After 12 years in St. Louis, Jackman will join another franchise for the first time in his career after signing with the Predators as a free agent in July. As was the case during his final few seasons with the Blues, Jackman will be suiting up for one of the league's deeper defense corps, as he'll join a Preds roster that includes All-Stars Shea Weber and Roman Josi, as well as promising youngsters Ryan Ellis and Seth Jones. Those four players figure to shoulder most of the offensive burden from the blue line, leaving Jackman to do what he does best -- agitating opposing forwards and providing sound decision-making in front of his own net.
Jackman’s longevity in St. Louis has made him a sentimental fan favorite, but he’s never been one to endear himself to fantasy hockey enthusiasts. This much was apparent this past season, as Jackman managed to post the second-highest hit (96) and block (130) totals of his career and his highest point (15) and PIM (97) totals since 2009-10, but still remained largely a non-entity in the fantasy game. Because Jackman’s not much of a factor offensively and doesn’t post gaudy numbers in any of the defensive categories, his contributions as a steady, stay-at-home defender aren’t easily quantified and likely never will be. Moreover, Jackman saw his ice time fall nearly a minute and a half from the season prior, making him an unreliable buoy in that category as well.
Jackman had one of his best overall seasons in 2012-13 for the Blues. Unfortunately, that doesn't relate to fantasy value. The veteran defenseman did log a lot of minutes, but that just isn't enough to warrant a draft pick on him. His three goals in 46 games represent a career high pace of five goals in a full season. He has posted decent plus/minus numbers in the past which makes Jackman a waiver wire candidate for teams struggling in ice time and plus/minus.
The Blues re-signed Jackman to a three-year deal in the offseason after a sturdy 10-year career with St. Louis. He's as steady as they come on the back line and is habitually the team's leader in blocked shots. At the age of 31, Jackman remained one of team's leaders in minutes played, topping 20-plus minutes for a sixth straight season. There isn't much here for the fantasy player, but hockey purists can appreciate Jackman's steady work.
Jackman’s a tough customer who led the Blues in blocked shots and was second in minutes played per game. Knee and finger injuries limited him to just 60 games. There isn’t much to like as far as fantasy goes, but he’ll have a home in the top two defensive pairings when healthy.
An ankle injury shelved Jackman early in the 2009-10 season, and an upper body injury forced him to miss the last handful of games, but he managed to turn around his plus/minus from minus-17 to plus-3 while averaging a team-high 22:40 per game. He's as steady as they come on St. Louis' blue line and has teamed with Roman Polak nicely to form a checking defensive pair. He gets ample ice time on the penalty kill, but has little offensive value.
The return of Erik Johnson pushes guys like Jackman, who played a bigger role because of injuries, down the list some. Jackman's a minus-29 in the last two seasons and will need to improve on that if he wants to stand out among guys like Roman Polak, Steve Wagner, Mike Weaver, Tyson Strachan and Brendal Bell. Once Eric Brewer returns from knee surgery, we can expect a further push down the depth chart, but Jackman is likely to be among those active on most nights.
Jackman is a steady 20-point/season defender who used to play a more physical game than he now does. We expect more of the same this season but he has had occasional outstanding plus/minus numbers. His worth in that category will depend greatly on how the team performs.
Jackman anchored the Blues' blueline last season, in a season marred by injuries to Jay McKee, Christian Backman and Bryce Salvador. He led the entire team with a plus-20 rating while chipping in with 27 points. He may not see as many offensive opportunities this year with the arrival of Erik Johnson, but he'll still see plenty of ice time. Jackman's not a bad late-round pick in deeper fantasy drafts.
The Blues are looking for Jackman to challenge for a top four defenseman position this season, but those spots will likely be taken by the likes of Jay McKee, Eric Brewer, Christian Backman and Dennis Wideman. Jackman plays a very physical game and will get you a decent number of PIMs, but not much in the scoring department.
The tough defender only played 15 games in 2003-04 due to a shoulder injury that he is fully recovered from. With MacInnis and Pronger gone he will be moving up to second on the depth charts for St. Louis this year, resulting in an increase in his playing time and making power play time a definite possibility. His point totals should rise from his rookie year where he managed 19 points, but that season he also had an eye popping 190 PIMs. That last defenseman spot on your team can be a tough one to fill, so if your league uses PIMs as a category why not pick Jackman? He could potentially win that category almost single-handedly.
