Fantasy hockey rankings: Six skaters who carry their team’s fantasy scoring
I shouldn’t flippantly say they’re not embracing it though. Dobson, for what it’s worth, is now earning the ice time deserved by his play this season — but it took a while for that to come around, including a visit to the press box at one point. But he looks secure now as the offensive leader from the blue line, even with Ryan Pulock‘s return from a long-term lower-body injury on the horizon (Dobson was already leading the team in power-play ice time with Pulock healthy).
Wahlstrom, on the other hand, is 14th on his own team for time on ice this season. He’s arguably on the third line when everyone is healthy, as Mathew Barzal and Brock Nelson lead separate units that get more time. Still, when it comes to efficiency, Wahlstrom has been great. His fantasy points per 60 minutes remain among the league’s top 30.
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It’s interesting not only because they are already on the fringes of fantasy with what they are already doing, but an improvement in the Islanders’ overall output could lift them further. Dobson has accounted for 8.26 percent of the Islanders total fantasy points by skaters this season, with Wahlstrom at 7.12 percent.
Getting a healthy share of their teams fantasy totals while the scoring doldrums are here surely bodes well for when the wind picks up. Who else is doing the lion’s share of work for their team? For context, Leon Draisaitl leads this category with 13.57 percent of the Edmonton Oilers fantasy points by skaters.
Lawson Crouse, W, Arizona Coyotes (7.89 percent): Already collecting his fair share of the Coyotes offense, if this team can figure out how to start scoring more than 1.78 goals per game, it could be enough to get Crouse in the fantasy conversation. His 1.5 fantasy points per game aren’t enough yet though.
David Savard, D, Montreal Canadiens (7.56 percent): To be fair, it was seven years ago that Savard last had any significant power-play usage and he’s too valuable as a penalty killer to take off that duty. But wouldn’t it be worth a shot to try him on the advantage at this point? Nothing else has worked for the Habs so far. He’s already collecting decent fantasy points through his hit and blocked shots, so the baseline is there. A small bump in scoring might be enough to get Savard going. I’m not holding my breath though. Even newcomer Kale Clague got tossed in as the power-play quarterback this week.
Tage Thompson, C, Buffalo Sabres (7.50 percent): There’s no denying the Sabres have a connection on the top line with Thompson, Victor Olofsson and Jeff Skinner. But the overall result hasn’t been quite enough to make Thompson worth using as a regular. Even though the Sabres have few fantasy points overall, there doesn’t appear to be as much room to grow for this offense compared to, say, the Coyotes. The Sabres are already doing better than eight other NHL teams when it comes to goals scored per game, and the power play is already middle-of-the-pack, ranking 16th. Still, just a little more from this top line (maybe having goals counted that should be?) might be enough to get Thompson into consideration more.
Sean Couturier, C, Philadelphia Flyers (7.04 percent): Snapping a 14-game goal drought this past weekend is certainly a start, but it’s also encouraging to see Couturier remain at the top of the depth chart with new coach Mike Yeo behind the bench. Couturier’s line has been leading the way for even strength minutes and he remains on the top power-play unit.
Andre Burakovsky, W, Colorado Avalanche (up 16 spots to No. 143): Slipping into Gabriel Landeskog‘s role on the Colorado Avalanche top line, Burakovsky responded with a hat trick on Monday. Landeskog is out for another two weeks, so Burakovsky should be able to pad his stats until almost the New Year before slipping back down the depth chart.
Patrik Laine, W, Columbus Blue Jackets (up 11 spots to No. 54): Back on the ice again after an injury and a trip home for family matters, Laine is close to a return, but might still miss a game or two. He comes back to a different situation, as his main winger previous to the injury is currently clicking with Max Domi and Jack Roslovic, but the other attack line is quality too, as Laine could take Gregory Hofmann’s spot with Boone Jenner and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Either way, Laine is worth getting back into lineups soon and, depending on his spot, others could get a lift too.
Vincent Trocheck, C, Carolina Hurricanes (up 15 spots to No. 109): Sebastian Aho had to be left behind in Vancouver to quarantine, so it could be some time before the Canes have their top pivot back in action. Enter Trocheck, arguably one of the best “Suddenly the No. 1” centers in the league. He has a track record of elevating his play into the role he’s given, and this will be a big role for as long as Aho is out.
Keith Yandle, D, Philadelphia Flyers (enters ranks at No. 222): Sitting 24th overall in power-play conversion this season, the Flyers are four-for-11 since Mike Yeo took over as coach. And, yes, the power-play specialist personified, Yandle is on the blue line. He has three power-play helpers on those four goals in four games. Adding James van Riemsdyk, a power-play specialist in his own right, has surely helped. Either way, it may be worth putting Yandle on rosters again to see how this plays out.
Jake Oettinger, G, Dallas Stars (enters ranks at No. 199): Well, that situation sure cleaned itself up in a hurry. One week after the Stars were staring a salary-cap crunch and four-goalie combo in the face, Ben Bishop retired after a rough outing in the AHL and Anton Khudobin was waived. That clears the road for Oettinger to get as much playing time as he can pry away from Braden Holtby in the Stars crease. And, so far, he’s doing a good job of prying. Expect a spike in his current crease share of 23.7 percent, as his fantasy points per 60 minutes continues to pace all goaltenders.
Jake Oettinger, Marcus Foligno, Keith Yandle, Jesper Bratt, Linus Ullmark.
Spencer Knight, Tyler Toffoli, Brett Pesce, Scott Mayfield, Jaccob Slavin, Christian Dvorak, Jeff Skinner, Adam Boqvist, Sonny Milano, Jack Eichel, Kevin Hayes (back on the ice again, worth watching), Andreas Johnsson, Evgenii Dadonov, Phillip Danault, Marc-Andre Fleury (been showing some flashes more often lately), Jack Roslovic, Jake Bean, Yegor Sharangovich (looks like he’s settling in with Jack Hughes).
Lawson Crouse, Damon Severson, Robert Thomas, Bowen Byram, Ben Bishop (retired).
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1. Connor McDavid, F, EDM (F1)
2. Leon Draisaitl, F, EDM (F2)
3. Alex Ovechkin, F, WSH (F3)
4. Auston Matthews, F, TOR (F4)
5. Nathan MacKinnon, F, COL (F5)
6. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TB (G1)
7. Roman Josi, D, NSH (D1)
8. Brad Marchand, F, BOS (F6)
9. Jack Campbell, G, TOR (G2)
10. Mikko Rantanen, F, COL (F7)
11. Adam Fox, D, NYR (D2)
12. Cale Makar, D, COL (D3)
13. Frederik Andersen, G, CAR (G3)
14. Anze Kopitar, F, LA (F8)
15. Igor Shesterkin, G, NYR (G4)
16. Max Pacioretty, F, VGS (F9)
17. Timo Meier, F, SJ (F10)
18. Sebastian Aho, F, CAR (F11)
19. Dougie Hamilton, D, NJ (D4)
20. David Pastrnak, F, BOS (F12)
21. Mika Zibanejad, F, NYR (F13)
22. Kyle Connor, F, WPG (F14)
23. Jacob Markstrom, G, CGY (G5)
24. Elias Lindholm, F, CGY (F15)
25. Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS (D5)
26. Aleksander Barkov, F, FLA (F16)
27. Tristan Jarry, G, PIT (G6)
28. Artemi Panarin, F, NYR (F17)
29. Steven Stamkos, F, TB (F18)
30. Gabriel Landeskog, F, COL (F19)
31. Juuse Saros, G, NSH (G7)
32. John Carlson, D, WSH (D6)
33. Alex Pietrangelo, D, VGS (D7)
34. Victor Hedman, D, TB (D8)
35. Drake Batherson, F, OTT (F20)
36. Kirill Kaprizov, F, MIN (F21)
37. Jake Guentzel, F, PIT (F22)
38. Seth Jones, D, CHI (D9)
39. Ilya Sorokin, G, NYI (G8)
40. Aaron Ekblad, D, FLA (D10)
41. Vladimir Tarasenko, F, STL (F23)
42. Sidney Crosby, F, PIT (F24)
43. Brady Tkachuk, F, OTT (F25)
44. Kris Letang, D, PIT (D11)
45. Mitch Marner, F, TOR (F26)
46. Darnell Nurse, D, EDM (D12)
47. Roope Hintz, F, DAL (F27)
48. Andrei Svechnikov, F, CAR (F28)
49. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, FLA (G9)
50. Patrice Bergeron, F, BOS (F29)
51. Mark Stone, F, VGS (F30)
52. Drew Doughty, D, LA (D13)
53. Mark Scheifele, F, WPG (F31)
54. Patrik Laine, F, CLS (F32)
55. Chris Kreider, F, NYR (F33)
56. Cam Talbot, G, MIN (G10)
57. Filip Forsberg, F, NSH (F34)
58. Zach Werenski, D, CLS (D14)
59. Robin Lehner, G, VGS (G11)
60. Jonathan Huberdeau, F, FLA (F35)
61. J.T. Miller, F, VAN (F36)
62. Devon Toews, D, COL (D15)
63. Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG (G12)
64. John Tavares, F, TOR (F37)
65. Elvis Merzlikins, G, CLS (G13)
66. Patrick Kane, F, CHI (F38)
67. Tyler Bertuzzi, F, DET (F39)
68. Evgeny Kuznetsov, F, WSH (F40)
69. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, F, EDM (F41)
70. Miro Heiskanen, D, DAL (D16)
71. Alex DeBrincat, F, CHI (F42)
72. Nazem Kadri, F, COL (F43)
73. Pierre-Luc Dubois, F, WPG (F44)
74. Ilya Samsonov, G, WSH (G14)
75. Mario Ferraro, D, SJ (D17)
76. Neal Pionk, D, WPG (D18)
77. Josh Norris, F, OTT (F45)
78. John Gibson, G, ANA (G15)
79. Logan Couture, F, SJ (F46)
80. Jordan Binnington, G, STL (G16)
81. Matt Duchene, F, NSH (F47)
82. Zach Hyman, F, EDM (F48)
83. Jason Robertson, F, DAL (F49)
84. Jacob Trouba, D, NYR (D19)
85. Dylan Larkin, F, DET (F50)
86. Boone Jenner, F, CLS (F51)
87. Mats Zuccarello, F, MIN (F52)
88. Troy Terry, F, ANA (F53)
89. Mikko Koskinen, G, EDM (G17)
90. Elias Pettersson, F, VAN (F54)
91. William Nylander, F, TOR (F55)
92. Tony DeAngelo, D, CAR (D20)
93. Tom Wilson, F, WSH (F56)
94. Brent Burns, D, SJ (D21)
95. Matthew Tkachuk, F, CGY (F57)
96. Sean Couturier, F, PHI (F58)
97. Brock Nelson, F, NYI (F59)
98. Carter Hart, G, PHI (G18)
99. Jack Hughes, F, NJ (F60)
100. Mathew Dumba, D, MIN (D22)
101. Jordan Eberle, F, SEA (F61)
102. Joel Eriksson Ek, F, MIN (F62)
103. Darcy Kuemper, G, COL (G19)
104. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI (D23)
105. Sam Bennett, F, FLA (F63)
106. Moritz Seider, D, DET (D24)
107. Joe Pavelski, F, DAL (F64)
108. T.J. Oshie, F, WSH (F65)
109. Vincent Trocheck, F, CAR (F66)
110. Adam Henrique, F, ANA (F67)
111. Oliver Bjorkstrand, F, CLS (F68)
112. Rickard Rakell, F, ANA (F69)
113. Nicklas Backstrom, F, WSH (F70)
114. Erik Karlsson, D, SJ (D25)
115. Anthony Duclair, F, FLA (F71)
116. Johnny Gaudreau, F, CGY (F72)
117. Teuvo Teravainen, F, CAR (F73)
118. MacKenzie Weegar, D, FLA (D26)
119. Claude Giroux, F, PHI (F74)
120. Chandler Stephenson, F, VGS (F75)
121. Victor Olofsson, F, BUF (F76)
122. Andrew Copp, F, WPG (F77)
123. David Perron, F, STL (F78)
124. James Reimer, G, SJ (G20)
125. Mikael Granlund, F, NSH (F79)
126. Ondrej Palat, F, TB (F80)
127. Ryan Hartman, F, MIN (F81)
128. Quinn Hughes, D, VAN (D27)
129. Jonathan Marchessault, F, VGS (F82)
130. Viktor Arvidsson, F, LA (F83)
131. Alec Martinez, D, VGS (D28)
132. Thomas Chabot, D, OTT (D29)
133. Brayden Point, F, TB (F84)
134. Bryan Rust, F, PIT (F85)
135. Evan Bouchard, D, EDM (D30)
136. Lucas Raymond, F, DET (F86)
137. Artem Zub, D, OTT (D31)
138. Pavel Buchnevich, F, STL (F87)
139. Tyson Barrie, D, EDM (D32)
140. Jordan Kyrou, F, STL (F88)
141. Tyler Seguin, F, DAL (F89)
142. Alex Iafallo, F, LA (F90)
143. Andre Burakovsky, F, COL (F91)
144. Jonathan Quick, G, LA (G21)
145. Brock Boeser, F, VAN (F92)
146. Tomas Hertl, F, SJ (F93)
147. Taylor Hall, F, BOS (F94)
148. Colton Parayko, D, STL (D33)
149. Andrew Mangiapane, F, CGY (F95)
150. Ryan Getzlaf, F, ANA (F96)
151. Nikita Kucherov, F, TB (F97)
152. Alex Killorn, F, TB (F98)
153. Noah Dobson, D, NYI (D34)
154. J.T. Compher, F, COL (F99)
155. Thatcher Demko, G, VAN (G22)
156. Shea Theodore, D, VGS (D35)
157. Adam Larsson, D, SEA (D36)
158. Kevin Shattenkirk, D, ANA (D37)
159. Ryan Pulock, D, NYI (D38)
160. Morgan Rielly, D, TOR (D39)
161. Esa Lindell, D, DAL (D40)
162. Bo Horvat, F, VAN (F100)
163. Jaden Schwartz, F, SEA (F101)
164. Mikhail Sergachev, D, TB (D41)
165. Nikolaj Ehlers, F, WPG (F102)
166. Nick Suzuki, F, MON (F103)
167. Jesse Puljujarvi, F, EDM (F104)
168. Ryan O’Reilly, F, STL (F105)
169. Ryan Graves, D, NJ (D42)
170. Brayden McNabb, D, VGS (D43)
171. Blake Wheeler, F, WPG (F106)
172. Anthony Cirelli, F, TB (F107)
173. Samuel Girard, D, COL (D44)
174. Ryan Strome, F, NYR (F108)
175. Cam Fowler, D, ANA (D45)
176. Max Domi, F, CLS (F109)
177. Conor Garland, F, VAN (F110)
178. Jeff Carter, F, PIT (F111)
179. Jared Spurgeon, D, MIN (D46)
180. Jared McCann, F, SEA (F112)
181. Travis Konecny, F, PHI (F113)
182. Shayne Gostisbehere, D, ARI (D47)
183. Jakob Chychrun, D, ARI (D48)
184. Ryan Johansen, F, NSH (F114)
185. Brandon Saad, F, STL (F115)
186. Mark Giordano, D, SEA (D49)
187. Nate Schmidt, D, WPG (D50)
188. Sam Reinhart, F, FLA (F116)
189. Justin Faulk, D, STL (D51)
190. Jonas Brodin, D, MIN (D52)
191. Jakub Voracek, F, CLS (F117)
192. Pavel Francouz, G, COL (G23)
193. Jamie Benn, F, DAL (F118)
194. Nico Hischier, F, NJ (F119)
195. Joshua Morrissey, D, WPG (D53)
196. Mathew Barzal, F, NYI (F120)
197. Brandon Tanev, F, SEA (F121)
198. Anders Lee, F, NYI (F122)
199. Jake Oettinger, G, DAL (G24)
200. William Karlsson, F, VGS (F123)
201. Cam Atkinson, F, PHI (F124)
202. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, PHI (D54)
203. Marcus Foligno, F, MIN (F125)
204. Evan Rodrigues, F, PIT (F126)
205. Trevor Zegras, F, ANA (F127)
206. Anthony Mantha, F, WSH (F128)
207. Erik Johnson, D, COL (D55)
208. Brayden Schenn, F, STL (F129)
209. Filip Hronek, D, DET (D56)
210. Charlie Coyle, F, BOS (F130)
211. Braden Holtby, G, DAL (G25)
212. Mike Smith, G, EDM (G26)
213. Alexander Radulov, F, DAL (F131)
214. Valeri Nichushkin, F, COL (F132)
215. Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS (G27)
216. Torey Krug, D, STL (D57)
217. Mike Hoffman, F, MON (F133)
218. Ryan Suter, D, DAL (D58)
219. Reilly Smith, F, VGS (F134)
220. Clayton Keller, F, ARI (F135)
221. Vladislav Gavrikov, D, CLS (D59)
222. Keith Yandle, D, PHI (D60)
223. Carter Verhaeghe, F, FLA (F136)
224. Vince Dunn, D, SEA (D61)
225. Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF (D62)
226. Oliver Wahlstrom, F, NYI (F137)
227. Justin Braun, D, PHI (D63)
228. John Klingberg, D, DAL (D64)
229. Tage Thompson, F, BUF (F138)
230. Connor Murphy, D, CHI (D65)
231. Yanni Gourde, F, SEA (F139)
232. Anton Lundell, F, FLA (F140)
233. Jonathan Dahlen, F, SJ (F141)
234. Danton Heinen, F, PIT (F142)
235. Jesper Bratt, F, NJ (F143)
236. Rasmus Andersson, D, CGY (D66)
237. Linus Ullmark, G, BOS (G28)
238. Martin Necas, F, CAR (F144)
239. Ivan Barbashev, F, STL (F145)
240. Ryan Ellis, D, PHI (D67)
241. Zach Whitecloud, D, VGS (D68)
242. Blake Coleman, F, CGY (F146)
243. Pavel Zacha, F, NJ (F147)
244. Radko Gudas, D, FLA (D69)
245. Ben Chiarot, D, MON (D70)
246. Adrian Kempe, F, LA (F148)
247. Sean Durzi, D, LA (D71)
248. Ryan McDonagh, D, TB (D72)
249. Alex Nedeljkovic, G, DET (G29)
250. Mackenzie Blackwood, G, NJ (G30)