Week 8: Fantasy forward top 100 rankings for 2018-19

NHL.com's fantasy hockey forward top 100 rankings are based on past production and expectations for the rest of the season in standard Yahoo leagues. For more fantasy coverage, visit NHL.com/Fantasy.

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TRENDING UP

Bryan Little, C, WPG -- The easiest way to gain exposure to Patrik Laine, the hottest goal-scorer in the NHL, is by adding Little (11 percent owned in Yahoo), who had four assists against the St. Louis Blues on Saturday and has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in the past seven games. Laine now has 11 goals in his past four games after his historic five-goal game Saturday, catapulting to the top 10 in NHL.com's forward rankings.

Jake Guentzel, LW, PIT -- The Pittsburgh Penguins left wing scored a hat trick against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday and is playing with Sidney Crosby again since the elite center's return from injury. With right wing Patric Hornqvist (concussion) sidelined, the Penguins will rely heavily on Guentzel for secondary scoring. Since Oct. 25, Guentzel has 14 points (seven goals, seven assists) in 15 games and is beginning to translate his Stanley Cup Playoff success to the regular season.
Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL -- The Tampa Bay Lightning have altered their lines again, this time with Johnson and Brayden Point joining elite right wing Nikita Kucherov. Johnson has three goals on seven shots on goal in two games since the change. He rejoins the top 100 forwards and could continue to rise if the line sticks. Point, meanwhile, has surpassed Steven Stamkos, who's now with forwards J.T. Miller and Yanni Gourde, in fantasy value for the rest of the season.

TRENDING DOWN

Arizona Coyotes: The return of goalie Antti Raanta from injury hasn't helped their fortunes; he has allowed 11 goals in the past two games, pushing the Coyotes' losing streak to four games. Forwards Clayton Keller and Alex Galchenyuk have underachieved based on fantasy expectations, and the Coyotes have been held to two goals or fewer in each of their past six games (1-4-1). That said, help could be on the way after Arizona acquired forward Nick Schmaltz (C/LW, 9 percent owned), who should boost the top six and first power-play unit.
Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK -- He hasn't had a point over his past nine games, is no longer playing in the top six and was limited to 6:20 against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday. Fantasy owners should monitor the duo of center Anze Kopitar (seven points in past five games) and wing Dustin Brown (scored hat trick Sunday), but the Kings' only hope is goalie Jonathan Quick's potential return this week. Kovalchuk (LW/RW, 66 percent owned) is one of the most dropped players this week and has lost his spot in the rankings despite an elite career pedigree.

FANTASY TOP 100 FORWARD RANKINGS

Standard Yahoo categories include goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play points, shots on goal and hits for skaters. Forward positions indicate Yahoo eligibility for 2018-19 season (subject to additions, but never subtractions, at Yahoo's discretion). ... Value has been quantified based on factors including but not limited to past production, projected line combinations, power-play usage, injury history, sleeper upside, anticipated regression or bounce-back candidacy, age and contract status (potential 2019 UFA: \; RFA: \\). ... DTD indicates player with day-to-day injury.
1. Connor McDavid, C, EDM (SAME)
2. Alex Ovechkin, LW, WSH (SAME)
3. Nathan MacKinnon, C, COL (SAME)
4. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT (+1)
5. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL (+2)
6. Patrik Laine, RW, WPG\* (+12)
7. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL\\ (+5)
8. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS (-4)
9. Auston Matthews, C, TOR\\ (NEW - INJ.)
10. John Tavares, C, TOR (-4)
11. Tyler Seguin, C, DAL (-3)
12. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT (-3)
13. Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL (-2)
14. Mitch Marner, C/RW, TOR\\ (SAME)
15. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS (-5)
16. Jack Eichel, C, BUF (SAME)
17. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG (SAME)
18. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI (-5)
19. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY (+1)
20. Jeff Skinner, C/LW, BUF* (+10)
21. Brayden Point, C, TBL\\ (+17)
22. Claude Giroux, C/LW, PHI (-7)
23. Sebastian Aho, C/LW/RW, CAR\\ (-4)
24. Artemi Panarin, LW, CBJ* (-3)
25. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH (SAME)
26. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH (-4)
27. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD (-4)
28. Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH (-2)
29. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (-2)
30. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG (-1)
31. Alexander Radulov, RW, DAL (+1)
32. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT (+1)
33. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (+1)
34. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK (-3)
35. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY\\ (+1)
36. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN (+4)
37. Steven Stamkos, C/RW, TBL (-13)
38. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM (-3)
39. Sean Monahan, C, CGY (-2)
40. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA (-12)
41. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ (+7)
42. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA (+2)
43. Timo Meier, LW/RW, SJS\\ (DTD)
44. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN (+3)
45. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS* (-2)
46. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS (-5)
47. Matt Duchene, C, OTT* (+8)
48. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI (-2)
49. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ (SAME)
50. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG\\ (+9)
51. Max Pacioretty, LW, VGK (+20)
52. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA (-2)
53. Rickard Rakell, C/LW/RW, ANA (-2)
54. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN\\ (NEW - INJ.)
55. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA (-10)
56. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY (-4)
57. Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT (+7)
58. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL (-1)
59. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL (-3)
60. Evander Kane, LW, SJS (-7)
61. Mark Stone, RW, OTT* (+8)
62. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK\\ (-8)
63. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C/LW, EDM (-5)
64. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK (-2)
65. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH (-2)
66. Yanni Gourde, C/LW/RW, TBL (SAME)
67. Alex Tuch, RW, VGK\\ (+27)
68. Tom Wilson, RW, WSH (+28)
69. Clayton Keller, C/LW/RW, ARI (-9)
70. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI (-31)
71. Jake Guentzel, C/LW, PIT\\ (+12)
72. Brayden Schenn, C, STL (-11)
73. Sean Couturier, C, PHI (SAME)
74. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS (-6)
75. Zach Parise, LW, MIN (+7)
76. Micheal Ferland, LW/RW, CAR* (DTD)
77. Dylan Larkin, C, DET (-2)
78. Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CAR\\ (-2)
79. Anders Lee, LW, NYI* (+1)
80. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI (-15)
81. James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI (-14)
82. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI (-5)
83. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA (-5)
84. Jonathan Drouin, C/LW, MTL (+6)
85. Josh Bailey, RW, NYI (+8)
86. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR (SAME)
87. Bo Horvat, C, VAN (-2)
88. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF (-1)
89. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI (+10)
90. J.T. Miller, C/LW/RW, TBL (-6)
91. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD (-3)
92. Eric Staal, C, MIN* (SAME)
93. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN (+2)
94. Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL (NEW)
95. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI* (-25)
96. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR (-15)
97. Travis Konecny, C/LW/RW, PHI\\ (+3)
98. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR (SAME)
99. Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK (NEW)
100. Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA (NEW)
Dropped out: Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG; Nazem Kadri, C, TOR; Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK
Just missed: Dustin Brown, RW, LAK; Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\; Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL; Nico Hischier, C, NJD; David Krejci, C, BOS; Kasperi Kapanen, RW, TOR\\; Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, ARI\\; Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR; Andreas Athanasiou, C/LW, DET; Jake DeBrusk, LW/RW, BOS; Nikolay Goldobin, LW/RW, VAN\\; Brandon Saad, LW, CHI; Tanner Pearson, LW, PIT; Alex Kerfoot, C/LW, COL\\; Mikko Koivu, C, MIN; Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL; Bryan Little, C, WPG; Tomas Tatar, LW/RW, MTL; Zach Hyman, LW, TOR; Cody Eakin, C, VGK; Dylan Strome, C, CHI
Key injuries: Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS; Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA; T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH; Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH; Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT; Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL; Kyle Turris, C, NSH; Paul Stastny, C, VGK; Corey Perry, RW, ANA; Mats Zuccarello, RW, NYR\; Pavel Buchnevich, RW, NYR\\; Sven Baertschi, LW, VAN; Erik Haula, C/LW, VGK
Other left off list: William Nylander, C/RW, TOR (restricted free agent)
READ: [Top 100 forward rankings Nov. 20]
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