Have you ever played a Fantasy Sport that you knew nothing about? Last year I took the plunge and joined my first Fantasy NHL League. The main reason I joined the league was due to the NBA lockout at the time, but it turned out to be pretty fun. I would recommend you do the same and join a Fantasy NHL league before the season starts this weekend. Even though I hadn’t watched a hockey game since Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg were dominating on the Colorado Avalanche, I quickly got attached to certain players like Claude Giroux and Jamie Benn.
Now that the NHL Lockout is finally over and I have one year of experience under my belt, it’s time for Fantasy NHL Round II. This time I won’t be so dumb and make the mistake of drafting defenders in the second and third round. Turns out defenders are pretty useless for the most part and even the best defenders don’t earn you much in the fantasy world. I also won’t be able to get Claude Giroux in the 5th round this year. Talk about a steal of a draft pick. Who will be this years Claude Giroux? Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or maybe Evander Kane? If you are in need of some Fantasy NHL advice, I have compiled a Top 150 Draft Cheatsheet, for your convenience.
Disclaimer: I do not claim to know anything about NHL but I do know a thing or two about statistics. This list is an aggregated list of Expert Rankings, combined with minor adjustments for Sleepers and Busts.
| Rank | Player | Team | Pos | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evgeni Malkin | Pit | C | Don't even know how to pronounce his first name. |
| 2 | Steven Stamkos | TB | C | Wouldn't want to stand in front of his shot. |
| 3 | Sidney Crosby | Pit | C | Huge Pussy |
| 4 | Claude Giroux | Phi | RW | Classic hockey player look. |
| 5 | Henrik Lundqvist | NYR | G | Knows how to stand on his head. |
| 6 | Alex Ovechkin | Was | LW | Hole in One: http://youtu.be/wylmOGotyvY |
| 7 | Jonathan Quick | LA | G | Brickwall |
| 8 | John Tavares | NYI | C | Sleeper |
| 9 | Daniel Sedin | Van | LW | |
| 10 | James Neal | Pit | LW | |
| 11 | Pekka Rinne | Nsh | G | |
| 12 | Henrik Sedin | Van | C | |
| 13 | Tyler Seguin | Bos | C | Sleeper |
| 14 | Corey Perry | Ana | RW | |
| 15 | Ilya Kovalchuk | NJ | LW | |
| 16 | Erik Karlsson | Ott | D | 1st Defender off the board? |
| 17 | Tuukka Rask | Bos | G | Tuuka Time |
| 18 | Jonathan Toews | Chi | C | Tase not Toes |
| 19 | Patrick Sharp | Chi | C | |
| 20 | Jason Spezza | Ott | C | |
| 21 | Nicklas Backstrom | Was | C | |
| 22 | Zach Parise | Min | C | Returns home to MN |
| 23 | Phil Kessel | Tor | C | |
| 24 | Mike Smith | Pho | G | |
| 25 | Eric Staal | Car | C | |
| 26 | Jamie Benn | Dal | LW | Sleeper |
| 27 | Jimmy Howard | Det | G | Bust |
| 28 | Rick Nash | NYR | LW | Bust |
| 29 | Cory Schneider | Van | G | |
| 30 | Anze Kopitar | LA | C | |
| 31 | Jordan Eberle | Edm | C | |
| 32 | Henrik Zetterberg | Det | LW | |
| 33 | Pavel Datsyuk | Det | C | |
| 34 | Scott Hartnell | Phi | RW | |
| 35 | Jaroslav Halak | StL | G | |
| 36 | Brad Richards | NYR | C | |
| 37 | Zdeno Chara | Bos | D | Badass |
| 38 | Jonas Gustavsson | Det | G | |
| 39 | Logan Couture | SJ | C | Sleeper |
| 40 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | Edm | C | Sleeper. Looks like a child. |
| 41 | Joe Thornton | SJ | C | Bust |
| 42 | Patrick Kane | Chi | RW | |
| 43 | Patrick Marleau | SJ | C | |
| 44 | Jonathan Bernier | LA | G | |
| 45 | Richard Bachman | Dal | G | |
| 46 | Taylor Hall | Edm | LW | Sleeper |
| 47 | Joe Pavelski | SJ | C | |
| 48 | Jarome Iginla | Cgy | RW | |
| 49 | Ryan Miller | Buf | G | |
| 50 | Marian Gaborik | NYR | RW | |
| 51 | Thomas Greiss | SJ | G | |
| 52 | Marian Hossa | Chi | RW | Old Man |
| 53 | Nikolai Khabibulin | Edm | G | |
| 54 | Bobby Ryan | Ana | RW | |
| 55 | Gabriel Landeskog | Col | LW | Sleeper |
| 56 | Mathieu Garon | TB | G | |
| 57 | Martin St. Louis | TB | RW | Has a city for a last name. That's pretty neat. |
| 58 | Martin Biron | NYR | G | |
| 59 | Marc-Andre Fleury | Pit | G | |
| 60 | Ben Bishop | Ott | G | |
| 61 | Jhonas Enroth | Buf | G | |
| 62 | Ryan Getzlaf | Ana | C | |
| 63 | Jordan Staal | Car | C | Sleeper |
| 64 | Patrice Bergeron | Bos | C | |
| 65 | Evander Kane | Wpg | C | |
| 66 | Kari Lehtonen | Dal | G | |
| 67 | Anton Khudobin | Bos | G | |
| 68 | David Backes | StL | RW | |
| 69 | Steve Mason | Cls | G | |
| 70 | Kevin Poulin | NYI | G | |
| 71 | Jussi Rynnas | Tor | G | |
| 72 | Miikka Kiprusoff | Cgy | G | |
| 73 | Loui Eriksson | Dal | LW | |
| 74 | Roberto Luongo | Van | G | |
| 75 | Teemu Selanne | Ana | RW | |
| 76 | Thomas Vanek | Buf | LW | |
| 77 | Shea Weber | Nsh | D | |
| 78 | Max Pacioretty | Mon | LW | |
| 79 | Carey Price | Mon | G | |
| 80 | Cam Ward | Car | G | #1 ranked goalie by Razzball. |
| 81 | Joffrey Lupul | Tor | C | |
| 82 | Dustin Byfuglien | Win | D | |
| 83 | Mikko Koivu | Min | C | |
| 84 | Kris Letang | Pit | D | |
| 85 | Dany Heatley | Min | RW | |
| 86 | Milan Lucic | Bos | LW | |
| 87 | Matt Moulson | NYI | LW | |
| 88 | Alex Pietrangelo | StL | D | |
| 89 | Alexander Semin | Car | LW | |
| 90 | Jason Pominville | Buf | RW | |
| 91 | Antti Niemi | SJ | G | |
| 92 | Johan Franzen | Det | C | |
| 93 | Jeff Carter | LA | C | |
| 94 | Dustin Brown | LA | RW | |
| 95 | Mike Richards | LA | C | |
| 96 | Alexandre Burrows | Van | LW | |
| 97 | Brad Marchand | Bos | C | |
| 98 | Blake Wheeler | Wpg | RW | |
| 99 | Radim Vrbata | Pho | RW | Bust |
| 100 | David Krejci | Bos | C | |
| 101 | Tyler Ennis | Buf | C | Sleeper |
| 102 | Niklas Backstrom | Min | G | |
| 103 | Ryan Callahan | NYR | RW | |
| 104 | Dan Boyle | SJ | D | |
| 105 | Mike Ribeiro | Was | C | |
| 106 | Chris Kunitz | Pit | LW | |
| 107 | Vincent Lecavalier | TB | C | |
| 108 | Jeff Skinner | Car | RW | |
| 109 | Semyon Varlamov | Col | G | Varlamov Cocktail |
| 110 | Braden Holtby | Was | G | Sleeper |
| 111 | Ilya Bryzgalov | Phi | G | Not afraid of Penguins, just bears in woods. |
| 112 | T.J. Oshie | StL | C | |
| 113 | Tomas Fleischmann | Fla | LW | |
| 114 | Brian Elliott | StL | G | Bust |
| 115 | James van Riemsdyk | Tor | LW | Sleeper |
| 116 | Erik Cole | Mon | LW | |
| 117 | Teddy Purcell | TB | RW | |
| 118 | Josh Harding | Min | G | |
| 119 | Patrik Elias | NJ | LW | |
| 120 | Ray Whitney | Dal | LW | |
| 121 | David Perron | StL | LW | |
| 122 | Paul Stastny | Col | C | |
| 123 | Drew Stafford | Buf | RW | |
| 124 | Jakub Voracek | Phi | RW | Sleeper |
| 125 | Johan Hedberg | NJ | G | |
| 126 | Keith Yandle | Pho | D | |
| 127 | James Reimer | Tor | G | |
| 128 | Tomas Plekanec | Mon | C | |
| 129 | Ryane Clowe | SJ | LW | |
| 130 | Olli Jokinen | Wpg | C | |
| 131 | Matt Duchene | Col | C | |
| 132 | Kyle Okposo | NYI | RW | |
| 133 | Martin Brodeur | NJ | G | |
| 134 | Alexander Edler | Van | D | |
| 135 | Drew Doughty | LA | D | |
| 136 | Danny Briere | Phi | C | |
| 137 | P.A. Parenteau | Col | LW | |
| 138 | Mikhail Grabovski | Tor | C | |
| 139 | Ray Emery | Chi | G | |
| 140 | Nail Yakupov | Edm | RW | Sleeper |
| 141 | Justin Williams | LA | RW | |
| 142 | P.K. Subban | Mon | D | |
| 143 | Andrew Ladd | Wpg | LW | |
| 144 | Craig Anderson | Ott | G | |
| 145 | Kris Versteeg | Fla | RW | |
| 146 | Ryan Kesler | Van | C | |
| 147 | Michal Neuvirth | Was | G | |
| 148 | Scott Clemmensen | Fla | G | |
| 149 | Derek Roy | Dal | C | |
| 150 | Andy McDonald | StL | C |
