2022 Fantasy Hockey Entry Draft Rankings

It’s an exciting time for dynasty leagues, as the NHL entry draft is just around the corner. Dynasty managers are either preparing for their drafts, currently drafting, or have already drafted and are awaiting to see where their players go.

These draft rankings aren’t going to be based on where I think the players will or should be drafted. Rather, these are the rankings for how I project each player’s fantasy value. Fantasy values of course vary from league to league, but this will be for standard fantasy hockey league setups.

2022 Fantasy Hockey Entry Draft Rankings

Every year there’s always debate around the first overall pick. There’s speculation that the player ranked first all season will fall to second. Yet every year the player projected to go first gets drafted first. That’s where we find ourselves with Shane Wright and Juraj Slafkovsky. Wright has been the consensus top pick all year, but Slafkovsky has taken that top spot on some lists — including mine.

However, I fully expect the Montreal Canadiens to keep the trend going and select Shane Wright with their first overall pick. Both Wright and Slafkovsky project as top-six forwards, but Wright’s great two-way game and ability to play center should give him the edge. Centers are often drafted before wingers when comparing players of similar skill levels, so expect that to continue.

That puts Slafkovsky at second going to the New Jersey Devils. There is a chance the Devils take Logan Cooley, as he is a center, but the Devils are deep at the position and will likely opt to go for the 6’4″ winger. I consider Wright and Slafkovsky to be 60-70 players at the NHL level, making them both good fantasy targets. However, unlike in the real draft, it’s wingers that should be taken before centers in the fantasy realm (again, when the players have similar ceilings), as finding productive wingers is more challenging than finding productive centers.

Joakim Kemell and Jonathan Lekkerimaki round out my top five. I do think it will be Simon Nemec and David Jiricek drafted at four and five in real life though. Defensemen don’t always translate to big fantasy hockey contributors. They either need to have a strong offensive game, or for your league to reward defensive categories. The latter isn’t the case for standard leagues, so I haven’t included many blue liners in my entry draft rankings. In fact, there are only five in my top 32, all of which are in the top 13. Beyond those five, I think there’s a significant drop off in terms of projected fantasy value, compared to the forwards available.

There are no goalies expected to go anywhere near the first round, so these are very forward-heavy rankings. One forward worth mentioning is Gleb Trikozov. I have him ranked at 14, which is higher than where many others put him. I consider him the biggest boom or bust prospect of the draft. Trikozov boasts plenty of talent but has issues with consistency where he can be invisible in some games. But remember that these are fantasy hockey draft rankings, so it’s his fantasy value that matters most. I believe consistency is something that can be worked on with the right coaching staff. If Trikozov can play to his potential every game, he’ll be a dynamic player and a steal of the draft.