Let the fantasy season begin! That’s the thought that goes through many fantasy hockey general managers when Yahoo opens up its fantasy hockey website. 

I’ve always said that the opening of Yahoo is the unofficial start of the fantasy season, and you can see it start to reflect in some of Yahoo’s rankings. Already there have been enough drafts to start ranking players on average draft position. 

Aside from the average draft position, mock drafts are important in gauging how fantasy general managers feel about certain players, who may be overrated and who may be the dark horse picks. Remember, basic Yahoo leagues use the categories of goals, assists, plus/minus, power-play points, shots and hits for forwards and defensemen, and wins, goals against average, save percentage and shutouts for netminders.

Last week, we looked at the Top 10 Players Ranked Too Low on Yahoo!, focusing on three rankings: Average draft position; their expert ranking; and one based on league settings using their projections. This week, let’s focus on the top 10 players ranked too high. 

10. Pyotr Kochetkov

Kochetkov is ranked 123rd in the expert list, 157th in the ranking list and has an early draft position around 104th overall, which is pretty high for a netminder who is going to start the season in the minors. That average draft position is also about 74 spots higher than Antti Raanta. Even if (or when) Frederik Andersen or Raanta are injured, there’s no guarantee Kochetkov will start picking up starts. Even last year, when the rookie was running hot, he lost his starter’s spot to Raanta once Raanta returned to action. This situation reminds me a lot of the Spencer Knight/Sergei Bobrovsky debate a few years ago when Knight was being drafted much higher than Bobrovsky. 

9. Nazem Kadri

As a center, Kadri doesn’t contribute enough to be selected in most fantasy hockey leagues. There are just too many better options out there. He should be expected to get sub-60 points (that’s what he’s been on pace for in seven of the last nine campaigns) but will get plenty of shots, but not reach 100 hits. He’s being selected around 150th (while his expert ranking has him at 86th and his ranking based on projected stats at 114th), but you would be better off reaching for one of those massive boom-or-bust players at that stage.

8. Sergei Bobrovsky

Don’t let last year’s run to the cup finals sway you from Bobrovsky’s poor regular season performance. Last year, he finished ranked 371st in the league. He’s had bounce-back seasons before, but he’ll be 35 years old when the season starts. He’s been below the league average in goals against average save percentage in three of the last four seasons. He’s also had one or fewer shutouts in three of the past four campaigns. Yet he’s ranked 89th in the expert rankings, 211th in the rankings based on categories, and 83rd for average draft position. Bobrovsky has only three years left on his massive $10-million-per-year deal, so don’t be surprised if this is the season the team starts gearing toward Spencer Knight. 

7. Pierre-Luc Dubois

Everything went great for Dubois last year, and he was still barely fantasy relevant. Ideally, you’d like your forwards to get 60 points (unless you’re grabbing a specific banger for hits). Dubois finished with 63. You would hope for at least 1.5 hits per game. Dubois finished with fewer than a hit per game. You want at least 20 power-play points, he had 23 despite playing two-thirds of Winnipeg’s power-play minutes. He did average 2.8 shots per game, which is great. He’s also a center and played on the top line with Kyle Connor a year ago. He’ll be downgraded in L.A. with both linemates and opportunity and will be hard-pressed to meet those same totals from last year. The 75th ranking in the expert list, 81st in categories rank and an average draft position of 90th is just too high for the second-line center. 

6. Adam Fantilli

Every year when I do this list, I always list a rookie as an example of who not to take. This year, it’s Fantilli. In a one-year league, you are better off staying away from all rookies, as most of them won’t deliver what you expect and you’ll just drop them in a month or two. Think of all the draft picks wasted on Juraj Slafkovsky, Shane Wright and William Eklund a year ago. Even those that had an okay rookie season, such as Wyatt Johnston, Mason McTavish and Kent Johnson didn’t move the needle much fantasy-wise. The only one who was fantasy relevant was Matty Beniers, and even then, he only finished with 57 points. Even Connor Bedard is going to be overhyped and selected far too early. Don’t be that GM who wastes a pick on a rookie. You’re better off selecting the veteran who will get you a surefire 60 points than a rookie who would only reach that mark in the best of scenarios.  

5. Devon Levi

Are we that sure that Levi will be the Sabres’ top netminder this season? He’s being treated as one in drafts. Devon Levi will be 21 years old when the season starts. How many goalies that young have had a big impact? According to Quant Hockey 21-Year Old NHL Goalies – Regular Season Stats, only Carey Price, Carter Hart and Steve Mason have reached the 20-win mark as 21-year-old in the salary cap era, with Hart topping the list at 24 wins. Maybe Levi will be the one to break the mold and reach 30 wins, but more likely, he’ll be the backup for most of the season. Don’t be willing to take Levi over more established veterans such as Joonas Korpisalo, Stuart Skinner, Tristan Jarry and Vitek Vanicek, who are all ranked lower. Meanwhile, the Sabres goalie that will probably be their main starter, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, is not being drafted at all, and is ranked 571 in expert and 548 in settings ranking.

4. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins

RNH is the guy who I am most unsure about heading into the season, but I am sure that his rankings are too high. He’s ranked 28th in the expert ranking, 24th based on categories and 31st in average draft position. However, there are plenty of questions for RNH. Can he continue his crazy season for another campaign, this one at the age of 30? Was last year just one of those seasons where everything went right and it transformed into a 100-point season? Will his shooting percentage of 18.6 percent come back to his normal average of around 12 percent? Will he be like Kadri and Chris Kreider, older players who had career years and go back to their normal production levels the year after? Can you trust the Band-Aid boy trainee to stay healthy again for another full season? With all these question marks, would you be comfortable taking him in the top three rounds?

3. Mark Stone

The deeper the league, the further you should drop Stone in your standings. If you’re in an eight-GM league with two right wingers, there should be plenty of options left on the waiver wire for when Stone gets injured. In a 14-GM league with three right winger positions and some forward spots, plus a deeper bench, then drop Stone in your standings and let someone else deal with the headaches for when Stone invariably winds up on the IR. Even if Stone stayed healthy, his 82-game pace has only been 80 points or above in two of his nine seasons, and he also doesn’t throw the body much. While his ranking based on league categories is 249th, his expert rank is 60th, and he’s being selected around 66th overall so far, which is much too high. 

2. Victor Hedman

A year ago, the Lightning turned to Mikhail Sergachev to run the top power play for a significant portion of the season. He outplayed Hedman tremendously in that role, and you have to think that he’ll be given an even greater opportunity this season. Last year, Hedman finished ahead of Sergachev in shots and shorthanded points, and that was about it. Sergachev outproduced Hedman everywhere else, but Hedman is ranked 105th in the expert draft, 72nd in the rankings based on league categories and 83rd in average draft position. For comparison’s sake, Sergachev is ranked 151st in the expert draft, 80th in rankings based on league categories and 92nd in average draft position. They’re close, but with Sergachev’s potential increase in production, Hedman should be bumped down a few shots. 

1. Linus Ullmark/Jeremy Swayman

It’s no stretch to think this team won’t be as good as last year’s record-setting Bruins team, even if all the players were coming back. But the Bruins have lost Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Taylor Hall, not to mention losing the 21 games of Tyler Bertuzzi from the end of the season. You would expect the Bruins to have a setback, and a decrease in wins will mean a decrease for their goalies. Ullmark is the sixth-highest goalie when sorted by the expert rank, fourth by rank based on league settings and fifth by average draft position. Swayman is in the top eight in all three rankings as well. However, unless one of them outright steals the number one spot, there’s no way either of them will finish as a top-10 fantasy netminder.