And so it goes and so we goes! I’ve already covered our top 10, top 20 and top 50 for 2015, so with 30 days left before the first puck drops here’s the next 50 to round out the top 100 for our 2014-2015 Fantasy Hockey Rankings:
51) Jordan Eberle – has quietly established himself as one of the most consistent options on the right side in fantasy or otherwise. He’s only missed six games over the last three seasons, scored more than 30 goals once, nearly hit the mark again last year with 28 and so long as he stays on the Nuge/Hall line, he’s going to put up another solid 30 goal year. His plus/minus drops him out of the top 50 by a smidge, but just a tiny smidge. 2015 Projections: 30 G, 41 A, 71 PTS
52) Ryan Johansen – is capable of being a top 25 player but his contract concerns have me, well, concerned. He’s missing camp and that’s not good for team chemistry or his conditioning. Yeah, I’m sure he’s taking care of his conditioning on his own, but it’s just not the same. I’d have ranked him much higher if he was signed a while ago, but with just over a month left before the season all reports are that he isn’t close to signing a deal. His projections will get adjusted if he misses games due to the contract dispute, but if he starts the year and gets a chance to play 82 games, he’s going to take another step forward this season. 2015 Projections: 30 G, 42 A, 72 PTS
53) Henrik Sedin – played nearly 700 straight games until John Tortarella took the reigns in Vancouver. Coincidence? No. Torts is a mad man and expect shis guys, young and old, to play every game like its game 7 of the finals. Predictably this doesn’t go over well with aging vets like Henrik and he suffered through a handful of injuries that slowed down what looked like a return to solid production last season. Injuries remain a concern this year, but if he can stay healthy he can post 60+ points this year. 2015 Projections: 13 G, 51 A, 64 PTS
54) Victor Hedman – finally broke out last season with a 55-point campaign placing the big Swede 4th overall in scoring for defenseman in 2014. I see no reason why he won’t hit that number again, if not beat it. He plays in all situations and plays well. He led the NHL in short handed points with 6 last year with five on primary assists. The addition of Radko Gudas allows Hedman to be deployed in more focused offensive role and that’s going to be the MO for Hedman and the Bolts again this season. There are few better from the blue line. 2015 Projections: 11 G, 45 A, 56 PTS
55) Drew Doughty – isn’t going to be a guy who tops 50 points but is there a defenseman with a more complete game than Doughty? I dought it. He might not top the 50-point marker this season, though he’s capable of it, but he’ll give you stats in just about any category you can think of. He led defenseman in scoring in the playoffs so you know the offensive chops are there and despite not topping 40 points over the last three years I think he can do it this seson. 2015 Projections: 10 G, 33 A, 43 PTS
56) Rick Nash – lookd poised to have a great full season with the Rangers after a solid lockout campaign in 2013 but was felled by a concussion that cost him dearly. I think he returns to his goal scoring form and ends up in the mid 30s there, but I don’t expect much more out of him this season than we did in his final year with the Jackets, anything more is a bonus. 2015 Projections: 35 G, 24 A, 59 PTS
57) Thomas Vanek – travelled a lot last season finally getting dealt from the hockey basement of Buffalo to the Isles after refusing to sign a long term deal with the Sabres, lit up the world on the TKO line in New York then refused to sign a deal there, so he was moved to the Habs. The Habs didn’t want him after he showed lackluster effort, ending up spending time in the playoffs ion the 3rd and 4th lines. Despite all that he managed 27 goals. If he gels well with the Wild, say maybe with Mikael Granlund, he should put up a solid 60 point season. 2015 Projections: 28 G, 33 A, 61 PTS
58) Semyon Varlamov – probably isn’t as good as he played last season. His SV% was looking pretty sexy last year sitting pretty at .927%, but that’s following a career where that number sat much closer to .900%. It’s possible that Patrick Roy took Semyon under his wing and taught the kid a thing or two, but I’m expecting a bit of a regression to the mean here. I don’t think he collapses, but he isn’t going to be as good as he was last season. 2015 Projections: 62 GP, 36-19-7, 2.50 GAA, .918 SV%, 1 SHO
59) David Backes – has posted 30 goals twice in his career so far and he has an outside shot at hitting that number again, but only if he lines up with Paul Stastny and Alexander Steen. 2015 Projections: 28 G, 32 A, 60 PTS
60) Marc-Andre Fleury – has settled in as a consistent guy in net for the Pens and fantasy owners alike. There’s no reason to expect a step forward or backwards for Fluery this season, so draft him expecting to get what you always get. Good wins, decent GAA and SV% and a handful of shutouts. His numbers aren’t spectacular, but they are consistently good and I’d buy that for a dollar! 2015 Projections: 65 GP, 34-21-7, 2.42 GAA, .918 SV%, 5 SHO
61) Milan Lucic – didn’t manage to break the 100-point PIM barrier and that’s where a lot of his worth comes from. Don’t get me wrong, perineally reaching for 30 goals is valuable and if your league counts hits forget about it, this guy is gold (240 hits in 80 GP last year, good for 12th in the league). He had wrist surgery in May, which gives me pause, but all reports say he’ll be 100% to start the season, but with the departure of Jarome Iginla the league’s most productive goal scoring line (55 last season) is broken up. There’s upside here still, but not a ton. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 35 A, 60 PTS
62) Joe Thornton – won’t score goals but he will give you a cray amount of helpers yet again. Jumbo Joe is getting on in years (35) so you have to expect the magic will end sometime, but I think he basically remains himself again this season. The model of consistency he went two games without a point just twice last season. If you want a guy who will almost always give you at least a 1 A per game, here’s your man. I’d rank him higher, but the dearth of goals makes me sad. 2015 Projections: 11 G, 61 A, 73 PTS
63) Marian Gaborik – is going to get hurt, there is no doubt about it. If he stayed healthy he’d be a 40-goal guy, but he won’t, so he’s not going to hit those numbers. I rank him this high for two reasons; the Kings and his goal scoring ability. If he’s healthy he’ll beat these numbers, but you and I both know he’s not going to be healthy for 82 games. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 30 A, 55 PTS in 68 GP
64) Alex Pietrangelo – put up his second 50-point season in his last three last season and should beat that mark again this season. At just 24 years old he ‘s entering his prime and should contend for the Norris trophy this season. What else is there to say? Draft this guy and enjoy the ride. 2015 Projections: 10 G, 42 A, 52 PTS
65) Corey Crawford – improved on a stellar lockout shortened campaign in 2013 with a rock solid performance in 60 games last season. He finished 10th in the league in wins (32) and tending net for the ‘Hawks you can expect more of the same this year. His peripherals graduated from good to glowing (2.29 GAA, .919 SV%) and those numbers should be right back in line with last season as well. You can’t go wrong with Crawdad in your crease! 2015 Projections: 60 GP, 35-12-9, 2.23, .920 SV%, 2 SHO
66) Kari Lehtonen – was once considered an injury prone guy but no longer after averaging 65 games per season over the last four years. The Stars D isn’t great but it isn’t awful, either, and Kari won’t face tons of shots after facing 28.9 per 60 minutes, good for 15th in the league last season. He has all the potentials for a career year; so don’t be shy about drafting him as your no. 1 this year. 2015 Projections: 65 GP, 40-15-10, 2.35, .918 SV%, 6 SHO
67) Pekka Rinne – will remain an elite goaltender but a goalie with a weak hip scares me, so I’m tempering my expectations for him this season. That’s not to say he isn’t fully healthy, he seems to be, but you never know. No one knew last season as that hip infection of his just kept lingering. He has work to do, and you might not want to own him while he does. Tending net in the dangerous Central Division, if he has a hiccup, it could get nasty fast. 2015 Projections: 68 GP, 30-29-6, 2.45 GAA, .920 SV%, 4 SHO
68) Zdeno Chara – lumbered through another year with the B’s finishing 4th among defenseman in goals with 17 (10 PPG) but you can’t expect that to happen again this season, a career high 10.1% shooting percentage was responsible for the spike. Despite the strong likelihood that Torey Krug will step in to fill the gap that the aging Slovak’s (36) naturally degrading skills will leave open, Chara remains a solid option on the back end. 2015 Projections: 12 G, 30 A 42 PTS
69) David Krejci – posted a ridiculous, league leading +39 last year. If I asked you who lead the league in plus/minus last year with that rating, would the first name out of your moth but Krejci? Well, he was part of the NHL’s most productive goal scoring line, but that line is now kaput with Iggy off to the Avs. Loui Eriksson might slot in next to him but he’s a pass-first guy like Krejci, so we’ll have to wait and see. That said, you can expect him to find a way to give you those Jumbo Joe-esque numbers with slightly more goals yet again. 2015 Projections: 16 G, 51 A, 67 PTS
70) Dustin Byfuglien – is a lot more valuable at D than he has on the wing and I don’t really see him putting up more than he normally does, which will net you a decent chunk o’ goals and a modest chunk o’ points. He’ll contribute a ton of shots and PIM to boot, but the plus/minus is going to be a nightmare again. There’s some upside here, but the Jets need to leave him in one place and let him settle in and adapt if he’s going to take a step forward. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 32 A, 57 PTS
71) Antti Niemi – will be undervalued because of the playoff implosion, but really, he had a pretty solid year. The Sharks aren’t going to be as nasty as they were last season, so don’t expect a repeat of 39 wins, but you can expect is peripherals will remain largely the same with room for improvement. Alex Stalock is nipping at his heals and he’s a UFA at season’s end, so he’ll be playing for his future this season and that tends to bode well for his owners. 2015 Projections: 50 GP, 25-19-6, 2.32 GAA, .915 SV%, 4 SHO
72) Blake Wheeler – set career highs last season with 28 goals and 69 points and was rewarded with a 6-year, $33.5 million dollar deal. Wheeler is one of the more underrated guys in the league, would it shock you to know he’s 22nd overall in scoring since joining the Jets? Yeah, that’s near a point-per-game pace. He was 12th overall with 50 even strength points, so the lack of a potent power play for him to work on in Winnipeg isn’t a huge concern. He could beat last year’s numbers, but I think he most likely matches or comes up just shy. 2015 Projections: 24 G, 42 A, 66 PTS
73) Keith Yandle – lead the Coyotes in scoring again last season with 53 points in 82 games. He rarely misses a contest, in fact he hasn’t missed a game in the last three seasons. He QB’s the league’s fourth best powerplay and tied Erik Karlsson for the league lead in points scored by a defenseman on the powerplay with 31. Not too shabby, eh? Paired with Zbynek Michalek he’ll continue to dominate in 2015 and is as safe a pick as you can find. 2015 Projections: 8 G, 44 A, 52 PTS
74) Oliver Ekman-Larsson – might see a slight dip in goal scoring due to an inflated shooting percentage last season (20% vs. 14.8% career avg) but he’ll remain the ‘yotes number one defenseman despite the presence of Keith Yandle. OEL finished third in powerplay goals for defenseman with 8 sported the 5th highest TOI per game at 25:53 per. He’ll get plenty of chances to match last year’s numbers and has the talent to do it. 2015 Projections: 15 G, 33 A, 48 PTS
75) James van Riemsdyk – set career highs in games played (80), goals (30), assists (31), points (61), powerplay goals (15) and shots on goal (279). Career year? He hasn’t reached that point yet but I don’t expect a huge step forward this season. That said, he will get tons of opportunities given the minutes he plays and will be lined up with Tyler Bozak and Phil Kessel again, so you could do worse on the shallow left side. 2015 Projections: 28 G, 33 A, 61 PTS
76) Ryan Kesler – seemed to take a step backwards last season, albeit not a huge one, but a lot of that can probably be attributed to how he was handled by John Tortarella. I’m not blaming all the Canucks’ woes on Torts, but, well, yeah I kind of am. The guy is crazy and the way he grinds players down to nubs pretty quickly (see Henrik Sedin’s injury plagued 2014 season). He put up a career high 239 shots on goal last year and for those of you in leagues that count faceoffs he won 740 of them with a ~53% win percentage. The Ducks are trending down a bit this season, but you can expect the usual 25 goals and loads of shots and face off wins from Kesler again this season. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 31 A, 56 PTS
77) James Neal – won’t be a point per game guy this season, in fact, I expect a huge drop in production after leaving the cozy confines of playing on Geno Malkin’s right side. When he wasn’t injured last season he was suspended, and is anyone else really worried about what’s going to happen now that Neal plays in the same division as Matt Cooke? Yikes. And here I thought the Central Division was nasty because of how much talent moved there in the off-season. 40 goals is out of the question, so is 60 points. As his team’s primary weapon he’ll have to work to create his own opportunities and it’s going to hurt him. Don’t over pay for what he did with the Pens. Projections: 28 G, 25 A, 53 PTS
78) Jarome Iginla – was brought on to the Avs to help mentor a very young and hungry lineup, not to score. That being said, he’s still being paid to score occasionally and it’s always a fool’s game to count Iggy out. The goals will be there, in so much as they have been over the past three to four seasons, but he won’t see 30 again in his career. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 29 A, 54 PTS
79) Kris Letang – is a good risk/reward grab due to his crazy bad 2014 season. First it was his knee. Then his elbow. Then he had a stroke. Then he actually skated again. In games. After he had a freakin’ stroke. The guy is a tank with a heart the size of Texas, but you don’t draft heart in fantasy sports. That said, he’s still an elite blue line option if he can stay healthy. 2015 Projections: 12 G, 34 A, 46 PTS
80) Alexander Steen – set a career high with 33 goals last season but don’t be fooled, 20 of those goals came on a 24 game streak to start the season. He was cruising along until he suffered a concussion in October and upon his return he wasn’t quite the same, not unlike Rick Nash. Steen has always been an injury risk and that doesn’t end this season, in fact I’d say the risk is a bit higher now. He’s going to be overvalued due to his hot start last season; I’d avoid him unless you get good value in mid-rounds. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 35 A, 61 PTS
81) Bobby Ryan – is going to be a one man show in the top six for Ottawa this season and his final numbers will suffer because of it. He ended last season with 12 games left due to a sports hernia that required surgery. It sounds like he’s healing well, but for a guy who scored at least 30 goals in four straight seasons, the upside is now fairly limited due to his offensively challenged supporting cast. I expect he’ll end up with Kyle Turris and Clarke MacArthur again. Wow. Yawn. I wouldn’t draft him with your team. 2015 Projections: 26 G, 29 A, 55 PTS
82) Mark Giordano – found his offensive wings and flew all around the ice last season as, well, as no one expected. If he didn’t break his ankle he would have had a chance to lead all defenseman in scoring so he’ll likely be under the radar, to a degree, this season. I don’t think he’ll be able to duplicate the pace that saw him searching for 60 points before the bad wheel sidelined him, but he’ll match last season’s totals. 2015 Projections: 10 G, 38 A, 48 PTS
83) Ryan Suter – plays mad minutes, yo. He’ll also give you mad assists, yo. That’s about it, though. He’s better in real life than he is in the fantasy world, but he’s still a solid no. 2 or 3 fantasy defenseman. He’s like Duncan Keith Light, now with more goals! 2015 Projections: 8 G, 35 A, 43 PTS
84) Jeff Carter – will score dem goals, and that’s what we love. He developed some serious chemistry in the post season with Tanner Pearson and Tyler Toffoli, so I would expect he’d at least start the season on that line again. There is still a significant injury risk here (he broke his foot last year and hasn’t played a full season in forevs) but if he stays healthy (he won’t) he could flirt with 40 goals. 2015 Projections: 35 G, 25 A, 60 PTS in 70 GP.
85) Patric Hornqvist – is the lucky guy that was moved in the Neal deal and leaves behind the Preds for the Pens. He’ll likely get first crack at replacing Neal on Geno’s line, but that’s not a promise of success. The guy gets shots on goal like whoa (248) which will likely go up a bit, coupled with his right handed canon he could be a great fit with every opportunity to do well for the Pens. Beware the Pens draft day bias, though, just because he plays with a high octane offense doesn’t mean he’s going to be the second coming. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 21 A, 46 PTS
86) Brian Elliot – has been a good backup for some time, but that’s what he’s always been, a back up. I’m leery of a guy who has never held the reigns of a no. 1 job for any appreciable length of time despite his insanely sexy numbers. The sample size on those numbers in any given season is small, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up this year, or if he even finishes the season as the Blues’ no. 1 with Jake Allen waiting in the wings. I figure he ends up with more starts than he ever has, but not a full workload. 2015 Projections: 42 GP, 25-10-5, 2.24 GAA, .918 SV %, 4 SHO
87) Evander Kane – is a shots (250) and hits (173) beast that can score 30 goals if he could just stay healthy. He has a massive upside and could easily score over 30 goals, but he has some off-ice problems and tends to get more headlines for what happens away from the arena than in it. He’ll line up with Blake Wheeler and Mark Schiefele this season and if he stays healthy (and out of trouble) he’s going to be a monster. 2015 Projections: 28 G, 30 A, 58 PTS
88) Kevin Shattenkirk – posted personal bests in goals (10) and shots (188) on the way to a career year for Shats. He pairs with Alex Pietrangelo and has plenty of room for offensive upside this season. I figure he ends up just slightly above last year’s career best numbers, but that still firmly places him among the league’s best offensive defenseman. 2015 Projections: 8 G, 40 A, 48 PTS
89) T.J. Oshie – is another guy who had a career year last season with 21 G, 39 A for 60 PTS in 79 GP, the skilled 27-year-old is likely to settle in as a perennial 50-60 point guy. Last season was the first that he ever topped 20 goals; so don’t expect much more than that again this season. 2015 Projections: 21 G, 35 A, 56 PTS
90) Kyle Turris – broke out in a big way last season, or at least in a big way for him. He played in all 82 games putting up 26 G and 32 A for 58 points, but now he’s taking over as the Sens’ first line center so he’ll face stiffer competition. The former 3rd overall pick has talent has hit his ceiling at just 25, so don’t expect anything more than a repeat of last season, and that’s if your lucky. My ranking and projections here are optimistic because I like the guy, but he’ll be overvalued in drafts this year so be careful. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 33 A, 58 PTS
91) Roberto Luongo – isn’t the same goalie he used to be and entering the season at 35 years of age settling back in the hockey hell of south Florida, you can expect Robbie to get pounded by bucket of shots all season. 2015 Projections: 65 GP, 28-27-8, 2.60, .919 SV%, 4 SHO
92) Mike Smith – will be an average tender because that’s what he is, average. That Vezina season of his two years ago was a fluke and we all know it. He’s the clear cut no. 1 for the ‘yotes so that give him a long leash, but I’m willing to be he uses up a lot of it this season. 2015 Projections: 59 GP, 26-26-6, 2.62 GAA, .912 SV %, 2 SHO
93) Jeff Skinner – is a guy I draft every year and say “This year, this is the year he stays healthy and scores 70 points, you’ll see!” annnnd that never happens. He always starts hot, and when healthy plays really well, but never, ever stays healthy. He’s insanely talented and the ‘Canes don’t look horrible this year, so he could take a big step forward. That said, I’ve been burnt enough on Skinner to be real high on his chances of that. 2015 Projections: 29 G, 25 A, 54 PTS
94) Ryan Miller – was supposed to be the last piece to the St. Louis Blues’ Stanley Cup run in 2014. Oops! Miller showed his age and there’s no reason to think as he gets older, he gets better. Eddie Lack is not going to put too much pressure on Miller for the no. 1 job but you can bet they want to get him 20-25 starts so he can stay on a proper development track. Look for Miller to be overvalued in drafts this year, but don’t be fooled, he’s no better this year than he has been over the last few seasons. New team or not, he’s not a no. 1 fantasy tender anymore. 2015 Projections: 56 GP, 29-20-7, 2.55 GAA, .915 SV%, 2 SHO
95) Jaromir Jagr – won’t repeat his 67-point campaign from last year but the old Czech winger still has some gas in the tank for 2015. Age has to catch up to him by now, though knowing Jagr anything goes. His wrist shot is still nasty, he still has outstanding vision and I’d say he lost a step and that might cost him, but he lost a step or two years ago and here he is despite it. 2015 Projections: 18 G, 39 A, 57 PTS
96) Gustav Nyquist – will be one of the more overvalued guys in this year’s drafts because of a white hot stretch last season that saw him score 23 goals on just 85 shots. That’s a ~28% shooting percentage, do you think he can keep that up? I sure as hell don’t. Overall his shooting percentage was at 18% for the season, and even that’s inflated. Look for a regression here, not a step forward. 2015 Projections: 26 G, 24 A, 51 PTS
97) Jonathan Drouin – is the second coming if you ask just about anyone. We all expected Stevie Y to call him up last year but he wisely sent the kid back to juniors where he put up an insane 2.34 points-per-game (29 G, 79 A, 108 PTS in 46 GP). Slick skating, elusive, smart and fast, this undersized sparkplug will slot in and find immediate success in the NHL. It won’t hurt that he’s going to get at least some time on that top line with Ryan Callahan and Steven Stamkos, either. Lady and Gentleman, your 2014-2015 Calder winner is right here. Draft with abandon in dynasty/keeper leagues and with the proper amount of caution in re-drafts as befitting any rookie. 2015 Projections: 20 G, 30 A, 50 PTS
98) Mikko Koivu – always gets hurt. He’s good, though not as good as his brother, but he’s good. He won’t score many goals, but has an opportunity and the soft hands to feed tons o’ helpers to various hungry snipers this season. 2015 Projections: 15 G, 45 A, 60 PTS
99) Jason Pominville – scored 30 goals for the second time in his last three seasons, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to hit that mark again. Poms breaks the top 100 because of his 30 goal ability, and he could end up playing with Mikko Koivu when Mikko’s healthy, which bodes well for his goal totals. Sadly, Koviu is never healthy. He’s usually hot out of the gates and cools quickly, so if you’re going to draft him, sell high early in the season. 2015 Projections: 25 G, 33 A, 58 PTS
100) Brandon Dubinsky – breaks my top 100 with the coveted 100th slot! Way to be Dubs! Are you a doubter? Even a hater? Well, let me dispel those negative vibes about my boy Dubby. Despite the fact that he’ll only give you around 20 goals and 50 points, he contributes in so many other categories that he’s worth having in most leagues. He’ll give you 100 PIM, around 200 SOG, 10 PPP, 4-5 SHP and solid faceoff numbers. There aren’t many guys that can boast a stat line like that, even if his offensive numbers aren’t eye popping. He’s a UFA at the end of the season so there’s a bit more motivation for him to produce, expect a very similar season to his 2014 campaign. 2015 Projections: 18 G, 32 A, 50 PTS
