Top 5 D after Karlsson and Burns...

[Wonko]

The Montour part was a joke but the other three were not. Pietrangelo had 18 points in the last 20 games of the regular season last year. The last quarter of the season was the same time that Shattenkirk was no longer on the Blues. I think Pietrangelo scores at that pace for the upcoming season which would put him at 60+ points which should be 3rd in the NHL for dmen scoring. The other two are proven offensive talents.

I agree Alex is in a better situation now that he has been given the reigns to the #1 PP, but saying a guy whose career high is 51 points now scores 60 + is a tad bit optimistic. I think low 50's is his ceiling if he continues to get the brunt of the first power play unit. Extrapolating a whole seasons production from 20 games will bite you in the butt more times than not I think. Also, it would not surprise me if Parayko gets a few looks on PP #1 this season as well which would eat into some of Pietrangelo's prime time.

[Bass56]

Letang (if he's healthy, he's easily number 3 behind EK and Burns)
Josi (I think he's the total package and he takes it a step further this year)
Hedman (unlike Josi, I think Hedman takes a small step back but still remains in elite territory)
Klingberg (he should bounce back)
Subban (same as Kling)

HM: OEL and Shattenkirk

[MrSandals]

Hedman and Klingberg are the two I would feel most confident about.

[yougo]

Letang (if he's healthy, he's easily number 3 behind EK and Burns)
Josi (I think he's the total package and he takes it a step further this year)
Hedman (unlike Josi, I think Hedman takes a small step back but still remains in elite territory)
Klingberg (he should bounce back)
Subban (same as Kling)

HM: OEL and Shattenkirk

I like these. I think I'd switch Josi with Klingberg(that Stars PP is gonna be so dangerous with Radulov added to it).

Letang
Klingberg
Hedman
Shattenkirk
Josi/Subban (I think Laviolette wakes up this summer and realizes he lost the chance to win the Stanley Cup by not putting PK and Josi on the same PP unit)

[MrSandals]

Letang is a 40 point defenseman when you factor in his injuries.

[RizzeeDizzee]

I think it's probably Hedman, Letang, and Josi

[Rockies & Hockeys]

PPG - Letang wins. Just a matter of injuries. I like Klinger's situation and potential going forward. I personally think Hedman is going to regress, but no fancy stats to back that up. I just think this was as sort of dream year for him (still near the top though).

[MrSandals]

I don't get it. Injuries with Letang are being waved off like they are not big deal. His history suggests he is a lock to miss games and because of that his average points over the last 5 seasons is 40 points per season.

[Wonko]

I don't get it. Injuries with Letang are being waved off like they are not big deal. His history suggests he is a lock to miss games and because of that his average points over the last 5 seasons is 40 points per season.

True Sandals, he has only averaged approximately 40 points a year over the last 5 seasons, but his value depends on your league settings. Most importantly, whether or not your league has reserve spots. If a lesser defender can be slotted in easily and readily when Letang is absent that adds a huge component to his value. You now get his elite ppg average plus a mediocre defends ppg averaged together leaving you with what is still a very valuable fantasy asset overall in most cases.

It also depends if you league counts hits, shots, and blocked shots because Letang is a monster and fills these categories like nobodies business.

At the end of the day, like I always say, you gotta know your league setting well. In some leagues Letang holds good value, in others, not so much.

[MrSandals]

Very true. I suppose if you have a healthy amount of IR spots available, as well as the ability to stream in some decent back end production when Letang is hurt, then it's doable. I just wouldn't want to bother with that all of that if you have other options that don't require that type of juggling to get that kind of production or better.

[hockeyrobot]

Like the inclusion of OEL here. I go...

Hedman
Letang
OEL
Josi
Shattenkirk
Subban

[MrSandals]

Hi hockeyrobot. Why Letang given his constant injuries?

[Call of Doughty]

EK
Burns
Heds

Shatts
Kling.
Hamilton
Buff.

honorable mentions to keith, krug, josi, ap, risto and oel.

[yougo]

Hi hockeyrobot. Why Letang given his constant injuries?

You still don't get it? Letang is like a .90 ppg player when healthy, depending on your league , you can get 40pts in like 45 games then replace him with a 25-30pts D(or whoever is on a hot streak) and get 55+ pts. And when healthy, he's the 2nd best D to own.

In 2015-16 and 2014-15 he was the 3rd most valuable D in my format, yet he only played 71 games and 69 games. He's that good.

[MrSandals]

You still don't get it? Letang is like a .90 ppg player when healthy, depending on your league , you can get 40pts in like 45 games then replace him with a 25-30pts D(or whoever is on a hot streak) and get 55+ pts. And when healthy, he's the 2nd best D to own.

In 2015-16 and 2014-15 he was the 3rd most valuable D in my format, yet he only played 71 games and 69 games. He's that good.

You keep saying 'When he is healthy'. I have zero reason to believe that will actually happen. Health is a factor in determining value to a player, and in Letang's case it's a huge factor. To ignore that is not a very good way to evaluate players in my opinion. The OP asked for top 5 D based on straight points. In a straight points league you should be drafting Letang as a 40-50 point blueliner if you're being honest with yourself. To do otherwise is to overvalue the player. Letang is not even a top 10 D based on that.