John Tavares

3

Sidney Crosby

Jakub Voracek

4

Tyler Seguin

Sidney Crosby

5

Kris Letang

Jamie Benn

6

John Tavares

Claude Giroux

7

Nick Foligno

Joe Pavelski

8

Claude Giroux

Max Pacioretty

9

David Backes

Vlad Tarasenko

10

Evgeni Malkin

Erik Karlsson

11

Jakub Voracek

Rick Nash

12

Erik Karlsson

Tyler Seguin

13

Andrew Ladd

Steven Stamkos

14

Evander Kane

Nick Foligno

15

Joe Pavelski

Tyler Johnson

 

Comparison

There are a lot of similarities at the beginning of the year and I'm not going to argue against picking any of the players in Yahoo's ranks in the top 15.  The biggest take away when looking at the Roto rankings is the consistency and durability. When weighing the statistics across every category and across multiple seasons, the players near the top of the list will likely remain there, and they are not always the big name players you expect that can add huge value.

 

Another obvious comparison is that Yahoo puts a lot of emphasize on scoring, which (if your following the ranks) really limits your fantasy hockey teams potential. Our list has Nick Foligno, Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfluglien  in the top 10. Please don't take Nick Foligno in the first round next season, but it shows that these are the guys that can help win your league and you can get at great value on draft day.  Scoring isn’t everything.

 

If you can get scoring along with contributions in other categories, that's what you want in the first couple rounds of your draft. Nobody has been more consistently elite than Alex Ovechkin, especially for roto leagues. He was the best player in fantasy hockey all year and he will be the top ranked player going into next season.  Another player that stayed near the top all year was David Backes with another stellar all-around season finishing inside the top 10 of the Roto.

 

Breakouts

 

Nick Foligno was the biggest breakout player by far this season. And it appears that this is the new norm for him. He is on the top line with a young and talented Ryan Johanson and he logged big-time power play time. His hits and blocked shots are always consistent and it looks like we can expect more of the same in terms of power play points (26 this season) He climbed over 80 spots on the list since September.  

 

Chris Kreider had a very nice breakout season for the New York Rangers and was a big factor in their Presidents Trophy winning season.  He can contribute (and had career highs) in every category which landed him inside the top 50. Jake Voracek started the year 83 and finished just outside of the top 10 thanks to a career high 59 assists (2nd in NHL).   

 

Andrew Ladd started the year ranked 72nd overall and put together a Backes-like season setting him up for a top 15 finish. Patric Hornqvist had an amazing start to the season, taking over for the departed James Neal.  

 

A few young guns that started the year off the list (due to lack of data) that are sure to be staples on the Roto for years to come include Vlad Tarasenko and the Tampa Bay trio of Ondrej Palat, Nikita Kucherov and Tyler Johnson. On the blueline, look out for Roman Josi, Victor Hedman and Justin Faulk to be steady risers.

 

Check out the full list in the PDF below and please leave a comment to let myself and Austin know what you liked and didn't like so we can continue to improve the list for next season!

 

Top-100 Roto Rankings (PDF)

 

Top-100 Roto Rankings (Excel)