Top 250+ Fantrax Fantasy Hockey Rankings for 2021-22

There was much to consider as we were putting together our overall 2021-22 Fantrax Fantasy Hockey Rankings. Obviously, the individual skill of the player is important, but so is the team context, division, and player position. For these rankings, the standard categories considered for skaters are goals, assists, power-play points, shots on goal, hits, and blocks. For goalies, they are wins, goals-against average (GAA), save percentage, and shootouts.

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The top tier of players is either those who give tremendous value at one or two categories, in the range of two to three standard deviations above the mean, or those who fill the categories relatively evenly without having any holes. Examples of these types of players are Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, and Leon Draisaitl who were consensus top-five forwards, and Victor Hedman and John Carlson who are defensemen who fill all categories.

Goalies Carry High Variance

One of the biggest variances you will see in our fantasy hockey rankings is with respect to goalies. Though Andrei Vasilevskiy was a consensus first-round pick by our panel, he was the only one. The next goalie was Robin Lehner at 16 and the one after Connor Helleybuyck at 25. Aside from Vasilevskiy, there is hardly a sure thing in net and you might be as likely to get a top 10 goalie with your 7th or 8th round pick as your 2nd or 3rd. This is the reason I fade goalies and why they are a bit lower on this overall list. As an example, here are the top goalies from 2020-21 according to the standard categories and the average draft position (ADP) they were taken:

Phillipp Grubauer (69)
Marc-Andre Fleury (84)
Andrei Vasilevskiy (6)
Semyon Varlamov (70)
Alex Nedeljkovic (156)
Juuse Saros (64)
Chris Driedger (408)
Mike Smith (153)
Connor Hellebuyck (17)
Jack Campbell (136)
Jeremy Swayman (151)
Ilya Sorokin (145)
Petr Mrazek (190)
Tuukka Rask (167)
Cam Talbot (150)
Tristan Jarry (119)
Igor Shesterkin (72)
Jacob Markstrom (120)
Robin Lehner (79)
Vitek Vanecek (192)

When you look at the same list for forwards, there isn’t as great a variance. Most of the top forwards by ADP are the top forwards by end of season rank. The order may be slightly different, but the value you get is roughly what you’d expect. The reason is the top players on each team are the ones who get power play time and the majority of the ice time. You generally know who those players are at the beginning of the season and even though their performance can vary a little, it doesn’t completely tank.

Brady Tkachuk (12)
Connor McDavid (1)
Matthew Tkachuk (38)
Auston Matthews (4)
Alex Ovechkin (15)
Leon Draisaitl (2)
Andrei Svechnikov (28)
Evander Kane (45)
Vincent Trocheck (62)
Mika Zibanejad (19)
Nathan MacKinnon (4)
Gabriel Landeskog (32)
Brayden Schenn (111)
Alex DeBrincat (25)
Brad Marchand (11)
Ondrej Palat (97)
Chris Kreider (144)
Joe Pavelski (66)
Sidney Crosby (17)
JT Miller (32)

Wins and GAA are really more team statistics than goalie numbers so the netminder has little control over those. This is part of the reason why their value can swing wildly from season to season as personnel on the team, quality of competition, and any number of other variables shift from season to season. This is why I pushed goalies pretty far down the list.

Beware of Rookies

It is really difficult for rookies to make a big impact in the NHL. For example, last season Kirill Kaprizov had a fantastic rookie season, winning the Calder Trophy and he was 167 in these standard categories. That means that anyone who drafted him before the 12th round, did not get value out of Kaprizov. Jason Robertson, on the other hand, who was the runner-up, finished 297. So unless you had 21 rounds in your draft, he wouldn’t have been drafted. So for all the exciting young players you are tempted to draft, you probably should take the proven veteran instead, unless it is toward the end of your draft and you might drop that player anyways.

Highest Variability

Most of the players in the top 50 of our fantasy hockey rankings are ones you suspect. The order might be slightly different than what you suspect though. Some of the players near the top really split our expert panel and had a high variability of their rank. Artemi Panarin was viewed by half the panel as a first half of the 1st round talent, the other half had him solidly as a second or even early third-round pick. Panarin clearly excels in getting points, particularly on the power play, though his hits and blocks are very low and you’ll be lucky if he gets you three shots in a game. Because he’s so low in half of the categories, there is reason to see why some of us were not as high on him.

Alex Ovechkin was ranked as high as fourth by one expert and as low as 29th by another. The inevitable slowdown will come for one of the league’s greatest, but he’s shown that he can still deliver a ton of shots, goals, hits, and power-play points so I’m betting this is not the season his fantasy value tanks. Especially chasing down Gretzky’s record, he will be motivated. I probably wouldn’t reach for him, but taking him the later half of the 1st round should be fine.

Roman Josi is probably the defender that we most disagreed on. I had him 6th overall and others had him 39th and 82nd. Sure, the Nashville Predators aren’t what they used to be, but the departure of Ryan Ellis should mean they lean on Josi even more. I’m assuming Josi does take a dip in power-play points, but he is one of the few defenders that can really fill the categories, and with all that ice time, I imagine he will yield tremendous value. Certainly more than a 6th rounder, though I’d be ecstatic to get him that late.

Another defender we couldn’t agree on was Neal Pionk. His ranking ranged from 46 to 137. Josh Morrissey did get more power-play time on ice last season, though it was Pionk who had more power-play points with the diminished role. Certainly, the lack of certainty for his role could justify lower his position a bit. On the other hand, Pionk had many more points and hits than Morrissey with fewer minutes so it doesn’t seem like it will be an issue, even if the Jets continue to prefer the left-handed Morrissey to the right-handed Pionk on the power play.

Some other Outliers

There were a few players that the panel didn’t seem to know what to do with. Evander Kane was one such player. With his financial issues compounded with legal and locker room issues, it seems conceivable that Kane might not play a full season or at least get moved from the Sharks. On the other hand, he is too valuable not to rank.

Sam Bennet went on an absolute tear when he arrived in south Florida. Fifteen points in 10 games equates to a 123-point pace. I don’t think any of us actually believe that is going to happen, but he also likely won’t be as big of a fantasy dud as he was all those years with the Calgary Flames. The truth is somewhere in the middle and we just don’t agree on where that is. He was ranked as high as 69 and as low as 146. One expert didn’t even rank him so there was considerable variance. If he is available near the end of your draft, he’s certainly worth a flier, but I’m guessing he goes before round 10 in most drafts.

If you want to listen to me talk about these players every week, listen to Fantrax’s podcast Fantasy Hockey Life. Jesse Severe and I cover prospects and the pros. Listen to our offseason previews for all 32 NHL teams. Follow me on Twitter at @victornuno12. You can also join our free discord to talk hockey all year.

Top 250+ Fantasy Hockey Rankings

Cons. Rnk	Player	Pos	Team	Severe	Nuño	Klak	Whamond
1	Connor McDavid	C	EDM	1	1	1	1
2	Nathan MacKinnon	C	COL	3	2	3	2
3	Leon Draisaitl	C,LW	EDM	5	3	2	3
4	Auston Matthews	C	TOR	2	4	7	6
5	Nikita Kucherov	RW	TBL	12	5	5	4
6	Andrei Vasilevskiy	G	TBL	6	12	4	5
7	David Pastrnak	RW	BOS	7	15	10	10
8	Brad Marchand	LW	BOS	11	11	14	8
9	Patrick Kane	RW	CHI	14	10	15	11
9	Victor Hedman	D	TBL	15	8	11	16
11	Artemi Panarin	LW	NYR	25	13	6	7
12	Alex Ovechkin	LW	WSH	4	9	29	12
13	Mikko Rantanen	RW	COL	13	29	9	9
14	Cale Makar	D	COL	9	30	8	17
15	Brady Tkachuk	LW	OTT	8	14	32	15
16	Robin Lehner	G	VGK	17	17	12	24
17	Jonathan Huberdeau	LW	FLA	28	28	16	13
17	John Carlson	D	WSH	19	7	24	35
19	Sidney Crosby	C	PIT	21	35	18	14
19	Mitchell Marner	RW	TOR	26	25	17	20
21	Sebastian Aho	C	CAR	29	24	21	22
21	Jake Guentzel	LW	PIT	18	27	20	31
23	Mika Zibanejad	C	NYR	24	23	31	21
24	Aleksander Barkov	C	FLA	20	33	30	18
25	Connor Hellebuyck	G	WPG	23	36	19	27
26	Adam Fox	D	NYR	22	40	26	23
27	Dougie Hamilton	D	NJD	16	21	38	59
28	Kirill Kaprizov	LW	MIN	44	31	36	26
28	Roman Josi	D	NSH	10	6	39	82
30	Alex DeBrincat	LW	CHI	43	16	42	41
31	Mark Scheifele	C	WPG	46	34	27	36
32	Matthew Tkachuk	LW	CGY	27	58	35	32
33	Max Pacioretty	LW	VGK	34	32	54	33
34	Brayden Point	C	TBL	52	71	13	19
35	John Tavares	C	TOR	50	38	34	44
36	Andrei Svechnikov	LW,RW	CAR	45	42	52	28
37	Mark Stone	RW	VGK	57	48	23	43
38	Gabriel Landeskog	LW	COL	42	50	43	42
39	Aaron Ekblad	D	FLA	40	47	60	34
39	Kris Letang	D	PIT	31	19	47	84
41	Patrice Bergeron	C	BOS	32	63	59	30
42	Steven Stamkos	C,RW	TBL	37	66	53	29
43	Shea Theodore	D	VGK	48	54	22	63
44	Darcy Kuemper	G	COL	112	26	25	25
45	Kyle Connor	LW	WPG	51	39	56	46
46	Tyson Barrie	D	EDM	36	45	46	66
47	Marc-Andre Fleury	G	CHI	39	41	68	47
48	Juuse Saros	G	NSH	41	51	28	78
49	Jeff Petry	D	MTL	30	20	37	120
50	Elias Pettersson	C	VAN	53	70	58	40
51	Igor Shesterkin	G	NYR	33	93	67	38
52	Quinn Hughes	D	VAN	47	84	63	39
53	Seth Jones	D	CHI	72	37	64	62
54	Charlie McAvoy	D	BOS	92	53	44	53
54	Jakob Chychrun	D	ARI	38	55	48	101
56	Nikolaj Ehlers	LW	WPG	66	52	74	52
56	Thomas Chabot	D	OTT	58	22	49	115
58	J.T. Miller	C,LW	VAN	59	43	91	57
59	Darnell Nurse	D	EDM	87	18	65	88
60	Brock Boeser	RW	VAN	71	81	57	50
61	Mathew Barzal	C	NYI	81	88	33	64
62	Morgan Rielly	D	TOR	55	68	84	65
63	Sean Couturier	C	PHI	60	65	40	114
64	Jack Eichel	C	BUF	125	44	71	48
65	Ryan O'Reilly	C	STL	118	75	41	61
65	Nicklas Backstrom	C	WSH	79	104	45	67
67	Miro Heiskanen	D	DAL	62	64	101	71
68	Anze Kopitar	C	LAK	99	78	77	45
69	Johnny Gaudreau	LW	CGY	74	103	75	49
70	Drew Doughty	D	LAK	56	86	82	89
71	Alex Pietrangelo	D	VGK	77	91	97	54
72	Zach Werenski	D	CBJ	91	73	50	107
73	Elias Lindholm	C,RW	CGY	82	67	88	95
74	Linus Ullmark	G	BOS	NR	82	62	106
75	Philipp Grubauer	G	SEA	49	115	97	73
76	Evander Kane	LW	SJS	NR	62	55	134
77	Thatcher Demko	G	VAN	88	80	96	80
78	Tyler Toffoli	RW	MTL	103	77	76	92
78	Blake Wheeler	RW	WPG	97	49	90	112
80	William Nylander	RW	TOR	84	147	73	51
80	Neal Pionk	D	WPG	73	46	99	137
82	Torey Krug	D	STL	70	92	109	85
83	John Klingberg	D	DAL	64	119	80	97
84	Semyon Varlamov	G	NYI	78	153	95	37
85	Ilya Sorokin	G	NYI	147	69	94	55
86	Jordan Binnington	G	STL	35	157	61	119
87	David Perron	LW,RW	STL	96	72	113	93
88	Vincent Trocheck	C	CAR	86	83	78	129
89	MacKenzie Weegar	D	FLA	95	74	93	117
90	Frederik Andersen	G	CAR	61	143	120	58
91	Evgeni Malkin	C	PIT	94	126	111	60
92	Filip Forsberg	LW	NSH	67	95	122	109
93	Tyler Seguin	C,RW	DAL	105	57	126	110
94	Jonathan Marchessault	C,LW,RW	VGK	68	61	110	164
95	Roope Hintz	C,LW	DAL	76	151	107	75
96	Spencer Knight	G	FLA	130	124	102	56
97	Kevin Fiala	LW,RW	MIN	117	80	115	104
98	Jack Campbell	G	TOR	114	107	116	81
99	Tristan Jarry	G	PIT	54	56	164	151
100	Nicholas Suzuki	C	MTL	100	117	114	96
101	Mark Giordano	D	SEA	115	NR	100	NR
102	Mike Hoffman	LW	MTL	140	76	NR	NR
103	Timo Meier	RW	SJS	146	109	70	NR
104	Joe Pavelski	C,RW	DAL	89	177	87	86
105	Martin Necas	RW	CAR	148	94	105	94
106	Carey Price	G	MTL	85	139	119	100
107	Ivan Provorov	D	PHI	83	98	130	136
107	Brent Burns	D	SJS	111	79	81	176
109	Bryan Rust	RW	PIT	110	97	141	102
109	Taylor Hall	LW	BOS	65	112	147	126
111	Jacob Markstrom	G	CGY	69	170	66	147
111	Filip Hronek	D	DET	116	94	129	NR
113	Jason Robertson	LW	DAL	108	159	104	83
113	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	C,LW	EDM	113	99	152	90
115	Teuvo Teravainen	LW,RW	CAR	155	118	51	133
116	Sam Bennett	C,RW	FLA	133	146	NR	69
117	Cam Talbot	G	MIN	NR	142	138	74
117	Cole Caufield	RW	MTL	75	NR	181	98
117	Kevin Lankinen	G	CHI	NR	NR	NR	118
117	Ty Smith	D	NJD	NR	NR	92	144
121	Alexander Radulov	RW	DAL	NR	NR	112	125
122	T.J. Oshie	RW	WSH	131	135	133	76
123	Dominik Kubalik	LW,RW	CHI	80	111	167	121
124	Sam Reinhart	C,RW	FLA	129	160	121	70
125	Brayden Schenn	C,LW	STL	141	108	124	108
126	Rasmus Ristolainen	D	PHI	154	87	NR	NR
127	Calvin Petersen	G	LAK	NR	60	127	179
128	Tom Wilson	RW	WSH	101	164	NR	103
129	Pavel Buchnevich	RW	STL	142	167	72	113
129	Jared McCann	C,LW	SEA	106	141	NR	NR
131	Travis Konecny	C,LW,RW	PHI	124	163	86	NR
132	Jake Oettinger	G	DAL	NR	NR	118	131
133	Oliver Bjorkstrand	RW	CBJ	134	90	103	172
134	Erik Karlsson	D	SJS	93	110	128	177
134	Matt Grzelcyk	D	BOS	127	NR	NR	NR
136	Vladimir Tarasenko	RW	STL	136	113	183	79
137	Mathew Dumba	D	MIN	123	101	NR	160
137	Adam Boqvist	D	CBJ	128	NR	NR	NR
139	Ryan Pulock	D	NYI	132	59	197	NR
140	Jared Spurgeon	D	MIN	138	123	132	128
141	Jamie Drysdale	D	ANA	90	NR	NR	171
142	Tomas Tatar	LW	NJD	NR	96	166	NR
142	Brock Nelson	C	NYI	NR	131	NR	NR
144	Anthony Mantha	LW,RW	WSH	161	168	85	111
145	Carter Hart	G	PHI	104	166	117	141
145	Justin Faulk	D	STL	137	127	NR	NR
147	Ilya Samsonov	G	WSH	135	128	189	77
148	Ryan Ellis	D	PHI	167	133	108	123
149	Ondrej Palat	LW	TBL	122	199	143	72
150	Sergei Bobrovsky	G	FLA	NR	NR	NR	135
150	Rasmus Dahlin	D	BUF	63	137	145	195
150	Andrew Mangiapane	LW,RW	CGY	NR	NR	135	NR
153	Claude Giroux	C,LW	PHI	183	89	79	193
154	Brendan Gallagher	RW	MTL	102	120	180	145
155	Jacob Trouba	D	NYR	172	105	NR	NR
156	Bo Horvat	C	VAN	189	100	136	130
157	Mikhail Sergachev	D	TBL	NR	132	144	142
158	Conor Garland	LW,RW	VAN	170	173	69	146
159	Samuel Girard	D	COL	153	183	83	140
160	Jakub Vrana	LW	DET	121	171	169	99
161	Carter Verhaeghe	C,LW	FLA	126	NR	140	155
162	Devon Toews	D	COL	120	162	131	149
162	Dylan Larkin	C	DET	98	130	168	166
164	Jamie Benn	C,LW	DAL	139	134	NR	154
165	Mattias Ekholm	D	NSH	159	156	98	161
166	William Karlsson	C	VGK	NR	136	158	138
167	Zach Hyman	LW	EDM	187	155	123	116
168	Jeremy Swayman	G	BOS	NR	150	162	124
169	Jack Hughes	C	NJD	157	172	170	91
170	James van Riemsdyk	LW	PHI	NR	NR	148	NR
171	Patrik Laine	LW,RW	CBJ	176	85	175	157
171	Tomas Hertl	C	SJS	194	122	89	188
173	Phil Kessel	RW	ARI	156	145	149	NR
173	Jesper Bratt	LW,RW	NJD	NR	NR	150	NR
175	Anders Lee	LW	NYI	151	129	153	169
175	Pavel Francouz	G	COL	NR	102	199	NR
177	Evgeny Kuznetsov	C	WSH	171	182	182	68
177	Ryan Strome	C	NYR	178	121	165	139
179	Jakub Voracek	RW	CBJ	NR	125	139	192
180	Andre Burakovsky	LW	COL	NR	188	106	165
181	Kirby Dach	C	CHI	152	NR	NR	158
181	Rasmus Sandin	D	TOR	NR	NR	155	NR
183	Petr Mrazek	G	TOR	166	161	190	105
184	Patric Hornqvist	RW	FLA	191	190	NR	87
184	Alexis Lafreniere	LW	NYR	143	193	NR	132
184	Trevor Zegras	C,LW	ANA	149	NR	169	150
184	Jonathan Toews	C	CHI	NR	163	142	163
184	Justin Schultz	D	WSH	NR	NR	156	NR
189	Tony DeAngelo	D	CAR	109	175	196	148
190	Vitek Vanecek	G	WSH	NR	NR	194	122
190	Colton Parayko	D	STL	NR	158	NR	NR
192	Jake Muzzin	D	TOR	179	152	146	NR
192	Shayne Gostisbehere	D	ARI	180	138	NR	NR
194	Vince Dunn	D	SEA	150	149	173	170
195	Kaapo Kahkonen	G	MIN	158	162	NR	162
195	Chris Kreider	LW	NYR	193	116	NR	173
197	Elvis Merzlikins	G	CBJ	144	176	163	NR
198	Rasmus Andersson	D	CGY	119	169	198	NR
198	Arthur Kaliyev	LW,RW	LAK	162	NR	NR	NR
200	Josh Norris	C	OTT	165	140	178	167
201	Mike Smith	G	EDM	160	191	137	NR
202	Alec Martinez	D	VGK	NR	NR	174	152
202	Marco Rossi	C	MIN	163	NR	NR	NR
204	Tyler Bertuzzi	LW,RW	DET	NR	178	151	NR
205	Joel Farabee	LW	PHI	NR	NR	134	200
206	Mackenzie Blackwood	G	NJD	NR	180	195	127
207	Tim Stutzle	C,LW	OTT	177	NR	NR	159
207	Quinton Byfield	C	LAK	168	NR	NR	NR
209	Oliver Ekman-Larsson	D	VAN	188	144	NR	174
210	Viktor Arvidsson	RW	LAK	196	148	179	153
210	Pierre-Luc Dubois	C	WPG	184	198	125	NR
210	Jack Roslovic	C	CBJ	169	NR	NR	NR
210	Joshua Morrissey	D	WPG	181	NR	157	NR
214	Jordan Eberle	RW	SEA	NR	174	NR	168
214	Brett Pesce	D	CAR	NR	NR	171	NR
216	Logan Couture	C	SJS	200	154	160	NR
217	Ben Bishop	G	DAL	NR	NR	161	183
218	Clayton Keller	LW,RW	ARI	164	194	159	NR
219	Drake Batherson	RW	OTT	190	NR	NR	156
219	Alexandre Texier	C	CBJ	173	NR	NR	NR
221	Radko Gudas	D	FLA	182	165	NR	NR
222	Denis Gurianov	LW,RW	DAL	NR	NR	NR	175
222	Erik Cernak	D	TBL	175	NR	NR	NR
224	Nazem Kadri	C	COL	NR	NR	154	197
225	Jordan Kyrou	C,RW	STL	NR	NR	176	NR
226	Andrew Copp	C,LW	WPG	NR	NR	177	NR
227	Alex Nedeljkovic	G	DET	198	NR	193	143
227	Vasili Podkolzin	RW	VAN	NR	NR	NR	178
229	Tyler Myers	D	VAN	NR	179	NR	NR
230	Anthony Duclair	LW,RW	FLA	NR	NR	NR	181
230	John Gibson	G	ANA	174	NR	188	NR
232	Nick Leddy	D	DET	NR	192	172	NR
233	Anthony Beauvillier	LW	NYI	NR	185	NR	180
234	Jaden Schwartz	LW	SEA	186	NR	NR	182
234	Ryan Johansen	C	NSH	NR	NR	184	NR
236	Alex Killorn	LW	TBL	NR	NR	NR	185
236	Jeff Skinner	LW	BUF	185	NR	NR	NR
236	Dmitri Orlov	D	WSH	NR	NR	185	NR
239	Josh Anderson	RW	MTL	NR	187	NR	184
240	Jordan Staal	C	CAR	NR	NR	NR	186
240	Nicolas Hague	D	VGK	NR	NR	186	NR
242	Cam Atkinson	RW	PHI	NR	184	NR	189
242	Rickard Rakell	C,LW	ANA	192	181	NR	NR
244	Chris Driedger	G	SEA	NR	NR	NR	187
244	Adin Hill	G	SJS	NR	NR	187	NR
246	Sean Monahan	C	CGY	NR	186	NR	190
247	Mikael Granlund	C,RW	NSH	NR	189	NR	NR
248	Jeff Carter	C	PIT	NR	NR	NR	191
248	Casey DeSmith	G	PIT	NR	NR	191	NR
250	Anton Khudobin	G	DAL	NR	NR	192	NR
251	Oliver Wahlstrom	RW	NYI	NR	NR	NR	194
252	Blake Coleman	C,LW,RW	CGY	195	NR	NR	NR
252	Damon Severson	D	NJD	NR	195	NR	NR
254	Eeli Tolvanen	RW	NSH	NR	NR	NR	196
254	Alexander Edler	D	LAK	NR	196	NR	NR
256	Victor Olofsson	LW,RW	BUF	NR	197	NR	NR
257	Kaapo Kakko	RW	NYR	NR	NR	NR	198
258	Nico Hischier	C	NJD	197	200	NR	NR
259	Bowen Byram	D	COL	NR	NR	NR	199
259	Matt Murray	G	OTT	199	NR	NR	NR
261	Michael Bunting	LW	TOR	NR	NR	200	NR

Did you enjoy our 2021-22 Fantasy Hockey Rankings? Then you’ll definitely want to check out our 2021 Fantasy Hockey Draft Kit. New content is added every day.

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