Our final pre-season forward rankings.
| RK | PLAYER | POS | TREND | UPSIDE | AGE | DOB | |
| 1 | Connor McDavid, EDM | C | - | 150 pts | 25.1 | 1/13/1997 | |
| 2 | Leon Draisaitl, EDM | C/LW | - | 140 pts | 26.3 | 10/27/1995 | |
| 3 | Nathan MacKinnon, COL | C | - | 130 pts | |||
| 4 | Auston Matthews, TOR | C | - | 120 pts | 24.4 | 9/17/1997 | |
| 6 | Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA | LW | 115 pts | ||||
| 5 | Nikita Kucherov, TB | RW | 125 pts | ||||
| 7 | Mikko Rantanen, COL | C/RW | 115 pts | ||||
Inspired by the now-defunct Yahoo fantasy hockey "Big Board".
| RANK | PLAYER | NOTES | PVS. | CHG. | AGE | DOB |
| TIER 1 | ||||||
| 1 | Connor McDavid, EDM | Stands alone. Art Ross threepeat? | - | - | 21.7 | 1/13/1997 |
| TIER 2 | ||||||
| 2 | Sidney Crosby, PIT | Over a pt/g in all of his 13 seasons in the NHL. | - | - | 31.2 | 8/7/1987 |
| 3 | Nikita Kucherov, TB | - | - | 25.3 | 6/17/1993 | |
| 4 | Nathan MacKinnon, COL | Second only to McDavid in pts/g last year. | - | - | 23.1 | 9/1/1995 |
| TIER 3 | ||||||
| 5 | Tyler Seguin, DAL | - | - | 26.7 | 1/31/1992 | |
| 6 | John Tavares, TOR | Will get a selection of elite wingers in Toronto. | - | - | 28.0 | 9/20/1990 |
| 7 | Evgeni Malkin, PIT | Stayed healthy, put up 98 points. | - | - | 32.2 | 7/31/1986 |
| 8 | Auston Matthews, TOR | Finally getting a spot on the top powerplay. | - | - | 21.1 | 9/17/1997 |
| 9 | Johnny Gaudreau, CGY | - | - | 25.2 | 8/13/1993 | |
| 10 | Mark Scheifele, WPG | 90+ point upside if he can stay healthy. | - | - | 25.6 | 3/15/1993 |
| 11 | Jack Eichel, BUF | If he stays healthy, should be among top Cs. | - | - | 21.9 | 10/28/1996 |
| 12 | Taylor Hall, NJ | Carries the team. Needs more help this year. | - | - | 26.9 | 11/14/1991 |
| 13 | Alex Ovechkin, WAS | Will Stanley Cup hangover effect him? | - | - | 33.1 | 9/17/1985 |
| 14 | Patrick Laine, WPG | Rocket Richard Trophy on the horizon? | - | - | 20.5 | 4/19/1998 |
| 15 | Jamie Benn, DAL | - | - | 29.2 | 7/18/1989 | |
| 16 | Steven Stamkos, TB | Slowed down after a hot start. Pt/g post All-Star. | - | - | 28.7 | 2/7/1990 |
| 17 | Patrick Kane, CHI | 76 pts in a down year. Still an Art Ross threat. | - | - | 29.9 | 11/19/1988 |
| 18 | Brad Marchand, BOS | Few are more productive. Must stay disciplined. | - | - | 30.4 | 5/11/1988 |
| 19 | Evgeny Kuznetsov, WAS | Put up 1.27 pts/g post All-Star in 2017/18. | - | - | 26.4 | 5/19/1992 |
| 20 | David Pastrnak, BOS | - | - | 22.4 | 5/25/1996 | |
| 21 | Blake Wheeler, WPG | Hit new career highs at 31. Can he repeat? | - | - | 32.1 | 8/31/1986 |
| 22 | Artemi Panarin, CBJ | - | - | 26.9 | 10/30/1991 | |
| 23 | Claude Giroux, PHI | Re-kindled offensive upside playing on the wing. | - | - | 30.7 | 1/12/1988 |
| 24 | Phil Kessel, PIT | - | - | 31.0 | 10/2/1987 | |
| 25 | Anze Kopitar, LA | - | - | 31.1 | 8/24/1987 | |
| 26 | Vladimir Tarasenko, STL | Recovering from surgery; slow start is possible. | - | - | 26.8 | 12/13/1991 |
| 27 | Nicklas Backstrom, WAS | - | - | 30.9 | 11/23/1987 | |
| 28 | Mitch Marner, TOR | Expected to line up on JT's wing. | - | - | 21.4 | 5/5/1997 |
| 29 | Leon Draisaitl, EDM | - | - | 22.9 | 10/27/1995 | |
| 30 | Jakub Voracek, PHI | - | - | 29.1 | 8/15/1989 | |
| 31 | Alexander Barkov, FLA | - | - | 23.1 | 9/2/1995 | |
| 32 | Mathew Barzal, NYI | Will have to face top pairing D with no Tavares. | - | - | 21.4 | 5/26/1997 |
| 33 | Mikko Rantanen, COL | - | - | 21.9 | 10/29/1996 | |
| 34 | Filip Forsberg, NAS | - | - | 24.2 | 8/13/1994 | |
| 35 | Ryan Getzlaf, ANH | - | - | 33.4 | 5/10/1985 |
| TIER 4 | ||||||
| 36 | Vincent Trocheck, FLA | - | - | 25.2 | 7/11/1993 | |
| 37 | Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG | Upside may be stunted by other options in WPG. | - | - | 22.6 | 2/14/1996 |
| 38 | Sean Monahan, CGY | - | - | 24.0 | 10/12/1994 | |
| 39 | Clayton Keller, AZ | Few NHLers with his skill. Keep a close watch. | - | - | 20.2 | 7/29/1998 |
| 40 | Brayden Schenn, STL | - | - | 27.1 | 8/22/1991 | |
| 41 | Max Pacioretty, VGK | Relieved of captaincy burden; poised for big year. | - | - | 29.9 | 11/20/1988 |
| 42 | Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA | - | - | 25.3 | 6/4/1993 | |
| 43 | William Nylander, TOR | - | - | 22.4 | 5/1/1996 | |
| 44 | Alex Radulov, DAL | - | - | 32.3 | 7/5/1986 | |
| 45 | Joe Pavelski, SJ | - | - | 34.2 | 7/11/1984 | |
| 46 | Patrice Bergeron, BOS | - | - | 33.2 | 7/24/1985 | |
| 47 | Logan Couture, SJ | - | - | 29.5 | 3/28/1989 | |
| 48 | William Karlsson, VGK | Last year was a revelation. Can he duplicate? | - | - | 25.7 | 1/8/1993 |
| 49 | Jaden Schwartz, STL | - | - | 26.3 | 6/25/1992 | |
| 50 | Mark Stone, OTT | - | - | 26.4 | 5/13/1992 | |
| 51 | Jonathan Marchessault, VGK | - | - | 27.8 | 12/27/1990 | |
| 52 | Brock Boeser, VAN | Rookie season derailed by injuries. Big upside. | - | - | 21.6 | 2/25/1997 |
| 53 | Mikael Granlund, MIN | - | - | 26.6 | 2/26/1992 | |
| 54 | Sean Couturier, PHI | - | - | 25.8 | 12/7/1992 | |
| 55 | James van Riemsdyk, PHI | Returns for second tour of duty in Philly. | - | - | 29.4 | 5/4/1989 |
| 56 | Rickard Rakell, ANH | - | - | 25.4 | 5/5/1993 | |
| 57 | Mike Hoffman, FLA | - | - | 28.9 | 11/24/1989 | |
| 58 | Gabriel Landeskog, COL | - | - | 25.9 | 11/23/1992 | |
| 59 | Sebastian Aho, CAR | - | - | 21.2 | 7/26/1997 | |
| 60 | Teuvo Teravainen, CAR | - | - | 24.1 | 9/11/1994 | |
| 61 | Jeff Carter, LA | - | - | 33.8 | 1/1/1985 | |
| 62 | Brayden Point, TB | Forcing his way up a crowded depth chart. | - | - | 22.6 | 3/13/1996 |
| 63 | Viktor Arvidsson, NAS | - | - | 25.5 | 4/8/1993 |
| TIER 5 | ||||||
| 64 | Nico Hischier, NJ | - | - | 19.8 | 1/4/1999 | |
| 65 | Jordan Eberle, NYI | - | - | 28.4 | 5/15/1990 | |
| 66 | Ryan O'Reilly, STL | - | - | 27.7 | 2/7/1991 | |
| 67 | Alex Galchenyuk, AZ | - | - | 24.6 | 2/12/1994 | |
| 68 | Anders Lee, NYI | 40 might be hard to repeat with no Tavares. | - | - | 28.3 | 7/3/1990 |
| 69 | Jeff Skinner, BUF | May be primed for a big season paired with Eichel. | - | - | 26.4 | 5/16/1992 |
| 70 | Kyle Connor, WPG | - | - | 21.8 | 12/9/1996 | |
| 71 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM | Big upside if he sticks on McDavid's wing. | - | - | 25.5 | 4/12/1993 |
| 72 | Eric Staal, MIN | - | - | 33.9 | 10/29/1984 | |
| 73 | Kyle Palmieri, NJ | - | - | 27.7 | 2/1/1991 | |
| 74 | Ryan Johansen, NAS | - | - | 26.2 | 7/31/1992 | |
| 75 | Alex DeBrincat, CHI | - | - | 20.8 | 12/18/1997 | |
| 76 | Derek Stepan, AZ | - | - | 28.3 | 6/18/1990 | |
| 77 | Nazem Kadri, TOR | Slots in as the 3C, but still a fixture on the PP. | - | - | 28.0 | 10/6/1990 |
| 78 | Dylan Larkin, DET | - | - | 22.2 | 7/30/1996 | |
| 79 | Matt Duchene, OTT | - | - | 27.7 | 1/16/1991 | |
| 80 | Ilya Kovalchuk, LA | Returns to the NHL at 35. Does he still have it? | - | - | 35.5 | 4/15/1983 |
| 81 | Mika Zibanejad, NYR | - | - | 25.5 | 4/18/1993 | |
| 82 | Sam Reinhart, BUF | - | - | 22.9 | 11/6/1995 | |
| 83 | Evgenii Dadonov, FLA | - | - | 29.6 | 3/12/1989 | |
| 84 | Wayne Simmonds, PHI | - | - | 30.1 | 8/26/1988 | |
| 85 | Jonathan Toews, CHI | - | - | 30.4 | 4/29/1988 | |
| 86 | Jake Guentzel, PIT | Scores more in the playoffs for some reason. | - | - | 24.0 | 10/6/1994 |
| 87 | Bo Horvat, VAN | - | - | 23.5 | 4/5/1995 | |
| 88 | Jonathan Drouin, MTL | Back on the wing where he belongs. | - | - | 23.5 | 3/28/1995 |
| 89 | J.T. Miller, TB | - | - | 25.6 | 3/14/1993 | |
| 90 | Cam Atkinson, CBJ | - | - | 29.3 | 6/5/1989 | |
| 91 | T.J. Oshie, WAS | - | - | 31.8 | 12/23/1986 | |
| 92 | Reilly Smith, VGK | Panthers castaway thriving in Vegas. | - | - | 27.5 | 4/1/1991 |
| 93 | Josh Bailey, NYI | 71 points felt like an outlier. Expect a dropoff. | - | - | 29.0 | 10/2/1989 |
| 94 | Matthew Tkachuk, CGY | - | - | 20.8 | 12/11/1997 | |
| 95 | Pierre-Luc Dubois, CBJ | Finished last season red-hot. | - | - | 20.3 | 6/24/1998 |
| TIER 7 | ||||||
| 96 | Evander Kane, SJ | Hoping to put injuries, inconsistency behind him. | - | - | 27.2 | 8/2/1991 |
| 97 | Elias Pettersson, VAN | Top Calder contender looks ready for primetime. | - | - | 19.9 | 11/12/1998 |
| 98 | Pavel Buchnevich, NYR | - | - | 23.5 | 4/17/1995 | |
| 99 | Kyle Turris, NAS | - | - | 29.2 | 8/14/1989 | |
| 100 | Tyler Toffoli, LA | - | - | 26.5 | 4/24/1992 |
On the Bubble (not in order):
James Neal, CGY
Mats Zuccarello, NYR
Nolan Patrick, PHI
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR
Casey Mittelstadt, BUF
Paul Stastny, VGK
Tyler Johnson, TB
Anthony Mantha, DET
Nino Niederreiter, MIN
Erik Haula, VGK
Kyle Okposo, BUF
Vladislav Namestnikov, NYR
Ondrej Palat, TB
Craig Smith, NAS
Kevin Hayes, NYR
Elias Lindholm, CGY
Kevin Fiala, NSH
Jake DeBrusk, BOS
Travis Konecny, PHI
Brandon Saad, CHI
Tomas Tatar, MTL
Corey Perry, ANH
David Krejci, BOS
Marcus Johansson, NJ
Gustav Nyquist, DET