Fantasy top 250 rankings for 2018-19 after Jones, Perry injuries

NHL.com's top 250 player rankings are based on past production and expectations for this season in standard Yahoo leagues. For more fantasy coverage, visit NHL.com/Fantasy.

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Impact of Kucherov, Johnson injuries on Lightning

Tampa Bay Lightning right wing Nikita Kucherov sustained a lower-body injury in their preseason game against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and did not return. Tyler Johnson (upper body) is uncertain for the start of the season. Kucherov dropped one spot, behind Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby, because of this injury uncertainty but is still worth drafting in the early first round until we know more.
Forward Yanni Gourde, who had 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) as a rookie last season, would be elevated in the lineup if Kucherov and/or Johnson misses any time and has joined the top 150 rankings as a result. Left wing Ondrej Palat, who plays a scarce position and produces hits, would take on added responsibility in the top six.

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Impact of Jones injury on Blue Jackets

Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones is expected to miss 4-6 weeks because of a knee injury sustained in the preseason against the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. Jones should still be drafted in all leagues but is no longer ranked inside NHL.com's top 100. He's worth stashing on your fantasy bench or an injured reserve spot until he returns, but fantasy owners who have yet to draft should instead target Zach Werenski, who's expected to be ready for the start of the season after offseason shoulder surgery.
Werenski, who's normally paired with Jones at even strength, would be in line to take on first power-play responsibilities with forwards Artemi Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Cam Atkinson. Panarin (neck) is also dealing with injury concern, and he and goalie Sergei Bobrovsky are potential 2019 unrestricted free agents, adding to the growing uncertainty surrounding the Blue Jackets' fantasy value.

Impact of Perry injury on Ducks

Anaheim Ducks right wing Corey Perry is expected to miss five months after having knee surgery Wednesday. He sustained the injury in warmups before Anaheim's game against the Arizona Coyotes on Monday. Perry's absence presents an opportunity for deep sleeper candidate Ondrej Kase, who had 20 goals in 66 games on mostly the third line last season, to play on the top line with center Ryan Getzlaf and left wing Rickard Rakell. Kase or Jakob Silfverberg (potential 2019 UFA) should compete for a first power-play role with Perry and Ryan Kesler (hip) sidelined.
Kase should be targeted ahead of Silfverberg in drafts, but each could be fantasy-relevant this season with the likelihood of increased usage. Another name to track is Ducks rookie forward Troy Terry, who has skated with Getzlaf at times this preseason. Ducks goalie John Gibson, who's now playing behind a lineup minus Perry and Kesler, has dropped behind Penguins goalie Matt Murray in NHL.com's goalie rankings.

Oilers top six taking shape

The Edmonton Oilers have two players to keep an eye on this preseason in right wing Ty Rattie, who is playing on the top line with Connor McDavid and left wing Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and rookie wing Kailer Yamamoto, who's on the second line with Leon Draisaitl. Rattie and Yamamoto have a chance to stick in their current spots with the Oilers seeking more lineup continuity, making each worthy of a late-round flier or waiver wire pickup.

Rookie developments

-- The success of rookie center Elias Pettersson during the preseason is making his even-strength and first power-play linemate, left wing Sven Baertschi, an intriguing deep sleeper. If Pettersson's success carries over, the Canucks top six would have sneaky value. For now, Pettersson is worth reaching for around pick 140 and could be a Calder Trophy finalist.
-- Dual-eligible rookie wing Ryan Donato of the Boston Bruins has solidified a top-nine role this preseason. Donato will especially be fantasy-relevant if he plays on the first power-play unit with forwards Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron and defenseman Torey Krug and is worth drafting in late rounds.
-- Montreal Canadiens rookie center Jesperi Kotkaniemi continues to make a case for a full-time NHL role. He's currently centering the third line but has a ceiling of leading the Canadiens in scoring if he finds his way into the top six. For now, the 18-year-old is worth monitoring and may be worth drafting late or adding if he makes the team.
-- Philadelphia Flyers rookie goalie Carter Hart is worth monitoring with Michal Neuvirth (undisclosed) and Alex Lyon (lower body) dealing with injuries. Neuvirth and Brian Elliott are potential 2019 UFAs, creating a potential path for Hart to emerge as the starter at any point this season.
-- Dallas Stars rookie left wing Roope Hintz has seen time centering the top line with elite left wing Jamie Benn and right wing Alexander Radulov this preseason. If Dallas breaks up the elite duo of Benn and Tyler Seguin under new coach Jim Montgomery, Hintz could emerge as a sneaky waiver wire add in fantasy.

TOP 250 PLAYER RANKINGS FOR 2018-19

Standard Yahoo categories now include goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play points, shots on goal and hits for skaters and wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts for goalies. 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, defense pairs and goalie start volume, power-play usage, injury history, sleeper upside, anticipated regression or bounce-back candidacy, age and contract status (current restricted free agents). ... Potential 2019 UFAs (\) and RFAs (\\) are also noted below. ... INJ. indicates players with injury concerns. These rankings are a collaboration by Pete Jensen and Rob Reese.
1. Connor McDavid, C, EDM
2. Alex Ovechkin, LW, WSH
3. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT
4. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL - INJ.
5. Patrik Laine, RW, WPG\*
6. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT
7. Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL
8. Erik Karlsson, D, SJS*
9. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS
10. John Tavares, C, TOR
11. Nathan MacKinnon, C, COL
12. Auston Matthews, C, TOR\\
13. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS
14. Tyler Seguin, C, DAL
15. Steven Stamkos, C, TBL
16. Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG
17. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TBL
18. Claude Giroux, C/LW, PHI
19. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG
20. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL
21. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI
22. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD
23. Brent Burns, D, SJS
24. Victor Hedman, D, TBL
25. Dustin Byfuglien, D, WPG
26. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH
27. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG
28. Braden Holtby, G, WSH
29. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY
30. Mitch Marner, RW, TOR\\
31. Artemi Panarin, LW, CBJ - INJ.*
32. Frederik Andersen, G, TOR
33. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK
34. Jack Eichel, C, BUF
35. Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH
36. Drew Doughty, D, LAK
37. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS - INJ.
38. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT
39. Jonathan Quick, G, LAK
40. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA
41. Pekka Rinne, G, NSH*
42. Martin Jones, G, SJS
43. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CBJ*
44. Tuukka Rask, G, BOS
45. P.K. Subban, D, NSH
46. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS*
47. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM
48. Evander Kane, LW, SJS
49. Marc-Andre Fleury, G, VGK
50. John Klingberg, D, DAL
51. Alexander Radulov, RW, DAL
52. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI
53. Roman Josi, D, NSH
54. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH
55. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK\\
56. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN\\
57. Matt Murray, G, PIT
58. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI
59. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA
60. Max Pacioretty, LW, VGK
61. Rickard Rakell, LW/RW, ANA
62. John Gibson, G, ANA
63. Ben Bishop, G, DAL
64. John Carlson, D, WSH
65. Sean Monahan, C, CGY
66. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK
67. Kris Letang, D, PIT
68. Sebastian Aho, C/LW, CAR\\
69. Shayne Gostisbehere, D, PHI
70. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG
71. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK
72. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL - INJ.\\
73. Dougie Hamilton, D, CAR
74. Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA
75. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT
76. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY\\
77. Torey Krug, D, BOS - INJ.
78. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS
79. Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF
80. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI - INJ.*
81. Clayton Keller, LW/RW, ARI
82. Brayden Schenn, C, STL
83. William Nylander, C/RW, TOR - RFA
84. Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN
85. Tyson Barrie, D, COL
86. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN
87. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL
88. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI\\
89. Jeff Skinner, LW, BUF*
90. Zach Werenski, D, CBJ - INJ.\\
91. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA
92. Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS\\
93. Keith Yandle, D, FLA
94. Sean Couturier, C, PHI - INJ.
95. Brayden Point, C, TBL\\
96. Antti Raanta, G, ARI
97. Mark Giordano, D, CGY
98. Alex Pietrangelo, D, STL
99. Morgan Rielly, D, TOR
100. Jake Allen, G, STL
101. Viktor Arvidsson, RW, NSH
102. James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI
103. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, ARI
104. Jake Guentzel, LW, PIT\\
105. Seth Jones, D, CBJ - INJ.
106. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA
107. Cam Talbot, G, EDM*
108. Mathew Dumba, D, MIN
109. Teuvo Teravainen, LW/RW, CAR\\
110. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, BUF
111. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C/LW, EDM
112. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG\\
113. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ
114. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH
115. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH
116. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI
117. Eric Staal, C, MIN*
118. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ
119. Mike Smith, G, CGY*
120. Aaron Ekblad, D, FLA
121. Jeff Carter, C, LAK
122. Ryan Suter, D, MIN
123. Ryan Ellis, D, NSH
124. Roberto Luongo, G, FLA
125. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF
126. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL
127. Mikhail Sergachev, D, TBL
128. Jake Gardiner, D, TOR*
129. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR
130. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN
131. Corey Crawford, G, CHI - INJ.
132. Dylan Larkin, C, DET
133. Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK
134. Carey Price, G, MTL
135. J.T. Miller, C/RW, TBL
136. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA
137. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS
138. Anders Lee, LW, NYI*
139. Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL
140. Semyon Varlamov, G, COL*
141. Philipp Grubauer, G, COL
142. Nazem Kadri, C, TOR
143. Travis Konecny, LW/RW, PHI\\
144. Nico Hischier, C, NJD
145. Henrik Lundqvist, G, NYR
146. Carter Hutton, G, BUF
147. Shea Theodore, D, VGK
148. Tyler Toffoli, RW, LAK
149. Ryan Pulock, D, NYI
150. Yanni Gourde, C/RW, TBL*
151. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR
152. Dustin Brown, RW, LAK
153. Tom Wilson, RW, WSH
154. Brandon Montour, D, ANA
155. Jake Muzzin, D, LAK
156. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI
157. Cory Schneider, G, NJD - INJ.
158. Miro Heiskanen, D, DAL
159. Mark Stone, RW, OTT*
160. Kevin Fiala, LW/RW, NSH\\
161. Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA
162. Nino Niederreiter, LW/RW, MIN
163. Jack Roslovic, C, WPG
164. Nolan Patrick, C, PHI
165. Casey Mittelstadt, C, BUF
166. Will Butcher, D, NJD\\
167. Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, DET
168. Timo Meier, LW, SJS\\
169. Nick Bjugstad, C/RW, FLA
170. Jake DeBrusk, LW, BOS
171. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D, SJS
172. Bo Horvat, C, VAN
173. Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR
174. James Neal, RW, CGY
175. Erik Johnson, D, COL
176. Josh Manson, D, ANA
177. Joe Thornton, C, SJS*
178. Anthony Beauvillier, C/LW, NYI\\
179. Jordan Eberle, RW, NYI*
180. Matt Duchene, C, OTT*
181. Colton Parayko, D, STL
182. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR
183. Nick Leddy, D, NYI
184. Pavel Buchnevich, RW, NYR\\
185. Zach Hyman, LW, TOR - INJ.
186. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI - INJ.
187. Ty Rattie, RW, EDM (NEW)
188. Ryan Donato, LW/RW, BOS\\
189. Kailer Yamamoto, RW, EDM
190. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD
191. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN
192. Jeff Petry, D, MTL
193. Oliver Bjorkstrand, RW, CBJ
194. Alex Tuch, RW, VGK\\
195. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL
196. Kevin Shattenkirk, D, NYR
197. Petr Mrazek, G, CAR*
198. Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, CHI\\
199. Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\
200. Valentin Zykov, LW/RW, CAR
201. Daniel Sprong, RW, PIT
202. Robin Lehner, G, NYI*
203. Mike Matheson, D, FLA
204. Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL
205. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY
206. Filip Zadina, LW, DET
207. Justin Faulk, D, CAR
208. Derick Brassard, C, PIT*
209. Paul Stastny, C, VGK
210. Martin Necas, C, CAR
211. Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT
212. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, MTL (NEW)
213. James Reimer, G, FLA
214. Sven Baertschi, LW, VAN (NEW)
215. Duncan Keith, D, CHI
216. Cam Fowler, D, ANA
217. Derek Stepan, C, ARI
218. Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA* (NEW)
219. Mattias Ekholm, D, NSH
220. Nikita Zadorov, D, COL\\
221. David Krejci, C, BOS
222. Sami Vatanen, D, NJD
223. Juuse Saros, G, NSH
224. Thomas Chabot, D, OTT
225. Josh Bailey, RW, NYI
226. Justin Schultz, D, PIT
227. Carter Hart, G, PHI (NEW)
228. Milan Lucic, LW, EDM
229. Brandon Saad, LW, CHI
230. Danton Heinen, LW/RW, BOS\\
231. Aaron Dell, G, SJS
232. Roope Hintz, LW, DAL (NEW)
233. Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL - INJ.
234. Alexander Steen, RW, STL (NEW)
235. Noah Hanifin, D, CGY
236. Tyson Jost, C/LW, COL (NEW)
237. Zach Parise, LW, MIN (NEW)
238. Oscar Klefbom, D, EDM (NEW)
239. Mats Zuccarello, RW, NYR*
240. Troy Terry, RW, ANA (NEW)
241. Colin Miller, D, VGK
242. Zdeno Chara, D, BOS*
243. Ryan McDonagh, D, TBL
244. Jonathan Drouin, C, MTL (NEW)
245. Boone Jenner, C/LW, CBJ (NEW)
246. Kyle Turris, C, NSH
247. Kyle Okposo, RW, BUF (NEW)
248. Brian Elliott, G, PHI*
249. Mike Green, D, DET - INJ.
250. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL

READ: Fantasy top 250 rankings from Sept. 14