Welcome to the 2025-26 season, we're already trying to get ahead of the game here by getting rankings out for the fall, as most cap leagues have a keeper component and you can make trades through the summer. Getting on top of planning for next season now can have a big impact on staying ahead of your league-mates.
A few of the biggest risers include Matvei Michkov, Macklin Celebrini, and Will Smith, taking what they did this past year and tacking on some extra production leads to a ton of value while they're still on their entry level deals. However, the flip side of it is that the threat of Cole Hutson's massive new cap hit after this coming year has dropped his rating down – though as a cheap defenceman providing high-level offence he's still the number one by value (i.e. I'm not trading the guys above him like Rasmus Dahlin to get him, though Hutson's production value vs his cap hit and other features grade out better than Dahlin at the current moment).
Best of luck with the offseason!
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. The assumed league setup is for points-only leagues, and I have made an effort to balance it for a range of league and roster sizes. 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 BlueSky here @alexdmaclean.
Comments help with optimizing the values, because they're not perfect and they never will be.
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.
Rank | Name | Age | Pos | Cap Hit | Yrs | Rating | Prev Rank | Value |
1 | Connor McDavid | 28 | F | $12,500,000 | 1 | 251.25 | 4 | 191.11 |
2 | Cale Makar | 26 | D | $9,000,000 | 2 | 242.45 | 3 | 250.42 |
3 | Leon Draisaitl | 29 | F | $14,000,000 | 8 | 236.50 | 9 | 183.01 |
4 | Quinn Hughes | 25 | D | $7,850,000 | 2 | 234.95 | 2 | 232.02 |
5 | Kirill Kaprizov | 28 | F | $9,000,000 | 1 | 231.00 | 8 | 147.36 |
6 | Nikita Kucherov | 31 | F | $9,500,000 | 2 | 230.81 | 5 | 218.58 |
7 | Nathan MacKinnon | 29 | F | $12,600,000 | 6 | 219.50 | 6 | 194.73 |
8 | Jack Hughes | 24 | F | $8,000,000 | 5 | 187.60 | 12 | 169.34 |
9 | David Pastrnak | 28 | F | $11,250,000 | 6 | 187.53 | 14 | 186.19 |
10 | Matvei Michkov | 20 | F | $950,000 | 2 | 181.96 | 98 | 314.22 |
11 | Kyle Connor | 28 | F | $7,142,857 | 1 | 179.36 | 15 | 197.64 |
12 | Robert Thomas | 25 | F | $8,000,000 | 6 | 176.21 | 32 | 169.78 |
13 | Jack Eichel | 28 | F | $10,000,000 | 1 | 175.69 | 20 | 170.61 |
14 | Mitch Marner | 28 | F | UFA | 0 | 170.87 | 13 | 159.26 |
15 | Clayton Keller | 26 | F | $7,150,000 | 3 | 170.44 | 22 | 185.74 |
16 | Macklin Celebrini | 18 | F | $975,000 | 2 | 169.68 | 41 | 300.80 |
17 | Zach Werenski | 27 | D | $9,583,333 | 3 | 162.59 | 11 | 211.66 |
18 | Brandon Hagel | 26 | F | $6,500,000 | 7 | 162.06 | 27 | 192.04 |
19 | Jesper Bratt | 26 | F | $7,875,000 | 6 | 159.35 | 21 | 176.85 |
20 | Nick Suzuki | 25 | F | $7,875,000 | 5 | 155.77 | 40 | 175.78 |
21 | Kirill Marchenko | 24 | F | $3,850,000 | 2 | 155.44 | 43 | 203.30 |
22 | Matthew Tkachuk | 27 | F | $9,500,000 | 5 | 155.11 | 23 | 132.98 |
23 | Martin Necas | 26 | F | $6,500,000 | 1 | 155.07 | 34 | 178.99 |
24 | Rasmus Dahlin | 25 | D | $11,000,000 | 7 | 150.46 | 26 | 178.54 |
25 | Sean Monahan | 30 | F | $5,500,000 | 4 | 149.32 | 44 | 143.61 |
26 | Lane Hutson | 21 | D | $950,000 | 1 | 145.54 | 1 | 363.67 |
27 | Mikko Rantanen | 28 | F | $12,000,000 | 8 | 145.47 | 19 | 152.88 |
28 | Auston Matthews | 27 | F | $13,250,000 | 3 | 144.90 | 25 | 134.33 |
29 | Jason Robertson | 25 | F | $7,750,000 | 1 | 144.25 | 28 | 165.09 |
30 | Kent Johnson | 22 | F | $1,800,000 | 2 | 143.35 | 51 | 169.13 |
31 | Aliaksei Protas | 24 | F | $3,375,000 | 4 | 142.39 | 67 | 193.83 |
32 | Tage Thompson | 27 | F | $7,142,857 | 5 | 135.69 | 46 | 161.73 |
33 | Dylan Strome | 28 | F | $5,000,000 | 3 | 135.64 | 36 | 187.87 |
34 | Evan Bouchard | 25 | D | RFA | 0 | 135.35 | 10 | 190.77 |
35 | Aleksander Barkov | 29 | F | $10,000,000 | 5 | 134.34 | 37 | 138.62 |
36 | Adam Fox | 27 | D | $9,500,000 | 4 | 133.64 | 17 | 173.12 |
37 | Tim Stutzle | 23 | F | $8,350,000 | 6 | 129.74 | 35 | 155.90 |
38 | Lucas Raymond | 23 | F | $8,075,000 | 7 | 128.37 | 50 | 154.16 |
39 | Logan Cooley | 21 | F | $950,000 | 1 | 127.73 | 18 | 280.47 |
40 | Brayden Point | 29 | F | $9,500,000 | 5 | 127.64 | 31 | 146.67 |
41 | Sam Reinhart | 29 | F | $8,625,000 | 7 | 125.31 | 29 | 150.84 |
42 | Shea Theodore | 29 | D | $7,425,000 | 7 | 121.97 | 16 | 172.92 |
43 | Matt Boldy | 24 | F | $7,000,000 | 5 | 121.44 | 65 | 152.86 |
44 | Nico Hischier | 26 | F | $7,250,000 | 2 | 120.91 | 63 | 145.30 |
45 | Ivan Demidov | 19 | F | $975,000 | 2 | 119.96 | NR | 209.10 |
46 | William Nylander | 29 | F | $11,500,000 | 7 | 117.37 | 33 | 136.58 |
47 | Josh Morrissey | 29 | D | $6,250,000 | 3 | 114.02 | 24 | 189.06 |
48 | Will Smith | 20 | F | $950,000 | 2 | 112.49 | 163 | 246.46 |
49 | Nikolaj Ehlers | 29 | F | UFA | 0 | 111.92 | 59 | 143.86 |
50 | Seth Jarvis | 23 | F | $7,420,087 | 7 | 110.77 | 83 | 136.27 |
51 | Jake Guentzel | 30 | F | $9,000,000 | 6 | 110.42 | 55 | 140.78 |
52 | Travis Konecny | 28 | F | $8,750,000 | 8 | 109.13 | 47 | 139.59 |
53 | Adrian Kempe | 28 | F | $5,500,000 | 1 | 108.60 | 57 | 155.54 |
54 | Drake Batherson | 27 | F | $4,975,000 | 2 | 107.23 | 62 | 160.04 |
55 | Dylan Holloway | 23 | F | $2,220,457 | 1 | 105.73 | 96 | 194.82 |
56 | Sebastian Aho | 27 | F | $9,750,000 | 7 | 104.74 | 42 | 129.18 |
57 | Roope Hintz | 28 | F | $8,450,000 | 6 | 102.78 | 73 | 129.95 |
58 | Jordan Kyrou | 27 | F | $8,125,000 | 6 | 102.75 | 85 | 134.08 |
59 | Cole Caufield | 24 | F | $7,850,000 | 6 | 102.24 | 72 | 136.00 |
60 | Mark Scheifele | 32 | F | $8,500,000 | 6 | 101.00 | 68 | 150.12 |
61 | Connor Bedard | 19 | F | $950,000 | 1 | 99.30 | 7 | 283.30 |
62 | Wyatt Johnston | 22 | F | $8,400,000 | 5 | 98.48 | 49 | 131.63 |
63 | Shane Wright | 21 | F | $886,667 | 2 | 97.40 | 45 | 236.24 |
64 | Dylan Larkin | 28 | F | $8,700,000 | 6 | 97.27 | 64 | 128.52 |
65 | Thomas Harley | 23 | D | $4,000,000 | 1 | 96.76 | 48 | 182.68 |
66 | Filip Forsberg | 30 | F | $8,500,000 | 5 | 96.68 | 66 | 136.89 |
67 | JJ Peterka | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 96.66 | 60 | 127.38 |
68 | Alex DeBrincat | 27 | F | $7,875,000 | 2 | 94.50 | 89 | 131.16 |
69 | Mikhail Sergachev | 26 | D | $8,500,000 | 6 | 94.41 | 82 | 153.62 |
70 | Zayne Parekh | 19 | D | $975,000 | 2 | 94.05 | NR | 172.05 |
71 | Gabriel Vilardi | 25 | F | RFA | 0 | 90.83 | 53 | 118.81 |
72 | Jonathan Drouin | 30 | F | UFA | 0 | 90.80 | 54 | 97.97 |
73 | Pierre-Luc Dubois | 26 | F | $8,500,000 | 6 | 90.21 | 117 | 119.54 |
74 | Marco Rossi | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 88.48 | 74 | 133.48 |
75 | Alex Tuch | 29 | F | $4,750,000 | 1 | 87.93 | 71 | 147.47 |
76 | J.T. Miller | 32 | F | $8,000,000 | 6 | 86.70 | 80 | 131.88 |
77 | Brady Tkachuk | 25 | F | $8,208,571 | 3 | 86.57 | 79 | 112.74 |
78 | William Eklund | 22 | F | $863,333 | 1 | 86.51 | 76 | 135.84 |
79 | Jake Sanderson | 22 | D | $8,050,000 | 7 | 86.19 | 88 | 158.15 |
80 | Dylan Guenther | 22 | F | $7,142,857 | 8 | 85.63 | 58 | 118.24 |
81 | Nick Schmaltz | 29 | F | $5,850,000 | 1 | 85.10 | 95 | 135.63 |
82 | Jared McCann | 28 | F | $5,000,000 | 2 | 84.40 | 107 | 138.77 |
83 | Jackson LaCombe | 24 | D | $925,000 | 1 | 84.18 | 30 | 253.64 |
84 | Elias Pettersson | 26 | F | $11,600,000 | 7 | 84.01 | 92 | 105.19 |
85 | Kevin Fiala | 28 | F | $7,875,000 | 4 | 82.39 | 108 | 120.14 |
86 | Ryan Donato | 29 | F | UFA | 0 | 81.50 | 93 | 151.91 |
87 | Adam Fantilli | 20 | F | $950,000 | 1 | 79.48 | 39 | 227.06 |
88 | Anthony Cirelli | 27 | F | $6,250,000 | 6 | 79.15 | 135 | 121.32 |
89 | Connor McMichael | 24 | F | $2,100,000 | 1 | 79.02 | 69 | 172.09 |
90 | Quinton Byfield | 22 | F | $6,250,000 | 4 | 78.90 | 139 | 128.33 |
91 | Marco Kasper | 21 | F | $886,667 | 2 | 78.88 | NR | 215.96 |
92 | Mathew Barzal | 27 | F | $9,150,000 | 6 | 78.61 | 86 | 77.22 |
93 | Jakob Chychrun | 27 | D | $9,000,000 | 8 | 93.47 | 56 | 165.67 |
94 | Mason McTavish | 22 | F | RFA | 0 | 76.36 | 87 | 129.87 |
95 | Matthew Knies | 22 | F | RFA | 0 | 75.63 | 112 | 113.90 |
96 | Artemi Panarin | 33 | F | $11,642,857 | 1 | 74.87 | 77 | 126.04 |
97 | Pavel Dorofeyev | 24 | F | $1,835,000 | 1 | 74.39 | 84 | 166.73 |
98 | Vince Dunn | 28 | D | $7,350,000 | 2 | 73.92 | 61 | 126.76 |
99 | Valeri Nichushkin | 30 | F | $6,125,000 | 5 | 73.28 | 81 | 90.66 |
100 | Troy Terry | 27 | F | $7,000,000 | 5 | 72.51 | 103 | 110.79 |
101 | Seamus Casey | 21 | D | $950,000 | 2 | 72.33 | 122 | 69.84 |
102 | Luke Hughes | 21 | D | RFA | 0 | 71.37 | 78 | 137.89 |
103 | Trevor Zegras | 24 | F | $5,750,000 | 1 | 71.17 | NR | 133.45 |
104 | Pavel Buchnevich | 30 | F | $8,000,000 | 6 | 69.12 | 143 | 110.06 |
105 | Mason Marchment | 30 | F | $4,500,000 | 1 | 68.71 | 128 | 113.08 |
106 | Noah Dobson | 25 | D | RFA | 0 | 68.21 | 52 | 130.63 |
107 | Cole Perfetti | 23 | F | $3,250,000 | 1 | 68.08 | 119 | 130.60 |
108 | Andrei Svechnikov | 25 | F | $7,750,000 | 4 | 67.97 | 109 | 100.49 |
109 | Yegor Chinakhov | 24 | F | $2,100,000 | 1 | 67.70 | 106 | 104.94 |
110 | Logan Mailloux | 22 | D | $875,000 | 1 | 67.18 | 91 | 145.98 |
111 | Rickard Rakell | 32 | F | $5,000,000 | 3 | 67.06 | 134 | 140.78 |
112 | Bryan Rust | 33 | F | $5,125,000 | 3 | 66.27 | 104 | 135.44 |
113 | Tomas Hertl | 31 | F | $8,137,500 | 5 | 65.65 | 168 | 106.12 |
114 | Cutter Gauthier | 21 | F | $950,000 | 1 | 64.64 | 116 | 182.52 |
115 | Morgan Geekie | 26 | F | RFA | 0 | 64.56 | 170 | 104.95 |
116 | Sidney Crosby | 34 | F | $8,700,000 | 1 | 64.46 | 100 | 132.96 |
117 | Alex Ovechkin | 34 | F | $9,500,000 | 1 | 64.20 | 145 | 133.90 |
118 | Leo Carlsson | 20 | F | $950,000 | 1 | 63.85 | 75 | 183.20 |
119 | Barrett Hayton | 24 | F | $2,650,000 | 1 | 63.74 | 186 | 129.12 |
120 | Connor Zary | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 62.69 | 137 | 85.03 |
121 | Dmitri Voronkov | 24 | F | RFA | 0 | 62.67 | 101 | 99.39 |
122 | Jake Neighbours | 23 | F | $3,750,000 | 2 | 62.47 | 140 | 80.37 |
123 | Boone Jenner | 31 | F | $3,750,000 | 1 | 62.16 | 133 | 98.47 |
124 | Juraj Slafkovsky | 21 | F | $7,600,000 | 8 | 61.91 | 129 | 104.15 |
125 | Anton Lundell | 23 | F | $5,000,000 | 5 | 61.81 | 185 | 70.42 |
126 | Tyler Seguin | 33 | F | $9,850,000 | 2 | 61.00 | 120 | 51.62 |
127 | Zack Bolduc | 22 | F | $863,334 | 1 | 60.96 | 144 | 111.23 |
128 | Jiri Kulich | 21 | F | $886,667 | 2 | 60.84 | NR | 195.72 |
129 | Tony DeAngelo | 29 | D | UFA | 0 | 60.76 | NR | 181.09 |
130 | Sam Bennett | 28 | F | UFA | 0 | 60.69 | 136 | 96.67 |
131 | Artturi Lehkonen | 29 | F | $4,500,000 | 2 | 60.48 | 102 | 109.79 |
132 | Brock Boeser | 28 | F | $6,650,000 | 1 | 59.74 | 111 | 95.03 |
133 | Ville Koivunen | 21 | F | RFA | 0 | 59.36 | NR | 45.46 |
134 | Ivan Barbashev | 29 | F | $5,000,000 | 3 | 59.07 | 147 | 108.52 |
135 | Jack Quinn | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 58.92 | 114 | 78.70 |
136 | Teuvo Teravainen | 30 | F | $5,400,000 | 2 | 58.61 | 118 | 119.38 |
137 | Shayne Gostisbehere | 32 | D | $3,200,000 | 2 | 58.51 | 70 | 178.13 |
138 | Shane Pinto | 24 | F | $3,750,000 | 1 | 58.43 | 155 | 118.73 |
139 | Bowen Byram | 23 | D | RFA | 0 | 58.10 | 126 | 147.66 |
140 | Moritz Seider | 24 | D | $8,550,000 | 6 | 58.08 | 127 | 125.77 |
141 | Mark Stone | 33 | F | $9,500,000 | 2 | 58.02 | 94 | 101.21 |
142 | Jake Walman | 29 | D | $3,400,000 | 1 | 57.99 | 99 | 100.79 |
143 | Aaron Ekblad | 29 | D | UFA | 0 | 57.95 | 149 | 123.67 |
144 | Darren Raddysh | 29 | D | $975,000 | 1 | 57.89 | 38 | 158.28 |
145 | Tyson Foerster | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 56.59 | NR | 76.13 |
146 | Patrik Laine | 27 | F | $8,700,000 | 1 | 56.35 | 156 | 60.90 |
147 | Scott Morrow | 22 | D | $916,667 | 1 | 55.80 | 141 | 67.09 |
148 | Ryan McLeod | 25 | F | RFA | 0 | 55.67 | 196 | 97.35 |
149 | Bo Horvat | 30 | F | $8,500,000 | 6 | 55.41 | 148 | 96.85 |
150 | Will Cuylle | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 55.18 | 176 | 73.25 |
151 | Carter Verhaeghe | 29 | F | $7,000,000 | 8 | 55.10 | 97 | 101.15 |
152 | Timo Meier | 28 | F | $8,800,000 | 6 | 54.96 | 164 | 90.08 |
153 | Thomas Chabot | 27 | D | $8,000,000 | 3 | 54.86 | 146 | 125.14 |
154 | Tom Wilson | 31 | F | $6,500,000 | 6 | 54.77 | 153 | 111.92 |
155 | Cole Sillinger | 22 | F | $2,250,000 | 1 | 54.65 | 173 | 79.20 |
156 | Jonathan Huberdeau | 31 | F | $10,500,000 | 6 | 54.62 | NR | 94.42 |
157 | Joel Eriksson Ek | 28 | F | $5,250,000 | 4 | 54.57 | 157 | 78.46 |
158 | Frank Nazar | 21 | F | $950,000 | 1 | 54.56 | NR | 81.22 |
159 | Dougie Hamilton | 31 | D | $9,000,000 | 3 | 54.55 | 125 | 115.79 |
160 | Elmer Soderblom | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 53.57 | NR | 83.41 |
161 | Conor Garland | 29 | F | $4,950,000 | 1 | 52.05 | NR | 111.13 |
162 | Luke Evangelista | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 51.82 | NR | 78.67 |
163 | Simon Holmstrom | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 51.58 | 132 | 69.36 |
164 | Alex Laferriere | 23 | F | RFA | 0 | 51.33 | NR | 54.87 |
165 | Josh Norris | 26 | F | $7,950,000 | 5 | 51.27 | 193 | 70.10 |
166 | Alex Turcotte | 24 | F | $775,000 | 2 | 51.00 | NR | 166.57 |
167 | Owen Power | 22 | D | $8,350,000 | 6 | 50.98 | 171 | 112.93 |
168 | Andrei Kuzmenko | 29 | F | UFA | 0 | 50.83 | NR | 119.29 |
169 | Matt Duchene | 34 | F | UFA | 0 | 50.82 | 90 | 137.95 |
170 | Bobby Brink | 23 | F | $1,500,000 | 1 | 50.79 | 151 | 88.44 |
171 | Dylan Cozens | 24 | F | $7,100,000 | 5 | 50.33 | NR | 91.60 |
172 | Warren Foegele | 29 | F | $3,500,000 | 2 | 49.96 | 191 | 115.74 |
173 | Mika Zibanejad | 32 | F | $8,500,000 | 5 | 49.88 | 161 | 102.59 |
174 | John Tavares | 34 | F | UFA | 0 | 49.88 | NR | 118.12 |
175 | Jakob Pelletier | 24 | F | RFA | 0 | 49.60 | NR | 143.79 |
176 | Devon Toews | 31 | D | $7,250,000 | 6 | 49.51 | NR | 124.18 |
177 | Miro Heiskanen | 25 | D | $8,450,000 | 4 | 49.44 | 105 | 91.62 |
178 | Neal Pionk | 29 | D | $7,000,000 | 6 | 49.25 | 174 | 124.02 |
179 | Pavel Zacha | 28 | F | $4,750,000 | 2 | 49.20 | 130 | 103.42 |
180 | Filip Hronek | 27 | D | $7,250,000 | 7 | 48.31 | 124 | 60.38 |
181 | Kaapo Kakko | 24 | F | RFA | 0 | 48.15 | NR | 89.18 |
182 | Owen Tippett | 26 | F | $6,200,000 | 7 | 48.15 | 184 | 89.41 |
183 | Alexis Lafreniere | 23 | F | $7,450,000 | 7 | 48.10 | 142 | 88.62 |
184 | Jake DeBrusk | 28 | F | $5,500,000 | 6 | 48.05 | NR | 95.01 |
185 | Anthony Mantha | 30 | F | UFA | 0 | 47.84 | NR | 78.98 |
186 | Josh Doan | 23 | F | $925,000 | 1 | 47.79 | NR | 92.81 |
187 | Oliver Bjorkstrand | 30 | F | $5,400,000 | 1 | 47.04 | 183 | 112.56 |
188 | Charlie McAvoy | 27 | D | $9,500,000 | 5 | 46.99 | 159 | 88.79 |
189 | Bobby McMann | 28 | F | $1,350,000 | 1 | 46.81 | 131 | 124.77 |
190 | Pius Suter | 28 | F | UFA | 0 | 46.64 | 200 | 111.32 |
191 | Matty Beniers | 22 | F | $7,142,857 | 6 | 46.49 | NR | 90.59 |
192 | Seth Jones | 30 | D | $9,500,000 | 5 | 46.05 | NR | 100.02 |
193 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | 32 | F | $5,125,000 | 4 | 45.68 | 121 | 116.05 |
194 | Rasmus Andersson | 28 | D | $4,550,000 | 1 | 45.14 | 195 | 133.36 |
195 | Vincent Trocheck | 32 | F | $5,625,000 | 4 | 45.10 | 177 | 111.23 |
196 | Trevor Moore | 30 | F | $4,200,000 | 3 | 44.63 | 189 | 100.18 |
197 | MacKenzie Weegar | 31 | D | $6,250,000 | 6 | 44.31 | 154 | 83.24 |
198 | Jordan Spence | 24 | D | $1,500,000 | 1 | 44.17 | 182 | 108.28 |
199 | Brandt Clarke | 22 | D | $863,334 | 1 | 44.14 | 123 | 115.00 |
200 | Logan Stankoven | 22 | F | $814,167 | 1 | 44.11 | 150 | 53.46 |