Fantasy top 250 rankings for 2018-19
McDavid, Ovechkin, Crosby lead list; McAvoy joins top 75 after Krug injury
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Impact of Krug injury on Bruins
Boston Bruins defenseman Torey Krug will miss at least the next three weeks because of an ankle injury sustained in a preseason game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday. This news drops Krug outside the top 100 overall, putting him just ahead of another injured defenseman, Seth Jones (knee; to miss 4-6 weeks) of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Defenseman Charlie McAvoy is now worth prioritizing around the top 75 overall ahead of his second full NHL season. He has a chance to quarterback the Bruins' first power-play unit, which features elite forwards Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak and Patrice Bergeron in Krug's absence. McAvoy jumped defensemen Rasmus Dahlin, Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Tyson Barrie and Keith Yandle in this rankings update.
Impact of Crawford practicing for Blackhawks
Chicago Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford (concussion) practiced for the first time of training camp Monday but did not play in their season opener against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday. That said, this is the most encouraging update yet surrounding Crawford and indicates he could return soon. Veteran Cam Ward is worth streaming in the mean time.
When healthy, Crawford is a top 20 fantasy goalie and is worth drafting as a potential bargain. Prior to missing the final 47 games last season, he was 16-9-2 with a 2.27 goals-against average, .929 save percentage and two shutouts. He rises in this rankings update, ahead of veteran goalie Roberto Luongo, who's in a projected timeshare situation with James Reimer for the Florida Panthers. Crawford is fair game to reach for around the top 100 overall again (average draft position: 124.5), especially if there is a run on goalies.
Impact of Brown injury on Kings
Los Angeles Kings forward Dustin Brown is out indefinitely because of a broken finger sustained in a preseason game against the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday. This development gives right wing Tyler Toffoli added fantasy appeal because of the guaranteed role of playing with either center Jeff Carter or Anze Kopitar in the top six.
Brown's injury also opens up a coveted spot on the Kings' first power play with Kopitar, wing Ilya Kovalchuk and defenseman Drew Doughty. Defenseman Jake Muzzin is the early front-runner for this role, and forward Adrian Kempe has also been in that spot at practice. Wing Alex Iafallo, who played frequently with Kopitar and Brown last season, is a sneaky option off the waiver wire in deeper leagues on the top line with Kopitar and Kovalchuk at even strength.
Rookies to watch
Although some rookies (i.e. Filip Zadina, Eeli Tolvanen, Carter Hart) are no longer among the top 250 after being assigned to their respective American Hockey League teams, others have carved out spots for nine-game NHL trials:
-- Wing Mathieu Joseph, especially with injuries to Nikita Kucherov (lower body; hopeful for opener) and Tyler Johnson (upper body; uncertain), has a chance to make an impact after leading the Tampa Bay Lightning in goals (four), assists (four) and shots on goal (18) with a plus-5 in six preseason games.
-- Right wing Kailer Yamamoto rises in these rankings after his second straight strong preseason for the Edmonton Oilers, and forward Michael Rasmussen also joins the list after earning at least a nine-game NHL trial for the Detroit Red Wings.
-- The Carolina Hurricanes have three rookies (Andrei Svechnikov, Valentin Zykov, Martin Necas) in NHL.com's top 250 after each had at least a point per game this preseason. This youth movement, as well as an injury to Hurricanes goalie Scott Darling (lower body), lifted sleeper candidate Petr Mrazek into the top 175 behind Carolina's improved defense, which added Dougie Hamilton and Calvin de Haan.
Other preseason developments
-- Right wing Jesse Puljujarvi had a productive preseason for the Oilers in a top-nine and power-play role. He was among the preseason leaders in goals (four), power-play goals (two) and shots on goal (18) and is worth monitoring off the waiver wire in standard leagues. Center Leon Draisaitl, with the chance to play with either Yamamoto or Puljujarvi, rises three spots among the top 50 rankings.
-- Right wing Josh Bailey returns to the top 200 overall after thriving this preseason on the New York Islanders' top line with Mathew Barzal and Anthony Beauvillier. Although Bailey loses value from former linemate John Tavares' departure, he does have a high ceiling on Barzal's line after scoring an NHL career-high 71 points in 76 games last season. Bailey had six points (two goals, four assists) in five preseason games. He scored the overtime goal in their season opener against the Hurricanes.
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\
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
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. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM
45. Tuukka Rask, G, BOS
46. P.K. Subban, D, NSH
47. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS\
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. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN\\
56. Matt Murray, G, PIT
57. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI
58. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK\\
59. Max Pacioretty, LW, VGK
60. Rickard Rakell, LW/RW, ANA
61. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA
62. John Gibson, G, ANA
63. Ben Bishop, G, DAL
64. John Carlson, D, WSH
65. Sebastian Aho, C/LW, CAR\\
66. Sean Monahan, C, CGY
67. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK
68. Kris Letang, D, PIT
69. Shayne Gostisbehere, D, PHI
70. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG
71. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK
72. Mikko Rantanen, RW, COL\\
73. Dougie Hamilton, D, CAR
74. Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA
75. Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS\\
76. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT
77. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY\\
78. Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF
79. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS
80. Zach Werenski, D, CBJ\\
81. Clayton Keller, LW/RW, ARI
82. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI\\
83. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI\
84. Brayden Schenn, C, STL
85. William Nylander, C/RW, TOR - RFA
86. Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN
87. Tyson Barrie, D, COL
88. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN
89. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL
90. Jeff Skinner, LW, BUF\
91. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA
92. Keith Yandle, D, FLA
93. Sean Couturier, C, PHI
94. Brayden Point, C, TBL\\
95. Antti Raanta, G, ARI
96. Mark Giordano, D, CGY
97. Alex Pietrangelo, D, STL
98. Morgan Rielly, D, TOR
99. Jake Allen, G, STL
100. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, ARI
101. Viktor Arvidsson, RW, NSH
102. James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI
103. Cam Talbot, G, EDM\
104. Torey Krug, D, BOS - INJ.
105. Jake Guentzel, LW, PIT\\
106. Seth Jones, D, CBJ - INJ.
107. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA
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. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI
114. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ
115. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH
116. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH
117. Eric Staal, C, MIN\
118. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ
119. Aaron Ekblad, D, FLA
120. Mike Smith, G, CGY\
121. Jeff Carter, C, LAK
122. Corey Crawford, G, CHI - INJ.
123. Ryan Suter, D, MIN
124. Ryan Ellis, D, NSH
125. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF
126. Mikhail Sergachev, D, TBL
127. Jake Gardiner, D, TOR\
128. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR
129. Roberto Luongo, G, FLA
130. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL
131. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN
132. Carey Price, G, MTL
133. Dylan Larkin, C, DET
134. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA
135. J.T. Miller, C/RW, TBL
136. Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK
137. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS
138. Nazem Kadri, C, TOR
139. Ryan Pulock, D, NYI
140. Semyon Varlamov, G, COL\
141. Philipp Grubauer, G, COL
142. Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL
143. Anders Lee, LW, NYI\
144. Travis Konecny, LW/RW, PHI\\
145. Tyler Toffoli, RW, LAK
146. Yanni Gourde, C/RW, TBL\
147. Nico Hischier, C, NJD
148. Henrik Lundqvist, G, NYR
149. Shea Theodore, D, VGK
150. Miro Heiskanen, D, DAL
151. Carter Hutton, G, BUF
152. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR
153. Jake Muzzin, D, LAK
154. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI
155. Mark Stone, RW, OTT\
156. Brandon Montour, D, ANA
157. Kevin Fiala, LW/RW, NSH\\
158. Ondrej Kase, RW, ANA - INJ.
159. Nino Niederreiter, LW/RW, MIN
160. Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, DET
161. Anthony Beauvillier, C/LW, NYI\\
162. Dustin Brown, RW, LAK - INJ.
163. Cory Schneider, G, NJD - INJ.
164. Jack Roslovic, C, WPG
165. Nolan Patrick, C, PHI
166. Will Butcher, D, NJD\\
167. Casey Mittelstadt, C, BUF
168. Timo Meier, LW, SJS\\
169. Nick Bjugstad, C/RW, FLA
170. Jake DeBrusk, LW, BOS
171. Josh Manson, D, ANA
172. Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR
173. Bo Horvat, C, VAN
174. James Neal, RW, CGY
175. Petr Mrazek, G, CAR\
176. Matt Duchene, C, OTT\
177. Jordan Eberle, RW, NYI\
178. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D, SJS
179. Erik Johnson, D, COL
180. Tom Wilson, RW, WSH (suspended)
181. Joe Thornton, C, SJS\
182. Colton Parayko, D, STL
183. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR
184. Nick Leddy, D, NYI
185. Valentin Zykov, LW/RW, CAR
186. Pavel Buchnevich, RW, NYR\\
187. Ty Rattie, RW, EDM
188. Ryan Donato, LW/RW, BOS\\
189. Kailer Yamamoto, RW, EDM
190. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD
191. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN
192. Kevin Shattenkirk, D, NYR
193. Josh Bailey, RW, NYI
194. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI - INJ.
195. Zach Hyman, LW, TOR
196. Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\
197. Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, CHI\\
198. Oliver Bjorkstrand, RW, CBJ
199. Alex Tuch, RW, VGK - INJ.\\
200. Jeff Petry, D, MTL
201. Justin Faulk, D, CAR
202. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL
203. Michael Rasmussen, C, DET (NEW)
204. Daniel Sprong, RW, PIT
205. Robin Lehner, G, NYI\
206. Mike Matheson, D, FLA
207. Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL
208. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY
209. Martin Necas, C, CAR
210. Derick Brassard, C, PIT\
211. Paul Stastny, C, VGK
212. Brady Tkachuk, LW, OTT - INJ.
213. Sami Vatanen, D, NJD
214. James Reimer, G, FLA
215. Jesperi Kotkaniemi, C, MTL
216. Sven Baertschi, LW, VAN
217. Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA\
218. Duncan Keith, D, CHI
219. Cam Fowler, D, ANA
220. Derek Stepan, C, ARI
221. Jesse Puljujarvi, RW, EDM (NEW)
222. Mattias Ekholm, D, NSH
223. David Krejci, C, BOS
224. Juuse Saros, G, NSH
225. Danton Heinen, LW/RW, BOS\\
226. Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL - INJ.
227. Justin Schultz, D, PIT
228. Brian Elliott, G, PHI\
229. Thomas Chabot, D, OTT
230. Nikita Zadorov, D, COL\\
231. Milan Lucic, LW, EDM
232. Brandon Saad, LW, CHI
233. Aaron Dell, G, SJS
234. Troy Terry, RW, ANA
235. Roope Hintz, LW, DAL
236. Mathieu Joseph, RW, TBL (NEW)
237. Alexander Steen, RW, STL
238. Noah Hanifin, D, CGY
239. Tyson Jost, C/LW, COL
240. Zach Parise, LW, MIN
241. Oscar Klefbom, D, EDM
242. Mats Zuccarello, RW, NYR\
243. Colin Miller, D, VGK
244. Zdeno Chara, D, BOS\
245. Kyle Turris, C, NSH
246. Ryan McDonagh, D, TBL
247. Jonathan Drouin, C, MTL
248. Boone Jenner, C/LW, CBJ
249. Kyle Okposo, RW, BUF
250. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL
Dropped out: Filip Zadina, LW, DET (AHL); Carter Hart, G, PHI (AHL); Mike Green, D, DET (INJ.)
Other key injuries: Corey Perry, RW, ANA; Ryan Kesler, C, ANA; Shea Weber, D, MTL; Robby Fabbri, C/LW, STL; Patrick Eaves, RW, ANA
READ: Fantasy top 250 rankings from Sept. 26
