Fantasy Hockey Draft Rankings
Top 400 players ranked in my order of draft preference for the 2024/25 season.
Welcome to my annual Fantasy Draft Rankings, preferably for those of you drafting in leagues that also count hits and shots as scoring categories. Those playing in points-only leagues, subscribe for free to my blog and you’ll be receiving a list of my top 400 scorers, including shots and hits. The draft “Cheat Sheet” that dropped yesterday is a fun gimmick, but this is what I’ll be using to actually draft my own team. There’s no f**king around here. Nobody with a big projection will be unnecessarily delayed on the chance of falling, yet these aren’t ordered strictly by projections. My brain processed all the available information and that unquantifiable algorithm hardened by 30+ years competing in hockey pools chose optimal placements.
The next 2 fantasy posts dropping here in the next few days are the sleepers and busts, or at least that’s what the industry typically labels good and bad value. The true definition of the word “sleeper” is a hot-button topic among fantasy pundits, hence why my own annual draft bargains were rebranded a few years ago. If you subscribe for free to my blog, you’ll get weekly fantasy waiver wire reports delivered directly to your inbox. If you like betting on hockey games, you can also get hundreds of free picks throughout the season, all free. If you hate gambling, the unsubscribe button within emailed posts gives you the ability to curate which subjects ping your inbox. Just a heads up though, I’m getting really good at hockey betting.
There was a new method added to my madness this fall. These rankings were actually manually ordered from first to last twice, using different sorting methods each time (hiding the first rank when building the next). Then a 3rd ranking was done that was 100% according to projections. Those 3 ranks were averaged then re-ordered. Then I scrolled down that list from beginning to end, tweaking the averaged order. This will likely be adopted as my methodology for future seasons, because scrolling down the average of 3 rankings felt vastly superior to either of my first 2 ranking attempts. These are optimally fitted for those drafting on Yahoo, but those on other platforms should have success with this order.
One big platform-related announcement, I’m not competing in any Yahoo standard leagues this season because they are suddenly capped at 10 teams each, and my lower limit is 12. That means I’ll only have 1 team instead of the usual 2, and it will be a 12-team private league with as close to standard scoring as possible. I can’t deviate far from the most commonly played format because I’m a populist. There was a period of years where I only played 20-teamers, but as a pundit, the objective is broader appeal. That populism’s breaking point was 10-team leagues. Though my first search of available private 12-team leagues did not yield any appealing options on the desired days. I’m picky with settings.
As most of the hardened 20-teamer competitors already know, the deeper you go, the harder it gets to find goalies. Goalie scarcity is the only thing I don’t miss at all about crazy deep formats. Always keep an eye on what goalies are still on the board when you’re drafting. The deeper your league, the higher you need to rank goalies. Even in a 12-teamer, good goalies can vanish off the board quickly when a frenzy begins. It only takes a couple goalie hoarders to spark a panic. If you’re going to wait on goalies, actively monitor the supply chain. You may need to go off-script.
Good luck on draft day!
Connor McDavid EDM C
Nathan MacKinnon COL C
Nikita Kucherov TBL RW
Auston Matthews TOR C
Leon Draisaitl EDM C,LW
David Pastrňák BOS RW
Matthew Tkachuk FLA LW,RW
Mikko Rantanen COL RW
Jack Hughes NJD C,LW
Brady Tkachuk OTT C,LW
Cale Makar COL D
Kirill Kaprizov MIN LW
Artemi Panarin NYR LW
J.T. Miller VAN C,RW
William Nylander TOR RW
Quinn Hughes VAN D
Elias Pettersson VAN C,LW
Sam Reinhart FLA C,RW
Evan Bouchard EDM D
Zach Hyman EDM LW,RW
Jason Robertson DAL LW
Filip Forsberg NSH LW
Brayden Point TBL C
Sidney Crosby PIT C
Jack Eichel VEG C
Igor Shesterkin NYR G
Jeremy Swayman BOS G
Jake Guentzel TBL LW
Tim Stützle OTT C,LW
Jake Oettinger DAL G
Mitch Marner TOR RW
Roman Josi NSH D
Connor Hellebuyck WPG G
Sebastian Aho CAR C
Juuse Saros NSH G
Aleksander Barkov FLA C
Tage Thompson BUF C,RW
Kyle Connor WPG LW
Connor Bedard CHI C
Wyatt Johnston DAL C,RW
Adrian Kempe LAK C,RW
Alex Ovechkin WSH LW
Adam Fox NYR D
Rasmus Dahlin BUF D
Andrei Vasilevskiy TBL G
Brad Marchand BOS LW
Vincent Trocheck NYR C
Chris Kreider NYR LW
Jesper Bratt NJD LW,RW
Andrei Svechnikov CAR LW,RW
Sergei Bobrovsky FLA G
Steven Stamkos NSH C,LW
Victor Hedman TBL D
Carter Verhaeghe FLA C,LW
Joel Eriksson Ek MIN C
Stuart Skinner EDM G
Mathew Barzal NYI C,RW
Josh Morrissey WPG D
Owen Tippett PHI LW,RW
Miro Heiskanen DAL D
Noah Dobson NYI D
Dylan Larkin DET C
Brock Boeser VAN RW
R Nugent-Hopkins EDM C,LW
Travis Konecny PHI LW,RW
Clayton Keller SLC LW,RW
Ilya Sorokin NYI G
Charlie McAvoy BOS D
Jacob Markström NJD G
Moritz Seider DET D
John Tavares TOR C
Dougie Hamilton NJD D
Morgan Rielly TOR D
Seth Jarvis CAR C,RW
Cole Caufield MTL LW,RW
Matt Boldy MIN LW,RW
Jon Marchessault NSH RW
Kevin Fiala LAK LW
Robert Thomas STL C
Alexandar Georgiev COL G
MacKenzie Weegar CGY D
Mika Zibanejad NYR C
Lucas Raymond DET LW,RW
Nick Suzuki MTL C
Roope Hintz DAL C
Juraj Slafkovsky MTL LW
Brandon Hagel TBL LW,RW
Nico Hischier NJD C
Alex DeBrincat DET LW,RW
Pyotr Kochetkov CAR G
Brandon Montour SEA D
Bo Horvat NYI C
Jordan Kyrou STL C,RW
Joseph Woll TOR G
Martin Nečas CAR C,RW
Drake Batherson OTT LW,RW
Ukko Luukkonen BUF G
Zach Werenski CBJ D
Thatcher Demko VAN G
Erik Karlsson PIT D
Alexis Lafrenière NYR LW,RW
Frederik Andersen CAR G
Mark Scheifele WPG C
Timo Meier NJD LW,RW
Adin Hill VEG G
Patrick Kane DET RW
Brock Nelson NYI C
Vince Dunn SEA D
Mikhail Sergachev SLC D
Drew Doughty LAK D
Linus Ullmark OTT G
Gustav Forsling FLA D
Filip Hronek VAN D
Nikolaj Ehlers WPG LW
Mats Zuccarello MIN RW
Charlie Lindgren WSH G
Alex Tuch BUF RW
Nazem Kadri CGY C
Frank Vatrano ANA C,LW
Brock Faber MIN D
Mike Matheson MTL D
Dylan Cozens BUF C
Quinton Byfield LAK RW
Devon Toews COL D
John-Jason Peterka BUF RW
Joey Daccord SEA G
Jordan Binnington STL G
Kris Letang PIT D
Connor Ingram SLC G
Anže Kopitar LAK C
Jamie Benn DAL LW
Pavel Buchnevich STL C,LW
Macklin Celebrini SJS C
Dylan Guenther SLC RW
Dylan Strome WSH C
Cam Talbot DET G
Shea Theodore VEG D
Jakob Chychrun WSH D
Jake Sanderson OTT D
Thomas Harley DAL D
Shane Pinto OTT C
Ryan O'Reilly NSH C
John Carlson WSH D
Logan Thompson WSH G
Mattias Ekholm EDM D
Bryan Rust PIT RW
Ilya Samsonov VEG G
Aaron Ekblad FLA D
Matt Duchene DAL C,RW
Noah Hanifin VEG D
Filip Gustavsson MIN G
Mason McTavish ANA C
Nick Schmaltz SLC C,RW
Pavel Zacha BOS C
Jared McCann SEA C,LW
Jake DeBrusk VAN LW,RW
Yegor Sharangovich CGY C,RW
Tristan Jarry PIT G
Eeli Tolvanen SEA LW,RW
Adam Fantilli CBJ C
Jeff Skinner EDM LW
Artturi Lehkonen COL RW
Fabian Zetterlund SJS LW,RW
Darcy Kuemper LAK G
Brent Burns CAR D
Anthony Stolarz TOR G
Tomáš Hertl VEG C
Seth Jones CHI D
Elias Lindholm BOS C
Ivan Barbashev VEG C,LW
Logan Stankoven DAL C
Logan Cooley SLC C
Matthew Knies TOR LW
Pavel Mintyukov ANA D
Justus Annunen COL G
Sean Durzi SLC D
Trevor Zegras ANA C
Kyle Palmieri NYI RW
Evgeni Malkin PIT C
Jake Neighbours STL LW,RW
Gabriel Vilardi WPG C,RW
Claude Giroux OTT C,RW
Viktor Arvidsson EDM LW
Tyler Toffoli SJS LW,RW
Joel Hofer STL G
Neal Pionk WPG D
Matthew Beniers SEA C
Boone Jenner CBJ C,LW
Semyon Varlamov NYI G
Matvei Michkov PHI RW
Rasmus Andersson CGY D
Will Smith SJS C
Sam Bennett FLA C
Mark Stone VEG RW
K'Andre Miller NYR D
Darnell Nurse EDM D
Thomas Chabot OTT D
Travis Sanheim PHI D
Luke Hughes NJD D
Blake Coleman CGY C,RW
Jonathan Drouin COL LW
Michael Bunting PIT LW
Alex Pietrangelo VEG D
Lawson Crouse SLC LW,RW
Justin Faulk STL D
Philipp Grubauer SEA G
Pierre-Luc Dubois WSH C,LW
Shayne Gostisbehere CAR D
Troy Terry ANA C,RW
Mason Marchment DAL LW
Gustav Nyquist NSH LW
Charlie Coyle BOS C
Tom Wilson WSH RW
Brady Skjei NSH D
Cameron York PHI D
Yaroslav Askarov SJS G
Andrei Kuzmenko CGY LW,RW
Morgan Geekie BOS C,RW
Sean Monahan CBJ C
Vladimir Tarasenko DET LW,RW
Alex Nedeljkovic PIT G
Brayden Schenn STL C,LW
Owen Power BUF D
Matias Maccelli SLC LW
Joel Farabee PHI LW,RW
Kirill Marchenko CBJ RW
Cutter Gauthier ANA LW
Jeremy Lauzon NSH D
Patrik Laine MTL LW
Jacob Trouba NYR D
Marc-André Fleury MIN G
William Eklund SJS LW
Mikael Granlund SJS C,RW
Nils Höglander VAN LW
Brandt Clarke LAK D
William Karlsson VEG C
Dmitry Orlov CAR D
Rickard Rakell PIT C,RW
Casey Mittelstadt COL C
Tyler Bertuzzi CHI LW
Oliver Bjorkstrand SEA RW
Jonathan Huberdeau CGY C,LW
Bowen Byram BUF D
Teuvo Teräväinen CHI LW,RW
Dmitri Voronkov CBJ LW
Sean Walker CAR D
Daniil Tarasov CBJ G
Dustin Wolf CGY G
Daniel Sprong VAN RW
Anders Lee NYI LW
O Ekman-Larsson TOR D
Sam Montembeault MTL G
Trevor Moore LAK LW,RW
Jack Quinn BUF RW
Conor Garland VAN RW
Cole Sillinger CBJ C
Joonas Korpisalo BOS G
Samuel Ersson PHI G
Joshua Norris OTT C
Martin Pospisil CGY C,RW
David Rittich LAK G
Leo Carlsson ANA C
Dakota Joshua VAN C,LW
Trent Frederic BOS C,RW
Jordan Spence LAK D
Tyson Foerster PHI C,RW
Yegor Chinakhov CBJ RW
Tyler Seguin DAL C,RW
Petr Mrázek CHI G
Kaiden Guhle MTL D
Ridly Greig OTT C
Nick Bjugstad SLC C
Kent Johnson CBJ C
Jason Zucker BUF LW
Dawson Mercer NJD C
Cam Fowler ANA D
Jaccob Slavin CAR D
Erik Gustafsson DET D
Jake McCabe TOR D
Cole Perfetti WPG C,LW
Spencer Knight FLA G
Arturs Silovs VAN G
Ross Colton COL C
Josh Manson COL D
Alex Laferriere LAK RW
Ryan Pulock NYI D
Morgan Frost PHI C
Karel Vejmelka SLC G
Alexander Romanov NYI D
Evander Kane EDM LW
Braden Schneider NYR D
Jamie Drysdale PHI D
Warren Foegele LAK LW,RW
Andrew Mangiapane WSH RW
Jonathan Quick NYR G
Bobby McMann TOR LW
Scott Laughton PHI C,LW
Marco Rossi MIN C
Luke Evangelista NSH RW
Mario Ferraro SJS D
Max Domi TOR C,LW
Alex Killorn ANA C,LW
Olen Zellweger ANA D
Anton Lundell FLA C,RW
Phillip Danault LAK C
Timothy Liljegren TOR D
John Gibson ANA G
David Perron OTT LW,RW
Anthony Duclair NYI LW
Jake Allen NJD G
Evan Rodrigues FLA C,LW
Daniil Miromanov CGY D
Jean-Gabriel Pageau NYI C
Calvin Pickard EDM G
Hampus Lindholm BOS D
Jordan Eberle SEA RW
William Borgen SEA D
Lukáš Dostál ANA G
Nick Paul TBL C,LW
Jake Walman SJS D
Alex Lyon DET G
Mikael Backlund CGY C,LW
Pavel Dorofeyev VEG LW
Thomas Novak NSH C
Elvis Merzļikins CBJ G
Simon Edvinsson DET D
Valeri Nichushkin COL LW
Rasmus Sandin WSH D
Connor Zary CGY C,RW
Anton Forsberg OTT G
Paul Cotter NJD C
Ivan Fedotov PHI G
Philipp Kurashev CHI C,RW
Rutger McGroaty PIT RW
Cayden Primeau MTL G
Nick Foligno CHI LW
Daniel Vladař CGY G
Anthony Cirelli TBL C
Josh Doan SLC LW,RW
Laurent Brossoit CHI G
Samuel Girard COL D
Nino Niederreiter WPG LW,RW
Filip Chytil NYR C
Adam Henrique EDM C,LW
Shane Wright SEA C,RW
Alex Newhook MTL C
Lane Hutson MTL D
Scott Wedgewood NSH G
Taylor Hall CHI LW
Dylan Holloway STL LW
Nicolas Roy VEG C,RW
Yanni Gourde SEA C
Matt Roy WSH D
Darren Raddysh TBL D
Casey DeSmith DAL G
Ivan Provorov CBJ D
Tanner Jeannot LAK LW,RW
Jesperi Kotkaniemi CAR C
Eetu Luostarinen FLA C
Anthony Mantha CGY RW
Ville Husso DET G
Justin Barron MTL D
J.T. Compher DET C,LW,RW
Radko Gudas ANA D
Colton Parayko STL D
Jacob Middleton MIN D
Adam Lowry WPG C
Nikita Zadorov BOS D
Connor McMichael WSH C
Jack Roslovic CAR C
Luke Schenn NSH D
Alexander Holtz VEG RW
J.J. Moser TBL D
William Cuylle NYR LW
Sean Couturier PHI C
Justin Brazeau BOS RW
Logan Couture SJS C
Kaapo Kähkönen WPG G
Stefan Noesen NJD LW,RW
Simon Nemec NJD D
Colton Sissons NSH C,LW
Jared Spurgeon MIN D
Jonatan Berggren DET RW
Michael Anderson LAK D
Jeff Petry DET D
Chandler Stephenson SEA C
Kirby Dach MTL C
Zach Benson BUF LW
Jack Drury CAR C
Bradly Nadeau CAR LW
Ben Chiarot DET D
Mavrik Bourque DAL C
Damon Severson CBJ D
Maxim Tsyplakov NYI RW
André Burakovsky SEA LW
Matthew Poitras BOS C
Robby Fabbri ANA C,LW
Barrett Hayton SLC C
Erik Haula NJD C,LW
Henry Thrun SJS D