You absolutely can't draft without it. Here's my top 25 crib sheet (position by position); hope it gives you a little perspective on some of the top players you should target come draft day. Some players may have different position eligibility according to different fantasy websites - which may change my rankings because a player who's eligible to play 2 positions, in my opinion, has more value. It generally takes 5 games at a position to gain fantasy eligibility. So if a player who normally plays center is moved to left wing by his team, it’ll take about 5 games for him to become a left winger in the fantasy world as well (on top of still being considered a center). Here I'm using Yahoo! Fantasy Sports as a basis for my rankings.
Coming up I'll provide some actual analysis (and perhaps some fantasy predictions) about the key players you should be following this NHL season. By October 1, you'll be good to go to start the season!
| |
C |
LW |
RW |
D |
G |
| 1) |
Evgeni Malkin (PIT) |
Alex Ovechkin (WSH) |
Jarome Iginla (CGY) |
Mike Green (WSH) |
Evgeni Nabokov (SJ) |
| 2) |
Sidney Crosby (PIT) |
Dany Heatley (SJ) |
Corey Perry (ANA) |
Zdeno Chara (BOS) |
Roberto Luongo (VAN) |
| 3) |
Ryan Getzlaf (ANA) |
Zach Parise (NJ) |
Alexander Semin (WSH) |
Dan Boyle (SJ) |
Martin Brodeur (NJ) |
| 4) |
Pavel Datsyuk (DET) |
Ilya Kovalchuk (ATL) |
Martin St. Louis (TB) |
Shea Weber (NSH) |
Niklas Backstrom (MIN) |
| 5) |
Jeff Carter (PHI) |
Rick Nash (CLB) |
Patrick Kane (CHI) |
Nicklas Lidstrom (DET) |
Miikka Kiprusoff (CGY) |
| 6) |
Henrik Zetterberg (DET) |
Daniel Sedin (VAN) |
Marian Gaborik (NYR) |
Dion Phaneuf (CGY) |
Cam Ward (CAR) |
| 7) |
Joe Thornton (SJ) |
Mike Cammalleri (MTL) |
Johan Franzen (DET) |
Chris Pronger (PHI) |
Tim Thomas (BOS) |
| 8) |
Eric Staal (CAR) |
Simon Gagne (PHI) |
Devin Setoguchi (SJ) |
Andrei Markov (MTL) |
Henrik Lundqvist (NYR) |
| 9) |
Vincent LeCavalier (TB) |
Brenden Morrow (DAL) |
Daniel Alfredsson (OTT) |
Sheldon Souray (EDM) |
Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT) |
| 10) |
Marc Savard (BOS) |
Patrick Marleau (SJ) |
Martin Havlat (MIN) |
Scott Niedermayer (ANA) |
Ryan Miller (BUF) |
| 11) |
Jason Spezza (OTT) |
Thomas Vanek (BUF) |
Bobby Ryan (ANA) |
Brian Rafalski (DET) |
Steve Mason (CLB) |
| 12) |
Mike Richards (PHI) |
Patrik Elias (NJ)* |
David Backes (STL) |
Jay Bouwmeester (CGY) |
Chris Osgood (DET) |
| 13) |
Jonathan Toews (CHI) |
Scott Hartnell (PHI) |
Shane Doan (PHX) |
Mark Streit (NYI) |
Ray Emery (PHI) |
| 14) |
Nicklas Backstrom (WSH) |
David Booth (FLA) |
Alex Kovalev (OTT) |
Brian Campbell (CHI) |
Carey Price (MTL) |
| 15) |
Olli Jokinen (CGY) |
Alexander Frolov (LA) |
Jamie Langenbrunner (NJ) |
Dennis Wideman (BOS) |
Marty Turco (DAL) |
| 16) |
Henrik Sedin (VAN) |
Loui Eriksson (DAL) |
Brian Gionta (MTL) |
Duncan Keith (CHI) |
Cristobal Huet (CHI) |
| 17) |
Anze Kopitar (LA) |
Ray Whitney (CAR) |
Brad Boyes (STL) |
Alexander Edler (VAN) |
Nikolai Khabibulin (EDM) |
| 18) |
Derek Roy (BUF) |
Milan Michalek (OTT) |
Dustin Brown (LA) |
Tomas Kaberle (TOR) |
Jonas Hiller (ANA) |
| 19) |
David Krejci (BOS) |
Alex Tanguay (TB) |
Ales Hemsky (EDM) |
Ed Jovanovski (PHX) |
Pekka Rinne (NSH) |
| 20) |
Steven Stamkos (TB) |
Milan Lucic (BOS) |
Jason Pominville (BUF) |
Bryan McCabe (FLA) |
Semyon Varlamov (WSH) |
| 21) |
Joe Pavelski (SJ) |
Ryan Smyth (LA) |
Mike Knuble (WSH) |
Rob Blake (SJ) |
Mike Smith (TB) |
| 22) |
Mikko Koivu (MIN) |
Alex Burrows (VAN) |
Joffrey Lupul (ANA) |
Kevin Bieska (VAN) |
Pascal LeClaire (OTT) |
| 23) |
Scott Gomez (MTL) |
Kris Versteeg (CHI) |
Phil Kessel (TOR)* |
Brent Burns (MIN) |
Tomas Vokoun (FLA) |
| 24) |
Mike Ribeiro (DAL) |
Jason Blake (TOR) |
Teemu Selanne (ANA) |
Jaroslav Spacek (MTL) |
Ilya Bryzgalov (PHX) |
| 25) |
Travis Zajac (NJ) |
Andrei Kostitsyn (MTL) |
Marian Hossa (CHI)* |
Joe Corvo (CAR) |
Craig Anderson (COL) |
| |
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* = injury |
* = injury |
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