Blue Line Bulletin: Week 9
Defensemen to Target This Week in Fantasy Hockey
Finding quality defensemen can be an endeavor in fantasy hockey.
Roles on the blue line can change frequently throughout the year, torpedoing the value of defensemen drafted in most leagues. Thus, many fantasy managers at this time of the year may be looking for blue-line help on the waiver wire, hoping that taking a flier on a lightly rostered defenseman can boost their respective roster, whether in the short or long term.
In this post, I will look at defensemen who have been performing well in fantasy recently and will likely be on the waiver wire in most Yahoo leagues. There will be three tiers of defensemen, and their availability will determine what tier they belong to.
Like most of the posts on the publication, this will be a regular piece on Goalie Streamer. It will likely be an every-other-week piece that drops at the beginning of the week on Monday or Tuesday, depending on my writing availability.
Tier I Defensemen (41-60% Rostered)
Jake Walman, SJS (60% rostered)
Walman has missed a few games due to injury, but when he’s been healthy, he’s been a catalyst on the blue line for a suddenly surging Sharks team.
The former Red Wing has 19 points this year, including seven in his last six games. He’s averaging 0.83 PTS/G for the year, and though the PTS/G has cooled a bit in his previous seven (0.57), he does have 14 SOG, 13 hits, and 14 blocks over that period. Thus, he’s been a bangers league monster who can provide some scoring upside from the blue line.
Walman has rotated between the first and second line in even strength but has been the Sharks’ primary defenseman in power-play situations. In terms of the power play, he’s averaging 2:29 TOI in power play situations, suitable for a PP% of 52.3%. That’s significantly higher than his PP% last season in Detroit (12%). Therefore, he’s in an ideal spot on this Sharks roster to accumulate points in all kinds of categories in fantasy, thus making him a must-roster if available.
Aaron Ekblad, FLA (55% rostered)
Ekblad has been solid for the defending Stanley Cup champions.
The 28-year-old career Panther has 13 points for the year and averages 0.50 PTS/G in 26 games. He’s on the first power play line in Florida and paired on the first line in even-strength situations with fellow Panthers blue liner Gustav Forsling. Forsling and Ekblad have produced 22 goals, have a +7 plus/minus, and a CF% of 54.4%. That high-end production explains why they have accumulated 406:42 TOI together, 85% of Ekblad’s total minutes this season.
Over his last eight games, Ekblad has six points with a 0.75 PTS/G mark. He has two PPP over that eight-game sample and sports a PPP/60 mark of 5.3 and a SOG/60 of 4.5. Thus, the Canadian blue liner has recently generated plenty of shots and production in power-play situations, adding to his fantasy value.
The only issues with Ekblad are that he can be a bit injury-prone (he’s “band-aid boy certified” on Dobber) and gets in the box quite a bit. He’s got 27 PIM this year, resulting in a 1.04 PIM/G mark. Furthermore, he’s had 15 PIM in his last eight games. Eklbad has been productive this year, but he can be even more valuable for Florida and fantasy managers if he can get his penalty minutes under control.
Tier II Defensemen (10-40% rostered)
Luke Hughes, NJ (39% rostered)
I’ve talked about Hughes before on Goalie Streamer and didn’t feel good about his outlook fantasy-wise this season. Even though the goals haven’t come this year (he has zero in 19 games), he’s been performing better lately, making him an intriguing blue-line waiver option.
In his past seven games, Hughes has six points, all assists. He averaged 0.86 PTS/G over that period and collected two PPPs and a +4 plus/minus. A nice trend in the previous seven for Hughes is that he’s seen a slight bump in TOI (19:27) and maintained consistent PP TOI (1:09). He’s still a second-line power play option, playing alongside Dawson Mercer, Kurtis MacDermid, Ondrej Palat, and Stefan Noesen.
I still worry about how Hughes projects for the remainder of the season and think he gets a lot of grace from fantasy managers due to his more productive brother, Jack. He’s not much of a banger option, only averaging 0.32 Hits/G and 0.74 Blocks/G. However, he does generate a good number of shots for a defenseman, as evidenced by his 1.47 SOG/G and 56.9% CF%.
Hughes has started to turn the corner fantasy-wise from where he was a couple of weeks ago. Thus, he’s worth a flier for fantasy managers who may need dire blue-line help and are willing to be patient on a big-name but inconsistent talent.
Dante Fabbro, CBJ (10% rostered)
Fabbro was a banger-league superstar with the Predators. In Nashville's 2022-2023 season, he had 113 hits and 129 blocks in 79 games. He didn’t do much else that season, as he only had two goals and 11 total points. However, he was the physical player who could protect the blue line with authority while racking up plenty of hits and blocks in fantasy.
Unfortunately, the 26-year-old defenseman fell out of favor with a struggling Predators team. He only played 56 games in 2023-2024 and saw his TOI drop from 17:27 to 16:21. This year, he only played six games with the Predators before being released.
He has found new life with the Blue Jackets, who claimed him off waivers on November 10th.
Fabbro has six points in his last eight games and four in his previous seven. Of those four, he has two goals and two assists and is sporting a SH% of 33.3%. That is abnormally high, especially for his standards, but he is averaging a 5-on-5 SH% of 11.4%, demonstrating that he’s getting more scoring opportunities in Columbus than in Nashville.
Lately, the banger stats have become a little more frequent for Fabbro. He has seven hits and 18 blocks over his last seven games. Furthermore, he’s averaging 1.67 Blocks/G and 0.87 Hits/G for the season, significantly improving from what he produced a year ago.
It seems like Fabbro, at least, is a pure banger-league blue-line option again for fantasy managers.
Tier III Defensemen (Below 10% rostered)
Rasmus Ristolainen, PHI (3% rostered)
The 30-year-old Finnish blue liner is a peculiar deep-league possibility in fantasy. He’s a second-line defenseman in Philadelphia who’s mostly been paired with Travis Sanheim this season (149:17 TOI together). It hasn’t been an encouraging pairing, as Ristolainen and Sanheim have a zero plus/minus, 47.3% SF%, and 43.1% CF% this season.
Flyers head coach John Tortorella has been experimenting with the blue-line pairings lately, and Ristolainen has now been paired with Emil Andrae (81:21 TOI). The pair has been more productive, producing a +4 plus/minus, 63.8% SF%, and 57.6% CF%.
Hence, it’s unsurprising that the pairing has helped make Ristolainen more valuable individually in fantasy.
In his past seven games, he has four points (four assists), is averaging 0.57 PTS/G, 2.0 SOG/G, and sports a +7 plus/minus in 21:17 TOI. He’s not a substantial goal-scoring threat (and his 1.5% PP% doesn’t help with opportunities). However, Ristolainen provides enough sneaky fantasy production, especially for a defenseman available in 97% of Yahoo leagues.
Timothy Liljegren, SJS (2% rostered)
I started the post with a Shark, so I might as well end it with one, right? I swear, I’m trying to be more than just a “Sharks Homer” on this site (though they are fun to watch and just stole a 2-1 win in DC over the Capitals tonight).
The Sharks acquired Liljegren from Toronto on Halloween, as he was buried on the Maple Leafs’ blue-line depth chart then. While the move seemed to be insurance for Walman, who was nursing some injuries then, Liljegren has been valuable to San Jose while paired with fellow blue-liner Mario Ferraro. This season, the pair has produced nine goals, a zero plus/minus, a 48.9% SF%, and a 48.4% CF% in 177:16 TOI.
Individually, the 25-year-old Swede has been on fire fantasy-wise recently.
He has four points in his last five games, including two goals. In the previous week, he has a 16.7% SH%, is averaging 2.4 SOG/G, has a PPP, and has a 5-on-5 SH% of 11.2%. In his last five games, it seems like Liljegren has finally adjusted to this Sharks team after taking some time to adapt from Toronto.
With a 42.8% PP% and 19:11 TOI, Liljegren is getting enough opportunity in San Jose to have a fantasy impact. He also is averaging 1.24 Hits/G and 1.41 Blocks/G in 17 games this season, making him additionally valuable in banger-league formats.
Honestly, being rostered in just two percent of Yahoo leagues feels too low for Liljegren. He should be a target in deep and standard leagues in the right roster situation (i.e., perhaps as a temporary injury filler who could be a long-term blue-line solution if he keeps this production).
Photo Credit: (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)