There are some amazing offensive defensemen in the league, but as you go down the list, the gap between them narrows dramatically. It can lead to some of them blurring together when assessing their fantasy value for 2026-27, so to help with your upcoming drafts, I've assembled them into tiers. Be sure to read my details within each tier for more nuance and analysis of that grouping.

2026-27 Fantasy Hockey Defenseman Tiers

Tier 1 – Elite Fantasy Hockey Defensemen

Evan Bouchard, Cale Makar, Zach Werenski, Quinn Hughes

Bouchard finished the 2025-26 regular season with 21 goals and 95 points in 82 outings. The next-best blueliner was Werenski with 22 goals and 81 points in 75 appearances, while Makar (79 points) and Hughes (76) finished below the 80-point mark. With a gap that big between first and everyone else, why isn't Bouchard in a tier of his own? The issue is that there's been a fair amount of variance in recent years. In 2024-25, Makar was the clear number one with 30 goals and 92 points in 80 regular-season outings, well ahead of Werenski (82 points), Hughes (76) and Bouchard (67). For the 2023-24 regular season, Hughes led the pack with 17 goals and 92 points, finishing just ahead of Makar (90 points) and comfortably ahead of Bouchard (82) as well as Werenski (57). So, who tops this list hasn't been consistent, but all four have had moments in the spotlight, and they're all superb bets going into this season. I will caution that Hughes doesn't have quite the same goal-scoring touch as the other three, but his seven markers last campaign might have been due to some bad puck luck -- he averaged a shooting percentage of just 3.7, down from 8.4 over his previous two campaigns.

Tier 2A – Great and safe

Lane Hutson, Rasmus Dahlin, Moritz Seider, Jakob Chychrun, Mikhail Sergachev

These defensemen shouldn't be the first off the board, but any of them would be a fantastic top blueliner on your fantasy squad. Tier 2A is comprised of players with the potential to record over 60 points and have minimal downside. Hutson is the standout blueliner from this group. After scoring 12 goals and 78 points in 82 regular-season appearances in 2025-26, a strong argument could be made for him to be included in Tier 1, but I'd like to see him produce one more season at that level before I move him up higher. Even still, a point-per-game is perfectly doable for him and surpassing that 60-point mark for a third straight campaign is extremely likely. Dahlin is another one on the border between Tier 1 and 2A. He's recorded at least 59 points in each of the past four regular seasons, and his value jumps in leagues that count PIM as a category. The other three in this tier are a notable step down from Hutson and Dahlin but still are strong blueliners you'll want to grab early. Pay special attention to Seider if your league values blocks -- he's recorded at least 180 in each of the past four regular seasons.

Tier 2B – Risky High Upside Fantasy Defensemen to Target

Darren Raddysh, Matthew Schaefer, Jackson LaCombe, Erik Karlsson, Miro Heiskanen, Charlie McAvoy, John Carlson, Roman Josi, Adam Fox

Hitting the 60-point milestone is doable for these defensemen, and some have shown in the past that they can surpass that mark by quite a bit. However, unlike Tier 2A, there's a significant question mark with each of these blueliners. Will age catch up with Karlsson, Josi and Carlson, who are all 36 years old? Will Raddysh regress after nearly doubling his previous career high by recording 70 regular-season points in 2025-26? Can Schaefer build on his Calder Trophy-winning 2025-26 campaign, or is he going to run into some growing pains? Speaking of pain, can McAvoy, Fox and Heiskanen stay healthy? LaCombe is the closest member of this group to a safe bet, but I do want to see another strong season out of him after the 25-year-old jumped from 43 points in 2024-25 to 58 points in the last regular season.

Tier 3 – Almost Elite Fantasy Defensemen

Jake Sanderson, Noah Dobson, Brock Faber, Shayne Gostisbehere, Filip Hronek, Rasmus Andersson

Any of these defensemen can push to the 50-point mark, though not all of them are a great bet to do so. Sanderson is arguably the best blueliner in this tier from a purely offensive perspective. He had 14 goals and 54 points in 67 outings in 2025-26, which made it his second straight regular season with at least 50 points. Given that he's also just 24 years old, he might not have even hit his peak. Faber is roughly the same age, and he's coming off a 51-point (15 goals) regular season with the Wild. Just keep in mind that Quinn Hughes' presence means Faber might spend most of the campaign limited to second power-play unit duties, which puts a ceiling on his offensive potential. Dobson has the same limitation. He's a former 70-point scorer (2023-24), but Hutson is expected to get the assignment on the top power-play unit in Montreal, so Dobson likely won't do better than his 12 goals and 47 points in 80 appearances during the 2025-26 regular season. Finally, if you're looking for a blueliner with some grit at this scoring level, then Andersson is your main option in this group. Just keep in mind that his value is in PIM rather than hits -- he spent 71 minutes in the sin bin but was credited with just 37 hits in the 2025-26 regular season.

Tier 4 – Pretty Good Blueliner

Shea Theodore, Vince Dunn, Bowen Byram, Josh Manson, MacKenzie Weegar, Jacob Trouba, Sean Walker, Parker Wotherspoon, Mattias Ekholm, Justin Faulk, Brandt Clarke, Thomas Harley, Dougie Hamilton, Luke Hughes

Classifying these blueliners as "pretty good" might be a bit of an undersell because some of these defensemen are strong bets to finish with at least 40 points, and that's a level of production from the blue line that teams crave. There's a reason Byram will come with a $12.5 million cap hit, starting in 2027-28. Even still, from the perspective of a 12-team fantasy league, we're getting to the point where the exciting options are gone, and now you're looking for strong options to complement what you've already built. That includes Theodore, who might seem to be undervalued as a member of this tier. Although he has averaged an incredible 59 points per 82 regular-season outings across the past seven years, the unfortunate reality is that he has a lengthy injury history, so you have to work that into your assessment when evaluating the 31-year-old. This tier also contains Manson, Weegar, Trouba, Walker, Wotherspoon and Clarke, who are a nice blend of skill and grit. This is a great time to be looking for those kinds of defensemen if your league values PIM or hits. If you don't grab blueliners like them now, then you'll need to refer to Tier 6. Those defensemen will still get you the hits and/or PIM you need, but they come with a much more significant trade-off in terms of offense.

Tier 5 – Simply Solid Options on the Backend

K'Andre Miller, Mike Matheson, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Travis Sanheim, Darnell Nurse

At this point, you're not going to find a safe bet to hit the 40-point mark, but these blueliners will still make notable contributions offensively. You might question the inclusion of Ekman-Larsson in this list. He had 39 points in 78 regular-season outings with Toronto in 2025-26, but rather than being in Tier 4 territory, I believe there was a strong argument to move him as low as Tier 7. Ekman-Larsson's 39 points were his most since 2018-19, and age is becoming a factor at 35 years old. More importantly, the addition of Raddysh will eat into his opportunities, particularly with the man advantage. In fact, it wouldn't be surprising if Matheson finishes above Ekman-Larsson. Matheson is in a similar boat in that other blueliners have eaten into his power-play role, but he has already proven his resiliency with seven goals and 37 points in 78 regular-season appearances in 2025-26 despite recording just one power-play point in that campaign. Also, don't dismiss Nurse. His value primarily comes from his non-offensive categories (104 PIM, 166 blocks and 137 hits in the 2025-26 regular season), but the move to the Sharks creates an interesting opportunity offensively. Dmitry Orlov led San Jose defensemen in power-play time in 2025-26, which is far from an ideal scenario. Nurse isn't who you would typically want leading your power play either, but there's an opening here. In addition to Orlov, Trouba and Sam Dickinson might also be considered for power-play roles. At worst, Nurse will still be a great source of PIM, hits and blocks, but if things shake out in his favor, he might also drift back up to the 35-45 point range he lived in for much of 2018-19 through 2022-23.

Tier 6 – Mid-Round Fantasy Hockey Defensemen with Grit

Nikita Zadorov, Arber Xhekaj, Jeremy Lauzon, Brenden Dillon, Ben Chiarot, Radko Gudas, Luke Schenn

Some blueliners are a great source of physical stats like hits/PIM while also chipping in offensively. Defensemen with that kind of versatility are obviously highly desirable, but if you're late in the draft and looking for someone to aid you in hits/PIM, you'll likely have to compromise for a specialist in physical stats. Most of these defensemen will offer a little bit of scoring, but far less than any of the other blueliners mentioned in this article. If you get 20 points out of any blueliner in this tier, you've gotten some good luck. Still, if you want PIM and hits, these are amazing sources. Zadorov is an especially good option. He's led the league in PIM in each of the past two campaigns (145 in 2024-25 and 152 in 2025-26) and is likely to also provide about 100 blocks and 200 hits this campaign. If your league values blocks, then Chiarot would be a nice pickup. He's one of just two blueliners who recorded at least 150 hits and 150 blocks -- 160 and 170, respectively -- during the 2025-26 regular season. The other was Weegar, who also brings enough to the table offensively to be mentioned above. By contrast, Chiarot will likely provide about 15 points, which isn't special, but is still a nice bonus to go along with his stronger categories.

Tier 7 – Late Round Fantasy Hockey Defensemen Sleepers

Mattias Samuelsson, Sam Malinski, Ryan Shea, Morgan Rielly, Dmitry Orlov, John Marino, Vladislav Gavrikov, Brent Burns, Tony DeAngelo, Philip Broberg, Kris Letang, Damon Severson, Sam Dickinson

At this point, you're just settling for what's left. Still, you could take a risk here on someone who might become a pleasant surprise. Malinski is an interesting case because his eight goals and 40 points in 82 regular-season appearances with the Avalanche in 2025-26 put him into the same class as many of the Tier 4 blueliners. However, the 28-year-old is a late bloomer, and the Avalanche's terrific assortment of offensively gifted blueliners means there's no guarantee he'll see regular minutes on the power play, even after his strong showing. Consequently, he dropped this far because the risk of regression is too high, but as one of your last picks, you could do worse than give him a chance. Rielly is a name that likely sticks out as well. It wasn't that long ago Rielly was mentioned among the league's top offensive defensemen, or at least not far off from them. However, he's declined substantially in recent years, dropping to 36 points, albeit with an impressive 11 goals, in 78 regular-season appearances in 2025-26. He used to be a great source of power-play points, but that changed in 2025-26 (six power-play points), and there's little hope of a rebound now that Toronto's added Raddysh. Unless Rielly is traded into a favorable situation, he'll likely have another underwhelming campaign. If you're looking for the blueliner with the most upside in this tier, then take a look at Dickinson. He didn't impress with his 14 points in 72 outings with San Jose in 2025-26, but the 20-year-old has a lot of offensive potential, and, as noted before, the Sharks are hungry for a puck-moving defenseman to force his way into the top power-play role.

The Rookie: Cole Hutson

Typically, there'd be a list of rookies here, but there's only one Calder Trophy-eligible defenseman who should be showing up on your radar in anything other than the deepest of leagues. Even if the list is comprised of just one blueliner, it's a really good one. After accumulating 14 goals and 48 points in 39 outings as a freshman with Boston University in 2024-25, Hutson collected 10 goals and 32 points in 35 appearances as a sophomore, followed by three goals and 10 points in 14 regular-season outings with Washington in 2025-26. He also plays with a bit of an edge, recording eight PIM and 10 points during his stint with the Capitals. Looking ahead to this season, he should play regularly for Washington and have a role with the man advantage. A rookie is always going to be risky, but hitting the 40-point mark this season is a distinct possibility.

As always, treat these tiers as a starting point rather than a fixed draft order -- your league's scoring categories and roster needs should ultimately decide where each of these defensemen fits on your board.