Left Wing - Center - Right Wing
Our Right Wing Rankings are intended to provide a starting point. They may need to be altered slightly depending on your individual league settings and format. We welcome and encourage your comments below.
1. Evgeni Malkin – Simply a one man show, Malkin will put up points with or without Sid the Kid by his side. It is likely that the Art Ros trophy lands in Pittsburgh again this season and it could be in Malkin’s hands.
2. Claude Giroux – Elite playmaker who also can find the back of the net. His crafty skill set will have him near the top of the NHL points race.
3. James Neal – Neal is a complete package albeit one who benefits significantly from playing on the same team and sometimes same line as two of the worlds best players.
4. Corey Perry – Perry is pesky and likes to agitate, but his game is much deeper than that. Perry won the Hart trophy a couple years back and is truly an elite fantasy contributor.
5. Marian Gaborik – With another star player now in the Rangers lineup, expect Gaborik to find more time and space on his way to close to a point per game season if he manages to stay healthy.
6. Martin St. Louis – St.Louis seems to still have some fire in the tank and has been a very consistent performer over the last decade. Expect another good year.
7. Marian Hossa – Hossa is a key part of Chicago’s offensive attack, expect him to rack up the points in a lockout shortened season.
8. Loui Eriksson – Always considered to be an under rated player, but now, the word is out on Eriksson. He’s a point machine on a team that’s loaded up on scoring depth this coming season.
9. Patrick Kane - Flashy is the perfect word to describe Kane’s game. He’s fun to watch and is a highly regarded and desired player for any fantasy team. Expect 40+ points this season.
10. Jordan Eberle – If Eberle can continue his pace from last season or even improve on it, generously slide him up your rankings lists. He’s the real deal and the Oilers are on the rise.
11. Tyler Seguin – Expect Seguin to lead the B’s in scoring, not only this season but for many years to come. Might be the last season he’ll be this low.
12. Patrick Sharp – Sharp is usually available on draft day as somewhat of a bargain. Keep a close eye on him as your early rounds proceed. He could very easily be a steal as he is in many leagues.
13. Phil Kessel – Which Phil Kessel shows up this season? The one who gets pushed around and seems easily intimidated or the elite persistent goal scorer that we see increasingly longer glimpses of? We believe its the latter and expect Kessel to lead the Leafs into a battle for the 8th and final playoff spot in the East.
14. Joffrey Lupul – Lupul was a huge surprise last season. We don’t expect those numbers to be repeated but we do still expect to see his name on the score sheet plenty this season.
15. Jason Pominville – The heart and soul of a young Sabres team. He will lead the youth movement in the dressing room and also lead by example on the ice.
16. David Backes – Quite frankly Backes is not fun to play against. Every team desires a guy like him. Gritty,energetic and one of the Blues’ leaders in both scoring and in penalty minutes.
17. Joe Pavelski – Pavelski has already become part of the leadership group in San Jose. In this shortened season expect something in the neighborhood of a 20/20 season.
18. Daniel Briere – Health is becoming more and more of a concern with Briere. He is currently suffering a wrist injury that has to worry fantasy owners a bit heading into this season.
19. Alex Semin – We look for Semin to bounce back near the elite level of NHL wingers. He possesses one of, if not the NHL’s best wrist shot and it will be on full display this season in an upstart Canes lineup.
20. Jerome Iginla – Year in and year out Iginla gets the job done. The unquestioned leader of a somewhat aging team in Calgary we expect Iginla to again be a solid fantasy contributor.
21. Danny Heatley – May come as a surprise to some but we expect some flashes of the old Danny Heatley this season. The right pieces are in place around him and he now plays on a team that should maintain a very potent power play attack. Grab him at a discount.
22. Teemu Selanne – One more time Teemu? We think so. Selanne should thrive in a shortened season. In a season that will likely be his last we expect the Finish Flash to go out with a bang. If things start going right early for Selanne this season he could push into the point per game range for one last time.
23. Teddy Purcell – In the second half of last season, Purcell was second to only Evgeni Malkin in scoring. That shows us that he is ready to take a step forward in the offense in Tampa and a guy you should seek as a value scorer as the elite options disappear in your draft.
24. P.A Parenteau – After performing better than expected last season on Long Island, Parenteau cashed in on a big deal with the Av’s. We think he fits right in, however we don’t expect him to score at quite the same pace as he did playing along side John Tavares.
25. Jeff Skinner – It shouldn’t matter who Skinner’s line mates are this season. The Canes have revamped, which should help Skinner score at a career high pace. Should he find his way onto the top line in Carolina, slide him up your draft lists.
26. Alex Burrows – With the news of Kesler’s recovery from injury being much slower than expected, we expect an increased role for Burrows in the early going this season. He’s a multi-category contributor and can put up some decent numbers.
27. Ryan Callahan – Callahan is one of the most persistent work horses in the entire league. Couple that with some grit, a nice scoring touch and playing in the top 6 of a loaded Rangers’ team and you’ve got yourself a very highly regarded fantasy winger. Callahan could easily slide up these rankings several spots given the right linemates.
28. Martin Erat – Erat very quietly continues to post points at a solid pace. Guys like Erat are almost always available later in the draft than what their scoring ability would suggest, however, if you are looking for a healthy dose of penalty minutes please look elsewhere. If you are looking for scoring after the stars are gone however, Erat is your guy.
29. Kris Versteeg – The career move to Florida last season seemed to give Versteeg a nice boost. He’s not an elite player in the NHL, but as far as a second option on the RW he will not disappoint.
30. Blake Wheeler – Wheeler made many developments last season. He forced his way onto the Jets top line and top PP unit. He isn’t surrounded by an abundance of talent so we don’t expect him to relinquish last seasons gains any time soon. But, count on a repeat of last years pace.
31. Johan Franzen
32. Martin Havlat
33. Erik Cole
34. Justin Williams
35. Nathan Horton
36. Jaromir Jagr
37. Dustin Brown
38. T.J Oshie
39. Daniel Alfredsson
40. Jakub Voracek
41. Matt Read
42. Michael Ryder
43. Nail Yakupov
44. Ryan Clowe
45. Pascal Dupuis
46. Kyle Okposo
47. Ales Hemsky
48. Shane Doan
49. David Clarkson
50. Sam Gagner
51. Brian Gionta
52. Mikael Samuelsson
53. Radim Vrbata
54. Wayne Simmonds
55. Cody Hodgson
56. Troy Brower
57. Andrew Shaw
58. Drew Stafford
59. Vladimir Tarasenko
60. Bryan Little
61. Pierre-Marc Bouchard
62. Steve Downie
63. Chris Stewart
64. Patric Hornqvist
65. Devin Setoguchi
66. Peter Mueller
67. Milan Hejduk
68. Nikolai Kulemin
69. Zac Dalpe
70. Kyle Wellwood
71. Craig Smith
72. Zack Kassian
73. Alex Burmistrov
74. Cam Atkinson
75. Brad Boyes
Mark Coldwell leads our rankings team.
I know crazy to think that this year 40+ points is a great season. This shortened season could really benefit some of the leagues older players. Without the long grind of a full length 82 game season they really shouldn’t wear down as much as the season comes to a close. Question is, how good of shape are they all in out of the gate? How will it impact intensity levels around the league? You just know that many players are far from game shape. Should be interesting to watch the early season unfold.
9:09:09 pm
Great work Mark. It’s funny to see “expect 40+ points this year” beside the 9-ranked Kane.