Top 200 Cap League Skater Rankings – January 2022
Alexander MacLean
2022-01-25
In this month's cap league skater rankings, I went through and did a full review of players, their numbers in the system, and making sure that I wasn't missing any rookies, free agents, or other. A few risers in the rankings this time around, with Matthew Boldy, Tanner Jeannot, and Joe Veleno making their debuts in the rankings (among others) while we also see the return of injured players such as Jack Eichel, Alex Tuch, and Max Comtois.
Getting Eichel and Comtois back to full form will be huge for some teams, though those teams may be too far behind this season to be able to reap the full benefits. Don't worry, they'll still be key pieces next year.
One other name to keep an eye on is Alexander Romanov. The Montreal prospect is going to be a key piece of that blueline very soon, and will be a huge asset to fantasy teams that are looking for both points and peripherals.
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.
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, though the scale of the ratings has changed a little since the last update.
All salary info is courtesy of capfriendly. Without further ado, the rankings:
Rank | Name | Age | Pos | Cap Hit | Yrs | Rating | Prev Rank |
1 | Adam Fox | 23 | D | $925,000 | 1 | 462.18 | 1 |
2 | Jason Robertson | 22 | F | $795,000 | 1 | 380.40 | 2 |
3 | Connor McDavid | 25 | F | $12,500,000 | 5 | 304.80 | 4 |
4 | Carter Verhaeghe | 26 | F | $1,000,000 | 1 | 302.54 | 11 |
5 | Martin Necas | 23 | F | $863,333 | 1 | 301.47 | 6 |
6 | Nick Suzuki | 22 | F | $863,333 | 1 | 289.05 | 7 |
7 | Leon Draisaitl | 26 | F | $8,500,000 | 4 | 288.70 | 9 |
8 | Alexis Lafreniere | 20 | F | $925,000 | 2 | 287.97 | 3 |
9 | Tim Stützle | 20 | F | $925,000 | 2 | 275.25 | 8 |
10 | Nathan MacKinnon | 26 | F | $6,300,000 | 2 | 274.62 | 12 |
11 | Quinton Byfield | 19 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 260.76 | 5 |
12 | Ty Smith | 21 | D | $863,333 | 2 | 256.00 | 10 |
13 | Jonathan Huberdeau | 28 | F | $5,900,000 | 2 | 252.69 | 21 |
14 | Joshua Norris | 22 | F | $925,000 | 1 | 250.36 | 23 |
15 | Joel Farabee | 21 | F | $925,000 | 1 | 248.41 | 15 |
16 | Anthony DeAngelo | 26 | D | $1,000,000 | 1 | 245.56 | 32 |
17 | Tyson Barrie | 30 | D | $4,500,000 | 3 | 245.17 | 13 |
18 | Trevor Zegras | 20 | F | $925,000 | 2 | 240.72 | 18 |
19 | Roope Hintz | 25 | F | $3,150,000 | 2 | 237.14 | 20 |
20 | Jordan Kyrou | 23 | F | $2,800,000 | 2 | 233.71 | 33 |
21 | Cole Caufield | 21 | F | $880,833 | 2 | 233.33 | 14 |
22 | Jack Hughes | 20 | F | $925,000 | 1 | 233.31 | 17 |
23 | Shea Theodore | 26 | D | $5,200,000 | 4 | 230.68 | 26 |
24 | Troy Terry | 24 | F | $1,450,000 | 2 | 229.16 | 87 |
25 | Tanner Jeannot | 24 | F | $800,000 | 2 | 227.47 | NR |
26 | Cale Makar | 23 | D | $9,000,000 | 6 | 227.29 | 37 |
27 | Mikko Rantanen | 25 | F | $9,250,000 | 4 | 226.60 | 34 |
28 | Aleksander Barkov | 26 | F | $5,900,000 | 1 | 221.61 | 30 |
29 | Brad Marchand | 33 | F | $6,125,000 | 4 | 221.22 | 31 |
30 | Dylan Cozens | 20 | F | $925,000 | 2 | 220.43 | 19 |
31 | MacKenzie Weegar | 28 | D | $3,250,000 | 2 | 219.34 | 38 |
32 | Jake Guentzel | 27 | F | $6,000,000 | 3 | 218.55 | 40 |
33 | Mark Scheifele | 28 | F | $6,125,000 | 3 | 215.37 | 29 |
34 | Victor Hedman | 31 | D | $7,875,000 | 4 | 211.26 | 51 |
35 | Nils Hoglander | 21 | F | $891,667 | 2 | 210.17 | 36 |
36 | Nikita Kucherov | 28 | F | $9,500,000 | 6 | 208.32 | 28 |
37 | Keith Yandle | 35 | D | $900,000 | 1 | 206.99 | 39 |
38 | Morgan Rielly | 27 | D | $5,000,000 | 1 | 204.47 | 60 |
39 | Quinn Hughes | 22 | D | $7,850,000 | 6 | 203.78 | 47 |
40 | Matt Boldy | 20 | F | $880,833 | 2 | 203.25 | NR |
41 | Alex Newhook | 20 | F | $908,333 | 2 | 202.08 | 25 |
42 | Connor McMichael | 21 | F | $863,333 | 3 | 201.89 | 113 |
43 | David Pastrnak | 25 | F | $6,666,666 | 2 | 201.47 | 46 |
44 | Alex DeBrincat | 24 | F | $6,400,000 | 2 | 199.74 | 50 |
45 | Devon Toews | 27 | D | $4,100,000 | 3 | 198.80 | 81 |
46 | Chandler Stephenson | 27 | F | $2,750,000 | 3 | 197.57 | 94 |
47 | Philip Tomasino | 20 | F | $863,333 | 3 | 197.51 | NR |
48 | Jakob Chychrun | 23 | D | $4,600,000 | 4 | 197.24 | 27 |
49 | Moritz Seider | 20 | D | $863,333 | 3 | 197.08 | 80 |
50 | Evan Bouchard | 22 | D | $863,333 | 2 | 196.12 | 58 |
51 | Jamie Drysdale | 19 | D | $925,000 | 2 | 196.10 | 45 |
52 | Adam Boqvist | 21 | D | $894,167 | 1 | 195.85 | 55 |
53 | Cole Sillinger | 18 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 195.71 | NR |
54 | John Klingberg | 29 | D | $4,250,000 | 1 | 195.56 | 49 |
55 | Eeli Tolvanen | 22 | F | $1,450,000 | 3 | 194.62 | 43 |
56 | John Carlson | 32 | D | $8,000,000 | 5 | 194.61 | 52 |
57 | Arthur Kaliyev | 20 | F | $894,166 | 3 | 193.95 | NR |
58 | J.T. Miller | 28 | F | $5,250,000 | 2 | 192.52 | 74 |
59 | Auston Matthews | 24 | F | $11,640,250 | 3 | 192.44 | 69 |
60 | Elias Lindholm | 27 | F | $4,850,000 | 3 | 191.45 | 61 |
61 | Lucas Raymond | 19 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 190.89 | 22 |
62 | Mika Zibanejad | 28 | F | $5,350,000 | 1 | 190.85 | 76 |
63 | Jason Spezza | 38 | F | $750,000 | 1 | 190.64 | 78 |
64 | Oliver Wahlstrom | 21 | F | $894,167 | 2 | 190.61 | 24 |
65 | Mason Appleton | 26 | F | $900,000 | 1 | 190.07 | 66 |
66 | Kailer Yamamoto | 23 | F | $1,175,000 | 1 | 189.06 | 35 |
67 | Pavel Buchnevich | 26 | F | $5,800,000 | 4 | 188.77 | 115 |
68 | Max Comtois | 23 | F | $2,037,500 | 2 | 188.64 | NR |
69 | Sebastian Aho | 24 | F | $8,460,250 | 3 | 188.23 | 77 |
70 | Bryan Rust | 29 | F | $3,500,000 | 1 | 187.83 | 122 |
71 | Marco Rossi | 20 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 186.75 | 16 |
72 | David Perron | 33 | F | $4,000,000 | 1 | 183.10 | 63 |
73 | Yegor Sharangovich | 23 | F | $2,000,000 | 2 | 183.08 | 62 |
74 | Mitch Marner | 24 | F | $10,903,000 | 4 | 182.93 | 59 |
75 | Anthony Duclair | 26 | F | $3,000,000 | 3 | 182.93 | 136 |
76 | William Eklund | 19 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 182.81 | NR |
77 | Bowen Byram | 20 | D | $925,000 | 2 | 182.17 | 48 |
78 | Nicolas Hague | 23 | D | $791,667 | 1 | 181.78 | 110 |
79 | Mikhail Sergachev | 23 | D | $4,800,000 | 2 | 181.31 | 73 |
80 | Filip Zadina | 22 | F | $894,167 | 1 | 181.26 | 41 |
81 | Anton Lundell | 20 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 181.26 | 174 |
82 | Kyle Connor | 25 | F | $7,142,857 | 5 | 181.10 | 107 |
83 | Roman Josi | 31 | D | $9,059,000 | 7 | 180.68 | 165 |
84 | Alexandre Carrier | 25 | D | $733,333 | 2 | 179.99 | NR |
85 | Charlie McAvoy | 24 | D | $4,900,000 | 1 | 179.58 | 124 |
86 | Jesper Bratt | 23 | F | $2,750,000 | 1 | 179.57 | 160 |
87 | Johnny Gaudreau | 28 | F | $6,750,000 | 1 | 179.53 | 68 |
88 | Ryan Strome | 28 | F | $4,500,000 | 1 | 179.47 | 92 |
89 | Samuel Girard | 23 | D | $5,000,000 | 6 | 179.47 | 85 |
90 | Kris Letang | 34 | D | $7,250,000 | 1 | 179.22 | 95 |
91 | Mason McTavish | 18 | F | $925,000 | 3 | 178.82 | NR |
92 | Michael Bunting | 26 | F | $950,000 | 2 | 178.37 | 137 |
93 | Noah Dobson | 22 | D | $894,167 | 1 | 178.25 | 91 |
94 | Brandon Hagel | 23 | F | $1,500,000 | 3 | 178.19 | 104 |
95 | K’Andre Miller | 22 | D | $925,000 | 2 | 177.25 | 57 |
96 | Kirill Kaprizov | 24 | F | $9,000,000 | 5 | 176.09 | 123 |
97 | Dougie Hamilton | 28 | D | $9,000,000 | 7 | 175.58 | 79 |
98 | Gabriel Landeskog | 29 | F | $7,000,000 | 8 | 175.35 | 117 |
99 | Jesse Puljujarvi | 23 | F | $1,175,000 | 1 | 174.75 | 133 |
100 | Denis Gurianov | 24 | F | $2,550,000 | 1 | 174.59 | 75 |
101 | Artemi Panarin | 30 | F | $11,642,857 | 5 | 172.72 | 93 |
102 | Colin Blackwell | 28 | F | $725,000 | 1 | 172.39 | 162 |
103 | William Nylander | 25 | F | $6,962,366 | 3 | 172.14 | 185 |
104 | Nikolaj Ehlers | 25 | F | $6,000,000 | 4 | 171.70 | 84 |
105 | Joe Veleno | 22 | F | $894,167 | 2 | 171.44 | NR |
106 | Seth Jarvis | 19 | F | $894,166.00 | 3 | 171.12 | NR |
107 | Yegor Chinakhov | 20 | F | $925,000 | 2 | 171.11 | NR |
108 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 26 | F | $5,400,000 | 5 | 170.88 | 101 |
109 | Tomas Hertl | 28 | F | $5,625,000 | 1 | 170.07 | 100 |
110 | Tage Thompson | 24 | F | $1,400,000 | 2 | 169.49 | NR |
111 | Erik Brannstrom | 22 | D | $863,333 | 1 | 168.13 | 90 |
112 | Mark Stone | 29 | F | $9,500,000 | 6 | 167.71 | 103 |
113 | Jack Roslovic | 24 | F | $1,838,362 | 1 | 167.26 | 56 |
114 | Nazem Kadri | 31 | F | $4,500,000 | 1 | 166.76 | NR |
115 | Darnell Nurse | 26 | D | $5,600,000 | 1 | 166.55 | 97 |
116 | Brayden Point | 25 | F | $6,750,000 | 1 | 165.82 | 120 |
117 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 28 | F | $5,125,000 | 8 | 165.64 | 109 |
118 | Brock Boeser | 24 | F | $5,875,000 | 1 | 165.45 | 89 |
119 | Mike Reilly | 28 | D | $3,000,000 | 3 | 165.20 | NR |
120 | Aaron Ekblad | 25 | D | $7,500,000 | 4 | 164.34 | 179 |
121 | Tyler Toffoli | 29 | F | $4,250,000 | 3 | 163.79 | 112 |
122 | Andre Burakovsky | 26 | F | $4,900,000 | 1 | 163.72 | 148 |
123 | Drake Batherson | 23 | F | $4,975,000 | 6 | 163.70 | 186 |
124 | Nolan Patrick | 23 | F | $1,200,000 | 2 | 163.68 | NR |
125 | Andrew Mangiapane | 26 | F | $2,425,000 | 1 | 163.12 | 150 |
126 | Dawson Mercer | 20 | F | $894,166 | 3 | 163.01 | NR |
127 | Torey Krug | 30 | D | $6,500,000 | 6 | 162.88 | 127 |
128 | Teuvo Teravainen | 27 | F | $5,400,000 | 3 | 162.58 | 134 |
129 | Kaapo Kakko | 20 | F | $925,000 | 1 | 162.33 | 54 |
130 | Rasmus Dahlin | 21 | D | $6,000,000 | 3 | 162.24 | 126 |
131 | Logan O’Connor | 25 | F | $725,000 | 1 | 162.09 | NR |
132 | Patrick Kane | 33 | F | $10,500,000 | 2 | 161.64 | 99 |
133 | Ryan Hartman | 27 | F | $1,700,000 | 3 | 161.47 | NR |
134 | Sonny Milano | 25 | F | $1,700,000 | 1 | 161.19 | NR |
135 | Robert Thomas | 22 | F | $2,800,000 | 2 | 161.04 | 152 |
136 | Thomas Chabot | 24 | D | $8,000,000 | 7 | 160.85 | 53 |
137 | Jonathan Marchessault | 31 | F | $5,000,000 | 3 | 160.53 | 132 |
138 | Timo Meier | 25 | F | $6,000,000 | 2 | 160.13 | NR |
139 | Neal Pionk | 26 | D | $5,850,000 | 4 | 159.53 | 129 |
140 | Sam Reinhart | 26 | F | $6,500,000 | 3 | 159.31 | 188 |
141 | Ross Colton | 25 | F | $1,125,000 | 2 | 159.29 | 182 |
142 | Mathew Barzal | 24 | F | $7,000,000 | 2 | 157.65 | NR |
143 | Seth Jones | 27 | D | $5,400,000 | 1 | 157.56 | 192 |
144 | Sean Couturier | 29 | F | $4,333,333 | 1 | 157.08 | 106 |
145 | Alexandre Texier | 22 | F | $1,525,000 | 2 | 156.71 | 128 |
146 | Ondrej Palat | 30 | F | $5,300,000 | 1 | 156.71 | 145 |
147 | Jack Eichel | 25 | F | $10,000,000 | 5 | 156.59 | NR |
148 | Ryan O’Reilly | 30 | F | $7,500,000 | 2 | 156.30 | NR |
149 | Conor Garland | 25 | F | $4,950,000 | 5 | 156.17 | 144 |
150 | Shayne Gostisbehere | 28 | D | $4,500,000 | 2 | 156.07 | NR |
151 | Kevin Fiala | 25 | F | $5,100,000 | 1 | 156.03 | 102 |
152 | Oliver Kylington | 24 | D | $750,000 | 1 | 155.80 | NR |
153 | Adrian Kempe | 25 | F | $2,000,000 | 1 | 155.58 | 194 |
154 | Mario Ferraro | 23 | D | $925,000 | 1 | 155.44 | 149 |
155 | Alexander Romanov | 22 | D | $925,000 | 2 | 155.37 | NR |
156 | Andrei Svechnikov | 21 | F | $7,750,000 | 8 | 154.96 | 159 |
157 | Gustav Forsling | 25 | D | $2,666,667 | 3 | 154.10 | NR |
158 | Filip Hronek | 24 | D | $4,400,000 | 3 | 153.76 | NR |
159 | Dylan Coghlan | 23 | D | $762,500 | 2 | 153.54 | NR |
160 | Andrew Copp | 27 | F | $3,640,000 | 1 | 153.14 | NR |
161 | Alex Barre-Boulet | 24 | F | $758,333 | 3 | 152.99 | 172 |
162 | Nicolas Roy | 24 | F | $750,000 | 1 | 152.98 | 98 |
163 | Kasperi Kapanen | 25 | F | $3,200,000 | 1 | 152.66 | NR |
164 | Cole Perfetti | 20 | F | $894,166 | 3 | 151.81 | 130 |
165 | Sidney Crosby | 34 | F | $8,700,000 | 4 | 151.74 | NR |
166 | Mathieu Joseph | 24 | F | $737,500 | 1 | 151.66 | 138 |
167 | Kirby Dach | 21 | F | $925,000 | 1 | 151.41 | 64 |
168 | Corey Perry | 36 | F | $1,000,000 | 2 | 150.47 | 72 |
169 | Daniel Sprong | 24 | F | $725,000 | 1 | 149.66 | NR |
170 | Victor Olofsson | 26 | F | $3,050,000 | 1 | 149.48 | 65 |
171 | Matt Grzelcyk | 28 | D | $3,687,500 | 3 | 149.23 | 156 |
172 | Matthew Tkachuk | 24 | F | $7,000,000 | 1 | 149.03 | NR |
173 | Sam Bennett | 25 | F | $4,425,000 | 4 | 149.00 | 141 |
174 | Alex Killorn | 32 | F | $4,450,000 | 2 | 148.73 | 187 |
175 | Travis Konecny | 24 | F | $5,500,000 | 4 | 147.77 | NR |
176 | Steven Stamkos | 31 | F | $8,500,000 | 3 | 146.96 | 135 |
177 | Jared McCann | 25 | F | $2,940,000 | 1 | 146.76 | NR |
178 | Ryan Donato | 25 | F | $750,000 | 1 | 146.74 | 83 |
179 | Pavel Zacha | 24 | F | $2,250,000 | 1 | 145.82 | NR |
180 | Dominik Kubalík | 26 | F | $3,700,000 | 1 | 145.77 | 67 |
181 | Max Pacioretty | 33 | F | $7,000,000 | 2 | 145.09 | 140 |
182 | Calle Jarnkrok | 30 | F | $2,000,000 | 1 | 145.00 | NR |
183 | Jordan Greenway | 24 | F | $2,100,000 | 1 | 144.92 | 178 |
184 | Miro Heiskanen | 22 | D | $8,450,000 | 8 | 144.87 | 139 |
185 | Zach Werenski | 24 | D | $5,000,000 | 1 | 144.53 | NR |
186 | Bo Horvat | 26 | F | $5,500,000 | 2 | 144.45 | 131 |
187 | Taylor Raddysh | 23 | F | $758,333 | 3 | 143.74 | 184 |
188 | Zach Whitecloud | 25 | D | $725,000 | 1 | 143.62 | NR |
189 | Alexander Barabanov | 27 | F | $1,000,000 | 1 | 143.25 | NR |
190 | Joe Pavelski | 37 | F | $7,000,000 | 1 | 142.75 | 119 |
191 | Andreas Athanasiou | 27 | F | $2,700,000 | 1 | 142.63 | NR |
192 | Brett Pesce | 27 | D | $4,025,000 | 3 | 142.43 | NR |
193 | Conor Sheary | 29 | F | $1,500,000 | 2 | 141.96 | NR |
194 | Juuso Valimaki | 23 | D | $1,550,000 | 2 | 141.91 | 199 |
195 | Vincent Trocheck | 29 | F | $4,750,000 | 1 | 141.53 | NR |
196 | Eric Robinson | 26 | F | $975,000 | 1 | 141.09 | NR |
197 | Alex Tuch | 25 | F | $4,750,000 | 5 | 140.31 | NR |
198 | Mikael Granlund | 29 | F | $5,000,000 | 4 | 140.01 | NR |
199 | Evgeni Malkin | 35 | F | $9,500,000 | 1 | 139.63 | NR |
200 | Filip Forsberg | 27 | F | $6,000,000 | 1 | 139.48 | NR |