Fantasy top 100 forwards: Injury replacement options

Every Tuesday during the season, NHL.com fantasy hockey insider Pete Jensen provides in-depth forward analysis. From updated weekly top-100 rankings to trending players and more, Jensen is your go-to guy for fantasy forward advice all season long.

It's an unfortunate reality, but injuries can happen at any time and abruptly end promising fantasy developments. That certainly is the case with three top-75 fantasy forwards -- Evander Kane of the Buffalo Sabres, Jaden Schwartz of the St. Louis Blues, and Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers – each going down with an injury in the past week.

Kane, who was mostly playing on Jack Eichel’s left wing, is expected to miss 4-6 weeks because of a knee injury. Schwartz, who covered five of the six standard fantasy categories and played with Vladimir Tarasenko last season, had surgery to repair a fractured ankle he sustained at practice and will miss at least 12 weeks. Barkov, who formed a top-notch scoring tandem with veteran Jaromir Jagr, could miss 2-4 weeks with a broken bone in his hand.

Whether you're looking in-house or elsewhere for reinforcements, here are some routes you can take to replace one or more of these injured forwards depending on your league size and categories:

- The glaring shallow-league replacement candidate is Nick Bjugstad (owned in 45 percent of Yahoo leagues), who had 24 goals, seven coming on power play, with 207 shots on goal last season and has been thrust alongside Jaromir Jagr on the Panthers' top line in Barkov's absence. If you're in a much larger league and still seeking an in-house option, Sabres rookie Sam Reinhart (three percent) has played top-six minutes at points this season and is slated to play alongside Eichel with Kane sidelined. Reinhart, 19, quietly is tied for second on the Sabres in scoring behind Ryan O'Reilly and has been a high-IQ talent whether at center or on the wing in his career.

- Someone has to do the scoring for the New Jersey Devils, and three players have emerged from a not-so-fantasy-relevant pack. Adam Henrique (C/LW, 45 percent) has at least a goal in five of his eight games this season mostly alongside high-volume shooters Mike Cammalleri (55 percent) and Lee Stempniak (eight percent) of late. He's not going to sustain his shooting percentage (31.6) but has converted at a high rate in his career and is churning out nearly two-and-a-half SOG per game (19 in 8 games) – much better than his career average (1.78). Stempniak has been especially consistent of late, with at least a point in each of his past four games. All three components of this line are dual-eligible in Yahoo and are solid short-term fixes.

- Much has been made about the Boston Bruins' struggles on the back end, but they are actually one of the highest-scoring teams in the NHL this season (3.86 goals per game, 3rd in NHL). Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci are top-50 forwards, but there are a bunch of dual-eligible wings who are showing promise in this system. Loui Eriksson (31 percent) and David Pastrnak (39 percent) are playing with Krejci at the moment, and Brad Marchand is with Bergeron as usual. Brett Connolly, also LW/RW-eligible, is playing on Bergeron’s right wing and has a point in each of his past three games (two goals, one assist, plus-2, five SOG in that span). At 1 percent owned, Connolly is a low-risk, high-reward goal-scoring option for those in the deepest of formats.

- Brandon Dubinsky (C/LW, 30 percent) has turned the corner since the Columbus Blue Jackets hired John Tortorella, his coach with the New York Rangers. An established fantasy category cog in leagues that count hits and/or penalty minutes, Dubinsky has goals in consecutive games with one coming on the power play to go along with four SOG and three hits. He sees a ton of power-play time per game (2:52) this season and played alongside Brandon Saad and Nick Foligno in Ryan Johansen's absence Saturday. Whether Johansen misses any further time, Dubinsky is a must-add player in multicategory formats.

Others worth considering: Mathieu Perreault (21 percent owned; second line, top power-play unit for Winnipeg Jets), Artem Anisimov (11 percent; second line with Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin for Chicago Blackhawks), Pascal Dupuis (6 percent; first line with Sidney Crosby and Patric Hornqvist for Pittsburgh Penguins)

TRENDING UP

Montreal Canadiens' top line

Four players have a plus-10 rating or better this season, and all four play for the Canadiens (Max Pacioretty, P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov, Tomas Plekanec). Montreal's top-liners sport insane team goal for/against differentials, with Pacioretty having been on the ice for 18 goals and none against, Plekanec for 18 goals and one against, and Brendan Gallagher for 15 goals and one against. Each is ranked in Yahoo's top 10 based on early performance, and such consistent offense in front of Carey Price and Mike Condon has been an unbeatable combination for the Canadiens through nine games.

TRENDING DOWN

Anaheim Ducks forwards

Something isn't right with Anaheim, and a once-dangerous offense has fallen flat through eight games. The long-standing elite point pair of Ryan Getzlaf (no goals, one assist, minus-5, 22 SOG) and Corey Perry (no goals, one assist, minus-2, 18 SOG) have been separated multiple times and have been unable to snap out of their drastic slumps. Ryan Kesler remains goalless with one assist and fewer than two SOG per game, and Anaheim’s group of wings (Carl Hagelin, Patrick Maroon, Jakob Silfverberg) has failed to produce. The Ducks are averaging less than a goal per game (0.75, 30th in NHL) and are 1-for-22 on the power play.

Whether this situation eventually results in a coaching change or trade(s), some sort of shakeup will be in the cards if this plunge continues. The only advice I can offer is to be patient with Getzlaf and Perry, or make trades to acquire their services in buy-low situations because of their pedigree. As far as Kesler, his days as a 70-point scorer are long gone, and he could be deemed droppable in the coming weeks.

KEEP AN EYE ON

Teemu Pulkkinen, LW/RW, Detroit Red Wings

The Red Wings shuffled their lines over the weekend with center Brad Richards (back) out, elevating Gustav Nyquist to their top line with Justin Abdelkader and Henrik Zetterberg and bumping up Pulkkinen to the second unit with Tomas Tatar and rookie standout Dylan Larkin. Pavel Datsyuk (ankle) is skating and could rejoin the lineup in the near future, but Pulkkinen (11 percent owned in Yahoo) is making waves with his goal-scoring and category coverage so far, with four goals, one assist, a plus-2 rating, 10 penalty minutes, one power-play point and 17 SOG. Considering he's a flexible top-six forward option for the short term, he needs to be on your watch list or added in deeper formats.

POSITION ELIGIBILITY UPDATES

Anders Lee (38 percent owned), who has played most of the early season alongside John Tavares for the New York Islanders, has gained left-wing eligibility in Yahoo leagues. Other position eligibility updates since the start of the regular season include Lee's frequent linemate Ryan Strome (C/RW), Henrique, and Filip Forsberg (regains tri-eligibility).

TOP 100 FANTASY FORWARDS

These rankings are based on expectations for this season. Value is quantified by line combinations, power-play usage, past performance and overall upside in standard Yahoo categories (goals, assists, plus-minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal).

1	Alex Ovechkin, LW/RW, WSH (SAME)	51	Gustav Nyquist, C/LW/RW, DET (+1)
2	John Tavares, C, NYI (SAME)	52	Nick Foligno, C/LW, CBJ (-6)
3	Tyler Seguin, C/RW, DAL (SAME)	53	Jiri Hudler, LW/RW, CGY (+1)
4	Patrick Kane, C/RW, CHI (+1)	54	Jeff Carter, C/RW, LAK (+2)
5	Max Pacioretty, LW, MTL (+4)	55	Max Domi, C, ARI (+22)
6	Jamie Benn, LW, DAL (+1)	56	James Neal, LW/RW, NSH (+26)
7	Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (-3)	57	David Backes, C/RW, STL (-18)
8	Steven Stamkos, C, TBL (-2)	58	Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL (-18)
9	Sidney Crosby, C, PIT (-1)	59	Kyle Okposo, RW, NYI (-3)
10	Claude Giroux, C/RW, PHI (SAME)	60	Tomas Tatar, LW/RW, DET (SAME)
11	Zach Parise, LW, MIN (SAME)	61	Henrik Sedin, C, VAN (-2)
12	Joe Pavelski, C/LW, SJS (SAME)	62	Artemi Panarin, LW, CHI (+1)
13	Evgeni Malkin, C/RW, PIT (SAME)	63	Dylan Larkin, C, DET (+1)
14	Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH (SAME)	64	Chris Kreider, LW, NYR (+4)
15	Henrik Zetterberg, C/LW, DET (SAME)	65	Bryan Little, C/RW, WPG (+8)
16	Blake Wheeler, RW, WPG (+1)	66	Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL (+1)
17	Ryan Johansen, C/RW, CBJ (DTD)	67	Jack Eichel, C, BUF (-6)
18	Phil Kessel, RW, PIT (+1)	68	Ryan Strome, C/RW, NYI (-6)
19	Taylor Hall, C/LW, EDM (+1)	69	Derek Stepan, C, NYR (-4)
20	Alexander Steen, C/LW, STL (-2)	70	Eric Staal, C, CAR (-12)
21	Connor McDavid, C, EDM (+8)	71	Radim Vrbata, RW, VAN (-2)
22	Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI (SAME)	72	Nick Bjugstad, C, FLA (+24)
23	Jonathan Toews, C, CHI (+1)	73	Jarome Iginla, RW, COL (+1)
24	Daniel Sedin, LW, VAN (+2)	74	Ryan O'Reilly, C/LW/RW, BUF (+14)
25	Nathan MacKinnon, C/RW, COL (+3)	75	Jonathan Drouin, LW, TBL (-3)
26	Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS (+10)	76	Mike Cammalleri, C/LW, NJD (NEW)
27	Tyler Johnson, C, TBL (-4)	77	Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG (+15)
28	Filip Forsberg, C/LW/RW, NSH (-2)	78	Mike Hoffman, C/LW, OTT (DTD)
29	T.J. Oshie, C/RW, WSH (+7)	79	Milan Lucic, LW, LAK (+15)
30	Kyle Turris, C, OTT (+1)	80	Scott Hartnell, LW, CBJ (SAME)
31	Anze Kopitar, C, LAK (+1)	81	Mark Scheifele, C, WPG (+2)
32	Rick Nash, LW/RW, NYR (-2)	82	Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT (-12)
33	Andrew Ladd, LW, WPG (SAME)	83	Tyler Toffoli, LW/RW, LAK (+7)
34	David Krejci, C, BOS (+16)	84	Jason Pominville, RW, MIN (SAME)
35	Corey Perry, RW, ANA (-14)	85	Justin Abdelkader, LW/RW, DET (-10)
36	Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA (-11)	86	Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW, FLA (+5)
37	Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (-3)	87	Mats Zuccarello, LW/RW, NYR (+2)
38	Jaromir Jagr, RW, FLA (+11)	88	Matt Duchene, C/LW, COL (-10)
39	Tomas Plekanec, C, MTL (+13)	89	Loui Eriksson, LW/RW, BOS (NEW)
40	Marian Hossa, RW, CHI (-5)	90	Bobby Ryan, LW/RW, OTT (-11)
41	Wayne Simmonds, LW/RW, PHI (+1)	91	Patrick Marleau, C/LW, SJS (-6)
42	Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY (+2)	92	Craig Smith, C/RW, NSH (-6)
43	Jason Spezza, C, DAL (SAME)	93	Ryan Kesler, C/RW, ANA (-12)
44	Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL (+22)	94	Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, MTL (+3)
45	Evgeny Kuznetsov, C/LW, WSH (+32)	95	Anthony Duclair, LW/RW, ARI (-2)
46	Patrick Sharp, C/LW, DAL (-5)	96	Nail Yakupov, LW/RW, EDM (NEW)
47	Joe Thornton, C, SJS (SAME)	97	Adam Henrique, C/LW, NJD (NEW)
48	Sean Monahan, C, CGY (SAME)	98	Anders Lee, C/LW, NYI (-3)
49	Mark Stone, RW, OTT (SAME)	99	Jori Lehtera, C, STL (NEW)
50	Brandon Saad, LW/RW, CBJ (-9)	100	Martin Hanzal, C, ARI (NEW - DTD)

Just Missed: Mikko Koivu (C, MIN), Mathieu Perreault (C/LW, WPG), Brandon Dubinsky (C/LW, CBJ), Kevin Hayes (RW, NYR), Thomas Vanek (LW/RW, MIN), David Pastrnak (LW/RW, BOS), Tyler Ennis (C/LW, BUF), Marian Gaborik (RW, LAK), Derick Brassard (C, NYR), Troy Brouwer (RW, STL), James van Riemsdyk (LW, TOR), Mikkel Boedker (LW, ARI), Ryan Callahan (RW, TBL), Mikael Granlund (C, MIN), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C, EDM)

Dropped out: Callahan, Gaborik, Kunitz

Key injuries: Logan Couture (C/LW, SJS), Pavel Datsyuk (C/LW, DET), Jordan Eberle (RW, EDM), Evander Kane (LW, BUF), Jaden Schwartz (LW, STL), Aleksander Barkov (C, FLA), Paul Stastny (C, STL)

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