Blue Line Buzz: Newly Elite

I'm not sure John Klingberg's emergence should be considered a surprise, since his brilliant play dates back to the previous season, but the fact that he's leading all NHL defensemen in scoring certainly is. Through a quarter of the season, not only is the young Swede powering the rearguard for the league's most dangerous offensive team, he's entering the conversation for the Norris Trophy. That's really impressive.

The usual suspects are still there as well, including Erik Karlsson and P.K. Subban, and Klingberg's pace will be hard to maintain, but the awards race for the league's best defenseman will be one of the most intriguing to watch this season. There have been other surprises, too, including Ryan Suter's offensive production (20 points in 22 games) and Kris Letang's lack thereof (one goal in 23 games).

Here are the top five most impressive defensemen through the first quarter:

John Klingberg, DAL – He has 27 points in 24 games, one more than Erik Karlsson to lead all defenseman. Klingberg's only 23 years old, by the way.

Brent Seabrook, CHI – He showed that he can carry a defense by himself and sits sixth among defensemen with 19 points in 24 games.

Justin Faulk, CAR – He's leading the team in goals with eight and points with 18. How he manages to do this with that roster is beyond me. Imagine this guy on a half-decent team.

Rasmus Ristolainen, BUF – The de facto No. 1 since the end of training camp, he's well on his way to a breakout year with 14 points in 24 games, good for 12th among defensemen. He's the youngest player in the top 15 as the Sabres continue to flirt with .500.

Colton Parayko, STL – His production has fallen off a little, but even logging consistent minutes and scoring as often as he has on such a deep blue line is worthy of applause. Parayko's ice time is dropping, but he's clearly here to stay.

The five most disappointing:

Mark Giordano, CGY – This one's a no-brainer, as the Flames' captain has an atrocious minus-15 rating and eight points on the season. Everyone knew Calgary would struggle, but not this much.

Nick Leddy, NYI – There were hopes that he could really start developing into a bona fide No. 1 defenseman, but that hasn't happened yet and he has yet to score a goal this season. The Isles are desperate for some offense from the blue line, and Leddy hasn't delivered.

Jacob Trouba, WPG – He gets plenty of ice time in Winnipeg, but the production just isn't there with two goals and five points this season. He still has the most upside among Jets defensemen, however.

Danny DeKeyser, DET – He's still a solid defenseman, but the former college star should try to take some pressure off Niklas Kronwall. DeKeyser's a steady two-way player who makes good decisions, but the Wings' blue line has lacked punch since Nicklas Lidstrom retired. Jakub Kindl isn't the answer. The hope is that DeKeyser plays a little more aggressively, especially on offense, but it hasn't happened yet.

Kris Letang, PIT – Given the Penguins' firepower and Mike Johnston's history of generating offense from his defensemen, Letang might be the most disappointing of all. He should no longer be considered elite with 14 points and a minus-14 rating in 23 games, at least for the time being.

Last week's top five performers:

John Carlson, WSH – Carlson led all defensemen with five assists and 14 blocked shots over the past week, including back-to-back two-assist games during the Caps' five-game winning streak. He's the clear No. 1 defenseman in Washington, as he has been for some time, and is an absolute lock for Team USA at the World Cup. Though he'll never score as much as Mike Green did in his prime, Carlson is a much better two-way player.

Duncan Keith, CHI – The Blackhawks lost a tough match Saturday against the Kings, but it was the second half of a back-to-back. Keith played a team-high 29:23 against San Jose and 26:09 against Anaheim, both of them wins, while scoring two goals and five points over the past week. Owners of Brent Seabrook and Niklas Hjalmarsson have seen their defensive production dip since Keith's return.

Shayne Gostisbehere, PHI – It's hard to envision any scenario in which Gostisbehere will be demoted to the AHL, having taken hold of such a key role on the power play. Since getting called up Nov. 14, 'Ghost Bear' has scored three goals, all of them with the man advantage, and two of them game-winners. The Flyers' power play still ranks just 25th (16.4 percent), but has gone 5-for-27 (18.5 percent) since he joined the team.

Justin Faulk, CAR – Along with Carlson, Faulk should be considered a lock for Team USA, but unfortunately gets overlooked a lot because he plays on a losing team. He snapped Carolina's five-game slide with two goals in a shocking 4-3 win over L.A., adding two assists in a 4-1 win over Edmonton to help pace the 'Canes to a 2-2 record in their past four games.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson, ARI – He led all defensemen with a plus-6 rating to help the Coyotes go unbeaten in their three-game home stand coming off just one win on a four-game road trip. Sitting third in the Pacific Division with 27 points and just two points off the division lead, the Coyotes have been a pleasant surprise this season, but much of their success should be credited to OEL's continued strong play.

Top five trending up:

Sami Vatanen, ANA – The Ducks still have plenty left to figure out with two straight losses, but Vatanen is turning it around after a slow start. He has four points in his past three games and 13 points in 23 games on the season. It's been a crapshoot picking Ducks defensemen this year, but Vatanen and Cam Fowler should continue to provide the best value.

Michael Stone, ARI – Stone was a third-round pick in 2008 who took a little time to come into his own, but is still probably best known as Ekman-Larsson's defensive partner. It takes some talent and brains to keep up with those elite players, and while Stone is a second- or third-pairing defenseman on his own, he continues to fare quite well with OEL and has three points in his last three games.

Dmitry Orlov, WSH – Even though he's still used sparingly by Barry Trotz, Orlov continues to shine on offense and recently had his three-game goal streak snapped. Like Gostisbehere, he's a worthy stash in deep leagues.

Francois Beauchemin, COL – He started the season red-hot, but faltered soon afterward; however, the 35-year-old's begun to pick up the pace once again, netting three assists in his last three games. The Avs rely on his veteran presence, but as a whole, this defensive corps just hasn't been very good. Beauchemin is a short-term fix when he gets hot, but is waiver-wire fodder otherwise. The Avs have won two of their past three games, and he recorded a point in both those victories.

Dylan McIlrath, NYR – He won't get much playing time on a stacked Rangers defense and Alain Vigneault doesn't have a history of employing big fighters regularly, but players like McIlrath come pretty handy sometimes. Against a division rival, Vigneault may opt to dress McIlrath to add a little more size, especially if Dan Boyle sits, which gives fantasy owners a pretty good opportunity to collect some penalty minutes. McIlrath is clearly a situational play and nothing more.

Top five trending down:

Shea Weber and Roman Josi, NAS – The Preds have lost five of their past six games and Weber has gone without a point in all six games while Josi has just one assist. They will turn it around soon enough, but it's tough to ignore this current string of poor performances.

Mike Green, DET – He continues to be ineffective for the Red Wings and may become an afterthought after all. Green signed a one-year contract hoping that he could find a good fit to win a Cup and maybe translate that into a big multi-year contract in free agency, but he has just one assist in the last four games and eight points on the season with a minus-6 rating. He's just a name right now, and fantasy owners should feel free to start looking for a replacement.

Erik Johnson, COL – The former No. 1 overall pick, Johnson's the one Avs defenseman aside from Tyson Barrie really worth owning, but only when he scores goals – something he hasn't done in his past five games. He has just eight points on the season and the Avs routinely give up scoring opportunities, hoping that Semyon Varlamov can bail them out. In this league, that just doesn't work.

Jason Garrison, TB – He's not really on the fantasy radar even though people still awe over his booming shot. The problem: Garrison doesn't move well enough to get open to create shooting opportunities. He can tee it up when someone sets it up for him, but unlike Weber or Zdeno Chara, he doesn't have the same abilities (or opportunities), and has just two goals on the season.

Oscar Klefbom, EDM – It's hard to play defense on Edmonton, especially when you're a 22-year-old who's suddenly thrust into a big role in the world's toughest league. Klefbom has not scored a point in four games and owns a minus-5 rating over that stretch. I still think he's a better option than Justin Schultz, but all of the Oilers' defensemen will take a beating at some point this season.

This week's top five picks:

Erik Karlsson, OTT – Easiest pick you'll make all week, as the Sens play four games.

Brent Burns, SJ – He's on a four-game point streak and draws Pittsburgh, Anaheim and Tampa Bay –three teams clearly not playing to their full potential.

Tyson Barrie, COL – The Avs are on a tough four-game road swing that sees them play all three tri-state-area teams and then Minnesota. The upside is a four-game opportunity, but the downside is four straight losses.

Alexander Edler, VAN – The Canucks' big minutes eater just had a three-game point streak snapped, but gets four games this week.

Dion Phaneuf, TOR – He's a highly unpopular player, but he has three points in his past two games and has good scoring opportunities against Edmonton and Winnipeg this week, though he also has to face Minnesota and St. Louis. Phaneuf's a better player this year with Mike Babcock than he was last year.

Last week's picks:

Karlsson, OTT: Extended his point streak to nine games with four assists this past week.
McDonagh, NYR: Two assists on 12 shots in a poor showing by the Rangers this past week.
Suter, MIN: Just one assist over the past week with the Wild winning just one of seven games.
Ekman-Larsson, ARI: See above.
Weber and Josi, NAS: (Oops.) See above.