DEC 31st UPDATE: Last crack at the forward rankings for 2021. Lots of tinkering. Happy New Year. Let's hope for better covid-less days ahead!
Our fantasy hockey forward rankings project the next 1 to 2 seasons, and consider each player's track record, upside, age, team and injury history. Because fantasy hockey league categories vary widely, these rankings focus on point production.
| RK | PLAYER | TREND | NOTES |
|---|
| 1 | Connor McDavid, EDM | | |
| 2 | Leon Draisaitl, EDM | | Gap between top two and rest of the NHL growing |
| 3 | Nathan MacKinnon, COL | | |
| 4 | Auston Matthews, TOR | | |
| 5 | Nikita Kucherov, TB | | Top 5 when fully healthy, which isn't often |
| 6 | Artemi Panarin, NYR | | |
| 7 | Mikko Rantanen, COL | | |
| 8 | David Pastrnak, BOS | | How will B's aging core impact him long term? |
| 9 | Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA | | |
| 10 | Mitch Marner, TOR | | |
| 11 | Alex Ovechkin, WAS | UP | Scoring at will, but he's getting a pile of assists too |
| 12 | Brad Marchand, BOS | | |
| 13 | Patrick Kane, CHI | | |
| 14 | Sebastian Aho, CAR | | Less heralded superstar piling up the points |
| 15 | Aleksander Barkov, FLA | | |
| 16 | Sidney Crosby, PIT | | Back on track after injury and Covid-riddled start |
| 17 | John Tavares, TOR | | |
| 18 | Kirill Kaprizov, MIN | UP | Sophomore continues steady march up the board |
| 19 | Jack Eichel, VGK | UP | Vegas' winger depth could take Eichel to new heights |
| 20 | Kyle Connor, WPG | | |
| 21 | Mark Scheifele, WPG | | |
| 22 | Jake Guentzel, PIT | | |
| 23 | Steven Stamkos, TB | | When he's healthy, he's a top 10 centerman |
| 24 | Brayden Point, TB | | |
| 25 | Andrei Svechnikov, CAR | | |
| 26 | Mark Stone, VGK | | |
| 27 | Matthew Tkachuk, CGY | | |
| 28 | Mika Zibanejad, NYR | | |
| 29 | J.T. Miller, VAN | | One of the few consistent Canucks this year |
| 30 | Alex DeBrincat, CHI | UP | Probably doesn't get the fanfare he deserves |
| 31 | Johnny Gaudreau, CGY | | |
| 32 | Gabriel Landeskog, COL | | |
| 33 | Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG | | |
| 34 | Evgeny Kuznetsov, WAS | UP | Even with Backstrom back, he should be effective |
| 35 | William Nylander, TOR | UP | Improves a bit every season |
| 36 | Mathew Barzal, NYI | | |
| 37 | Elias Pettersson, VAN | | New coach, new opportunity |
| 38 | Nicklas Backstrom, WAS | | |
| 39 | Anze Kopitar, LA | | |
| 40 | Evgeni Malkin, PIT | | Still effective when healthy, but how often is that? |
| 41 | Elias Lindholm, CGY | | |
| 42 | Patrice Bergeron, BOS | | |
| 43 | Ryan O'Reilly, STL | | |
| 44 | Brady Tkachuk, OTT | | Contract done, can focus on leading young Sens |
| 45 | Trevor Zegras, ANH | UP | Human highlight reel leading Ducks out of NHL cellar |
| 46 | Jason Robertson, DAL | | |
| 47 | Timo Meier, SJ | UP | Young power forward continues to make strides |
| 48 | Blake Wheeler, WPG | DOWN | Set such a high benchmark; trending downward |
| 49 | Kevin Fiala, MIN | | |
| 50 | Max Pacioretty, VGK | DOWN | Injuries a recurring problem |
| 51 | Vincent Trocheck, CAR | | |
| 52 | Patrik Laine, CBJ | | |
| 53 | Tyler Seguin, DAL | DOWN | |
| 54 | Sean Couturier, PHI | | |
| 55 | Filip Forsberg, NAS | | He'd be higher if he wasn't hurt half of the time |
| 56 | Vladimir Tarasenko, STL | UP | When he's healthy, he's elite |
| 57 | Pavel Buchnevich, STL | UP | |
| 58 | Claude Giroux, PHI | | |
| 59 | Nazem Kadri, COL | UP | Putting together a nice bounceback season |
| 60 | Pierre-Luc Dubois, WPG | | |
| 61 | Andrei Burakovsky, COL | | |
| 62 | Teuvo Teravainen, CAR | | |
| 63 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM | | |
| 64 | Dylan Larkin, DET | | Will improve as Detroit improves |
| 65 | David Perron, STL | | |
| 66 | Nick Suzuki, MTL | | |
| 67 | Jonathan Marchessault, VGK | | |
| 68 | Jack Hughes, NJ | | Ranked here for the upside |
| 69 | Bo Horvat, VAN | | |
| 70 | Sam Reinhart, FLA | | |
| 71 | Troy Terry, ANH | UP | What a start! Can he keep it up? |
| 72 | Oliver Bjorkstrand, CBJ | | |
| 73 | Joe Pavelski, DAL | UP | |
| 74 | Brock Boeser, VAN | | |
| 75 | Taylor Hall, BOS | DOWN | Slow start, but still gets opportunities; hold |
| 76 | Bryan Rust, PIT | | |
| 77 | T.J. Oshie, WAS | | |
| 78 | Tomas Hertl, SJ | | |
| 79 | Lucas Raymond, DET | UP | Detroit's young stud is off to a quick start |
| 80 | Jordan Kyrou, STL | | |
| 81 | Tom Wilson, WAS | | |
| 82 | Drake Batherson, OTT | | |
| 83 | Martin Necas, CAR | | |
| 84 | Ryan Strome, NYR | | Rangers pivot gets to play with top wingers like Panarin |
| 85 | Dominik Kubalik, CHI | DOWN | |
| 86 | Tyler Bertuzzi, DET | | Injuries, COVID situation cap otherwise high upside |
| 87 | Travis Konecny, PHI | | |
| 88 | Roope Hintz, DAL | | |
| 89 | Jesse Puljujarvi, EDM | | |
| 90 | Robert Thomas, STL | | Emerging as one of the game's top passers |
| 91 | Brayden Schenn, STL | DOWN | Losing ground to Blues' younger forwards |
| 92 | Logan Couture, SJ | | |
| 93 | Chris Kreider, NYR | | |
| 94 | Andrew Mangiapane, CGY | | |
| 95 | Tyler Toffoli, MTL | | |
| 96 | Jakub Voracek, CBJ | | |
| 97 | Alex Killorn, TB | | |
| 98 | Chandler Stephenson, VGK | | Eichel return will hurt, but impressing nonetheless |
| 99 | Matt Duchene, NAS | | |
| 100 | Mikael Granlund, NAS | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | THE BENCH | | |
| | Clayton Keller, AZ | | |
| | Jaden Schwartz, SEA | | |
| | Carter Verhaghe, FLA | | |
| | Viktor Arvidsson, LA | | |
| | Nico Hischier, NJ | | |
| | William Karlsson, VGK | | |
| | Anders Lee, NYI | | |
| | Zach Hyman, EDM | | |
| | Anthony Duclair, FLA | | |
| | Jakub Vrana, DET | | |
| | Mike Hoffman, MTL | | |
| | Rickard Rakell, ANH | | |
| | Sam Bennett, FLA | | |
| | Cam Atkinson, CBJ | | |
| | Reilly Smith, VGK | | |
| | Jordan Eberle, SEA | | |
| | Victor Olofsson, BUF | | |
| | Sean Monahan, CGY | | |
| | Jamie Benn, DAL | | |
| | Alexander Radulov, DAL | | |
| | Anthony Cirelli, TB | | |
| | Brendan Gallagher, MTL | | |
| | Tomas Tatar, MTL | | |
| | Kailer Yamamoto, EDM | | |
| | Alexis Lafreniere, NYR | | |
| | James van Riemsdyk, PHI | | |
| | Tim Stutzle, OTT | | |
| | Anthony Mantha, WAS | | |
| | Jonathan Drouin, MTL | | |
| | Evgenii Dadonov, VGK | | |
| | Jonathan Toews, CHI | | |
| | Dennis Gurianov, DAL | | |
| | Ondrej Palat, TB | | |
| | Evander Kane, SJ | | |
| | Max Domi, CBJ | | |
| | Phil Kessel, AZ | | |
| | Ryan Johansen, NAS | | |
| | Kyle Palmieri, NYI | | |
| | Nick Schmaltz, AZ | | |
| | Kaapo Kakko, NYR | | |
| | Jeff Skinner, BUF | | |
| | Ryan Getzlaf, ANH | | |
| | Yanni Gourde, SEA | | |
| | Josh Bailey, NYI | | |
| | Kevin Hayes, PHI | | |
| | Wayne Simmonds, TOR | | |
| | Jeff Carter, PIT | | |
| | Mats Zuccarello, MIN | | |
| | Nolan Patrick, VGK | | |
| | Tyler Johnson, CHI | | |
| | Jake DeBrusk, BOS | | |
| | Jason Zucker, PIT | | |
| | Zach Parise, NYI | | |
| | Patric Hornqvist, FLA | | |
| | Jakob Silvferberg, ANH | | |
| | Gustav Nyquist, CBJ | | |
| | Casey Mittelstadt, BUF | | |
| | Kasperi Kapanen, PIT | | |
| | Nino Niederreiter, CAR | | |
| | Craig Smith, BOS | | |
| | Paul Stastny, WPG | | |
| | David Krejci, BOS | | |
| | Marcus Johansson, SEA | | |
| | Brandon Saad, STL | | |
| | Nick Foligno, BOS | | |
| | Robby Fabbri, DET | | |
| | Josh Anderson, MTL | | |
| | Valeri Nichushkin, COL | | |
| | Artturi Lehkonen, MTL | | |
| | Filip Zadina, DET | | |
| | Michael Bunting, TOR | | |
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