Week 12: Fantasy forward top 100 rankings for 2018-19
Golden Knights have seven players on list with addition of Stastny, Pirri; Hayes joins mix; Stars, Connor have buy-low appeal
MORE FANTASY COVERAGE:
Top 200
|
50 'D'
|
25 'G'
|
Power ranks
|
Lines
|
Waiver wire
|
Daily lineups
TRENDING UP
Vegas Golden Knights -- The second line hasn't missed a beat with left wing Max Pacioretty (lower body) out, with forward Brandon Pirri entering the top 100 forward rankings because of instant chemistry with center Paul Stastny and right wing Alex Tuch. Pirri is among the best fantasy streaming options in the NHL with nine points (six goals, three assists), a plus-8, three power-play points and 21 shots on goal in seven games since being recalled by the Golden Knights. Stastny also joins the list with more staying power than Pirri once Pacioretty returns. For now, Vegas has seven forwards in the top 100 rankings. UPDATE: Pirri has been sent down to Chicago of the American Hockey League.
Vancouver Canucks --Rookie center Elias Pettersson is the clear Calder Trophy favorite and deservedly joins the top 20 forward rankings, passing household names Patrik Laine and Steven Stamkos based on consistency and rest-of-season upside. The Canucks have also gotten a big lift from the return of left wing Sven Baertschi from a concussion. Baertschi has been mostly outside the top six in his first two games since returning but is playing on the first power play with valuable skaters Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat and Alexander Edler. Baertschi had a power-play assist in his return against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. UPDATE: Pettersson (sprained knee) is expected to be out at least two weeks.
New York Rangers -- Center Kevin Hayes is not far off a point-per-game pace (33 points in 38 games) and quietly leads the Rangers in even-strength points (23) entering Wednesday. Hayes has 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in his past 10 games and is maintaining his production on a line with wings Mats Zuccarello and Vladislav Namestnikov lately. That line combination has allowed New York to reunite left wing Chris Kreider, who has nine points (six goals, three assists) in his past seven games, with center Mika Zibanejad. Hayes has also been a staple on the first power play, meaning he should be taken seriously in standard leagues after finally joining the top 100 forwards. UPDATE: Hayes is day to day with an upper-body injury.
TRENDING DOWN
Kyle Connor, WPG -- He has been moved off the Winnipeg Jets' top line with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler and is now on a struggling second line with Laine and Bryan Little. Laine remains one of the highest-ceiling fantasy forwards who can explode at any moment, but Connor is the bigger faller in this week's rankings with no points and a minus-6 over his past nine games. Connor could be moved back to the first line at any point as well and is a buy-low fantasy trade target in standard leagues, especially keeper formats.
Dallas Stars -- There has been criticism surrounding elite forwards Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn, and their fantasy value is also not where it has been in recent seasons. Seguin has power-play assists in back-to-back games, and Benn scored a power-play goal against the Montreal Canadiens on Monday, but each player needs more consistency, even-strength production and secondary scoring help to bounce back and return to the upper echelon of fantasy forwards. Beyond Benn, Seguin and Alexander Radulov, there are not any Dallas forwards in even the "just missed" section of the forward rankings, let alone the rest of the top 100.
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 (+1)
2. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL (+2)
3. Alex Ovechkin, LW, WSH (-2)
4. Nathan MacKinnon, C, COL (-1)
5. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL\* (SAME)
6. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT (SAME)
7. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS (SAME)
8. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY (+4)
9. Jack Eichel, C, BUF (DTD)
10. Auston Matthews, C, TOR\\ (-1)
11. John Tavares, C, TOR (-1)
12. Mitchell Marner, C/RW, TOR\\ (-1)
13. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG (SAME)
14. Brayden Point, C, TBL\\ (+1)
15. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS (+3)
16. Jeff Skinner, C/LW, BUF* (-2)
17. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG (-1)
18. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS (+2)
19. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN (DTD)
20. Patrik Laine, RW, WPG\\ (-3)
21. Steven Stamkos, C/RW, TBL (-2)
22. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI (+7)
23. Sean Monahan, C, CGY (+8)
24. Leon Draisaitl, C/LW/RW, EDM (+4)
25. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (-4)
26. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH (-2)
27. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH (-2)
28. Artemi Panarin, LW, CBJ* (+6)
29. Tyler Seguin, C, DAL (-7)
30. Claude Giroux, C/LW, PHI (-7)
31. Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL (-4)
32. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT (-2)
33. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK (-1)
34. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY\\ (-1)
35. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ (SAME)
36. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY (+3)
37. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS* (+1)
38. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN\\ (+4)
39. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT (+6)
40. Mark Stone, RW, OTT* (+7)
41. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA (-4)
42. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI (+15)
43. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD (DTD)
44. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ (+2)
45. Timo Meier, LW/RW, SJS\\ (-5)
46. Alexander Radulov, RW, DAL (-5)
47. Sebastian Aho, C/LW/RW, CAR\\ (-3)
48. Dylan Larkin, C, DET (+6)
49. Alex Tuch, RW, VGK (+14)
50. Matt Duchene, C, OTT* (-7)
51. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (-3)
52. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS (-2)
53. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA (-1)
54. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN (-5)
55. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA (-4)
56. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C/LW, EDM (+5)
57. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA (-4)
58. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK\\ (SAME)
59. Jake Guentzel, C/LW, PIT (+3)
60. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF (SAME)
61. Tom Wilson, RW, WSH (-2)
62. Evander Kane, LW, SJS (+5)
63. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA (-8)
64. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL (+1)
65. Max Pacioretty, LW, VGK (DTD)
66. Anders Lee, LW, NYI* (+3)
67. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH (+3)
68. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK (+3)
69. Tyler Johnson, C/LW/RW, TBL (+5)
70. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH (+11)
71. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG (-5)
72. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH (-4)
73. Bo Horvat, C, VAN (-1)
74. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD (-1)
75. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS (+4)
76. Zach Parise, LW, MIN (+2)
77. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL (SAME)
78. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG\\ (-14)
79. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR (+14)
80. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI (+2)
81. Jonathan Drouin, C/LW, MTL (+2)
82. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR (+2)
83. Sean Couturier, C, PHI (-7)
84. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI (-4)
85. William Nylander, C/RW, TOR (-10)
86. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT (-1)
87. Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CAR\\ (-1)
88. Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK (-1)
89. Clayton Keller, C/LW/RW, ARI (+1)
90. Yanni Gourde, C/LW/RW, TBL (+1)
91. Andrei Svechnikov, LW/RW, CAR (-3)
92. Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT (-3)
93. Josh Bailey, RW, NYI (+2)
94. Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA (+3)
95. Paul Stastny, C, VGK (NEW)
96. Kasperi Kapanen, RW, TOR\\ (SAME)
97. Kevin Hayes, C, NYR* (NEW; DTD)
98. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI (NEW)
99. Tomas Tatar, LW/RW, MTL (NEW)
100. Brandon Pirri, C, VGK* (NEW; NOTE: Pirri assigned to AHL)
Dropped out: Micheal Ferland, LW/RW, CAR\; Brayden Schenn, C, STL; Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL; James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI; Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK
Just missed: Gustav Nyquist, LW/RW, DET\; Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL; Jonathan Toews, C, CHI; Eric Staal, C, MIN\; Dustin Brown, RW, LAK; Nico Hischier, C, NJD; Nazem Kadri, C, TOR; Jake DeBrusk, LW/RW, BOS; Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, ARI\\; Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\; Travis Konecny, C/LW/RW, PHI\\; Dylan Strome, C, CHI; David Krejci, C, BOS; Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL; Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN; Bryan Rust, LW/RW, PIT; Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI\; Sven Baertschi, LW, VAN; Josh Anderson, RW, CBJ; Alex Killorn, LW, TBL; Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR; Andreas Johnsson, LW, TOR; Alex Iafallo, LW, LAK\\; Zach Aston-Reese, C/LW/RW, PIT\\
Key injuries:* Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH; Rickard Rakell, C/LW/RW, ANA; Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA; J.T. Miller, C/LW/RW, TBL; Zach Hyman, LW, TOR; Alex Chiasson, RW, EDM\; Kyle Turris, C, NSH; Corey Perry, RW, ANA
READ: [Last week's Top 100 forward rankings]
Subscribe now to NHL Fantasy on Ice, a twice-per-week fantasy hockey podcast with Pete Jensen and Rob Reese.
