Top 200 Cap League Skater Rankings – March 2021

Alexander MacLean

2021-03-25

Last chance for those of you who have stocked up on Quinn Hughes and the rest of the 2021 RFA class, before they re-up with new contracts this summer. Included in that group is rookie Kirill Kaprizov, who is set for a big raise. A comparable situation led to a two-year deal for Artemi Panarin, and didn't work out all that well for the Blackhawks. Expect at least a five-year term for him, and a cap hit at least equal to Vladimir Tarasenko's. Even at that cost he should still provide exceptional value. 

Balancing the 56-game schedule with the rankings, projections, and salary estimates has been quite the fun task. That being said, the season is more than half over, and with the trade deadline approaching, it’s a good time to take a look at next year. For those of you not near the top of your league, it may be time to start targeting a few of the top players on this list with multiple years of term remaining. Netting a Mark ScheifeleJake Guentzel, or Travis Konecny will be the kind of piece that you can build around for years to come.  

Standard pre-rankings note: 

This isn't meant to be a be-all and end-all rating system for you to use without thinking and just trade your players for anyone above them on the list that you can find, but used with some foresight for managing salaries, I'm hoping that the list can help you mine value in trades, and at the draft table. 

The assumed league setup is for points-only leagues, with a salary allotment of approximately $73 million per team (10% of the NHL's $81.5 million being allocated for goalies), for 12 forwards and six defencemen per roster, amongst a range from eight to 14 teams (completely covered by the top 200 list). Cap hit is used for the player cost, so if your league uses salary or AAV, please account for that, as it can greatly change the impact of rookies. The rankings are set up so as to provide the most value in the current season, while providing some value in future years, based on modeling for predicted salary increases and production growth. 

For those of you with variations from this setup, whether in terms of number of teams, salary space, roster positions, or scoring categories, you can make your own personal tweaks to move players up or down as necessary. This list is made to be a baseline guide for player evaluation, and to promote discussion and understanding of how to optimize rosters in a cap league setting. 

If you note a mistake, or have any further questions about the ranking system, please let me know. You can find me on Twitter here @alexdmaclean.

📢 advertisement:

I'm not perfect, and the rankings won't be either. Comments help with optimizing the values. 

We're sticking with the +/- 5.0 rating that Dobber uses on all of his rating schemes as the range for approximately equivalent value. The skater and goalie rankings are synched so that the value of a skater against a goalie can be compared.

All salary info is courtesy of capfriendlyWithout further ado, the rankings: 

RankNameAgePosCap HitYrsRating
1Quinn Hughes21D$916,6661316.39
2Cale Makar22D$880,8331290.91
3Elias Pettersson22F$925,0001265.77
4Adam Fox23D$925,0002265.64
5Kirill Kaprizov23F$925,0001252.69
6Andrei Svechnikov20F$925,0001246.35
7Nick Suzuki21F$863,3332240.86
8Filip Hronek23D$714,1661224.40
9Leon Draisaitl25F$8,500,0005218.91
10Jack Hughes19F$925,0002218.67
11Conor Garland25F$775,0001215.09
12Martin Necas22F$863,3332213.71
13Rasmus Dahlin20D$925,0001212.14
14Miro Heiskanen21D$894,1661207.83
15Alexis Lafreniere19F$925,0003207.49
16Joel Farabee21F$925,0002206.81
17Nathan MacKinnon25F$6,300,0003204.09
18Connor McDavid24F$12,500,0006202.36
19Tim Stützle19F$925,0003194.35
20Oliver Bjorkstrand25F$2,500,0001191.75
21Kaapo Kakko20F$925,0002190.49
22Brady Tkachuk21F$925,0001188.53
23Dougie Hamilton27D$5,750,0001187.59
24Tyson Barrie29D$3,750,0001184.82
25Neal Pionk25D$3,000,0001180.23
26Jordan Kyrou22F$758,3331179.06
27Jonathan Huberdeau27F$5,900,0003176.16
28David Pastrnak24F$6,666,6663175.41
29Jake Guentzel26F$6,000,0004173.79
30Adam Boqvist20D$894,1672172.93
31John Carlson31D$8,000,0006172.66
32Drake Batherson22F$736,6661170.87
33Victor Hedman30D$7,875,0005168.58
34Kailer Yamamoto22F$894,1661168.46
35Aleksander Barkov25F$5,900,0002167.22
36Mark Scheifele28F$6,125,0004166.59
37Gabriel Vilardi21F$894,1672165.90
38David Perron32F$4,000,0002165.67
39Robert Thomas21F$894,1661165.35
40Mikko Rantanen24F$9,250,0005165.20
41Trevor Zegras20F$925,0003164.84
42Dylan Cozens20F$925,0003163.83
43Shea Theodore25D$5,200,0005162.49
44Brad Marchand32F$6,125,0005161.20
45Noah Dobson21D$894,1672159.08
46Quinton Byfield18F$925,0003157.74
47Cody Glass21F$863,3332156.71
48Filip Zadina21F$894,1672155.62
49Pavel Buchnevich26F$3,250,0001153.51
50Nicolas Hague22D$791,6672151.85
51Morgan Rielly27D$5,000,0002150.64
52J.T. Miller28F$5,250,0003149.98
53Morgan Frost21F$863,3332149.06
54Mika Zibanejad27F$5,350,0002146.52
55Marco Rossi19F$925,0003145.77
56Ilya Mikheyev26F$1,645,0002145.37
57Bowen Byram19D$925,0003145.21
58Brayden Point24F$6,750,0002144.32
59Seth Jones26D$5,400,0002143.62
60Gabriel Landeskog28F$5,571,4291142.67
61Victor Olofsson25F$3,050,0002142.02
62John Klingberg28D$4,250,0002141.26
63Samuel Girard22D$5,000,0007140.22
64Lucas Raymond18F$00139.56
65Sidney Crosby33F$8,700,0005139.05
66Sean Couturier28F$4,333,3332138.93
67Elias Lindholm26F$4,850,0004138.55
68Max Comtois22F$820,0001137.83
69Bryan Rust28F$3,500,0002137.36
70Barrett Hayton20F$894,1672137.06
71Bobby Ryan34F$1,000,0001136.75
72Kyle Connor24F$7,142,8576136.48
73Patrick Kane32F$10,500,0003135.76
74Mitch Marner23F$10,903,0005135.57
75Jamie Drysdale18D$925,0003135.13
76Nikolaj Ehlers25F$6,000,0005134.91
77Darnell Nurse26D$5,600,0002134.65
78Roman Josi30D$9,059,0008133.99
79Kirby Dach20F$925,0002133.82
80Evan Bouchard21D$863,3333133.81
81Alex Ovechkin35F$9,538,4621133.54
82K’Andre Miller21D$925,0003133.54
83Artemi Panarin29F$11,642,8576133.40
84Dominik Kubalík25F$3,700,0002133.38
85Mikhail Sergachev22D$4,800,0003133.37
86Anthony Beauvillier23F$2,100,0001133.30
87Auston Matthews23F$11,640,2504132.82
88Kevin Fiala24F$3,000,0001132.04
89Jack Roslovic24F$2,030,9521131.78
90Juuso Valimaki22D$894,1661131.69
91Cole Perfetti19F$925,0003131.62
92Rasmus Sandin21D$894,1672130.81
93Ryan Strome27F$4,500,0002129.17
94Jakub Vrana25F$3,350,0001129.14
95Tomas Hertl27F$5,625,0002128.90
96Zach Werenski23D$5,000,0002127.98
97Nazem Kadri30F$4,500,0002127.68
98Mark Stone28F$9,500,0007127.19
99Carter Verhaeghe25F$1,000,0002126.51
100Johnny Gaudreau27F$6,750,0002125.95
101Alex Iafallo27F$2,425,0001125.61
102Brock Boeser24F$5,875,0002125.39
103Travis Konecny24F$5,500,0005125.31
104Torey Krug29D$6,500,0007125.04
105Jakob Chychrun22D$4,600,0005124.95
106Ryan Ellis30D$6,250,0007123.77
107Thomas Chabot23D$8,000,0008123.63
108Anthony Duclair25F$1,700,0001123.43
109Troy Terry23F$1,450,0003123.43
110Jeff Petry33D$5,500,0001123.39
111Vince Dunn24D$1,875,0001123.32
112Alex DeBrincat23F$6,400,0003123.22
113Nick Robertson19F$821,6673122.75
114Sebastian Aho23F$8,460,2504122.72
115Alexandre Texier21F$897,5001122.51
116Evgeni Malkin34F$9,500,0002122.50
117Ryan Nugent-Hopkins27F$6,000,0001122.28
118Anthony Mantha26F$5,700,0004121.40
119Jesperi Kotkaniemi20F$925,0001120.97
120Jordan Greenway24F$2,100,0002120.89
121Aaron Ekblad25D$7,500,0005120.23
122Charlie McAvoy23D$4,900,0002120.02
123Steven Stamkos31F$8,500,0004119.94
124Jason Robertson21F$795,0002119.77
125Devon Toews27D$4,100,0004119.58
126Mike Reilly27D$1,500,0001119.01
127Tyler Toffoli28F$4,250,0004119.01
128Sam Steel23F$863,3331118.99
129Teddy Blueger26F$750,0001118.85
130Dominik Kahun25F$975,0001118.70
131Adrian Kempe24F$2,000,0002118.67
132Mathew Barzal23F$7,000,0003118.50
133Jack Eichel24F$10,000,0006117.97
134Dennis Cholowski23D$894,1661117.07
135Joel Eriksson Ek24F$1,487,5001116.83
136Erik Brannstrom21D$863,3332116.34
137Mattias Ekholm30D$3,750,0002116.28
138Jason Spezza37F$700,0001116.12
139Kris Letang33D$7,250,0002116.12
140Matt Roy26D$700,0001116.04
141Vinnie Hinostroza26F$1,000,0001116.03
142Bo Horvat25F$5,500,0003115.78
143Alex Tuch24F$4,750,0006115.70
144Adam Gaudette24F$950,0001115.62
145Taylor Hall29F$8,000,0001115.49
146Mathieu Joseph24F$737,5000115.48
147Filip Forsberg26F$6,000,0002115.44
148Zach Hyman28F$2,250,0001115.35
149Dylan Strome24F$3,000,0002114.93
150MacKenzie Weegar27D$3,250,0003114.46
151Matthew Tkachuk23F$7,000,0002114.34
152John Marino23D$925,0001114.14
153Tyler Bertuzzi26F$3,500,0001113.81
154Dillon Dube22F$778,3331113.71
155Viktor Arvidsson27F$4,250,0004113.50
156Andreas Athanasiou26F$1,200,0001112.49
157Ryan O’Reilly30F$7,500,0003112.19
158Patrik Laine22F$6,750,0001112.09
159Dante Fabbro22D$925,0001111.98
160Pius Suter24F$925,0001111.82
161Jesse Puljujarvi22F$1,175,0002111.37
162Calle Jarnkrok29F$2,000,0002111.17
163Mike Hoffman31F$4,000,0001111.16
164Teuvo Teravainen26F$5,400,0004111.10
165Joe Thornton41F$700,0001110.81
166Kasperi Kapanen24F$3,200,0002110.20
167Ryan Pulock26D$5,000,0002109.99
168Nolan Patrick22F$874,1251109.98
169Connor McMichael20F$894,1673109.85
170Rickard Rakell27F$3,789,4442109.78
171Carl Soderberg35F$1,000,0001109.77
172Andrew Mangiapane25F$2,425,0002109.46
173William Nylander24F$6,962,3664109.18
174Max Pacioretty32F$7,000,0003109.09
175Chandler Stephenson26F$2,750,0004108.81
176Derick Brassard33F$1,000,0001108.70
177Moritz Seider19D$894,1673108.14
178Pavel Zacha23F$2,250,0002108.12
179Oskar Lindblom24F$3,000,0003107.99
180Sam Reinhart25F$5,200,0001107.70
181Eeli Tolvanen21F$894,1662107.18
182Tomas Tatar30F$5,415,6021106.41
183Nick Ritchie25F$1,498,9251106.39
184Denis Gurianov23F$2,550,0002106.30
185Mason Appleton25F$900,0002106.23
186Roope Hintz24F$3,150,0003106.19
187Daniel Sprong24F$725,0002105.90
188Joshua Norris21F$925,0002105.67
189Ondrej Palat29F$5,300,0002105.63
190Ty Smith21F$863,3333105.60
191Casey Mittelstadt22F$874,1251104.92
192Oliver Kylington23D$787,5001104.88
193Ville Heinola20D$894,1673104.75
194Jonathan Marchessault30F$5,000,0004104.52
195Tyler Ennis31F$1,000,0001104.15
196Ivan Provorov24D$6,750,0006104.09
197Nikita Gusev28F$4,500,0001103.96
198Adam Pelech26D$1,600,0001103.89
199Jesper Bratt22F$2,750,0002103.67
200Sean Monahan26F$6,375,0003103.60

Leave A Comment

UPCOMING GAMES

Nov 05 - 19:11 CAR vs PHI
Nov 05 - 19:11 MTL vs CGY
Nov 05 - 19:11 BUF vs OTT
Nov 05 - 19:11 TOR vs BOS
Nov 05 - 19:11 NYI vs PIT
Nov 05 - 20:11 MIN vs L.A
Nov 05 - 20:11 STL vs T.B
Nov 05 - 20:11 WPG vs UTA
Nov 05 - 21:11 COL vs SEA
Nov 05 - 22:11 ANA vs VAN
Nov 05 - 22:11 S.J vs CBJ

Starting Goalies

Top Skater Views

  Players Team
CONNOR MCMICHAEL WSH
ALEX LAFERRIERE L.A
MARTIN NECAS CAR
PAVEL DOROFEYEV VGK
TIMOTHY LILJEGREN S.J

Top Goalie Profile Views

  Players Team
LUKAS DOSTAL ANA
FILIP GUSTAVSSON MIN
PYOTR KOCHETKOV CAR
JUSTUS ANNUNEN COL
FREDERIK ANDERSEN CAR

LINE COMBOS

  Frequency N.J Players
23.8 DAWSON MERCER TIMO MEIER NICO HISCHIER
20.3 ONDREJ PALAT JACK HUGHES JESPER BRATT
15.2 STEFAN NOESEN ERIK HAULA PAUL COTTER

DobberHockey Podcasts

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

📢 advertisement: