How to Draft a Winning Fantasy Hockey Defenseman

It's often said that defense wins the Stanley Cup and you'll need to pay attention to your defense if you plan to succeed in a fantasy hockey league as well. For most leagues, you'll need to draft about four defensemen and you'll want to get players who can give you some points in your league.

Instructions

    • 1

      Read up on the rules for your particular fantasy league, particularly for how you'll earn points. Defensemen can often contribute to categories like plus/minus, goals, assists, points and penalty minutes. Knowing what categories will count toward the overall standing in your league can help you decide who to draft.

    • 2

      Recognize that a defenseman's worth to you goes beyond the goals and assists. A high plus/minus rating can help your team, as well as finding a defenseman with a bit of an edge for some penalty minutes.

    • 3

      Look for defensemen that spend time on their teams' power plays. These players will be more likely to add some goals, assists and power play points to your totals. Usually each team has at least two or three of their defensemen who see time on the power play so you'll want to take a look at some of them.

    • 4

      Wait until at least the third round before you start drafting defensemen. You'll want to draft at least two defensemen between rounds three and eleven so that you don't forget about adding them as you search for scorers. There's usually a pretty big drop off in points between top forwards and defensemen so you don't want to draft defense too early but you also can't wait until the last rounds either.

    • 5

      Take a chance on a younger or less known defensemen if he plays with a great line or on a great power play. Sometimes it's all about being in the right place at the right time and you can pick up players in later rounds that can help with your rank in the fantasy league. They may not be superstars or the top defensemen, but playing with great players will elevate their game.

    • 6

      Create your own list for the players you want to draft. It's a good idea to look at the lists created by others online but realize that everyone else is looking at those lists too. You'll need to pull out some players, particularly in the later rounds, that the other managers in your league haven't noticed or overlooked in order to take your team to the top.