With teams only having 10 to 14 games left in the season, rest-of-season rankings like this can start to get a bit funky. Every little ailment, hot streak or slump can be enough to catapult a player to the top or completely remove a player from consideration. Playoff contention and seeding can also have an impact on this.
The Colorado Avalanche have a healthy 13-point lead on their current status as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference. Is that reason enough to consider Nazem Kadri’s upper-body injury a season-ending one? Perhaps he comes back to get his legs for a couple of games before the postseason, but perhaps the Avs hold him out for the start of the playoffs.
The opposite end of the standings can also have this effect. The New Jersey Devils are already eliminated from the playoffs and Jack Hughes left their last game with an undisclosed injury. Do the Devils err on the side of caution and hold Hughes out for the remainder if he is banged up? The Arizona Coyotes are also out of the mix officially, so why push Jakob Chychrun back into action?
Will we see Torey Krug again this season? What about Max Pacioretty? Ryan McDonagh? Matt Boldy? I even wonder about David Pastrnak, who left Monday’s game.
Injury concerns aside, what about Darcy Kuemper? He’s been red hot in the crease for the Avs seemingly since Pavel Francouz returned to offer some competition for the net. While Kuemper has been in beast mode, the Avs don’t need to keep using him for frequently down the stretch. Francouz has been adequate and the team will want Kuemper fresh for the playoffs. If it weren’t for concerns about how many more starts he’ll get, Kuemper would have been ranked in the top three this week. But we have to wonder if his crease share will start to shrink as the Avs positioning becomes less likely to change than it already is.
As the schedule wanes, you need to keep these factors in mind. Be ready to seek additional help off the free-agent pile in your league. There is balance in the league, after all. For all the fantasy points lost by players being hurt or resting, there are fantasy points gained by those who pick up the slack behind them. Check out the “New to rankings” section below for some options and pay attention to recent production. A small hot streak is all a player needs to put up big points for the majority of the remaining schedule.
Forwards on the move
Josh Norris, C, Ottawa Senators (up 44 spots to No. 15): Maybe I should just call it the “Tkachuk Bump.” As detailed in the Fantasy Forecaster a couple of weeks ago, the value of Calgary Flames forwards for fantasy seems to orbit around Matthew Tkachuk. A similar case could be made for the value of Ottawa Senators forwards and Brady Tkachuk. Norris is locked in with Brady on and off the power play and is pouring in the fantasy points. He’s averaged a whopping 2.6 fantasy points per game (FPPG) over the past three weeks and is set up to finish strong in the Sens 14 remaining games – which gives him a significant edge over some better players with fewer games to go.
Tanner Jeannot, W, Nashville Predators (up 105 spots to No. 36): The jack of all categories is making a significant push to finish with one of the better all-around fantasy seasons. Jeannot only trails Ryan Reaves among forwards for hits, ranks 13th among forwards in blocked shots and is putting up enough offense to make the total package worthy of any fantasy squad – despite almost zero access to his team’s power play.
Defensemen on the move
Ben Chiarot, D, Florida Panthers (up 39 spots to No. 104): A combination of his new home and an injury to the team’s top offensive defenseman has Chiarot contributing regularly for fantasy. Since joining the Panthers, Chiarot has averaged 2.2 FPPG, which is easily enough for any fantasy lineup. Even without being pulled into power-play work in the absence of Aaron Ekblad, Chiarot is getting it done with respectable totals in the shots, hits and blocked shots departments.
Goaltenders on the move
Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Talbot, G, Minnesota Wild (up 49 spots to No. 45 and up 44 spots to No. 53): Both goaltenders are crushing it as a tandem. Even with an even split of seven games each for the remaining schedule, you can make a case for them in a starting lineup for fantasy – especially when their split is predictable and other starting goaltenders might start getting more rest.
Igor Shesterkin, G, New York Rangers (down 40 spots to No. 46): Speaking off rest, it looks like Shesterkin could use some. His fantasy dominance has slipped during the past month. He got you this far, but some careful consideration of alternative options during the final few weeks could be in order. The Rangers aren’t in a position to coast, as their playoff seeding will come down to the wire with the Penguins for home-ice advantage. If you see another option in your league to help boost your goaltending stats down the stretch, don’t hesitate to supplement Shesterkin.
Jack Campbell, G, Toronto Maple Leafs (up 102 spots to No. 64): Back in action again, Campbell looked stable in two starts this week. And the Leafs need him to be the goaltender he was before the all-star break. If you suffered through his rough spell and injury absence, it’s worth putting your trust in him again based on these early returns. Campbell was dominant in the crease prior to the suggestions that he was playing through an injury and then had to rest to recover. The Leafs will be battling tooth and nail down the stretch with the Bruins and Lightning for playoff seeding.
New to rankings
Mario Ferraro (back to health), Alec Martinez (periphery stats look solid again), Mattias Ekholm, Semyon Varlamov (if Ilya Sorokin’s injury keeps lingering), Jake McCabe, Cody Ceci (a surprise, but welcome burst of production: leads all Oilers defensemen in FPPG going back 14 games), Adam Larsson, Nikita Zaitsev, Zach Whitecloud, Jeff Carter (getting some time with Evgeni Malkin again), David Savard, Eeli Tolvanen, Timothy Liljegren, Conor Sheary, Ryan Suter, Max Domi (seeing some muted, but welcome power-play minutes), Erik Brannstrom, Brayden McNabb.
Just missed
Nicklas Backstrom, Ryan Strome, Spencer Knight.
Dropped out
Clayton Keller, Jeff Petry, Carter Verhaeghe, T.J. Oshie, Max Pacioretty, Jakob Chychrun, Viktor Arvidsson, Trevor Zegras, Lawson Crouse, Travis Hamonic, Brock Boeser, Justin Braun, Adam Boqvist, Jakub Voracek, Ondrej Kase, Artturi Lehkonen, Gustav Nyquist, Evan Rodrigues.
Top-250 rankings
1. Auston Matthews, F, TOR (F1)
2. Roman Josi, D, NSH (D1)
3. Filip Forsberg, F, NSH (F2)
4. Mitch Marner, F, TOR (F3)
5. Kirill Kaprizov, F, MIN (F4)
6. Connor McDavid, F, EDM (F5)
7. Sebastian Aho, F, CAR (F6)
8. Leon Draisaitl, F, EDM (F7)
9. Cale Makar, D, COL (D2)
10. Mikko Rantanen, F, COL (F8)
11. Aleksander Barkov, F, FLA (F9)
12. Jacob Markstrom, G, CGY (G1)
13. Alex Ovechkin, F, WSH (F10)
14. Timo Meier, F, SJ (F11)
15. Josh Norris, F, OTT (F12)
16. Nathan MacKinnon, F, COL (F13)
17. Brad Marchand, F, BOS (F14)
18. J.T. Miller, F, VAN (F15)
19. Victor Hedman, D, TB (D3)
20. Jonathan Huberdeau, F, FLA (F16)
21. Johnny Gaudreau, F, CGY (F17)
22. Kyle Connor, F, WPG (F18)
23. Matthew Tkachuk, F, CGY (F19)
24. Steven Stamkos, F, TB (F20)
25. Matt Duchene, F, NSH (F21)
26. Frederik Andersen, G, CAR (G2)
27. Sidney Crosby, F, PIT (F22)
28. Ilya Sorokin, G, NYI (G3)
29. Brock Nelson, F, NYI (F23)
30. Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS (D4)
31. Juuse Saros, G, NSH (G4)
32. Darcy Kuemper, G, COL (G5)
33. Nikita Kucherov, F, TB (F24)
34. Chris Kreider, F, NYR (F25)
35. Elias Lindholm, F, CGY (F26)
36. Tanner Jeannot, F, NSH (F27)
37. David Pastrnak, F, BOS (F28)
38. Brayden Point, F, TB (F29)
39. Roope Hintz, F, DAL (F30)
40. Evgeni Malkin, F, PIT (F31)
41. Joe Pavelski, F, DAL (F32)
42. Alex DeBrincat, F, CHI (F33)
43. Moritz Seider, D, DET (D5)
44. David Perron, F, STL (F34)
45. Marc-Andre Fleury, G, MIN (G6)
46. Igor Shesterkin, G, NYR (G7)
47. Jack Hughes, F, NJ (F35)
48. Vladimir Tarasenko, F, STL (F36)
49. Evander Kane, F, EDM (F37)
50. Patrice Bergeron, F, BOS (F38)
51. Patrick Kane, F, CHI (F39)
52. Seth Jones, D, CHI (D6)
53. Cam Talbot, G, MIN (G8)
54. Ryan Pulock, D, NYI (D7)
55. Tomas Hertl, F, SJ (F40)
56. John Carlson, D, WSH (D8)
57. Mark Scheifele, F, WPG (F41)
58. Claude Giroux, F, FLA (F42)
59. Kris Letang, D, PIT (D9)
60. Noah Dobson, D, NYI (D10)
61. Mats Zuccarello, F, MIN (F43)
62. Jake Oettinger, G, DAL (G9)
63. Jason Robertson, F, DAL (F44)
64. Jack Campbell, G, TOR (G10)
65. Nico Hischier, F, NJ (F45)
66. Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG (G11)
67. MacKenzie Weegar, D, FLA (D11)
68. Brent Burns, D, SJ (D12)
69. Brayden Schenn, F, STL (F46)
70. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TB (G12)
71. Tyler Bertuzzi, F, DET (F47)
72. John Tavares, F, TOR (F48)
73. Jesper Bratt, F, NJ (F49)
74. Andrew Copp, F, NYR (F50)
75. Zach Werenski, D, CLS (D13)
76. Brady Tkachuk, F, OTT (F51)
77. Adam Fox, D, NYR (D14)
78. Jake Guentzel, F, PIT (F52)
79. Tristan Jarry, G, PIT (G13)
80. Andrei Svechnikov, F, CAR (F53)
81. Morgan Rielly, D, TOR (D15)
82. Jack Eichel, F, VGS (F54)
83. William Nylander, F, TOR (F55)
84. Joel Eriksson Ek, F, MIN (F56)
85. Valeri Nichushkin, F, COL (F57)
86. Bo Horvat, F, VAN (F58)
87. Nick Suzuki, F, MON (F59)
88. Tage Thompson, F, BUF (F60)
89. Logan Couture, F, SJ (F61)
90. Drake Batherson, F, OTT (F62)
91. Rickard Rakell, F, PIT (F63)
92. Pavel Buchnevich, F, STL (F64)
93. Nikolaj Ehlers, F, WPG (F65)
94. Sam Reinhart, F, FLA (F66)
95. Anders Lee, F, NYI (F67)
96. Blake Wheeler, F, WPG (F68)
97. Ryan Hartman, F, MIN (F69)
98. Darnell Nurse, D, EDM (D16)
99. Devon Toews, D, COL (D17)
100. Alex Pietrangelo, D, VGS (D18)
101. Frank Vatrano, F, NYR (F70)
102. Artemi Panarin, F, NYR (F71)
103. Jacob Trouba, D, NYR (D19)
104. Ben Chiarot, D, FLA (D20)
105. Mathew Dumba, D, MIN (D21)
106. Bryan Rust, F, PIT (F72)
107. Evgeny Kuznetsov, F, WSH (F73)
108. Mika Zibanejad, F, NYR (F74)
109. Justin Faulk, D, STL (D22)
110. Mark Giordano, D, TOR (D23)
111. Tom Wilson, F, WSH (F75)
112. Jakub Vrana, F, DET (F76)
113. Joshua Morrissey, D, WPG (D24)
114. Nick Schmaltz, F, ARI (F77)
115. Dylan Larkin, F, DET (F78)
116. Robert Thomas, F, STL (F79)
117. Teuvo Teravainen, F, CAR (F80)
118. Esa Lindell, D, DAL (D25)
119. Rasmus Andersson, D, CGY (D26)
120. Dougie Hamilton, D, NJ (D27)
121. Joel Farabee, F, PHI (F81)
122. Brayden McNabb, D, VGS (D28)
123. Tim Stutzle, F, OTT (F82)
124. Anton Forsberg, G, OTT (G14)
125. John Klingberg, D, DAL (D29)
126. Tony DeAngelo, D, CAR (D30)
127. Tyler Toffoli, F, CGY (F83)
128. Jamie Benn, F, DAL (F84)
129. Kevin Fiala, F, MIN (F85)
130. Ville Husso, G, STL (G15)
131. Mathew Barzal, F, NYI (F86)
132. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, FLA (G16)
133. Elias Pettersson, F, VAN (F87)
134. Matthew Boldy, F, MIN (F88)
135. Jared Spurgeon, D, MIN (D31)
136. Patrik Laine, F, CLS (F89)
137. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, PHI (D32)
138. Lucas Raymond, F, DET (F90)
139. Mikhail Sergachev, D, TB (D33)
140. Ryan Johansen, F, NSH (F91)
141. Thatcher Demko, G, VAN (G17)
142. Dylan Strome, F, CHI (F92)
143. Scott Mayfield, D, NYI (D34)
144. Cole Caufield, F, MON (F93)
145. Calvin de Haan, D, CHI (D35)
146. Travis Sanheim, D, PHI (D36)
147. Mario Ferraro, D, SJ (D37)
148. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, F, EDM (F94)
149. Jonas Brodin, D, MIN (D38)
150. Shayne Gostisbehere, D, ARI (D39)
151. Miro Heiskanen, D, DAL (D40)
152. Adam Pelech, D, NYI (D41)
153. Taylor Hall, F, BOS (F95)
154. Colton Parayko, D, STL (D42)
155. Radko Gudas, D, FLA (D43)
156. Alex Tuch, F, BUF (F96)
157. Jean-Gabriel Pageau, F, NYI (F97)
158. Jeremy Swayman, G, BOS (G18)
159. Jonathan Marchessault, F, VGS (F98)
160. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI (D44)
161. Alexander Romanov, D, MON (D45)
162. Damon Severson, D, NJ (D46)
163. Anthony Duclair, F, FLA (F99)
164. Jeff Skinner, F, BUF (F100)
165. Vincent Trocheck, F, CAR (F101)
166. Yegor Sharangovich, F, NJ (F102)
167. Sam Bennett, F, FLA (F103)
168. Tyler Seguin, F, DAL (F104)
169. Mason Marchment, F, FLA (F105)
170. Noah Hanifin, D, CGY (D47)
171. Jake DeBrusk, F, BOS (F106)
172. Hampus Lindholm, D, BOS (D48)
173. Kevin Hayes, F, PHI (F107)
174. Erik Karlsson, D, SJ (D49)
175. Vladislav Gavrikov, D, CLS (D50)
176. Erik Johnson, D, COL (D51)
177. Alec Martinez, D, VGS (D52)
178. Zach Hyman, F, EDM (F108)
179. Torey Krug, D, STL (D53)
180. Anthony Mantha, F, WSH (F109)
181. Mattias Ekholm, D, NSH (D54)
182. Mikael Granlund, F, NSH (F110)
183. Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF (D55)
184. Ryan Graves, D, NJ (D56)
185. Tyson Barrie, D, EDM (D57)
186. Oliver Bjorkstrand, F, CLS (F111)
187. Anton Lundell, F, FLA (F112)
188. Artem Zub, D, OTT (D58)
189. Marcus Foligno, F, MIN (F113)
190. Jaccob Slavin, D, CAR (D59)
191. Adrian Kempe, F, LA (F114)
192. Ilya Mikheyev, F, TOR (F115)
193. Travis Konecny, F, PHI (F116)
194. Semyon Varlamov, G, NYI (G19)
195. Anze Kopitar, F, LA (F117)
196. Jared McCann, F, SEA (F118)
197. Yanni Gourde, F, SEA (F119)
198. Sean Durzi, D, LA (D60)
199. Christopher Tanev, D, CGY (D61)
200. Vince Dunn, D, SEA (D62)
201. Daniel Sprong, F, SEA (F120)
202. Anthony Cirelli, F, TB (F121)
203. Jordan Kyrou, F, STL (F122)
204. Ryan O’Reilly, F, STL (F123)
205. Jake McCabe, D, CHI (D63)
206. Kailer Yamamoto, F, EDM (F124)
207. Ryan McDonagh, D, TB (D64)
208. Kyle Palmieri, F, NYI (F125)
209. Josh Anderson, F, MON (F126)
210. Cam Fowler, D, ANA (D65)
211. Cody Ceci, D, EDM (D66)
212. Pierre-Luc Dubois, F, WPG (F127)
213. Ivan Barbashev, F, STL (F128)
214. Robin Lehner, G, VGS (G20)
215. Adam Larsson, D, SEA (D67)
216. Matthew Beniers, F, SEA (F129)
217. Nikita Zaitsev, D, OTT (D68)
218. Zach Whitecloud, D, VGS (D69)
219. Michael Bunting, F, TOR (F130)
220. Charlie Coyle, F, BOS (F131)
221. Quinn Hughes, D, VAN (D70)
222. Adam Henrique, F, ANA (F132)
223. Alex Killorn, F, TB (F133)
224. Evan Bouchard, D, EDM (D71)
225. Luke Schenn, D, TB (D72)
226. Neal Pionk, D, WPG (D73)
227. Alexander Kerfoot, F, TOR (F134)
228. Troy Terry, F, ANA (F135)
229. Shea Theodore, D, VGS (D74)
230. Brett Pesce, D, CAR (D75)
231. James Reimer, G, SJ (G21)
232. Zach Parise, F, NYI (F136)
233. Erik Haula, F, BOS (F137)
234. Dysin Mayo, D, ARI (D76)
235. Evgenii Dadonov, F, ANA (F138)
236. Jeff Carter, F, PIT (F139)
237. David Savard, D, MON (D77)
238. Eeli Tolvanen, F, NSH (F140)
239. Nazem Kadri, F, COL (F141)
240. Boone Jenner, F, CLS (F142)
241. Andrew Mangiapane, F, CGY (F143)
242. Timothy Liljegren, D, TOR (D78)
243. Cam Atkinson, F, PHI (F144)
244. Connor Brown, F, OTT (F145)
245. Craig Smith, F, BOS (F146)
246. Phillip Danault, F, LA (F147)
247. Conor Sheary, F, WSH (F148)
248. Ryan Suter, D, DAL (D79)
249. Max Domi, F, CAR (F149)
250. Erik Brannstrom, D, OTT (D80)