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Tier ye, tier ye!!!!
(BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!)
Sorry. Once I thought of it I had to use it. Anyway, continuing to ...
(Hold on, am I fired?? ... No?! Wow.)
Continuing to, uh, roll these out. As I was saying.
OVERVIEW: Defense value is the most wide-ranging aspects of fantasy hockey, depending on league setup. No other position can be worth so much or so little depending on the rules of your particular league. In some leagues (generally ones with separate scoring modifiers for forwards and defense) top D can have every bit as much value as top forwards or top goalies. In other leagues (generally where the scoring is standard across all positions) they are not as integral to your fantasy glory. With that in mind, we can certainly piece out the different tiers among blueliners. Right to it after the jump:
TIER I - We Five Kings.
Mike Green, Washington
Duncan Keith, Chicago
Drew Doughty, Los Angeles
Dan Boyle, San Jose
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit
No warts on any of these guys. They're five of the best offensive defensemen in the league, they have little or no injury history and they all play on dynamic offensive teams. Green's the best of the bunch, but it wouldn't surprise to see any one of these guys lead the league in scoring next season.
TIER II - Juuuuuuust A Bit Outside.
Sergei Gonchar, Ottawa
Chris Pronger, Philadelphia
Tyler Myers, Buffalo
Tomas Kaberle, Toronto
Tobias Enstrom, Atlanta
Shea Weber, Smashville
Mark Streit, New York Islanders
Brian Campbell, Chicago
Zdeno Chara, Boston
Brian Rafalski, Detroit
Andrei Markov, Montreal
There's a lot of talent in this tier, and each of these dudes has the skill and opportunity (to varying degrees of course) of playing alongside those Tier I studs. But this is also the tier where the questions begin. Gonchar's always hurt. Pronger just went under the knife. Is Markov alive healthy? Can Myers' offensive game match his debut? Who is going to help Kaberle, Enstrom, Weber and Streit pad their stats? Can Campbell, Rafalski and Chara bounce back after sub-par years by their lofty standards? The answer to some of these questions will be yes, but some of them will be no. They just aren't the can't-miss, sure-fire targets found in Tier I. So they're in Tier II. Boo-f***ing hoo Chris Pronger. Shut up.*
TIER III - Guys Who Are Modestly Worse Than The Guys Above Them.
Lubomir Visnovsky, Anaheim
Christian Ehrhoff, Vancouver
Bryan McCabe, Florida
Erik Johnson, St. Louis
Keith Yandle, Phoenix
Alex Goligoski, Pittsburgh
Dion Phaneuf, Toronto
Jay Bouwmeester, Calgary
Ran out of pithy tier titles. I know, I couldn't even do anything with "Lubomir" ... wild. Anyway. These are all pretty safe 10-goal, 40-point bets who have ceilings even higher than that. Johnson, Yandle and Goligoski are up-and-coming rearguards (teehee) who could be poised for breakout seasons. Goligoski's power play time bears monitoring. If he's on the first unit with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin he could be a real gem. Phaneuf and Bouwmeester were terrible last season, but there is no way they're actually that bad. There just isn't. Expect bouncebacks to at least 40 points and possibly much higher.
TIER IV - Unsexy 40-Point Producers.
Marek Zidlicky, Minnesota
Kurtis Foster, Edmonton
Ryan Whitney, Edmonton
Ian White, Calgary
Alexander Edler, Vancouver
Michael Del Zotto, New York Rangers
Filip Kuba, Ottawa
Pavel Kubina, Tampa Bay
Andy Greene, New Jersey
Ryan Suter, Smashville
Jack Johnson, Los Angeles
Tom Gilbert, Edmonton
Dennis Wideman, Florida
James Wisniewski, New York Islanders
Niklas Kronwall, Detroit
The difference here, between Tiers III and IV, are with upside. Tier IV players are still fairly safe bets to finish around 40 points, but they lack the 50-point upside of those ranked above them. They also aren't quite as strong goal-scoring threats and for the most part play on worse teams (so, worse +/-).
TIER V - Back End Contributors/Upside Picks.
Joni Pitkanen, Carolina
Marc-Andre Bergeron, Edmonton
Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix
Anton Stralman, Columbus
Carlo Colaiacovo, St. Louis
Fedor Tyutin, Columbus
John-Michael Liles, Colorado
Mark Giordano, Calgary
Kyle Quincey, Colorado
Adrian Aucoin, Phoenix
Kris Letang, Pittsburgh
Erik Karlsson, Ottawa
Zach Bogosian, Atlanta
Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay
Joe Corvo, Carolina
Ron Hainsey, Atlanta
Paul Martin, Pittsburgh
Roman Hamrlik, Montreal
Dmitri Kulikov, Florida
A bunch of 30-point guys in here, and some young players whose upside makes them as valuable. Of the group, Karlsson, Bogosian, Hedman and Corvo have the best upside. They're still probably a year or two away from moving up a few tiers, but it's certainly possible they arrive ahead of schedule. The rest aren't bad options for the back end of your fantasy defense if you league is deep enough.
TIER VI - Meet The Leftovers.
Stephane Robidas, Dallas
Dennis Seidenberg, Boston
Brent Seabrook, Chicago
Derek Morris, Phoenix
Sami Salo, Vancouver
Keith Ballard, Vancouver
Marc Staal, New York Rangers
Matt Gilroy, New York Rangers
Guys you will be cycling through on the waiver wire, hopefully. If you draft any of these dudes your name is probably Mike Milbury. Robidas might be tempting at some point, but the guy set a career high point total by a full 15 points at age 33. Avoid. Avoid avoid avoid!!! Staal and Gilroy have talent/potential, but it has yet to manifest itself as anything other than a pipe dream. Things can change, of course, but there isn't much reason to believe they will.
(*I would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever say that to his face. But I'm in my living room and he is not so SUCK IT!!!!!*)