Fantasy forward top 100 rankings for 2018-19
Domi huge steal based on ADP; Kovalchuk back among first 50; top-liners Ehlers, Smith underachieving
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50 'D'
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25 'G'
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Tracker
Trending up:
Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK -- The Los Angeles Kings veteran is on a scoring rampage that began three games prior to coach John Stevens being fired and replaced by Willie Desjardins. Kovalchuk has been on a line with Jeff Carter and Tyler Toffoli lately and has nine points (three goals, six assists) in his past four games, including two three-point games and five power-play points. Carter and Dustin Brown, who's playing on the top line with Anze Kopitar since returning from injury, have joined the top 100 forwards, and fantasy owners should keep an eye on Toffoli, who has been a bounce-back candidate since scoring 31 goals in 2015-16.
ANA@LAK: Kovalchuk buries Toffoli's feed
Max Domi, C/LW, MTL -- He has gone from an average draft position of 175.7 to the most notable riser in this week's forward rankings. Domi is centering Montreal's top line and has 13 points (nine goals, four assists) and six PPP over his past 11 games. It's worth noting his shooting percentage (40.9 percent in span) may be unsustainable, so take advantage of Domi's hot start if a sell-high fantasy trade offer is on the table. Domi's linemate Jonathan Drouin, who dropped out of the top 100 forward rankings this week, was minus-4 against the New York Rangers on Tuesday and has been held without a point in four of his past five games.
Trending down:
Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG -- The Winnipeg Jets forward has underachieved despite top-line placement with elite center Mark Scheifele and right wing Blake Wheeler. Ehlers has five points (two goals, three assists) and is minus-7 in 14 games and is not playing on the first power-play unit, giving him a low fantasy floor. Ehlers' shooting percentage (5.9) is low compared to his career average (11.2), but fantasy owners have a right to be concerned that his underwhelming Stanley Cup Playoff (no goals in 15 games) is carrying over to this season.
Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK -- The Vegas Golden Knights' forward group has had injuries to wings Alex Tuch and Max Pacioretty, who have since returned, but also center Paul Stastny and now versatile forward Erik Haula. The lack of scoring support has meant a much heavier workload for Smith (20:07 per game) compared to last season (17:55), which has negatively affected his offensive production. He has one goal and no assists and is minus-6 in his past seven games. Smith, even with top-line and first power-play placement with Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson, is droppable in standard leagues.
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 (+1)
4. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT (-1)
5. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS (+1)
6. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT (-1)
7. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS (SAME)
8. Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL (SAME)
9. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL (SAME)
10. John Tavares, C, TOR (SAME)
11. Tyler Seguin, C, DAL (SAME)
12. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI (SAME)
13. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH (SAME)
14. Mitch Marner, C/RW, TOR\* (SAME)
15. Patrik Laine, RW, WPG\\ (SAME)
16. Claude Giroux, C/LW, PHI (SAME)
17. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG (SAME)
18. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY (+1)
19. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD (-1)
20. Sebastian Aho, C/LW/RW, CAR\\ (SAME)
21. Jack Eichel, C, BUF (SAME)
22. Artemi Panarin, LW, CBJ* (SAME)
23. Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH (SAME)
24. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (SAME)
25. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS (+1)
26. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL\\ (+2)
27. Steven Stamkos, C/RW, TBL (-2)
28. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT (-1)
29. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH (+2)
30. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK (+2)
31. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (+4)
32. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG (-2)
33. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA (-4)
34. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY\\ (+8)
35. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM (-1)
36. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI (+1)
37. Sean Monahan, C, CGY (+10)
38. Brayden Point, C, TBL\\ (+15)
39. Jeff Skinner, C/LW, BUF* (+15)
40. Rickard Rakell, C/LW/RW, ANA (+6)
41. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK (-3)
42. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS (+9)
43. Clayton Keller, C/LW/RW, ARI (+9)
44. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN (+17)
45. Evander Kane, LW, SJS (-12)
46. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK\\ (-7)
47. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS* (-7)
48. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI (-7)
49. Timo Meier, LW/RW, SJS\\ (+22)
50. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK (+7)
51. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA (-7)
52. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN\\ (DTD)
53. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI (-8)
54. Brayden Schenn, C, STL (DTD)
55. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA (+5)
56. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN (+6)
57. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C/LW, EDM (+9)
58. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY (+12)
59. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL (+8)
60. Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA (-12)
61. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH (+2)
62. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA (+16)
63. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH (DTD)
64. Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT (NEW - INJ.)
65. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI (+15)
66. Yanni Gourde, C/LW/RW, TBL (+15)
67. Anders Lee, LW, NYI* (+8)
68. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH (SAME)
69. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI* (-13)
70. Micheal Ferland, LW/RW, CAR* (+3)
71. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ (+5)
72. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL (+24)
73. Dylan Larkin, C, DET (+13)
74. Max Pacioretty, LW, VGK (NEW - INJ.)
75. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG\\ (-26)
76. Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CAR\\ (-26)
77. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI (-18)
78. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD (-14)
79. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA (-14)
80. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS (DTD)
81. Sean Couturier, C, PHI (+1)
82. Mark Stone, RW, OTT* (+1)
83. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR (+2)
84. Eric Staal, C, MIN* (+3)
85. Josh Bailey, RW, NYI (+14)
86. Jake Guentzel, C/LW, PIT\\ (-14)
87. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ (-10)
88. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT (-14)
89. Jason Pominville, RW, BUF* (+11)
90. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG (-21)
91. J.T. Miller, C/LW/RW, TBL (-7)
92. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN (-4)
93. Nazem Kadri, C, TOR (-4)
94. Kasperi Kapanen, RW, TOR\\ (-4)
95. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR (-4)
96. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL (-4)
97. Zach Parise, LW, MIN (-4)
98. Dustin Brown, RW, LAK (NEW)
99. Alex Tuch, RW, VGK\\ (NEW)
100. Jeff Carter, C, LAK (NEW)
Dropped out:Alexander Radulov, RW, DAL (INJ.); Nico Hischier, C, NJD; Jonathan Drouin, C/LW, MTL; Matt Duchene, C, OTT\; Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK
Just missed: Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\; Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL; Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR; Zach Hyman, LW, TOR; Bo Horvat, C, VAN; Tyler Toffoli, RW, LAK; Kevin Labanc, LW/RW, SJS\\; Travis Konecny, C/LW/RW, PHI\\; Chris Kreider, LW, NYR; Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL; David Perron, LW/RW, STL; Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF; Jason Spezza, C/RW, DAL\; Jordan Staal, C, CAR; Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA\; Nolan Patrick, C, PHI
Key injuries: Auston Matthews, C, TOR\\; James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI; Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL; Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA; Paul Stastny, C, VGK; Corey Perry, RW, ANA
Others left off list: William Nylander, C/RW, TOR (unsigned restricted free agent); Tom Wilson, RW, WSH (suspended)
READ: [Top 100 forward rankings Oct. 30]
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