In the fantasy hockey hierarchy, defencemen are at the bottom and are the most easily replaceable asset. There is one exception to the rule, though. The truly elite, prolific, young defender is a fantasy asset worth coveting.

The major issue for most fantasy hockey players is that there are not nearly enough of those types to go around. I'm talking about the guys pushing a point-per-game-plus. Really, there are only two that you can set your watches to -- Cale Makar and Adam Fox.

Sure, Roman Josi is clicking at a career pace. Victor Hedman remains absurdly good, and has the skill to maintain respectably totals for a few years still. The same is true of Kris Letang. None of these players is on the right side of their ageing curve, though, so who knows how long they'll keep that up.

Devon Toews is clearly a unique talent by managing his production without top power play assignments, but he could prove volatile long-term. Tony DeAngelo is enigmatic but seems to offer significant value when he keeps his mouth shut and stays healthy, but he's on a one-year deal and there's no telling what the future holds there.

As you can see, it's no easy feat to land a locked-in superstar defender. 

It means finding that highly impactful defender is about as easy as finding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Some people will spend their fantasy hockey-playing lives looking for one such player. Sometimes, you need a little luck.

So it seemed like a good idea to help out the EP Rinkside faithful in their pursuit of this type of player. We're looking at defencemen who have the upside and the favourable environments necessary to string together some highly, highly productive seasons.

Each of these players listed has the upside to get there but also comes with a handful of qualifiers and red flags that could get in the way of things.