5 Under-the-Radar Defensemen for 2024 Playoff Pools

Does defense really win championships? Maybe. 

Is that going to take you over the top in your NHL playoff pools? Probably not. 

You know what wins fantasy hockey playoff pools? Offense from defense! 

Yes, this all makes sense but what do you do when all the top dogs are drafted? No Quinn Hughes or Cale Makar? No Adam Fox or Miro Heiskanen? No problem! 

We’ve got you covered here with five under-the-radar defensemen who will be incredibly valuable to your fantasy squads. 

Let’s dive in.

(All advanced stats courtesy naturalstattrick.com)

Mattias Ekholm, D, Oilers

When you think of the mighty Oilers, you think of all of their top stars: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman and Evan Bouchard were all staples on the number one power play unit, and rightfully so. 

Bouchard in particular, had an outstanding year from the back end. He popped 82 points in 81 games with massive power play numbers, as expected. 

But, would it surprise you to know that at 5-on-5, Ekholm posted better shot and chance generation numbers than Bouchard? You better believe it. 

While Ekholm didn’t get a sniff on PP1, he quietly put together the highest point total of his career at 33 years old with 45 points in 79 games. At all strengths, Ekholm was 21st among all defensemen in SOG/60 and 20th in iSCF/60 (individual scoring chances for per 60 minutes), besting studs such as Quinn Hughes, Noah Dobson and Miro Heiskanen. In summary, the offensive side of Ekholm’s game is vastly underrated. 

With the playoffs so tightly contested, we need to prioritize players who have a history of creating offense and chances in all situations, and Ekholm provided that in spades. Ekholm’s standout ability to enter the zone with control has directly led to scoring chances, as evidenced by Corey Szjnader’s All Three Zones project. 

Entries with scoring chances are an excellent indicator of an offensive catalyst, not to mention he is passing pucks to two of the top-five players in the league.

Ekholm you can be had for one-third of the cost of a player such as Bouchard, and Ekholm is well worth your middle-round draft capital.

Brady Skjei, D, Hurricanes

The Hurricanes continue to be the darlings of the analytics world when it comes to team metrics. They finished first overall in CF/60 (70.21 shot attempts per 60 minutes) and in CA/60 (48.25 shot attempts against per 60 minutes) for the second straight season. 

Head coach Rod Brind'Amour has a system that tilts the ice significantly in their favor, and they now have more offensive depth with the addition of Jake Guentzel and third-year forward Seth Jarvis taking another step in his development.

Lost in the noise of all this team success, is another solid season by stalwart Skjei. He's a perennial threat to score double-digit goals and to play big minutes in all situations. He gets reasonable deployment with the second power play unit,  but that isn’t where his bread is buttered. 

Skjei is as defensively sound as they come, and he's equally adept at retrieving and moving the puck; his entries with chances per 60 minutes is well above league average. 

Long story short, Skjei is doing all the right things to be productive and his deployment isn’t going to change. At all strengths, he was 17th overall in SOG/60 and 20th in iCF/60 (individual shot attempts for). 

He chucks pucks with the best of them and you won’t have to sell the farm to draft him. The Hurricanes are looking to translate their regular-season success into playoff success and I believe they are primed to do it. 

Thomas Harley, D, Stars 

The 22-year-old rearguard came out of nowhere this campaign and turned a lot of heads on his way to a 47-point season in 79 games, including 15 goals. 

Workhorse Miro Heiskanen has gotten his flowers and accolades, but what of Harley? 

People don’t realize how good Harley really is. Ekholm and Skjei produce a lot of offense from one-timers and high-danger passes, but Harley likes to take matters into his own hands. The Stars created most of their offense by getting the puck deep and cycling, and Harley has found a key role in that system. 

In a lot of cases, he is the one leading the charge into the offensive zone, which has led an elite level of chances. The Stars' top players, such as Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski, thrive in this type of system. 

Knowing Harley is the one leading the charge, as opposed to playing a complementary role, gives me comfort and confidence in his ability to produce points. His S% and IPP (Individual Point Percentage) – metrics based on a healthy dose of luck – were both redlining this season. 

Harley may regress next season, but we are still talking about this season and, heading into the playoffs, he has six assists in his past five games and appears to be firing on all cylinders. Draft Harley with confidence. 

Gustav Forsling, D, Panthers

Always the bridesmaid, but never the bride. 

Forsling is another underrated rearguard when it comes to fantasy, but he really shouldn’t be. Granted, he did have a slow start to the year with only one assist in his first 10 games, but he finished strong with 38 points in the final 69 games. 

At the start of the season, it appeared that Forsling would be the beneficiary of Brandon Montour's absence and head up the top power play unit, but that role ultimately went to veteran Oliver Ekman-Larsson. 

Still, that didn’t stop Forsling from playing big minutes and generating a ton of shots on goal, finishing 46th among defensemen in SOG/60 and 37th in iCF/60 skating on PP2. He also led the entire league in plus/minus – a stat that usually has limited importance when valuing players – but at a whopping plus-55, we have to take notice. 

Forsling’s defensive contributions assisted the Panthers in finishing tied-first overall in goals against. You could do a lot worse than Forsling and it is more than likely that he bests his eight points from last year's playoffs. 

Neal Pionk, D, Jets

Pionk has been the model of consistency with point totals of 33, 33, 34 and 32 over the past four seasons, all while toiling away on the second power play unit behind Josh Morrissey. 

And Pionk's doing this despite the decline in efficiency in shooting percentage from 7 percent in 2022-23 to just 3.4 percent in 2023-24. This is a nice bonus because if Pionk reverts back to the mean, he might score more points. 

However, where Pionk really shines is in the peripheral categories. In 82 games, he detonated the league for 222 hits and 118 blocks. Players such as Pionk have value because even if they don’t get any points, their floors are quite high due to their physical play. Pionk has a history of elevating his game in the playoffs, and if you look at what he’s been able to do over the past couple of seasons, it makes him even more promising. 

In the 2023 playoffs, Pionk notched seven assists in just five games and, in the previous playoffs, provided four assists in eight games while playing massive minutes. The only issue with Pionk is the Jets-Avalanche series looks extremely close. 

It will be a difficult one to predict but, thankfully, you won’t have to spend a lot of draft capital to get this absolute unit on your fantasy squad. 

Blake Creamer is a host of the Apples and Ginos Fantasy Hockey Podcast. You can follow him on X (formerly known as Twitter) @BlakeCreamerAG.