New York Rangers: Fantasy Hockey Rankings for Forwards
It’s that time of year, folks! Fantasy Hockey draft season is in full bloom and I hope you guys are all as excited about it as I am!
My league has our draft tonight. It is the 5th installment of our leagues draft, but this year, our league has a new twist; auction draft.
After having done auction for the past 3 years in our fantasy baseball league, I have really fallen in love with the format, which allows you to have a chance at every player on the board so you can build your team the way you want to build it.
As some of you may know, I used to write about fantasy hockey for another site, which I stopped doing once I came over to Blue Line Station–a decision I am so happy that I made. Every year, I make my own fantasy hockey rankings, but this year since I am no longer permitted to write about fantasy hockey, and since I am doing auction I only made positional rankings for my league.
Still, though, I think it is very interesting to look at these rankings and see where our New York Rangers players landed.
My league is a head to head categories league with the categories being goals, assists, points, +/-, Hits, Blocks, and Penalty Minutes for skaters, and Wins, Loses, Goals Against Average and Save Percentage for goalies.
So without further ado, here are my top 100 forward rankings for 2016-2017.
Alex Ovechkin, WSH
Patrick Kane, CHI
Sidney Crosby, PIT
Joe Pavelski, SJS
Jamie Benn, DAL
Vladimir Tarasenko, STL
Connor McDavid, EDM
John Tavares, NYI
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY
Tyler Seguin, DAL
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
Evgeni Malkin, PIT
Nathan MacKinnon, COL
Blake Wheeler, WPG
Corey Perry, ANA
Artemi Panarin, CHI
Joe Thornton, SJS
Anze Kopitar, LAK
Max Pacioretty, MTL
Taylor Hall, NJD
Patrice Bergeron, BOS
Steven Stamkos, TBL
Logan Couture, SJS
Nicklas Backstrom, WSH
Aleksander Barkov, FLA
Wayne Simmonds, PHI
James Neal, NSH
Filip Forsberg, NSH
Phil Kessel, PIT
Mark Scheifele, WPG
Matt Duchene, COL
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Flame for Thought
Tyler Toffoli, LAK
Brad Marchand, BOS
Gabriel Landeskog, COL
Jack Eichel, BUF
Ryan Getzlaf, ANA
Sean Monahan, CGY
Jason Spezza, DAL
Zach Parise, MIN
Jonathan Toews, CHI
Alex Steen, STL
Brayden Schenn, PHI
Brandon Saad, CBJ
Milan Lucic, EDM
Jonathan Drouin, TB
Tyler Johnson, TB
Daniel Sedin, VAN
Ryan Johansen, NSH
Jakub Voracek, PHI
More from Blue Line Station
- Blake Wheeler’s Broadway Calling: Why He Chose the Rangers
- Rangers’ Playoff Redemption Recipe: Grit and Fresh Hopes
- Rangers’ Roster Chatter: Who’s Making the Cut and Who’s in the Penalty Box?
- Jacque Plante Trade Tree Between the Rangers and Canadiens
- These Rangers must learn Peter Laviolette’s ropes before they can fly
Andrew Ladd, NYI
Dylan Larkin, DET
Max Domi, ARI
Patrick Sharp, DAL
Jordan Eberle, EDM
Kyle Okposo, BUF
Jeff Carter, LAK
Kyle Palmieri, NJD
Vincent Trocheck, FLA
Alex Galchenyuk, MTL
Patric Hornqvist, PIT
T.J. Oshie, WAS
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Eyes On Isles
Mika Zibanejad, NYR
Mike Hoffman, OTT
Alexander Radulov, MTL
Boone Jenner, CBJ
Jaromir Jagr, FLA
James van Riemsdyk, TOR
David Krejci, BOS
Jonathan Huberdeau FLA
Adam Henrique, NJ
Auston Matthews, TOR
Brendan Gallagher, MTL
Derick Brassard, OTT
Mats Zuccarello, NYR
Mark Stone, OTT
Chris Kreider, NYR
Robby Fabbri, STL
Rick Nash, NYR
Ryan Kesler, ANA
Patrik Laine, WPG
Loui Eriksson, VAN
Teuvo Teravainen, CAR
Henrik Sedin, VAN
Jaden Schwartz, STL
Anthony Duclair, ARI
Bobby Ryan, OTT
David Backes, STL
Mike Cammalleri, NJ
Henrik Zetterberg, DET
Bryan Little, WPG
Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Derek Stepan, NYR
Jeff Skinner, CAR
Jussi Jokinen, FLA
Mikkel Boedker, SJS
P.a. Parenteau, NYI
Reilly Smith, FLA
Ondrej Palat, TB
Scott Hartnell, CBJ
Gustav Nyquist, DET
So let’s take a look at the New York Rangers players who appeared in the top 100.
#63, Mika Zibanejad
I am super high on Zibanejad this year. The 23-year-old is coming off his second consecutive 20 goals season. In the 2015-2016 campaign, Big Z notched 21 goals and 30 assists for the Senators. The Swedish-born Zibanejad was fairly consistent in terms of production by month. In every month except April when he only played in 4 games, Zibanijad had 7-8 points.
During the preseason, Zibanejad lit it up on a line with Chris Kreider and Pavel Buchnevich. With that in mind, plus he will being seeing tons of powerplay time coupled with the fact that he racks up hits and blocks (111 hits and 43 blocks in 2015-2016) Zibanejad should be primed to have a big year. I think I probably have him ranked higher than most people do, but I think there is even a chance that he can outperform my ranking for him. Trust me, you want this kid.
#74, Mats Zuccarello
This little Norwigein pain in the ass is going to reap havoc on the rest of the league again this year. Yes, losing his best buddy Derick Brassard (who ironically enough, I have ranked one spot above him) will be tough for him, but right now it’s looking like he will be on a line with Derek Stepan and possibly Rick Nash to start the season, so he might not be taking too much of a hit in terms of linemates.
Zuccarello put up 61 points last year, and the fact that he had 69 blocks on the season helps his fantasy value in this league a little bit. I am very interested in seeing if he can match that production, but I think his potential to hit the 60 point mark again outweighs the guys I have ranked behind him’s upside for this season.
#76, Chris Kreider
I feel like I say this every year, but I think Kreider is about to breakout. Kreider was on fire at the end of last season notching 8 goals in his last 19 games. Kreider sounds more motivated than ever coming into this year. It really sounds as if the25-year-oldd has turned a new leaf.
With that said, this kids line is, as the cool kids now say, “straight fire.” With the potential for a 30+ goal season being there added to the massive hits totals he produces each year, I probably should have ranked Kreider higher on this list.
#78, Rick Nash
The 32-year-old Nash is coming off of arguably the worst season of his career, only managing to tally 15 goals and 21 assists in 60 games. Nash sustained a back injury in late December that he was never able to fully recover from. He only managed to score 3 goals in his last 24 regular season games.
Nash is another year older, but he had about 5 months off from hockey so he should be fully healed by now, Nash has come into camp with the attitude that he needed to make the team. While he was obviously a lock to make the team, it is refreshing to hear a veteran player have that mindset. There are some guys behind him who could very well outperform him this year, but Nash is 2 years removed from a 40+ goal season, so I will give him the benefit of the doubt.
#92, Derek Stepan
In 72 games last season, Derek Stepan scored 22 goals which, was a career high for him. The 26-year-old finished the season with 22 points in his final 19 games. Stepan, the Minnesota native will look to have another big year on a line that will most likely feature Mats Zuccarello and Rick Nash. Stepan’s upside far surpasses the guys behind him on my rankings, and perhaps I am low on him, but I do think Stepan, if healthy, has the potential for a 60 point year.
Next: Tanner Glass Has Been Cut!
Early next week, I will have you guys my defensemen and goalie rankings, so keep an eye out for that. Until then, good luck in your drafts!