Ryan Lindgren

Lindgren gets none of the accolades his defense partner, Adam Fox, receives as a top-pairing blueliner for the Rangers. To Lindgren's credit, he posted a career-best plus-29 rating last year to go with 18 points, 92 blocked shots, 68 hits, 75 shots on goal and 45 PIM in 63 contests. The 25-year-old is a stay-at-home blueliner and a great complement to Fox's rover tendencies. Lindgren doesn't do enough in any one area to attract a lot of fantasy interest, and it's unlikely he'll enjoy a huge spike in scoring to play his way into more relevance. You can likely do better when looking for depth defensemen on draft day.

Lindgren managed just 15 points in 78 games a season ago, but numbers don't tell the story here. He is unquestionably one of the Rangers' most important players as the stay-at-home compliment to Adam Fox on the club's top defensive pair. Lindgren has finished no worse than a plus-16 rating in each of the past three seasons. He's as tough as they come, and while there isn't much fantasy value here, the Rangers would be in significant trouble if Lindgren was sidelined for a long period, as we saw at times during the 2021-22 postseason.

Boqvist was part of the package that went to the Blue Jackets in the trade that sent Seth Jones to Chicago in July, a deal that could easily turn into a massive win for Columbus given the bloated contract the Blackhawks handed Jones and Boqvist's high-end potential. The Swede has been a regular member of the Chicago blue line over the past two seasons, posting six goals and 29 points (10 on the power play) in 76 games. Boqvist has terrific vision and offensive awareness and will play this entire season at age 21. He should join Zach Werenski on Columbus' top power-play unit and makes for an ideal mid-to-late round pick in all fantasy formats.

Lindgren was a pleasant surprise as a rookie last season, but his skill set is more valuable to the Rangers than to fantasy managers. The physical defenseman scored one goal and added 13 assists to go with a plus-16 rating and 47 PIM in 60 games while playing a stay-at-home role that allowed fellow rookie Adam Fox to frequently jump into the fray offensively. New York will likely keep the Lindgren-Fox pairing together for their sophomore seasons given their chemistry, and while such an arrangement should continue to buoy Lindgren's plus-minus rating, Fox is clearly the player to target in fantasy between the two.