powered Penguins team and is one of the premier offensive defenders. Don't let him sit on the list for too long or else you may miss out on him. I might be looking at him in the third or fourth round, depending on who I'm drafting with and how my team is working itself out. Hopefully, his knee is given a clean bill of health at training camp... that's the only factor into not picking him this year.

Well, that should be a good start to your fantasy pool homework regarding defenders. Hopefully, I'll be publishing a little bit more about who I think will likely breakout.