Top 100 Forwards - Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings for 2019-2020

We're back with fantasy hockey coverage at RotoBaller. Just like last year, over the course of the 2019-2020 NHL season, we'll be providing weekly updates to our fantasy hockey rankings - listing each player in terms of his rest-of-season value.

Below you can find the inaugural version of our rankings, our preseason top 100 forward rankings. The rankings are the result of a collective effort from RotoBaller staff writers Chase Davis, Scott Cullen and Chris Wassel.

Our Rankings are determined considering a standard Yahoo league format (goals, assists, plus-minus, power play points, shots on goal, and hits for skaters; wins, goals against average, save percentage, and shutouts for goalies). Value is based on factors such as past production, future NHL potential, age, projections, line/defensive pair combinations, quality of a player's team and contract status. Let get into it!

 

Top 100 Forwards - Preseason Draft Rankings

Rank	Player Name	Position	Team	Chase	Scott	Chris	Consensus
1	Nikita Kucherov	RW	TB	1	1	1	1.0
2	Alex Ovechkin	LW	WSH	2	2	2	2.0
3	Connor McDavid	C	EDM	3	3	4	3.3
4	Nathan MacKinnon	C	COL	4	4	3	3.7
5	Sidney Crosby	C	PIT	6	5	6	5.7
6	Patrick Kane	RW	CHI	5	11	5	7.0
7	Tyler Seguin	C	DAL	15	7	7	9.7
8	Auston Matthews	C	TOR	8	17	8	11.0
9	David Pastrnak	RW	BOS	10	12	12	11.3
10	Steven Stamkos	C	TB	14	6	14	11.3
11	Brad Marchand	LW	BOS	7	13	15	11.7
12	Leon Draisaitl	C,LW	EDM	13	16	13	14.0
13	Aleksander Barkov	C	FLA	12	22	10	14.7
14	Johnny Gaudreau	LW	CGY	16	21	16	17.7
15	John Tavares	C	TOR	19	15	19	17.7
16	Blake Wheeler	RW	WPG	20	10	28	19.3
17	Mikko Rantanen	RW	COL	17	18	24	19.7
18	Sebastian Aho	C	CAR	25	14	25	21.3
19	Mitchell Marner	RW	TOR	18	30	18	22.0
20	Taylor Hall	LW	NJ	24	25	17	22.0
21	Artemi Panarin	LW	NYR	21	26	21	22.7
22	Brayden Point	C	TB	23	23	33	26.3
23	Evgeni Malkin	C	PIT	28	38	20	28.7
24	Jack Eichel	C	BUF	27	37	26	30.0
25	Mark Scheifele	C	WPG	30	36	30	32.0
26	Claude Giroux	C,LW,RW	PHI	35	27	35	32.3
27	Patrice Bergeron	C	BOS	34	24	41	33.0
28	Vladimir Tarasenko	RW	STL	40	20	40	33.3
29	Gabriel Landeskog	C, LW	COL	42	33	37	37.3
30	Jamie Benn	LW	DAL	43	28	46	39.0
31	Matthew Tkachuk	LW	CGY	37	42	42	40.3
32	Mark Stone	RW	VGK	41	46	34	40.3
33	Alexander Radulov	RW	DAL	49	35	49	44.3
34	Filip Forsberg	LW	NSH	46	45	43	44.7
35	Jake Guentzel	LW,RW	PIT	54	31	50	45.0
36	Elias Pettersson	C	VAN	39	58	39	45.3
37	Jonathan Marchessault	C, LW	VGK	53	41	53	49.0
38	Mika Zibanejad	C	NYR	52	44	52	49.3
39	Evgeny Kuznetsov	C	WSH	47	55	47	49.7
40	Alex DeBrincat	LW, RW	CHI	45	62	45	50.7
41	Timo Meier	LW,RW	SJ	69	32	61	54.0
42	Jonathan Huberdeau	LW	FLA	66	34	66	55.3
43	Patrik Laine	LW,RW	WPG	61	48	69	59.3
44	Nicklas Backstrom	C	WSH	68	43	68	59.7
45	Sean Monahan	C	CGY	67	56	67	63.3
46	Sean Couturier	C	PHI	83	29	83	65.0
47	Phil Kessel	RW	ARI	58	78	65	67.0
48	Joe Pavelski	C, RW	DAL	76	53	76	68.3
49	Dylan Larkin	C	DET	65	85	58	69.3
50	Evander Kane	LW	SJ	62	90	62	71.3
51	Mathew Barzal	C	NYI	78	76	78	77.3
52	Logan Couture	C	SJ	73	88	73	78.0
53	Ryan O'Reilly	C	STL	95	54	95	81.3
54	Brock Boeser	RW	VAN	71	110	71	84.0
55	Vincent Trocheck	C	FLA	87	84	87	86.0
56	Cam Atkinson	RW	CBJ	96	71	91	86.0
57	Jakub Voracek	RW	PHI	77	105	77	86.3
58	Jonathan Toews	C	CHI	99	61	99	86.3
59	Mike Hoffman	LW,RW	FLA	102	75	82	86.3
60	Teuvo Teravainen	LW,RW	CAR	101	60	101	87.3
61	Jeff Skinner	LW	BUF	89	86	89	88.0
62	Brendan Gallagher	RW	MTL	93	79	93	88.3
63	Tomas Hertl	C, LW	SJ	75	116	75	88.7
64	Pierre-Luc Dubois	C	CBJ	107	66	107	93.3
65	Matt Duchene	C	NSH	79	125	79	94.3
66	Evgenii Dadonov	LW	FLA	97	98	97	97.3
67	Viktor Arvidsson	LW,RW	NSH	98	109	98	101.7
68	Anders Lee	LW	NYI	122	67	122	103.7
69	Elias Lindholm	C,RW	CGY	103	106	103	104.0
70	Kyle Connor	LW	WPG	104	104	104	104.0
71	Brady Tkachuk	LW	OTT	109	96	109	104.7
72	Rickard Rakell	LW,RW	ANA	106	108	106	106.7
73	Josh Anderson	RW	CBJ	120	83	120	107.7
74	William Nylander	C,RW	TOR	110	118	110	112.7
75	Max Pacioretty	LW	VGK	100	139	100	113.0
76	Anze Kopitar	C	LA	111	95	142	116.0
77	Jack Hughes	C	NJ	119	122	111	117.3
78	William Karlsson	C	VGK	140	72	140	117.3
79	Kyle Palmieri	RW	NJ	116	124	116	118.7
80	Brayden Schenn	C,LW	STL	138	87	138	121.0
81	Max Domi	C	MTL	105	155	105	121.7
82	Nikita Gusev	LW	NJ	147	89	134	123.3
83	Chris Kreider	LW	NYR	130	119	130	126.3
84	Clayton Keller	LW,RW	ARI	124	133	124	127.0
85	Tom Wilson	RW	WSH	113	163	113	129.7
86	Nico Hischier	C	NJ	142	129	119	130.0
87	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	C,LW	EDM	135	121	135	130.3
88	Bo Horvat	C	VAN	134	115	147	132.0
89	Anthony Mantha	LW,RW	DET	141	123	141	135.0
90	Ryan Johansen	C	NSH	150	114	150	138.0
91	Mikael Granlund	LW,RW	NSH	157	103	157	139.0
92	Ryan Getzlaf	C	ANA	132	154	132	139.3
93	Kaapo Kakko	RW	NYR	123	175	123	140.3
94	Jason Zucker	LW,RW	MIN	168	93	168	143.0
95	Reilly Smith	RW	VGK	149	150	149	149.3
96	T.J. Oshie	RW	WSH	161	130	161	150.7
97	Andrei Svechnikov	LW,RW	CAR	162	128	162	150.7
98	Nazem Kadri	C	COL	159	135	159	151.0
99	Nino Niederreiter	LW,RW	CAR	191	74	191	152.0
100	James Van Riemsdyk	LW	PHI	154	151	154	153.0
101	Sam Reinhart	C,RW	BUF	164	136	164	154.7
102	Zach Parise	LW	MIN	165	166	145	158.7
103	Dustin Brown	RW	LA	183	112	183	159.3
104	Mats Zuccarello	RW	MIN	153	174	153	160.0
105	Nikolaj Ehlers	LW,RW	WPG	177	137	177	163.7
106	Patric Hornqvist	RW	PIT	198	97	198	164.3
107	Dylan Strome	C	CHI	139	216	139	164.7
108	Alex Galchenyuk	C,LW	PIT	163	184	163	170.0
109	Gustav Nyquist	LW,RW	CBJ	175	171	175	173.7
110	Andreas Johnsson	LW,RW	TOR	152	222	152	175.3
111	J.T. Miller	LW,RW	VAN	199	131	199	176.3
112	Paul Stastny	C	VGK	137	257	137	177.0
113	Jaden Schwartz	LW	STL	190	165	190	181.7
114	Jordan Eberle	RW	NYI	187	172	187	182.0
115	Jake DeBrusk	LW,RW	BOS	196	159	196	183.7
116	Blake Coleman	LW,RW	NJ	173	207	173	184.3
117	Alex Tuch	RW	VGK	200	160	200	186.7
118	Roope Hintz	LW	DAL	145	261	165	190.3
119	Ondrej Kase	RW	ANA	197	180	197	191.3
120	David Perron	LW,RW	STL	182	226	182	196.7
121	Andreas Athanasiou	C,LW	DET	178	240	178	198.7
122	Pavel Buchnevich	RW	NYR	181	238	181	200.0
123	Kevin Labanc	RW	SJ	193	232	193	206.0
124	Nick Schmaltz	C,LW	ARI	195	282	195	224.0

 

Fantasy Hockey Forwards - Rankings Analysis 

Checking in at the top spot of our forward rankings, Nikita Kucherov is primed for another monster season in Tampa Bay. Kucherov led the league with 128 points in 2018-2019 and considering the amount of game-breaking talent around him in Tampa Bay, he has another great opportunity to repeat.  Taking his spot on perhaps the NHL's strongest team's first line and top power-play unit, the Russian dynamo should be an easy bet to eclipse the 100-point club for the third consecutive season.

It's difficult to suggest a player who posted 73 points last season is poised for a break-out year but that's just how high of a ceiling Auston Matthews possesses. Gifted with one of the best releases in the league today, Matthews should flirt with 50 goals for the very first time in his young career - largely dependent on whether or not the Arizona native can stay healthy enough to play a full 82 games. When you consider that he's poised for an uptick in time-on-ice on the man advantage (123rd in the NHL with 2:34 PP TOI/GP despite 20 power-play points), it's easy to see him hitting the 90-point mark for the first time in 2019-2020.

Taylor Hall is healthy, folks. After missing 49 games due to a knee injury last season, this 2017-2018 MVP appears ready to rock on a much improved New Jersey Devils squad this season. Over the past season and a half (109 contests), he's posted an eye-popping 130 points (50 goals, 70 assists), 49 power-play points and 391 shots. Entering a contract-year, Hall will have plenty of motivation to keep producing at elite levels.

Is this finally the year we see Filip Forsberg evolve into a legitimate NHL superstar? Right in the middle of his prime, the 25-year-old will look to shake off injuries that have hampered him from blossoming into a fantasy star. The talent is there, the usage is there (18:31 average TOI last season) and he's insulated with highly productive forwards in Ryan Johansen, Viktor Arvidsson and newcomer Matt Duchene. With the addition of new assistant coach Dan Lambert, hired to revive a Predators power-play ranking 31st in efficiency, Forsberg should be able to double the 9 power-play points he registered last season.

Arguably one of the better draft-day bargains available at forward, Timo Meier (#90 Yahoo pre-rank/74.8 ADP) has already proven to be one of the game's most talented young scorers. In addition to his premiere skill package, the Swiss-born forward is coming off a highly productive second full NHL season. In 78 regular season games in 2018-2019, the 22-year-old registered a career-best 66 points (30 goals, 36 assists) and served as a top-50 fantasy asset based off his excellent cross-category coverage of 250 shots, 99 hits and a plus-nine rating. Following Joe Pavelski's departure over the off-season, Meier will join a lethal top PP unit in San Jose and should consequently improve his power-play production (10 PPP last year). When you add in the fact that he's eligible at both the left-wing and right-wing positions, Meier is definitely a player that would be worth reaching for.

Just breaking the top 100 is a familiar face out in Anaheim, long-time Ducks' captain Ryan Getzlaf. Crippled by injuries last season, the Ducks fell to the bottom of the Western Conference, leaving Getzlaf devoid of highly-productive wingers on the team's top line. Wingers Rickard Rakell and Ondrej Kase appear to be 100 percent and that alone should boost Getzlaf's value - allowing him to return back to his regular 60+ point production. The 34-year-old remains one of the game's top puck distributors and given his security on this team's first line and top PP unit, Getzlaf should easily surpass the 0.72 point-per-game pace he established last season.

 

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