Our latest NHL fantasy hockey forward rankings. Not many drastic shifts near the top, but plenty of moving and shaking in Tiers 4 and 5.
Young studs David Pastrnak and Mikko Rantanen continue to push their way up the list, but the higher you get, the harder it is to climb. Major fallers include Jaden Schwartz, Ilya Kovalchuk and Jordan Eberle.
Our fantasy hockey forward rankings are for the next 2 to 3 seasons, and consider each player's track record, upside, age, team and injury history. Because fantasy hockey league categories vary widely, these rankings focus on point production.
RANK | PLAYER | NOTES | PVS. | CHG. | AGE |
TIER 1 | | | | | |
1 | Connor McDavid, EDM | | 1 | 0 | 21.7 |
TIER 2 | | | | | |
2 | Sidney Crosby, PIT | | 2 | 0 | 31.2 |
3 | Nathan MacKinnon, COL | Continuing right where he left off last season. | 4 | 1 | 23.1 |
4 | Nikita Kucherov, TB | | 3 | -1 | 25.3 |
TIER 3 | | | | | |
5 | Auston Matthews, TOR | Has cooled slightly after insane start. | 5 | 0 | 21.1 |
6 | John Tavares, TOR | | 6 | 0 | 28.0 |
7 | Tyler Seguin, DAL | | 7 | 0 | 26.7 |
8 | Evgeni Malkin, PIT | | 8 | 0 | 32.2 |
9 | Johnny Gaudreau, CGY | | 9 | 0 | 25.2 |
10 | Evgeny Kuznetsov, WAS | Transitioning from star to superstar. | 11 | 1 | 26.4 |
11 | Jack Eichel, BUF | | 10 | -1 | 21.9 |
12 | Alex Ovechkin, WAS | | 13 | 1 | 33.1 |
13 | Taylor Hall, NJ | | 12 | -1 | 26.9 |
14 | Mark Scheifele, WPG | | 14 | 0 | 25.6 |
15 | Patrick Kane, CHI | Back on track after a 'down' year. | 18 | 3 | 29.9 |
16 | Brad Marchand, BOS | | 17 | 1 | 30.4 |
17 | David Pastrnak, BOS | | 19 | 2 | 22.4 |
18 | Jamie Benn, DAL | | 15 | -3 | 29.2 |
19 | Patrick Laine, WPG | Top sniper not off to a great start, but it's early. | 16 | -3 | 20.5 |
20 | Steven Stamkos, TB | A top buy low candidate. Act fast. | 20 | 0 | 28.7 |
21 | Blake Wheeler, WPG | | 21 | 0 | 32.1 |
22 | Artemi Panarin, CBJ | | 22 | 0 | 26.9 |
23 | Claude Giroux, PHI | | 23 | 0 | 30.7 |
24 | Phil Kessel, PIT | | 24 | 0 | 31.0 |
25 | Mitch Marner, TOR | | 25 | 0 | 21.4 |
26 | Nicklas Backstrom, WAS | | 26 | 0 | 30.9 |
27 | Mikko Rantanen, COL | Tearing up the league with MacKinnon. | 30 | 3 | 21.9 |
28 | Anze Kopitar, LA | Whole LA team doesn't look right early on. | 27 | -1 | 31.1 |
29 | Vladimir Tarasenko, STL | Still shaking off the rust from offseason surgery. | 28 | -1 | 26.8 |
30 | Mathew Barzal, NYI | | 29 | -1 | 21.4 |
31 | Jakub Voracek, PHI | | 31 | 0 | 29.1 |
32 | Alexander Barkov, FLA | | 33 | 1 | 23.1 |
33 | Leon Draisaitl, EDM | | 32 | -1 | 22.9 |
34 | Filip Forsberg, NAS | | 34 | 0 | 24.2 |
35 | Ryan Getzlaf, ANH | | 35 | 0 | 33.4 |
TIER 4 | | | | | |
36 | Vincent Trocheck, FLA | | 36 | 0 | 25.2 |
37 | Patrice Bergeron, BOS | | 43 | 6 | 33.2 |
38 | Sebastian Aho, CAR | Surging up the rankings with a hot start. | 46 | 8 | 21.2 |
39 | Alex Radulov, DAL | | 37 | -2 | 32.3 |
40 | Sean Monahan, CGY | | 38 | -2 | 24.0 |
41 | William Karlsson, VGK | | 44 | 3 | 25.7 |
42 | Brayden Schenn, STL | | 39 | -3 | 27.1 |
43 | Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA | | 40 | -3 | 25.3 |
44 | Clayton Keller, AZ | | 41 | -3 | 20.2 |
45 | Max Pacioretty, VGK | | 42 | -3 | 29.9 |
46 | Jonathan Marchessault, VGK | | 45 | -1 | 27.8 |
47 | Joe Pavelski, SJ | | 48 | 1 | 34.2 |
48 | Logan Couture, SJ | | 49 | 1 | 29.5 |
49 | Mark Stone, OTT | | 50 | 1 | 26.4 |
50 | William Nylander, TOR | Progress being made on a contract - or so it sounds. | 47 | -3 | 22.4 |
51 | Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG | Finally broke his endless goal drought. Watch out. | 51 | 0 | 22.6 |
52 | Brock Boeser, VAN | | 53 | 1 | 21.6 |
53 | Rickard Rakell, ANH | | 56 | 3 | 25.4 |
54 | Gabriel Landeskog, COL | Loving life on the Avs' dynamic top line. | 57 | 3 | 25.9 |
55 | Brayden Point, TB | | 58 | 3 | 22.6 |
56 | Mikael Granlund, MIN | | 54 | -2 | 26.6 |
57 | Teuvo Teravainen, CAR | | 59 | 2 | 24.1 |
58 | Sean Couturier, PHI | Slow start, but he gets prime opportunities. Patience. | 55 | -3 | 25.8 |
59 | Viktor Arvidsson, NAS | | 63 | 4 | 25.5 |
60 | Mike Hoffman, FLA | | 61 | 1 | 28.9 |
61 | Alex DeBrincat, CHI | | 70 | 9 | 20.8 |
62 | Jaden Schwartz, STL | | 52 | -10 | 26.3 |
63 | James van Riemsdyk, PHI | | 60 | -3 | 29.4 |
64 | Jeff Carter, LA | | 62 | -2 | 33.8 |
TIER 5 | | | | | |
65 | Ryan O'Reilly, STL | | 65 | 0 | 27.7 |
66 | Nico Hischier, NJ | | 64 | -2 | 19.8 |
67 | Kyle Palmieri, NJ | | 67 | 0 | 27.7 |
68 | Anders Lee, NYI | | 66 | -2 | 28.3 |
69 | Kyle Connor, WPG | | 69 | 0 | 21.8 |
70 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM | | 72 | 2 | 25.5 |
71 | Alex Galchenyuk, AZ | Return gives Coyotes a much-needed jolt. | 71 | 0 | 24.6 |
72 | Eric Staal, MIN | | 73 | 1 | 33.9 |
73 | Ryan Johansen, NAS | | 75 | 2 | 26.2 |
74 | Jeff Skinner, BUF | Starting to build chemistry with new teammates. | 74 | 0 | 26.4 |
75 | Matt Duchene, OTT | | 78 | 3 | 27.7 |
76 | Elias Pettersson, VAN | | 79 | 3 | 19.9 |
77 | Jordan Eberle, NYI | | 68 | -9 | 28.4 |
78 | Dylan Larkin, DET | | 77 | -1 | 22.2 |
79 | Sam Reinhart, BUF | | 83 | 4 | 22.9 |
80 | Wayne Simmonds, PHI | Healthy and producing like we know he can. | 86 | 6 | 30.1 |
81 | T.J. Oshie, WAS | | 87 | 6 | 31.8 |
82 | Evgenii Dadonov, FLA | | 85 | 3 | 29.6 |
83 | Mika Zibanejad, NYR | | 82 | -1 | 25.5 |
84 | Jonathan Toews, CHI | | 84 | 0 | 30.4 |
85 | Derek Stepan, AZ | | 76 | -9 | 28.3 |
86 | Ilya Kovalchuk, LA | | 81 | -5 | 35.5 |
87 | Nazem Kadri, TOR | Still adjusting to life on the 3rd line. | 80 | -7 | 28.0 |
88 | Jake Guentzel, PIT | | 88 | 0 | 24.0 |
89 | J.T. Miller, TB | | 89 | 0 | 25.6 |
90 | Matthew Tkachuk, CGY | | 92 | 2 | 20.8 |
91 | Reilly Smith, VGK | | 90 | -1 | 27.5 |
92 | Josh Bailey, NYI | | 91 | -1 | 29.0 |
93 | Cam Atkinson, CBJ | | 93 | 0 | 29.3 |
94 | Bo Horvat, VAN | | 95 | 1 | 23.5 |
95 | Jonathan Drouin, MTL | | 94 | -1 | 23.5 |
TIER 7 | | | | | |
96 | Pierre-Luc Dubois, CBJ | | 96 | 0 | 20.3 |
97 | Elias Lindholm, CGY | A great fit on the top line in Calgary. | - | - | 23.8 |
98 | Evander Kane, SJ | | 97 | -1 | 27.2 |
99 | Yanni Gourde, TB | | - | - | 26.8 |
100 | Kyle Turris, NAS | | - | - | 29.2 |
On the bubble (no particular order):
Tyler Toffoli, LA |
James Neal, CGY |
Mats Zuccarello, NYR |
Andrei Svechnikov, CAR |
Nolan Patrick, PHI |
Tyler Johnson, TB |
Timo Meier, SJ |
Tomas Hertl, SJ |
Pavel Buchnevich, NYR |
Zach Parise, MIN |
David Perron, STL |
Nick Schmaltz, CHI |
Patric Hornqvist, PIT |
Casey Mittelstadt, BUF |
Jakob Silvferberg, ANH |
Chris Kreider, NYR |
Don't forget to follow
Fantasy Hockey Report on Twitter and
Facebook for the latest updates!