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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With the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets playing each other for the first time of the season Wednesday, NHL.com looks at how elite center Auston Matthews and wing Patrik Laine, the first two picks in the 2016 NHL Draft, have compared from a fantasy hockey standpoint in Yahoo rank, production and lineup placement over their first three seasons.
2016-17 Yahoo rank: Matthews: 26th; Laine: 54th
Points per game: Matthews: 0.84; Laine: 0.88Goals per 60 minutes: Matthews: 1.66; Laine: 1.65
Where they played: Matthews was mostly on a line with left wing Zach Hyman and right wing William Nylander but also saw significant time with right wing Connor Brown at even strength. Matthews played mostly on a power-play unit with forwards Nylander, Leo Komarov and either Brown or Nazem Kadri. … Laine saw time at each wing on a line with mostly center Mark Scheifele and wing Nikolaj Ehlers but also saw significant time with center Bryan Little at even strength. Laine played most frequently on a power-play unit with forwards Scheifele, Ehlers and Blake Wheeler.
Context: Matthews did not miss a game, while Laine missed nine because of injuries. In Matthews' rookie season, he finished tied for second in goals (40) behind Sidney Crosby (44), but Laine was not far behind (36 goals; 7th in NHL).
2017-18 Yahoo rank: Matthews: 84th; Laine: 24th
Points per game: Matthews: 1.02; Laine: 0.85Goals per 60 minutes: Matthews: 1.81; Laine: 1.95
Where they played: When healthy, Matthews played the vast majority of his even-strength ice time on a line with Hyman and Nylander. Matthews played mostly on a power-play unit with forwards Nylander, Brown and Patrick Marleau. … The Jets played Laine with Little and Ehlers on a separate line from Scheifele; rookie left wing Kyle Connor seized the top-line spot with Scheifele and Wheeler. Laine also played frequently with center Paul Stastny (signed with Vegas Golden Knights on July 1) down the stretch last season. Laine, Scheifele and Wheeler remained together, with Connor instead of Ehlers, on the first power-play unit.
Context: Laine did not miss a game, while Matthews missed 20 games because of injuries. Matthews, unlike Laine, was better than a point per game when healthy but struggled on the power play (13 power-play points in 62 games; Laine had 31 PPP in 82). It's worth noting the Maple Leafs spread out forwards Mitch Marner and Kadri onto a separate unit. Laine finished second in goals (44) behind Alex Ovechkin (49).
2018-19 Yahoo current rank: Matthews: 18th; Laine: 66th
Points per game: Matthews: 1.78; Laine: 0.56Goals per 60 minutes: Matthews: 3.62; Laine: 1.18
Where they have been playing:With Nylander an unsigned restricted free agent, Matthews played the first two games on a line with mostly Marleau and Tyler Ennis. Then, during Toronto's third game, Kasperi Kapanen was moved to the Matthews-Marleau line, forming a potent unit that has remained together since. Matthews has been playing on a stacked first power-play unit with forwards John Tavares (signed with Toronto on July 1), Marner and Kadri. … Laine has been playing with mostly Little and Ehlers on the second line but also saw time early in the season with Mathieu Perreault at even strength. Laine has remained on the first power-play unit with Scheifele, Wheeler and Connor and is moving to left wing on the first line with Scheifele and Wheeler against Toronto on Wednesday.
Context: Matthews is tied for the NHL lead in scoring with 16 points (10 goals, six assists) in his first nine games, with most of the production coming since the switch to Kapanen and Marleau on his line. If/when Nylander returns to the Maple Leafs lineup, Matthews has an array of line options to sustain his success, having well-documented chemistry with Nylander and Hyman and playing well with current linemates Kapanen and Marleau. Matthews is ranked fourth in NHL.com's forward and overall fantasy rankings, while Laine is 13th in both rankings. One long-term concern is that, on top of having to sign Nylander, Matthews and Marner are potential 2019 restricted free agents.
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. Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL (SAME)
4. Auston Matthews, C, TOR\* (SAME)
5. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT (+2)
6. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS (-1)
7. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL (+1)
8. Nathan MacKinnon, C, COL (+2)
9. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT (-3)
10. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS (+1)
11. John Tavares, C, TOR (-2)
12. Tyler Seguin, C, DAL (SAME)
13. Patrik Laine, RW, WPG\\ (SAME)
14. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI (SAME)
15. Claude Giroux, C/LW, PHI (+1)
16. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH (+1)
17. Mitchell Marner, C/RW, TOR\\ (-2)
18. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY (+3)
19. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG (SAME)
20. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD (+2)
21. Sebastian Aho, C/LW/RW, CAR\\ (+7)
22. Jack Eichel, C, BUF (+2)
23. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (-3)
24. Steven Stamkos, C, TBL (-6)
25. Artemi Panarin, LW, CBJ* (-2)
26. Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH (-1)
27. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS (-1)
28. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT (-1)
29. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA (+3)
30. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH (+4)
31. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG (-1)
32. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK (+4)
33. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL\\ (+8)
34. Alexander Radulov, RW, DAL (DTD)
35. Evander Kane, LW, SJS (-2)
36. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK (-5)
37. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI (+3)
38. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM (-3)
39. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK\\ (+12)
40. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS* (-1)
41. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (+14)
42. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI (-5)
43. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY\\ (SAME)
44. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI (+6)
45. Rickard Rakell, C/LW/RW, ANA (-7)
46. Sean Monahan, C, CGY (-4)
47. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN\\ (-2)
48. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA (-2)
49. Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA (-2)
50. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI* (-2)
51. Brayden Schenn, C, STL (-2)
52. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG\\ (+1)
53. Brayden Point, C, TBL\\ (+1)
54. Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CAR\\ (+2)
55. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS (+4)
56. Clayton Keller, C/LW/RW, ARI (+4)
57. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK (-13)
58. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI (-1)
59. Jeff Skinner, C/LW, BUF* (+15)
60. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA (+15)
61. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN (NEW - INJ.)
62. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN (SAME)
63. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA (-2)
64. Max Pacioretty, LW, VGK (-12)
65. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG (-1)
66. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH (-1)
67. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C/LW, EDM (+5)
68. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH (+9)
69. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH (-3)
70. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY (+17)
71. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD (-2)
72. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL (-2)
73. Jake Guentzel, C/LW, PIT\\ (-10)
74. Timo Meier, LW/RW, SJS\\ (+11)
75. Micheal Ferland, LW/RW, CAR* (+22)
76. Sean Couturier, C, PHI (-9)
77. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR (-9)
78. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT (-20)
79. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ (-8)
80. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ (-7)
81. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA (-5)
82. Yanni Gourde, C/RW, TBL* (+6)
83. J.T. Miller, C/RW, TBL (+1)
84. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS (+7)
85. Anders Lee, LW, NYI* (-7)
86. Dylan Larkin, C, DET (-6)
87. Eric Staal, C, MIN* (-6)
88. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI (NEW - INJ.)
89. Jeff Carter, C, LAK (-7)
90. Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK (SAME)
91. Mark Stone, RW, OTT* (+7)
92. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN (+8)
93. Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL (NEW)
94. Travis Konecny, C/LW/RW, PHI\\ (NEW)
95. Zach Parise, LW, MIN (NEW)
96. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR (NEW)
97. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL (NEW)
98. Kasperi Kapanen, RW, TOR\\ (-9)
99. Jonathan Drouin, C/LW, MTL (NEW)
100. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL (NEW)
Dropped out: Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF; Jordan Staal, C, CAR; Josh Bailey, RW, NYI; Tyler Toffoli, RW, LAK; Nico Hischier, C, NJD; Nazem Kadri, C, TOR; Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL; Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR; Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL
Just missed: Zach Hyman, LW, TOR; Matt Duchene, C, OTT\; Dominik Kahun, C/LW/RW, CHI; Tomas Tatar, LW/RW, MTL; Chris Kreider, LW, NYR; Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, CHI\\; Nick Bjugstad, C/LW/RW, FLA; Bo Horvat, C, VAN; Alex Tuch, RW, VGK\\; David Perron, LW, STL; Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\; Jason Pominville, RW, BUF\; Ryan Kesler, C, ANA; Mats Zuccarello, RW, NYR\; Max Comtois, LW, ANA; Kailer Yamamoto, RW, EDM; Joonas Donskoi, LW/RW, SJS\; Chris Tierney, C, OTT
Unsigned restricted free agent: William Nylander, C/RW, TOR
Suspended:Tom Wilson, RW, WSH
Key injuries: James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI; Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT; Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA; Dustin Brown, RW, LAK; Joe Thornton, C, SJS\; Paul Stastny, C, VGK; Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA\; Corey Perry, RW, ANA; Patrick Eaves, LW/RW, ANA
READ: [Top 100 forward rankings Oct. 17]
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