2026-27 Fantasy Hockey: Positional Previews - Defensemen

0:00Welcome to another edition of the DFO fantasy show. I'm your host, Brock Seagun. With me as always, Beeps Bonny. Beeps, we are on our fourth of five positional preview breakdowns already. We are just chugging along only one to go after today. How you feel? Feeling good. It's pretty crazy to see it. It feels like D have finally kind of moved up the rankings. Usually they kind of fall down with their ADPs and we see that happen. This here feels like the opposite. It seems like the ADPs are pretty de-heavy in the first 100s. Maybe it just goes to show leagues are getting a little closer as far as adding blocks, adding hits and making those defense minutes. Maybe you don't get points, making them a little more relevant. It's cool to see. That makes our job placing them in the top 10 a little harder, but it's a lot more fun. I don't know about you, but it seems like there's some really, really elite de-options this year, kind of more than ever, it seems.

1:00Usually there's three or four this year, seven or eight, so it's good to see. Yeah. Us pulling DFO fantasy users and finding out, hey, we use hits and blocks a lot more than you think. 75% of DFO users use hits and blocks. We factored those in a lot more than we had in previous years. Yeah, I definitely elevated the D probably for that reason alone, specifically blocks is something we used to put a small amount of stock into, but to see 75% of DFO users use it, we're like, okay, we got to make sure this is a factor in our ranking. So definitely a reason for some of the D rising up the board a little bit, and you'll notice that theme throughout today's show. And if you've caught any of the first three positional preview episodes, we're going to talk a lot about guys that we like that stuff a lot of categories. We want guys that can cover a bunch of categories as opposed to just a few because of those extended formats. And DFO users use hits and blocks and then you got shots on goal, power play points, goals assist, and basically 100% of league. So we're really focused on those categories.

2:01And if you've never, this is the first time you are turned into a DFO fantasy show, positional preview, what we do is run through the top 10 in each position. The consensus top 10 at dailyfaceoff.com and then me and Bebes will give you a breakout of value and ADP to avoid from each position. So if this is the first one, be sure to go back and check out center left wing and right wing released already and goal is coming up next. So let's get into it with our top 10 fantasy defense for 2026 27. And we'll start at number 10 with Jake Sanderson of the auto wall senators. I have him 11th. You and Nick both have him at 10. Matt is the lowest on him at 16. And you know, after Christmas last season, Sanderson put up 28 points, seven goals, 21 assists in 30 games. Well, I think there's probably some regression coming for his shooting percentage during that stretch. If only in transmission as a 60 plus point defenseman when he's healthy, Sanderson has finished as the D 11 and the D 10 and fantasy points per game over the last two seasons.

3:05So this feels like a pretty good spot for him. ADP is pretty similar as well. ADP is currently 64.0, which is the 12th defenseman off the board. So we're a little bit higher than consensus there. After all the elite defensemen are off the board, those Sanderson to me provides elite category coverage at a lower cost. There's a real chance that he finishes with 60 plus points, 20 plus power play points, 175 plus shots on goal and 150 plus block shots, a combination that may be only a handful of defensemen are capable of. And you see it here on the radar chart, 91st percentile goals, 82nd percentile assists, 84th percentile power play points, 84th percentile shots and 86 percentile blocked shots. So definitely a profile that covers a lot of categories and a guy that I think is worthy of being in and around the top 10 of fantasy defenseman. ADP is like the one looking in on the other players here, but he still basically covers the categories you need. Finish last year, one of 15 defensemen in the whole NHL, score 14 or more goals.

4:07He finished 15th among all of the points per game. And he shoots quite a bit. And he's on the trajectory upward, which is what I really like about Jake Sanderson. And maybe that's why I'm feeling a little, little higher than, uh, than most on him. But I mean, I do have him at 10 here with Nick. Uh, I just think, you know, he's a pretty safe bet. It looks like he is the, well, it doesn't look like he is the power play one guy when healthy in Ottawa. And, uh, you know, things are, they tend to put up points there. We've seen Thomas Chabbat be very fantasy relevant in previous seasons. Well, now Jake Sanderson's kind of stepping up, taking that role. He was a high draft pick for reasons from the US development camp. And it was because of that heavy shot. I truly believe we haven't seen him hit his peak for goals yet. Talk about how hard it is to get to 20 goals. There's only six demon who did it last year. I think that this guy truly has that ability. So he deserves to be in this tense lot for me. Like you said, a perfect category filler. If you, if you don't land some of the other demon and realistically, that could be a useful strategy this year. There are a lot of safe right for it. They're falling in your lap. You get to solve a goal tending tandem. You're looking at Sanderson as your first demon off the board.

5:09You're really not that sad. And you likely are pretty stacked in other categories so you're good to go. Yeah, there's a few defense when you're at the top of the board that I like to go up and get probably. But there are, I think, weighting on defense this year is great. We're going to get to a lot of our values later and talk about a couple guys here in a minute. But yeah, Sanderson is a perfect kind of fallback option. If you do miss out on any of those elite options coming to that number nine for us is Adam Fox. I am by far the highest at seven. All three of you guys at number nine. You know, the point total has declined in four straight seasons, but 2025, 26 was more about injury than his game kind of falling apart. When he returned to the Rangers lineup after the Olympic break, he posted 25 points, five goals, 20 assists in 25 games. The elite playmaking has not gone anywhere. But to me, this is more of just a wave of young defenseman emerging. You've got the lane Hudson's the Matthew Schafer's and that's pushing people like Fox down the board. Fox's quality is really getting overlooked right now. 80 P 56.3 is the 11th defenseman off the board.

6:12So we are kind of seeing through that and seeing Fox's true value is still really, really good. And he's dropping right now into the fifth round. So again, another guy that if you want to wait a little bit on a defenseman, he is more than capable of being the number one fantasy defenseman for you. Fox was 10th in the NHL in offensive generating plays per game among defenseman. The show Katie that he is still in elite puck moving defenseman who can have a huge impact if he remains in the lineup. A return to double judge goals and 70 plus points would make him a massive steal at his current price. So we're slightly ahead of ADP, basically a full round. ADP consensus from DFO consensus, excuse me, is 46. He's being drafted number 56 overall right now. So I really, really like Fox. You know, looked good the second half of last season. Once you came back from the injury, really doesn't have any competition. This is still a Rangers team. I expect to score some goals this year. So I do think Fox can have a nice bounce back campaign and realistically, like outside of the games played last year, he still put up pretty healthy numbers.

7:13So, you know, number 12 defenseman in fantasy points per game last year, really, really solid. He was overall defenseman number 13, two years ago, defenseman number 11, three years ago, and seventh in points per game during that time. So yeah, I think that he is still, you know, a top 10 fantasy defenseman. And I think he's going to prove that this year. Yeah, the fact that he's falling out ADP to 11 is just ridiculous. I thought I was actually very high on him at nine. I was like, oh, two spots higher than the general masses. And then Brock just casually for there. But there's a case absolutely for this. He's a guy if he plays all 82, you can easily hit that 70 point mark. We saw him do it three years in a row between 2021 and 2024. For me, what just keeps him at this nine slot is the shot potential, the goal potential. He just says never really proven to be that guy who's going to push 200 shots on goal. But that said, he has proven that he is, you know, he's a 160, 150 type guy who can put 10 in the 10 behind the goal. He's so super useful. I just think that there are players with kind of higher ceiling, similar floors that I'm just interested in higher up in the draft that might provide a little more hits with

8:16that said, Brock. If I end up with Adam Fox as my first demon, I'm really not that sad. He definitely has potential to be a steal in this draft. And I think what a lot of people aren't looking at when they're looking at Rangers players is that a lot of players on that team regressed when Adam Fox was out for that near 27 games last year. So that's a significant chunk of the season. And that's pulling out your best pop moving defense. And that's putting guys like Ladislaw Gavricov on the top power play, which is not what you want when you're the other players there. So without going too far and attended in, I like Adam Fox. I would love to see him put up 80 games. Again, we haven't seen that since 2022, 23 years, only ever done it once in his career. Made it past that mark. But with a guy like this, where the goals are limited, I need those extra games to get those extra points. So Adam Fox, he's a super, super safe pick. I think if he's falling to you at this point, do not be sad about getting the Rangers number one demon. He's proven time and time again. You can get a near point for game. And I think you're pretty satisfied. He's coming in healthy to camp. So nothing to lose here. And yeah, I like him at night.

9:17I'm content with that. It seems good. Yeah. And obviously he's not quit a huge, but does feel like just kind of a discount like when you use with this with this profile and obviously going basically what is it? You know, 40 picks later. Let's keep rolling along here with our number eight fantasy defenseman. And it is Marit Cider of the Detroit Red Wings. Surprisingly, as our resident Red Wings fan, I am the lowest on him at nine, but it is close. You are the highest at seven. Matt and Nick coming in at number eight, which is where he lands for us. Current ADP is 53.9, which is the 10th defenseman off the board. So again, we are slightly higher than ADP here on Marit Cider, but only five players in NHL history have had 200 hits and 200 block shots in a season. And Cider is one of them. He did it back in 2024. And then in 2020, 60 posted a career high 60 points. So the hits and blocks did dip a little bit last season. But I think that shows the type of elite category coverage that Cider can provide.

10:17And in leagues that count both hits and blocks. I think you could honestly take Cider. There's at least a case to take Cider in the second round. And it wouldn't be an overpay. Obviously, the uncertainty surrounding the Dylan Larkin situation, the Red Wings GM surge, the lack of improvement that this team is made in the off season, could hurt his point totals and bring them back down from that 60 points last season. But the peripheral coverage is basically the stuff of legends. 99th and blocked shot, percentile, 98th and hit percentile, 81st in shots on goal, percent tile. I legitimately think it's obviously out there and it's far fetched. And he would need to bounce back in the hit column. And he would need to set a new career high in shots on goal. But he was 187 shots on goal last year. It was just short of 200. He has the potential to be a 200 shot on goal, 200 hit, 200 blocked shot player, which is just madness if that happens. I'm not saying it's going to. We haven't projected at 155 shots, 218 hits and 209 blocked shots, which is good enough

11:19anyway. But yeah, like just the category coverage here is insane. You see it on the radar chart. It's completely full, almost a perfect circle. So cider does a little bit of everything. Yeah, I don't know if there's a more annoying player as far as when talking to people about players because everyone has a different value of cider, depending on their league. And I know we had people reach out this year. It's like after our top 300 came out, that's like, oh, you got cider at, I think I got mid 30s. Like you got them there with, you know, he was my number one demand in my league last year. And if that's the case, if you're a league, is that heavy on blocks and on hits, then maybe readjust them a little bit and feel free to snag more cider. Well, and that's the whole point of the, of the customizable rankings tool, right? If you've got a league that's got some funky score and you just go plug them in there and you'll see cider shoot up the draft board. Oh, yeah, he is a second round pick. He is a first round pick in this league because he does so much in those categories. So if you are in one of those leagues and you think beeps has some rank to go, go use

12:22the customizable rankings tool and I promise you he'll be ranked appropriately for you. But we can't cover every single tile league. So if you do play those funky leagues, that's what that tool is for. So check out the draft kit at dailyfaceup.com. Check out the customizable rankings tool. Soory for the ad plug beeps. Didn't mean to take it back. Oh, I love it. Perfect timing because yeah, no, it was great. But for me, cider just really impressed me last year by taking those extra steps forward in the other categories. You could realistically draft him as the what do we have in your eighth defense, been off the board without hits and without blocks and you're still not going to be called crazy. He had 10 goals. He had 60 points. The 187 shots on goal, you mentioned it. That's where I'm really satisfied with cider last year to get 10 goals. He really didn't have to shoot and agree just shooting percentage like we see a lot of these demon kind of do in their years that they finally reached double digit goals. For me, just kind of had to keep the foot on the gas increase those shot totals. He still missed 99 shots last year. So 13 of the more of those go on net and I am absolutely salivating at the mouth. That guy who went 200 and near 200 and other categories that we see other players just

13:26not even come close to. So I had to rank him as high as I did because we did this this poll before and realistically in those leagues that have blocks and hits. You know, this is the ultimate category filler. I really don't know if there's a better one across any position, maybe one of the two chucks. But other than that, it's like this guy is just. He's done it year after year. He's in his fifth season. He's at 187 shots twice so that he could do that. He's hit as you mentioned 300 or 200 hits three times. He's hit 200 blocks once and he's at 180 blocks four times during that time. So he is just the model of consistency while filling every stat across the board. So I think I think this is a super safe spot to put him in this because if he if you are in one of those leads where you know those stats go crazy, he is you can think of the board. Like you said in the second round, there's a case for it. I can totally see it, but just be aware of how your league works. That's kind of the theme always, but you know, know your categories. Yeah. And our recent fantasy finishes do take hits and blocks into effect. And he was the number four fantasy defenseman last year.

14:29Number seven and fantasy points per game. Number six overall defenseman two years ago, number eight in points per game. So certainly a guy that belongs in this conversation, especially in those types of formats. And next on the list is Matthew Schaeffer number seven defenseman. ADP is currently 32.2. He is the sixth defenseman off the board. All four of our analysts are above ADP on Schaeffer. Nick and Matt at seven beeps and I both at eight. Now look at you know none of us. I don't think it's any knock on Schaeffer. What's the way? He became one of the steals of fantasy last year posting 59 points as a rookie running away with the call to trophy. And chances are that he's around 60 points again this season, but likely with less goals and more assists. He's got 10.4% last year and had 3.2 goals scored above expected. So I do think that 15 goals is probably more realistic than 20.

15:29But he also finished with an honest goal scored below expected of 27.2. So that was the fifth works mark among defenseman in the NHL last year. So I do think there's a lot of room for growth in the assist column. I mean, he was second in the NHL among defenseman in shots. Like what he did in his rookie season was spectacular blocked over 100 shots. Like there's a lot to like about this profile. There's a lot to like about this player. I think the best is yet to come. I just think that in year two, the leap probably isn't going to be as big as expected or maybe not any leap at all, given how good his first season was. And last year he still finishes the ninth ranked fantasy defenseman. Now he's going as the sixth defenseman. I just don't really understand the ADP. I think it's a little bit too rich. There's a lot of other guys going after him that I just think make much better picks at their ADP. So really like the player ADP 32.2, DFO consensus 43. I think that 43 is a little bit more realistic than where he's currently going.

16:33So I don't imagine I'll have a lot of Matthew Schaeffer on my teams this year. How about you? Yeah, it's definitely a sweet ticket price there. But I mean, you got to assume like kids going into a second year other than a sophomore slump. He is only going to get stronger, become a better player. So I guess people are kind of kind of just banking on that automatically happening. But that's totally baked into the ADP. So that's why I don't think I'm going to grab a ton of him. But that said, I mean, you mentioned it. Seconding goal is amongst the fence been last year. Second in shots on the whole most fence been last year. So the guy could easily be first in both of those categories. And I would not be surprised by season's end here. It's just a matter of are you willing to take that chance and what looks like the third round if you're in a 12 team league here? I don't know if I am. You could easily though, take that chance and get the production that you're kind of banking on. And we could be talking about him as a mid 20s goal guy, 70 point guy after this year. It's just like you said, it's a little sweet. But I do think that us even having him this high in our rankings is like you said, he

17:37was ninth in fantasy points last year amongst the fence. So that's just having him here just shows we are still banking on him improving or banking on him having a better season, putting it, you know, putting together 60 plus points for the first time in his career. And I think we have an affair of spot. It's just people love trying to get that next, you know, the celebrity. They want to see things like that happen. And I think we're seeing it really big to the ADPs here across the board. We're seeing a lot of young guys with higher ADPs that almost seem like it's their ceiling where they're being drafted at. Less or so they're for and that gets a little scary. So if there's safer picks around him, I might fall into that range. But we'll see at the same time. If I grab him at 33, I can see myself talking myself into it. But I agree. I think our 43 is much, much close to where he should be. But that said, this guy's the limit for this guy. And let's see him prove us all wrong again. That'd be great. Coming in at number six is Lane Hudson. So as I mentioned earlier, with Adam Fox, some of these young up and coming

18:40defensemen are clearly the ones pushing some of these veterans down and Lane Hudson. ADP is 20.8. He is the number five defenseman on the board. We've got him at six. I've got him at six. You've got him at six. Nick's got him at six. Matt is the highest with him at number four. Now look at Hudson had an outstanding sophomore season registering 78 points, including 12 goals in 82 games. But he had the best on ice puck luck of any defenseman in the league. He had 18.2 goals scored above expected with him on the ice. The Canadian shot 15.7%. Not even the Kale McCarrer's, the Connor McDavid's even maintained and on ice shooting percentage above 15%. So regression is definitely coming for Hudson this season. And there isn't this awesome category coverage profile to buoy him if the points dip a little bit. He's a pretty one dimensional fantasy asset. He dominates the assist columns.

19:41He dominates the power play points. 98% tile assist 85% tile power play points. But everything went right for him last year. And he's still only finished as the number 10 fantasy defenseman. Now you have to spend a top 20 pick on him. I just don't think it makes a lot of sense. Like I don't, I don't know if it's going to get better than what we saw last year. Like I find it hard to believe. And at this point, I feel like Canadians fans probably think I'm just a huge hater. He was going to be my 80s p to to avoid, but I didn't want to just keep piling on the abs. But like, it's not like we're low on a rate. DFO says this is 29. I just feel like it's a little bit rich. And I keep saying that there's other defense been going a little bit later that I think are going to be just as good. And it just doesn't make sense spending the 20th overall pick on a guy that finishes the 10th ranked defenseman last year. No matter how good he is, he's still projected by me for 79.72 assists.

20:41He just offers very little in those category leagues similar to like a Mitch Martiner like we talked to about yesterday where it's very assist and power play point heavy. And it plays a lot better in those points leagues where the assist and the power play points accumulate better than in category leagues where it's like they're only filling one category. So I think if you're in a points based the 20 makes a little bit more sense. If you're in a categories based, the gets a hard pass for me. How about you? I still think 20 is absolutely crazy. Like that's right around that. Boldy white, Johnston, check. I go like, these are just names that I think you could find guys that have Hudson's layout layer in the draft. Even if they're not necessarily a defenseman. Yeah, 20.8 super rich. We're still you mentioned we're still high. We haven't we have them under 30, but at 20.8 there's just you're still talking about the superstars of fantasy hockey there and you could you can get a full category filler. A lot easier. So yeah, I'm with you here. I don't like also kind of going at Montreal here, but it's just it's all in the numbers

21:44for them to do what they did across the board. Next year, you said everything has to go right. That's an even if he takes a step forward in his game, it's just such a glaring like anchor there with the shots on goal. It's 124 last year. That's nothing. And he yes, you know, we cracked double digits, but I need to see this guy fuller with 200 before I can really consider taking him this high in a draft. And I mean, you're going to get the point, like we said, but I could we could find you guys at the 200 pick. We're going to get 50 assists. So to cover that. If you take late Hansen at the 20th picked off the board, you now have to focus for the rest of your draft on goal heavy players because you don't need anymore. So you're guys at this point. So I just I think it really handcuffs you. It reminds me of like kind of taking taking a QB early in football. You can't kind of stuck your stuck with an assist heavy guy and there's so many of them out there. It's just maybe way to bit. So lean Hudson, we have you high.

22:44We have you up our board. I felt like the six best defense been felt really complimentary to this guy, but but here we are. Yeah. And apparently he loves 80 people. Yeah, it's just we'll let it. We'll let 80 people. That's why it. Yeah, it's just great player. The category profile from a state fantasy standpoint just doesn't really stick out. Okay, we are going to skip over number five because we're going to talk about him a little bit later in the show, but it is Ross miss doll. I'm at five. Nix at five, Matt a little bit lower at six consensus for us is the fifth defenseman off the board. ADP is 35.2, which is the seventh defenseman off the board. But again, we'll talk about him a little bit later. We are already high on him two spots ahead of ADP. Zach Wensky comes in at number four. No defenseman shoots more than Rewensky. He led the position with 260 shots on goal last year, 38 more than second most in the NHL, which was Matthew Shaver, which we mentioned earlier. And over the last two years, he has 558 shots on goal more than 100 more than second most,

23:46which is Evan Bouchard. Additionally, he is second in points, third in goals, seventh in power play points during that time. He has finished as the number two fantasy defenseman in each of those seasons. And he was number one in fantasy points for game last year. So landing at four here on our board, almost feels disrespectful to a guy that has been an absolute stallion over the last few years. You need to spend a first round pick if you want Cam McCarr or Quinn Hughes. You do not. If you want Zach or Wensky, his ADP is currently 15.7. He is the number four defenseman off the board. And we are sorry, he's number three defenseman off the board. We have him at number four. But you look at this, 98% tile in goals, 92% tile in assist, 90% tile in power play points, 99% tile in shots. And even blocks over 100 shots per game. I think the one thing that kind of limits Rewanski because the personal profile is elite. And the blue jackets were loads of fun last year. It's not like they are a bad offense anymore.

24:48But there's just this cloud of uncertainty, right? The key kind of wants out, Marchenko kind of wants out. And I think that just lingers over him. But like at the end of the day, the personal profile of Rewanski is second to none. I'd be happy to pass on the guys going in the first round to take Rewanski in the second round. He is, he does a little bit of everything and he does it extremely, extremely well. So I love Zach Rewanski. I've been a huge fan for a very long time. I know that he used to be drafted outside picks 100 during his banged up years. And every year I'm like, Zach Rewanski is my devalue. Zach Rewanski is my devalue. Zach Rewanski is my devalue. Well, now he goes 50th overall. So there's no more value to be happy. He's still an elite player. I'm super content with getting him there at 15 compared to say, Alain Hudson at 20. Like five picks earlier and you're getting just so much more, which when you get so much more, that just less chance for failure in my opinion. And that's, you know, with Zach Rewanski, we've seen him do it two straight years. Last year I believe he was my second number two D-man right behind Kalmokar.

25:51And I know it's kind of like who hard, but the guy just, if he does it, this is what he gives you. He's that 20 plus goal guy that we rarely see out of defenseman. And he gets those shots. So it is really exciting, you know, though at the uncertainty in Columbus, that's the one thing that kind of push other names up the board for me. And just the surrounding cast as a whole, you're going to see the other teams that the next three players play on have a player that's probably a top three player in the NHL. So or top, sorry, eight player, because we'll put a breeze of in there. But regardless, Rewanski, I'm looking at the rest of the line up there and there aren't necessarily as many play drivers. There are some fantastic options in Columbus, but not a top 10 player. So that just makes them fall out of there. With that said, I think he's my favorite pick. You mentioned it earlier, if you wanted one of these big boys at the top, personally, I would probably want Zach Rewanski and then a elite option in the first round. And then I'm walking into the third round just laughing and I could kind of take whatever approach to this draft I want. But yeah, say I don't get Rewanski, I'm completely okay with waiting a little bit

26:53or even getting the guy who you're going to mention later in Dali. After that, that's kind of where it starts to become. Let's chill on Demon for me. But yeah, I like Rewanski. I think he's great. And you know what you're getting? He's going to score. He's getting it shots on goal. He's gotten a lead power play shot. It's all good. Yeah, you mentioned it. Like taking five picks ahead of Hutchins makes a lot of sense. Like Hutchins, we're kind of projecting for like 62 assists. And Rewanski's projected for close to 60 assists, but also going to have 250 shots on goal and 20 goals and just a much better well-rounded fantasy player. Let's move back to the big board. Our number three fantasy defenseman is Quinn Hughes. Me and Nick all have them at three Matt, the lowest at five. ADP is currently 12.8. So we're going to the tail end of the first round. He is the second defenseman off the board third on our boards. A little bit lower than consensus on Quinn Hughes. But after Hughes was acquired by the wild, only Evan Bouchard and Zach Rewanski had more points per game than Hughes, both going after him in fantasy hockey. He had 53 points, five goals, 48 assists in 48 games.

27:57So that was a nine goal, 84 assists pace. If he were to maintain that pace this year, that would be a career best, 93 point season. I love Hughes and what he brings to the wild. He had the most offensive generating plays among defensemen after the trade of coordinate sport logic. But I like what I mentioned on the previous episode. I like what Hughes brings to the wild more for Matt Poldy, who real Capri's off. Then really the fantasy asset that Quinn Hughes is because he's a good fantasy asset. Don't get me wrong. 99th percentile in assists, 99th percentile in power play points, 92nd percentile in shots on goal, which is hilarious, because he never shot her in his career. Now he does, which is great. So it's a good fantasy profile now. I just feel like he lands in a bit of a weird spot in the draft. I know we're picking hairs, there's three spots, there's nothing. But I would rather have Evan Bouchard, who I have ranked ahead of him, or picks later. So I don't think I'm going to end up with much, Quinn Hughes on my team, unless he drops into the second round somehow.

29:00But at his current ADP, I just don't envision me picking Hughes a lot at that one to turn, because I will elect to go with Evan Bouchard over him in every one of those drafts. So again, I'm going to be doing a huge mock draft series, picking from every single spot on the board, one through 12, and breaking down some of the strategy. And this will be part of that, right? Is it, Quinn Hughes? Is it Evan Bouchard for me? And actually for all four of us, it is Evan Bouchard. But before we get to Bouchard, a little bit on Hughes. Yeah, I mean, you nailed it. If you put together a night, if you put together a 93, 94 point season, like we saw him on pace for last year, and let's remember, he joined the team in the middle of the year. So he now has a full off season to kind of make things click beyond what's already clicking. If he gives you that production, I think you can tend with your 12, 13th pick in the draft. I mean, this just seems fair. This is where he should be at. I probably won't grab him just because, like you said, I would rather have an Evan Bouchard, maybe a guy who gives me a little bit more

30:04in the goal column, picking hairs. I mean, it's wild. He had seven goals last year, total. And we still have him as our third defenseman. So it goes to show just what he brings. He's an elite playmaker. He is, I mean, I'm one of the biggest Kalemakar fans out there. And I will fully say that I think Quink Hughes is a better playmaker when it comes to actually getting assist. So he's right there. This is, it's just cool that we now have five elite demon here that it's like, oh, I'll take any of those guys. But Quink Hughes, you're kind of going to have to reach. If you have to reach into the first round for him, that's just not, that's not what I'm here for. So I don't want to do that. But either way, I think he's going to produce this year. I think we're going to watch just big things happen in Minnesota. That offense is absolutely lethal. It's terrifying. So if he traitsens Dylan Larkin there, I don't know what to say. It's not going to be good. My project is really good. Absolutely. Love him. You know, obviously you said seven goals last year. I haven't projected for 14 because he had the most goals scored below expected

31:07of any defenseman in the NHL. He was seven among defensemen and expected goals for. With 18, he scored 11 goals below expected. So he definitely has a little bit of a bounce back case coming his way. So my projections absolutely love him and expect like it, you know, everything to click and line up 91 points 14 goals, 40 power play points. I mean, there's a lot to love. If you use the customizable rankings tool, he pops, man, he's the number one defenseman over there in most formats because the projections just see a guy that was a little bit snakebitten last year and a guy that could absolutely explode this year. So I, you know, I think still personal preference. I lean towards Bouchard. I think it's a little bit of a safer profile, but the projections love Quinheu. So, you know, I would definitely not knock anybody for taking and be in the first or second defenseman off the board because he can certainly get there. But you just look, you know, the eighth finish last year, six and a fantasy points for games, seventh defenseman in in 2025, third and points per game.

32:08And then in 2024, he was fifth in both points for game and overall production, which he's just never really reached that, you know, the king of the hill, top of the hill, I guess, I'm a fantasy defenseman where somebody we're about to talk to. The next two guys are about to talk to have both reached the pinnacle before. And obviously, number two is Evan Bouchard. All of us have him at two ADP is once or is 16.9, not one 16. That would be insane. 16.9, which is the fourth offense. So we are all higher on Evan Bouchard. And I honestly don't really understand the ADP. I don't like what? He was the number one overall fantasy defenseman last year. Number two and points per game. Three years ago, he was number three like he is an elite asset. But let's roll through the numbers to your Bouchards. Fantasy finishes, as I mentioned, D1, D5, D3, and he's coming off the best season to date. 21 goals and 95 points to go along with 221 shots on goal and 101 blocked shots. Over the last three seasons, he is second among defenseman points assists and shots on goal,

33:12third in power, play points and fifth in goals. So as long as Connor McDavid and Leon Dryssela are in Edmonton, Bouchard will be a top three fantasy defenseman. And he showed he has the upside to finish number one last year. And this year, he is somehow going 10 picks after kale McCart. So I don't really understand the ADP. You'll look at the radar chart. It is a full fantasy profile. 90 second percentile goal is 96 percentile is 98 percentile power play points. 98 percentile shots on goal chips in with the hits over a hit per game. Chipson with over 100 blocks. He does it all. He's a great fantasy asset. My number two defenseman, your number two defenseman, I would much prefer. Yeah. Bouchard 16, then McCart six. Just this way is what it is. And you're an expert Bouchard 16. Then any of the names we've previously talked about, this is like, this is insane value. How does a guy prove he's better than he previously was and drop his rankings in fantasy? I'm getting a little heated here, but you mentioned he literally is the definition of a category

34:17stuff for defenseman. He had 21 goals. He was like one of six to do 20 plus. He had those 95 points. He's surrounded by just pure excellence and somehow he falls down to our board. So you know what? This is what we love to see because it allows us to do early, a nice early sleeper because this is a fantastic spot to get Evan Bouchard in. I think you could tell how excited about him. I am. I believe a certain point last year, you didn't even get out of the gate that hot, but it's just the guy was now so freak for the last 70 games of the season. You know what? I would love to have him as my 17 pick. If I was talking earlier about how I would very much like Wrensky right there, I mean, Evan Bouchard just Wrensky, but a little bit better in my opinion, a little bit safer in my opinion. And another category that we don't even talk about often is plus minus. Wrensky was plus six last year. Bouchard was a plus 25. So, you know, it's if that's another category that your league has, this is just another category that this dude covers, which is pretty sweet. So Evan Bouchard, it goes to say just how productive he is that I highly considered not putting

35:23him above McCarr, but like putting him right behind him in the picks, but I mean McCarr is number one. We all know it. We all have him there. Let's talk about him. Before we do, you mentioned Bouchard didn't get out of the gate hot. Just to assist no goals in his first eight games in his final 74 games. He was at 1.3 points per game that is good for 109 points. So yeah, we'll see if he can, if he can keep that role in number one. There was like, there was a point last year where I remember like we're talking the second week of fantasy hockey where people were literally talking about how Bouchard is almost like not dropable, but they're like, oh man, like I got a trade discount on my roster. It just goes to show how much like the waiting game, yeah, the waiting game needs to be played sometimes. Like if you waited past those first two weeks, if you traded in the first two weeks, you probably did not come anywhere closer to fantasy hockey championship. If you didn't, I mean, you had the best demand of fantasy hockey. So just, you know, just always pump the brakes in those early weeks.

36:25It's a nice reminder from our boy Evan Bouchard. But without further ado, who's at the top rock? Who could have kept? KELOLA CARR, 111, 1 across all four analysts. Here in ADP is 6.6, very rich. The number one defenseman off the board, which is just what KELOLA CARR has been for a number of years. Last year finishes the number three defenseman with 20 goals and 79 points and 75 games. I think that's what many considered a down year by his standards and still finished top three. He has been in the top three in each of the last three seasons. He was number three in point fantasy points per game last year. Number one in fantasy points per game the year before number one in fantasy points per game the year before that. The problem I think with McCarr is that you mentioned it. There seems to be a lot of elite guys this year and it feels like McCarr was just like always like, okay, there was a group of guys competing for number two. McCarr was number one. It's still kind of the case, but I feel like that gap has shrunk quite a bit.

37:27But the pick hasn't shrunk at all for McCarr. So now you have to still spend a number six overall pick to get McCarr. The gap is really shrunk and the other guys are going like Bouchard's case 10 picks later. I think you're in better shape if you start your draft with Caprice off and Bouchard that if you start with McCarr and say like a Jack Hughes. I just think that the guy that the forward that you're probably passing on to take McCarr when you can just wrap around and get Bouchard to the next round. I think sets you up for a better team overall. Not to say that McCarr Jack Hughes is a bad start. I would be totally fine with it. But Bouchard and Caprice off feels like it's got a higher ceiling and a higher floor. So I like McCarr still. I just think that the price is a little too rich. I do not think I will be taking him number six overall. I think that I will be waiting on some of these other guys. I think there's a lot of great value defense in this year. So I'll probably wait on defense overall. But if I was going to take an elite guy, it's going to be a Rewrenzki. It's going to be a Hughes. It's going to be a Bouchard for sure.

38:27Just a little bit later than where McCarr is going. Just don't say the gap is big enough for him to be a top six pick when the rest are going to the second round. No, I totally agree. Even if Colorado fixes their 27th rank, the R-Play from last year, which they will, if that happens, you're still this way too sweet for me. I think last year he was going around this point and he scored 30 goals a year before. So it was like, hey, this is the only guy who can even come close to these goal numbers. We just watched him have not necessarily a down year, but let's call it a down year for Cal McCarr. So it can happen again. It's not completely out of the rum of question here. It's a guy too who hasn't played a full 82 ever in his career. Not the, I mean, he's come close. He's hit 81. He's hit 77 twice. We're talking 84 games now. Colorado usually does quite well. And what I've noticed personally as someone who owns a lot of avalanche players is when it comes down to the nitty gritties of, I need to win my playoff matchups. I'm always missing avalanche players. They're always sitting because they're being not health.

39:28They're like, not health bombs. They're almost being like, they're just being left out because the team's already, you know, in a playoff spot. So for a guy like this, if you're going to spend a sixth pick overall on him, you can't have that happening, especially if it's your defenseman because at that point in the year, oh, you got to go pick up Travis Sanheim to fill in your numbers. That's not going to do much. So it's something I do worry about. So for Cal McCarr, this is, this is far too sweet. I love the player. I love everything that, everything he does. I love the fact that he's still going at sex overall. But let's keep him going there so that when I'm sitting in the eighth picks in drafts, I get the players I want who are forwards ahead of him. And then I can take, you know, the likes of the pushards, the dolly, and this later in my draft. So sorry, Cal McCarr, price is too sweet, but congrats on your probably fifth year in a row, getting the number one ranking on our show. You deserve it. Let's recap the top 10. Cal McCarr at one, Evan Bouchard at two, Quinn Hughes, number three, saccharonsky four,

40:30Ross, Missed Allian five, Lane Hudson six, Matthew Schaefer seven, Merit, Sider eight, Adam Fox nine, Jake Sanderson, number 10. Now everybody wants us to give a, who just missed the top 10. Number 11 was there in radish, number 12, Jacob Chikren, number 13, John Carlson, number 14, Roman Yosi, number 15, our boy, Jackson, Lecombe. That's going to do it for our top 10, Tennessee defenseman for 26, 27. You're going to take a quick break. And when we return, we will go through our values, our breakouts, and our 80p's to a void for 26, 27, stay tuned. Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen, to the, the preview episode. We've got our values, breakouts, and 80p's to avoid lined up. Let's roll through them. As always, I will start here with our value. I said we would talk about them later in the show, and we will now, Ross miss Dulleyne is my value pick this year. 80p is 35.2. I've got to rank 15th.

41:32The FO consensus is 22. Dulleyne is the biggest early round value on my board. He is currently the seventh defenseman off the board. But I haven't ranked as the fifth defenseman with an early to mid second round grade, as I mentioned, 15th overall. Dulleyne dropping into the late third round, lets you pass on those defensemen going inside the top 20. Like we just talked about basically anyone from Hudson in, and spend your first two picks on elite forts and still land in the elite fantasy defenseman with your third round pick. And he's earned the ranking. Dulleyne finished top five among defensemen and fantasy points for game three straight seasons, and he's coming off the best year of his career. 19 goals, 74 points with 195 shots in a real peripheral floor. His hits and blocks did dip a little bit last season, but he posted 101 hits and 98 blocks the year before. And even the down version of him last year, you're going to like this one, Beeps, outbangs the finesse defenseman being drafted ahead of him. And he has a really nice peripheral floor, as you see here, 86% tile hits, not 44% tile

42:38blocks go along with an elite offensive ceiling on him. So now, look at who he's going behind. We just talked about them all. Four of those six defensemen ahead of him, Camel Carquin, Hughes, Akgranski, Evan Mishard. Those are proven superstars, no argument whatsoever. I have all four ranked ahead of Dulleyne too. But the other two are Lane Hudson and Matthew Schaefer, who are both coming off of terrific seasons. And both are basically being drafted on the assumption that they will do it again. We just laid out more of a reason why it probably won't happen for Lane Hudson, less of a reason for Schaefer. But even if they do replicate what they did this season ago, Schaefer was the ninth ranked defenseman. Hudson was the tenth ranked defenseman to Dulleyne being the sixth ranked defenseman. And Dulleyne did it in five fewer games, as I mentioned. He was the number five defenseman on fantasy points per game. Schaefer and Hudson were 14 and 16 if you're keeping count at home. Both of those guys do carry some regression risk. As we mentioned, Hudson with his 15% on ice shooting percentage and leading all defensemen in on ice goals scored above expected.

43:40Schaefer obviously, he shot 10.4%. So I think that goals are probably got something to give back. I think that's the easiest climb. But regardless, the market is asking you to pay price 20 for Hudson, 32 for Schaefer, for two players who need everything to go right again, just to match what Dulleyne does in his sleep. Now, I talked about, I like Hudson, I like Schaefer. It's not a knock on either gate. It's that Dulleyne is missed price. And to me, there is still untapped offensive potential here too. Obviously, we've also seen Buffalo improve. There's one in the division last year. But Buffalo still sucks on the power play. They ranked 21st, 24th and 29th on the power play in the last three seasons. And it's held Dulleyne outside the top 12 at the position and power play points each of those seasons. He is producing top five value in fantasy with a bottom third power play to work with. If Buffalo finishes 26, 27 with above average power play, Dulleyne will easily finish above a point per game and potentially fight for the crown of the number one fantasy defenseman

44:40going basically at the two three turn. I absolutely love the value here with Ross Mustulleyne. Now, I do want to shed a little bit of light too because one of my must-draft players, I was pushing back and forth on which one to go with Dulleyne. The other one for me is Roman Yosey. He is still a top 10 fantasy defenseman. His ADP is like 76. Let me just pull up the actual ADP so I don't miss quote. I've got him ranked 10th. He lands at the number 14 defenseman for us. He's the number 15 defenseman off the board, 78.680P. Yosey is an absolute steal. I think that if you want to go the route of loading up on forwards early, maybe you don't even want to take Dulleyne to the third. You want to just keep loading up because the forwards keep dropping to you. Yosey is the perfect target. He was still, I think, sixth and fantasy points per game. I should let me again just double check because I don't want to miss speak because he, obviously, the pots and the injury risk is real with Yosey and his advanced age here.

45:43He was still just an absolute stud while he was in line up like your ninth. Excuse me, in fantasy points per game last year, sixth and second year before that. Yosey being a 50 defenseman off the board is outrageous to me. I like him inside my top 10. I couldn't decide between the two. I love the Dulleyne case. If you want to wait even longer on defenseman, Yosey is an absolute steal and pick up as well. Beeps, any thoughts on Dulley or Roman Yosey? I love them both. They're both great options. I'm glad you went with Dulleyne because one, it needs to be pointed out just how significant this guy can take the step that Powerplay does click. Two, you've done Yosey, I think, every year for the last five years. That was part of the reason. I was like, I think I need to talk about Rwenski or Yosey every single year as a value because it happens every year. I must just be the highest Roman Yosey fantasy projector imaginable because whatever projection to make it to everybody else is using helps keep his ADP down.

46:45I'm just always like, this is the biggest value of all time. Let's get to your value. This is one where I just wanted to make Brock happy. I'm just getting this is a fantastic late value pick in your draft. Not as exciting as Raspon Stulleyne, but definitely someone you should consider if you are in a league with blocks. If you're not, if you're in a league with just hits, still hear me out here. Simon Eddinson is from Detroit. His true ADP is currently 205.9. He's been taking it 3% of leaks, so that's basically none of the drafts. But with the going incredibly early in this year's draft, it makes me believe that there's still has to be some options there late in the draft that you can kind of sneak away when while you focus on other options with those early picks. I mentioned if you're in a block sleep, there's very few sneakier options. Then, Detroit's young defenseman, Simon Eddinson. The 23 year old former sixth overall pick is taking a step forward in every one of his NHL seasons, finishing 2025, 2026 as one of 43 D-Men across the entire league with 9

47:46plus goals, but also one of eight total defensemen in the entire, no, eight total players, sorry, 9 defensemen, in the entire league to finish with 140 plus, or 140 plus blocks and 9 plus goals. If you are in one of the leagues that 75% of our people who did reach out to our poll are in, he can sneakily steal a category like blocks for you week after week without people even knowing that you drafted him because you could take him at the end. Meanwhile, he did all of that while putting up 94 hits, so he's over hit for game. He does bang and he's doing it with very limited ice time so far. Last year, he averaged 2221, which for defenseman is very, very average. But as he continues to grow into a bigger role, Indicterate, improve that he can be the asset that he is in 5v5 hockey, he was plus 24, by the way, in the last two seasons combined. He's just one step away from being an even more elite fantasy option, being considered in leagues that don't even count blocks, it don't even count hits.

48:46So for a guy who's already flirting with, he already shows this offensive upside and has all these other categories that he does fill, it shows that at the end of your draft, you could take a chance on him. If he doesn't hit, who cares? You draft him at the end, just pick up the next hottest defenseman. If he does hit, though, this is a guy who can be a very strong player on your team throughout the season and one who's going to demand more than 2221 minutes of ice every game. So I really like him as far as, like I said, a value pick. One part where you're going to look at him and people are kind of straying away is the 88 shots in goal last year. It's not great. It's definitely not great. But with an increase in that and the ice time, as I mentioned, he can flirt with the mid 100 shots on goal. If he had nine last year off 88 shots on goal, it shows that his, his rip from that back end is actually quite elite. So let's get a few more shots on net. So I'm an Edvinson. Keep doing what you do with the blocks because you're an absolute wall. And I'm going to sit here and draft you as my fourth defenseman off the board if I have a 4D league and blocks. So it's just a, it's a safe, sneaky, late pick.

49:48It's obviously not as sexy as Erasmus Dulleyne, but these are the guys you have to consider when you know you're choosing between garbage basically at the bottom of your draft. So you might as well take someone who can help the category Brock mentioned it yesterday with a guy like Alex Tuck, where you're staying away from and he said, you know, he can help you if you're draft them for blocks. But let's say you get someone who has way more offensive upside than Alex Tuck at that part of the draft. You're still looking for blocks, draft Simon Evans. And with your last pick, you're set. You're in a better spot. So this is just someone I really wanted to shout out, someone who stood out. And with so many D realistically going higher than they should, it was hard to find some value picks here. So Simon Evans, and come on down. I'm looking for a big year for you this year as you continue just to show that you're very good, very good defenseman. Yeah. And he really started to come into his own second half last year, started to take on really, really heavy minutes, you know, almost 24 minutes a night. The second half last season, he was on pace for mid 30s and points. He was on pace for 175 blocks, 100 plus hits.

50:48So he can certainly fill out some categories for you as basically the last pick in your draft. My breakout for this season, I talked about it, I've written about it. I'm all in on the devils from a fancy perspective. They're all going way too late and Luke Hughes, ADP is 158.6. This is true ADP. He's going ADP 135.4 draft in just 68% of leagues. I have him ranked 178th way ahead of ADP. Now, look, he's been solid through his first three NHL seasons. He's averaged 42 points, seven goals, 35 assists per season. And a few things are setting him up for a monster 26, 27. Last season, his ice time jumped from 21 minutes to 9 seconds per game to 23 minutes and one second per game. And his shot rate climbed to a career high 5.7 shots on goal per 60, producing a career high 150 shots on goal despite missing 14 games. So all the inputs, the time on ice, the shot volume, everything rose except for the

51:50results. The reason the results didn't climb is because as I've mentioned a hundred times in these first few episodes, the devils ran absolutely ice-cold all season. I mean, outrageously cold. The top four players in the NHL in on ice goal scored below expected were all New Jersey devils and Luke Hughes's 35.5 goal scored below expected was the worst mark of any defense in the league. And his own shooting told the exact same story. He was top 10 among defenseman in expected goals per game. Third most goal scored below expected at minus 7.3. No defenseman had a more snakebitten season, not a single one. So ordinary puck luck alone spikes the goals and assist this season. But then you factor in the power play. Last year, he and Dougie Hamilton essentially split PP one time all season despite Hughes grading as the better power play quarterback by almost every single metric. He was generating more scoring chances. He was generating more expected goals for himself.

52:53It's really not a competition. It's just like the devil's just got to give it the stamp of approval and be like, this is our power play one quarterback. It's not you anymore, Dougie. So if that split becomes his outright once again, the floodgates open. We just need better puck luck. We need a little bit more power play usage. And like this guy is honestly the limit. The surface totals are doing us a favor. He hasn't really had that break out. You're yet. I'm convinced it's coming this year that 80 is a joke. He's only being drafted in 66% of leagues. I've got him near my top 100 and an a third of draft from over a third of draft from basically. He's just a for agent. He's just sitting there. He's 23 year old defenseman whose both his brothers are absolute stallions. He's playing 23 minutes a night. He has elite lock rebound. He has a PP1 case just waiting for him and he's basically free to you. He is one of, if not my favorite draft pick in all of fantasy hockey this year. I absolutely am all in on Luke Hughes.

53:55Any thoughts on Luke or do you want to just get straight to your break out? No, let's not forget. There was a player in New Jersey last year who said his name a few times who demanded a trade request and then pulled it back. I was Dougy Hamilton and that's a guy who, if things start to go awry again this year, what's stopping him from doing that and actually wanting out this year saying I'm out. When he does, you need to have your eyes on Luke Hughes for off-mail there. When he steps into all those roles, he becomes elite. It's a guy who I think people have kind of been banking on for a few seasons. Maybe it's just a little late to break out, little late to it, but a little slower to it. I like this one a lot. You just find your case for all of the New Jersey boys. They're definitely probably the team that's most slept on. I think here. We're going to keep shouting them out and I got to support Luke Hughes' pick and if I could get him late in my draft, I'm going to definitely do that. Especially if I'm sitting at 130 and I only have two team in, this is a great way to close out my defense. Oh, such a good number of three defensemen that could easily be a number two possibly a

54:57number one if it goes perfect and it's just such a steal. But who's your break out? Oh, I'm excited about this one. It's Philip Broberg in St. Louis. Last year, it was an addition by subtraction for Broberg because during the 2025, 2026 season, he started to break out once Justin Falk left town at the trade deadline and that 20 became basically fantasy relevant. From that day forward, Broberg took over. St. Louis's power play one unit and he put up an eye popping three goals, 13 points, five power play points and a plus, 14 plus minus across 20 games played. That pace across 82 games would have had him at 12 goals, 54 points and 20th amongst NHL defensemen in points right there with names like Adam Fox. So enter 2022, 2026, 27 and Broberg finds himself at the exact same spot he was in at the end of last year. Although he has one more option kind of surrounding them on the top power play in Mason, established. So just another option to be around him. Broberg has kind of taken a step forward each year in St. Louis and he is proving that he

56:02can be there D1 to be leaned on for the future. He has some, I mean Logan Mayus behind him there. It's a little bit of pressure to knock him off the top power play. But as far as things have gone previously and we saw in that 20 game sample, he can provide offense. He can be that power play one quarterback. And if he is, you're going to get an absolute steal around the 159 or sorry, 150 pick mark because at that point in the draft, people are drafting guys that are like, basically the Simon Edwards. They're drafting the block heavy guys, the guys who fill one category. Well, Philip Broberg kind of takes a lot of the offense can become a guy who takes a lot of the offensive categories. Another thing is he blocked shots as well. He was 88th in the NHL last year and blocked shots across a full season. Maybe solid if you're in one of those leagues. So you can draft him basically for points, power play points plus minus and blocks and do that at the very end of your draft. So I really like this guy going forward. There's a reason that St. Louis snaked him away from Edmonton years ago and it's kind

57:05of crazy to see the player that he is becoming. I mean, I needed to see a few more shots on goal for him just to basically justify the fantasy production. But even still he's proven that well. He's out there while he's on that top power play. I'm super high on Jimmy Sniggered. I'm super high on Robert Thomas. I think he's fantastic to a player. So I'm right there at Philip Broberg. They're not the sexiest options off the board, but they are guys that have that potential to take the next step forward. And as we're talking about with Luke Hughes, it's, you know, you draft them as you're 30 or 40, man, they have potential to become your demon too. That's what you like to do. It's a lot better than taking an old veteran like a drew doubty or something at this point and knowing what you're going to get. I'd much rather Philip Broberg take the chances and lower risk high reward. If he doesn't work out earlier, if he gets bumped off that power play, schoom off of the next guy. It's no biggie. I wonder how Edmonton or other fans are feeling watching Broberg is hollowly just absolutely thrive. Okay. Let's get to the ADPs to avoid before we close up today's show. And my ADP to avoid is Darren radish of the Toronto Maple Leafs ADP is currently 50.8.

58:11Now there's no denying that radish had an unbelievable 2026 season 22 goals. 70 points, 212 shots, 26 power play points and a top five fantasy finish at the position. And I still think that radish is a good talent and it was an absolutely great get by the Maple Leafs. The issue I have is draft day cost. First of all, he's probably not scoring 20 goals again. He shot 10.5% and scored 4.6 goals above expected last year, the third most among all defensive. Additionally, of his 22 goals, Nikita Kutraoff had the primary assist on 14 of them, including 9 of 10 power play goals. Now that may be something that may be nothing, but Kutraoff at the end of the day is one of the best set up men in the NHL and it certainly may have an impact. Obviously the Leafs got some quality talents there as well, but they don't have a Nikita Kutraoff. They don't have a guy that's going to put up 85 assists. So I do think it's going to have an impact. When I tweeted this out, we had some people reach out and be like, yeah, but some of his

59:12passes, those primary assist were just like, and then radish is bombed in the rest. I'm not saying he's not going to score any goals this year. I'm just saying that he's probably due for a little bit of regression because of the numbers, because you're losing Kutraoff, they all add up. And to me, the cost is just too high to take that gamble for me. I have him ranked around his ADP. You see it on screen here, 82 ADP is 50.4. My rank is 52, but I also have Merit Sider, Adam Fox and Jit Sanderson ranked ahead of him, and they are all being drafted after radish. And I think you can get almost the exact same production. If not better, from the guy I mentioned earlier with Roman Yosey, 28 picks later. My projections actually like Roman Yosey better than Taren radish, 28 picks later. So I think there's that, but then there's also the forwards that you would have to pass on to take radish at pick 50. Why not wait 28 picks take Yosey as the defenseman and clean up some of these forwards around

1:00:12pick 50 like a Philip Forrestburg, like an Adrian Kempe or like an all of a sudden, maybe a little bit more healthy than we thought Connor Bidard, who I mentioned, would have been my breakout candidate if he hadn't got hurt the offseason at the center position. He is prime for a big year. If he's a little bit earlier yesterday, if he's going to return a little bit earlier, we're going to see Bidard climb our rankings. We're going to see him climb ADP. But if he, I think he's right around 62 right now, if he gets around 50, then it's like, what are we taking Daren radish for when we can take Connor Bidard? So yeah, I like the talent. I think he's still going to have a pretty good year. I mean, the projections like him still 13 goals, 60 points, 47 assists. The power play points, you know, still the 89th percentile. Like this isn't a bad asset. It's just the cost is a little bit too rich when there's other defenseman going later that I have ranked higher. And then you're patched on some really, really good forwards. So to me, it's an ADP to avoid not necessarily a player to avoid. If he drops to pick 60 or 64, then absolutely scoop him up.

1:01:13So yeah, just the ADP to avoid not so much the player. And he thoughts on radish before we close at the show with your ADP to avoid. I can't say anything negative about this man. He brought me to like four different fantasy finals last year. So I do think you nailed it though. With this segment is called ADPs to avoid. It's not guys we don't want to draft. It's not players we don't think are talented. People we don't think will put up the fantasy numbers. It's ADPs to avoid. And with that, I would like to transition to my pick. We said we wouldn't talk about Lane Hudson. So I'm going to go after a brother, whole Hudson in Washington. And for me, again, it's ADPs to avoid. He's currently going at a true ADP of 90.8. And for me, it's just way too rich. So despite having just 14 career games to his name, Cole Hudson's being taken as the 20th defenseman off the board, as I mentioned at a true ADP of 90.8. With defense carrying different levels of value, depending on your league, a top 90 pick for a defenseman,

1:02:15likely to average close to 20 minutes per night. It's just something that I cannot get behind. At this point in drafts, there's just way more safer options, basically at every position, including defenseman, that you can get. And yes, he has that massive ceiling. But there's way safer floors. And with defenseman, sometimes all I want is floor. It's a nice floor that I can depend on, especially with the 90th pick. I think that it's just way too risky of a take right here. There's a lot of other guys that I would like to lean on. One reason for that is because he just doesn't fall into a great spot in Washington's depth chart. Well, we saw him put up 10 points across 14 games last year during that mini spell that he did give us. Washington's coming into this year with new signings. They're coming in with Jacob Chitren atop their power play. I know there's a lot of people who are questioning if that'll happen. How do you take the guy who led defenseman and goals off the top power play? You don't. And Cole Hudson might be the defenseman of the future offensively.

1:03:18But I just don't see that happening as easily this season. If he's not getting the 24, 25 minutes a night, he's a guy who doesn't necessarily fill every category much like his brother. He's not a high shot volume guy yet. He might be. He's not going to get a ton of hits. He might get a few blocks here and there. But at 90.8, you get someone who is just a way clear category filler and just be a little bit more comfortable with it and not be upset if Cole Hudson does find himself on the outskirts of getting a lot of minutes in Washington, getting only protected minutes. And you have to drop him off your fantasy team. That's not something you want to do with the top 100 pick, especially if you're in an even bigger league. So for me, it's just a scary take here. It seems like it's kind of not like our other episodes. It's like Port Mertona. I love the player. I love what they do. The eye test is fantastic. But at that point in the draft, they're just safer options with similar, similar floors and ceilings that are just,

1:04:18as I mentioned, well, not similar floors. High, much higher floors, these safe options. So for me, Cole Hudson just doesn't quite push the needle enough to put him here at this point. If he does premiere on this year, I'd actually be very happy with that. That's fantastic. It's just there are other guys on Powerplay ones in the on top defensive units, getting 25 minutes a night, likely to put up close to 150 to 200 shots in gold. That I'm just much more comfortable with who are hitting. So for me, it's just, it's too sweet of an ADP. I hate to kind of crap on these young players because they are so exciting. But we've seen rookies year after year, not give us the fantasy production that we maybe expected or that we hope for. So there's things called growing pains. And it's going to happen. And if a guy taken at 90.8 has growing pains, you're not normally going to get the value you want out of them. So sorry, Cole Hudson. I probably won't be taking you at that point. Yeah. It just seems a little rich. I think, yeah, who's a rank of 112

1:05:19is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. He has drifted back a touch, but one and a half spots. And I think that we can see him drop a little bit more as we continue to go throughout September. I just, yeah, I think he's a great prospect. Is it getting, like he played, I think, over two minutes on the Powerplay last year. So he's going to have a role there. But I, you know, is he going to just completely take over for Jacob Chikren? Probably not. At the same time, Jacob Chikren was very close to me and my ADP to avoid for this exact reason. Completely fair. I think that both of these guys, like one of them is going to work out. One of them probably not. And if it ends, I just don't want to get caught either way. Yeah. And I think it's just both or two high of picks to take the gamble realistically. I think if it's just kind of a lot of what we saw last year where it's Chikren early, I think Hudson's a guy that could struggle out of the gate and find himself on the waiver wire and could end up being a great waiver wire pick up next year. Is that going to happen for sure? Certainly not. I just like, I think that there's a path to that happening if it's Chikren's show to start the season and things just get off to a slow starting.

1:06:21I'm like, okay, well, obviously this isn't Hudson's year. But, you know, 10 points in 14 games was a solid start. He shot 13.6% to get there. You know, the assist numbers were good. I don't think it's super sustainable. We'll see how it goes. But yeah, I think that one of Hudson or Chikren is going to be a tough pick in fantasy this year. I just don't know which one for sure. But that is going to do it for this edition of the DFO fantasy show four of five positional previews down. One to go, we've got the goalies coming up soon. And we will see you guys back here then. Also, keep an eye out for my mock draft series. As I mentioned earlier in the show, when we do any mock draft using the DFO fantasy hockey mock draft tool from every pick one through 12 outlining the best strategies to attack ADP and try to maximize your team and who the best sleepers are and all that. So it's going to be a really fun series. We're going to start at one, work our way to 12. I'm rock, so you can as always, we've got the use bond. We'll see you back here for the goalies next. Thanks for watching this video. If you want more great fantasy hockey and betting content

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