I don't have any specific data on this, but Yahoo is probably the most-used fantasy hockey platform out there. That's why it's unfortunate when they can't seem to get the positions right for a significant number of forwards. In particular, many wingers are listed as centers. Here's an example:

@YahooFantasyCC is there anything we can do to help you come up with more reasonable position eligibilities for hockey? There are currently too many C-only players. Take LA for example. Last year Kopitar's most common linemates were Kempe and Byfield. So how can they all be C? pic.twitter.com/3WyLxRGb4j

— Keeping Karlsson Fantasy Hockey Podcast (@keepingkarlsson) September 4, 2023

I should start this by saying that I have really enjoyed the Yahoo game for 20 years now because of its usability and consistency. It was the platform for the very first online fantasy sports league I participated in, a fantasy football league that I joined with some slo-pitch softball teammates – a fantasy league that I still play in today, even though I've moved to a different city and no longer play softball.

At the same time, I appreciate Keeping Karlsson "keeping" Yahoo accountable for what seems like a glaring, obvious fix. I know from my experience working around software for a large institution that these changes are easier said than done because of time and money constraints. That being said, this current issue with the forward positions reflects poorly on the product.

Great idea for an article. By the time I get the time to properly analyze it, we'll already be five games in. I'll see if a columnist has any interest in taking it on https://t.co/HSwEytJdji

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) September 6, 2023

There's no guarantee that Yahoo will add winger status to current C-only players that seem like wingers, but you could draft such players in the hopes that they do. I'm not going to dive too deep into whether I think all of the players I've listed below will receive winger status, but instead I'm listing them here since there's a possibility that they do. As well, I'll add the disclaimer that by the time you read this, changes may have already been made. My own take: If this were fantasy football, it would be taken care of within five minutes. Hockey is way down the pecking order over there.

I should acknowledge that Alex has already written about centers that could pick up wing eligibility because of line combinations and faceoffs, which you can read about here. There was also an article in The Athletic today about this very same problem (subscription required).

All of the below players are centers only on Yahoo – a position that is heavily loaded at the moment. This is causing many rosterable forwards to fall much farther than they should in drafts, especially when you consider that many Yahoo mock drafts only hold six forward positions – 2 C, 2 LW, and 2 RW. This is problematic for the fantasy hockey that we've become accustomed to.  

Let's start with players that are NOT listed as centers on Fantrax. These seem the most likely to earn wing status.

LW/RW on Fantrax: Adrian Kempe, Frank Vatrano, Blake Coleman

None of these players are listed as centers on Frozen Tools, so they seem likely to receive winger eligibility on Yahoo. Kempe seems like the player of the most interest here, and he won a grand total of 16 faceoffs last season. I realize that the forward playing the center position may not always be the one taking faceoffs, but Kempe usually plays on a line with Anze Kopitar, who takes a ton of draws year after year. It seems like a glaring oversight that Kempe is not listed as a winger on Yahoo.

Right wing is the toughest of the three forward positions to fill nowadays, so I'll prioritize them here.

RW only on Fantrax: Jordan Kyrou, Martin Necas, Sam Reinhart, Seth Jarvis

Kyrou and Jarvis in particular seem the most likely to eventually be listed as wingers based on faceoff activity, as their faceoff wins were in the single digits last season. Kyrou often lined up with frequent faceoff taker Robert Thomas, while Jarvis usually found himself on the Sebastian Aho line. Both Kyrou and Jarvis have been centers during their hockey careers, but not so much at the NHL level.

LW only on Fantrax: Carter Verhaeghe, Jaden Schwartz

I was surprised that Verhaeghe, a 42-goal scorer last season, was only listed as a center. Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett are also both listed as centers and seem a lot less likely to receive some kind of winger designation – especially Barkov. Schwartz has been a winger for as long as I can remember during his NHL career.

Maybe this next batch of players will receive all three forward designations on Yahoo, since they already have them on Fantrax.

C, LW, RW on Fantrax: Ivan Barbashev, Nick Schmaltz, Kent Johnson, Dillon Dube, Evan Rodrigues, Andrew Copp

On Frozen Tools, only Copp is listed as a center. I don't imagine he has a ton of interest in fantasy leagues – 5% on Yahoo, anyway. Of the remaining players, only Rodrigues won more than 100 faceoffs last season. Rodrigues would ideally be used as a winger on the Panthers, as he's thrived from strong linemates in the past and would fall out of fantasy relevance as a third-line center. As mentioned above, Barkov and Bennett are the likely top two centers in Florida. 

C, RW on Fantrax: Tage Thompson, Joe Pavelski, Dawson Mercer, Robert Thomas, Mathew Barzal, Matt Duchene, Dylan Strome, Charlie Coyle, Tyler Seguin, Kirby Dach, Calle Jarnkrok, Gabriel Vilardi, Mikael Granlund, Frederick Gaudreau, Cody Glass

Of these players, Tage is obviously the one of the most interest to fantasy teams. Right wing has been the shallowest of the three forward positions, and he could round out a top tier at that position along with David Pastrnak, Nikita Kucherov, and Mikko Rantanen.

One that stands out to me as not as likely is Thomas, who is both listed as a center on Frozen Tools and won 645 faceoffs last season (within the top 25). However, usage early in the season could dictate whether he also receives wing eligibility. Thomas shouldn't lose his RW eligibility on Fantrax at this point, as players only seem to lose eligibility between seasons.

C, LW on Fantrax: Leon Draisaitl, Steven Stamkos, Elias Pettersson, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Trevor Zegras, Pavel Zacha, Brayden Schenn, Anton Lundell, Casey Mittelstadt, Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Alex Newhook, Mason McTavish, Eetu Luostarinen, Max Domi, Andreas Athanasiou, Adam Henrique, Ross Colton, Quinton Byfield, Scott Laughton

The Oilers generally don't use Draisaitl, Nugent-Hopkins, and Connor McDavid as centers on three separate lines, so expect Draisaitl and the Nuge to eventually receive winger status. When the Oilers are slumping a bit, McDavid and Draisaitl are paired up to create two-thirds of a superline, which can help Draisaitl with both his scoring and positional eligibility. Not that he needs much help, though.

As mentioned above by Keeping Karlsson, Byfield was on a line with Kopitar and Kempe for most of the season. Although he was a center when drafted, Kopitar is clearly the center on that line. Byfield also won just 51 faceoffs last season. He’s still a must-own for keeper leagues, but as a larger (6-5, 220 lb.) forward with only 99 NHL games under his belt, he might need another season or two.

If any of these are players of interest to you and weren't mentioned specifically in the writeup, feel free to do your own digging as to the likelihood that they would receive that potentially valuable winger positional eligibility. Let's cross our fingers and hope that Yahoo rights this soon!

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Official Calder Rankings are in for 2023. Dobber's 18th Annual #FantasyHockey Guide updated!

✅Free (and frequent) updates ✅Over 800 players projected ✅ Immediate PDF and Spreadsheet download https://t.co/yNKHG0raOb pic.twitter.com/SBK2OoXVxQ

— Dobber (@DobberHockey) September 8, 2023

The Calder Trophy rankings are worth the read, at least for #2 onward. If you haven’t bought your fantasy guide by now, what are you waiting for?

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