Fantasy top 250 rankings for 2018-19

NHL.com's top 250 player rankings are based on past production and expectations for next season in standard Yahoo leagues. Fantasy owners should use these updated rankings as a basis for team evaluation, keeper decisions and offseason draft research. These rankings will be updated throughout the offseason after other signings, trades, injury and prospect news, training camp, NHL Preseason games, fantasy mock drafts and any other developments.

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Team power rankings
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Team previews
Since the start of 2018 free agency, here are five players that have altered the fantasy landscape:
John Tavares, C, TOR --The elite center's decision to join the Toronto Maple Leafs on a seven-year contract is great news for Tavares' potential linemates, right wing Mitch Marner and left wing Zach Hyman. Each has moved up in the top 250, as have Maple Leafs forwards William Nylander and Patrick Marleau (slated to play with elite center Auston Matthews at even strength), goaltender Frederik Andersen and defensemen Morgan Rielly and Jake Gardiner. Tavares' departure from the New York Islanders had the biggest negative impact on former linemates Anders Lee and Josh Bailey, but could help the value of Mathew Barzal's wings Jordan Eberle and Anthony Beauvillier if either/both see first line and power-play usage. The hiring of defensive coach Barry Trotz helps the bounce-back appeal of defenseman Nick Leddy and sleeper candidacy of defenseman Ryan Pulock and goaltender Robin Lehner, who joined the rankings after signing a one-year contract.

Read:
Impact of Tavares' decision to join Maple Leafs, leave Islanders
James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI -- The left wing returns to the Philadelphia Flyers on a five-year contract and enters the top 100 overall after scoring 36 goals in mostly a third-line role last season with the Maple Leafs. The Flyers have a stacked top-six and power-play picture after bringing back van Riemsdyk, boosting the fantasy stock of second-year center Nolan Patrick and power-play defensemen Shayne Gostisbehere (first unit) and Ivan Provorov (second unit; potential 2019 restricted free agent). This development could hurt wings Wayne Simmonds (potential 2019 unrestricted free agent) and/or Travis Konecny if either is bumped down to the third line.

Read:
Potential unrestricted free agents in 2019
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RFAs
Carter Hutton, G, BUF -- The Buffalo Sabres upgraded their goaltending after signing Hutton to a three-year contract. After selecting 18-year-old defenseman Rasmus Dahlin with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, signing Hutton and getting plenty of assets back in the trade for Ryan O'Reilly, the Sabres could be one of the most improved teams in the League. A stronger back end and the chance of a full-fledged breakout for elite center Jack Eichel has led to Dahlin cracking the top 75 overall and skaters Rasmus Ristolainen, Sam Reinhart and Casey Mittelstadt moving up in the rankings. In addition to Hutton and Lehner, goaltender Petr Mrazek joins the list of sleepers at the position after signing a one-year contract with the Carolina Hurricanes, where he could win the starting job from Scott Darling.

Read:
Fantasy team power rankings for 2018-19
Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL -- The acquisition of O'Reilly helps the St. Louis Blues' second line and first power play, leading to upward movement for forwards Vladimir Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn, Alexander Steen and defensemen Alex Pietrangelo, Colton Parayko and Vince Dunn in the fantasy rankings. Adding a strong, two-way center with face-off expertise also helps the cause of goaltender Jake Allen, who's a fringe top 100 overall player with the crease to himself after Hutton's departure. O'Reilly leaving Buffalo means Mittelstadt will have a chance to center the second line, where the rookie could play with any combination of wings Kyle Okposo, Jason Pominville, Vladimir Sobotka or Tage Thompson, and/or see first power-play usage with Eichel, Ristolainen and possibly Dahlin.

Valeri Nichushkin, DAL -- The Dallas Stars have brought back the 23-year-old right wing, who spent the past two seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League. He'll have a chance to boost the secondary scoring of the most top-heavy fantasy team in the NHL. Depending on how new coach Jim Montgomery constructs the lines, Nichushkin could end up on the wing of elite forward Tyler Seguin and/or Jamie Benn and also on the power play with Alexander Radulov. The signing of Nichushkin to a two-year contract instantly makes him a top 200 overall player with clear 20-goal, 50-point potential. Benn and Seguin (potential 2019 UFA) have moved up two spots apiece within the top 15 overall after the Stars improved their supporting cast.

Read:
Free agency roundup for 2018-19
TOP 250 PLAYER RANKINGS FOR 2018-19
Standard Yahoo categories include goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal for skaters and wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts for goalies. Forward positions indicate eligibility in Yahoo leagues during 2017-18 season (subject to change at Yahoo's discretion in offseason). ... Value has been quantified based on factors including but not limited to past production, projected line combinations, power-play usage, injury history, sleeper upside, anticipated regression or bounce-back candidacy, age and contract status (pending unrestricted or restricted free agent). ... Any potential 2019 UFAs (\) and RFAs (\\) are also noted below. ... INJ. indicates players with injury concerns.
1. Connor McDavid, C, EDM
2. Alex Ovechkin, LW, WSH
3. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL
4. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT
5. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT
6. Patrik Laine, RW, WPG\*
7. Auston Matthews, C, TOR\\
8. John Tavares, C, TOR
9. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS
10. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS
11. Steven Stamkos, C, TBL
12. Nathan MacKinnon, C, COL
13. Tyler Seguin, C/RW, DAL*
14. Jamie Benn, C/LW, DAL
15. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TBL
16. Blake Wheeler, C/RW, WPG*
17. Claude Giroux, C/LW, PHI
18. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI
19. Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG
20. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD (INJ.)
21. Dustin Byfuglien, D, WPG
22. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH
23. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK
24. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG
25. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (INJ.)
26. Brent Burns, D, SJS
27. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS
28. Artemi Panarin, C/LW, CBJ*
29. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT
30. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY
31. Mitchell Marner, C/RW, TOR\\
32. Victor Hedman, D, TBL
33. Jack Eichel, C, BUF
34. Erik Karlsson, D, OTT*
35. Frederik Andersen, G, TOR
36. Drew Doughty, D, LAK
37. Braden Holtby, G, WSH
38. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CBJ*
39. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA
40. Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH
41. P.K. Subban, D, NSH
42. Jonathan Quick, G, LAK
43. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM
44. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS*
45. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA
46. Jakub Voracek, RW, PHI
47. Tuukka Rask, G, BOS
48. Marc-Andre Fleury, G, VGK
49. Evander Kane, LW, SJS
50. John Klingberg, D, DAL
51. William Karlsson, C/LW, VGK (RFA)
52. Ilya Kovalchuk, LW/RW, LAK
53. Roman Josi, D, NSH
54. Alexander Radulov, RW, DAL
55. Sean Monahan, C, CGY (INJ.)
56. Matt Murray, G, PIT
57. Pekka Rinne, G, NSH*
58. Seth Jones, D, CBJ
59. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI
60. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH
61. Martin Jones, G, SJS
62. John Gibson, G, ANA\\
63. John Carlson, D, WSH
64. Sebastian Aho, LW/RW, CAR\\
65. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN (INJ.)\\
66. Ben Bishop, G, DAL (INJ.)
67. Mikko Rantanen, LW/RW, COL\\
68. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT
69. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY (INJ.)\\
70. Shayne Gostisbehere, D, PHI
71. Rasmus Dahlin, D, BUF
72. Keith Yandle, D, FLA
73. Sean Couturier, C, PHI (INJ.)
74. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, VGK
75. Rickard Rakell, C/LW/RW, ANA
76. William Nylander, C/RW, TOR (RFA)
77. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG
78. Dougie Hamilton, D, CAR
79. Torey Krug, D, BOS
80. Kris Letang, D, PIT
81. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH
82. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS
83. Brayden Schenn, C/LW, STL
84. Clayton Keller, C/LW/RW, ARI
85. Brayden Point, C/RW, TBL\\
86. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA
87. Antti Raanta, G, ARI
88. Tyson Barrie, D, COL
89. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI (INJ.)*
90. Teuvo Teravainen, C/LW/RW, CAR\\
91. Mark Giordano, D, CGY
92. Mikael Granlund, C/RW, MIN
93. Max Pacioretty, LW, MTL (INJ.)*
94. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, ARI
95. Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN
96. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH
97. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, FLA
98. James van Riemsdyk, LW, PHI
99. Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS\\
100. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ
101. Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA
102. Jake Allen, G, STL
103. Jeff Carter, C, LAK
104. Alex Pietrangelo, D, STL
105. Zach Werenski, D, CBJ\\
106. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL
107. Morgan Rielly, D, TOR
108. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI (INJ.)\\
109. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG\\
110. Eric Staal, C, MIN*
111. Mike Smith, G, CGY*
112. Ryan Ellis, D, NSH*
113. Corey Crawford, G, CHI (INJ.)
114. Dylan Larkin, C/RW, DET (RFA)
115. Aaron Ekblad, D, FLA
116. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH
117. Cam Talbot, G, EDM*
118. Reilly Smith, LW/RW, VGK
119. Jake Guentzel, C/LW, PIT\\
120. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, BUF
121. Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL (INJ.)
122. Nazem Kadri, C, TOR
123. Roberto Luongo, G, FLA
124. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI (INJ.)
125. Jake Gardiner, D, TOR*
126. Mikhail Sergachev, D, TBL
127. Semyon Varlamov, G, COL (INJ.)*
128. Philipp Grubauer, G, COL
129. Mark Stone, RW, OTT (RFA- INJ.)
130. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C/LW, CBJ
131. Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, CHI
132. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, EDM
133. Cory Schneider, G, NJD (INJ.)
134. Anders Lee, LW, NYI*
135. Andrei Svechnikov, RW, CAR
136. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR
137. Mika Zibanejad, C, NYR
138. Sam Reinhart, C/LW/RW, BUF (RFA)
139. Henrik Lundqvist, G, NYR (INJ.)
140. Carey Price, G, MTL
141. Tom Wilson, LW/RW, WSH
142. Evgenii Dadonov, LW/RW, FLA
143. Jordan Eberle, C/RW, NYI*
144. J.T. Miller, C/LW/RW, TBL
145. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, ARI
146. Pavel Buchnevich, LW/RW, NYR\\
147. Corey Perry, RW, ANA
148. Mathew Dumba, D, MIN
149. Nico Hischier, C, NJD (INJ.)
150. Carter Hutton, G, BUF (NEW)
151. Matt Duchene, C/RW, OTT*
152. Dustin Brown, LW/RW, LAK (INJ.)
153. Nick Leddy, D, NYI
154. Tomas Hertl, C/LW/RW, SJS
155. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN
156. Tyler Toffoli, C/RW, LAK
157. Zach Hyman, C/LW, TOR
158. Yanni Gourde, C/RW, TBL*
159. Ryan Suter, D, MIN (INJ.)
160. Nino Niederreiter, LW/RW, MIN
161. Filip Zadina, LW, DET
162. Bo Horvat, C, VAN
163. Travis Konecny, C/LW/RW, PHI\\
164. James Neal, LW/RW, CGY
165. Jeff Skinner, LW, CAR*
166. Ryan O'Reilly, C, STL
167. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL
168. Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, DET
169. Kevin Shattenkirk, D, NYR (INJ.)
170. Nolan Patrick, C, PHI
171. Will Butcher, D, NJD\\
172. Patrick Marleau, C/LW, TOR
173. Colton Parayko, D, STL
174. Jake Muzzin, D, LAK
175. Petr Mrazek, G, CAR* (NEW)
176. Ryan Pulock, D, NYI
177. Derek Stepan, C, ARI (INJ.)
178. Shea Theodore, D, VGK (RFA)
179. Alex Tuch, RW, VGK\\
180. Anthony Beauvillier, C/LW, NYI\\
181. Erik Johnson, D, COL (INJ.)
182. Mattias Ekholm, D, NSH
183. Brandon Montour, D, ANA
184. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD
185. Justin Faulk, D, CAR (INJ.)
186. Duncan Keith, D, CHI
187. Valeri Nichushkin, RW, DAL (NEW)
188. Robin Lehner, G, NYI* (NEW)
189. Cam Fowler, D, ANA (INJ.)
190. Mike Green, D, DET - INJ. (NEW)
191. Elias Pettersson, C, VAN
192. Kevin Fiala, LW/RW, NSH\\
193. Nick Bjugstad, C/RW, FLA
194. Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, CHI\\
195. Timo Meier, LW/RW, SJS\\
196. Mike Matheson, D, FLA
197. Craig Smith, RW, NSH
198. David Perron, LW/RW, STL
199. Jakub Vrana, LW/RW, WSH\\
200. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CGY
201. Justin Schultz, D, PIT
202. Tyler Myers, D, WPG*
203. Tyler Johnson, C/RW, TBL
204. Mats Zuccarello, RW, NYR*
205. Juuse Saros, G, NSH
206. James Reimer, G, FLA
207. Ryan McDonagh, D, TBL
208. Derick Brassard, C, PIT*
209. David Krejci, C, BOS
210. Jack Roslovic, C, WPG (NEW)
211. Kyle Turris, C, NSH
212. Mikko Koivu, C, MIN
213. Joe Thornton, C, SJS* (INJ.)
214. Jake DeBrusk, LW, BOS
215. Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL
216. Sami Vatanen, D, NJD (INJ.)
217. Valentin Zykov, LW/RW, CAR
218. Colin Miller, D, VGK
219. Josh Manson, D, ANA
220. Eli Tolvanen, RW, NSH
221. Kailer Yamamoto, RW, EDM (NEW)
222. Josh Bailey, LW/RW, NYI
223. Erik Haula, C/LW, VGK
224. Casey Mittelstadt, C, BUF
225. Aaron Dell, G, SJS
226. Brandon Saad, LW, CHI
227. Noah Hanifin, D, CGY (RFA)
228. Jared Spurgeon, D, MIN
229. Oliver Bjorkstrand, RW, CBJ
230. Sven Baertschi, LW, VAN (INJ.)
231. Nikita Zadorov, D, COL\\
232. Esa Lindell, D, DAL\\
233. Alexander Steen, C/LW/RW, STL
234. Oscar Klefbom, D, EDM (INJ.)
235. Jakob Silfverberg, LW/RW, ANA*
236. Alex Wennberg, C, CBJ
237. Darnell Nurse, D, EDM (RFA)
238. Danton Heinen, C/LW/RW, BOS\\
239. Vince Dunn, D, STL (INJ.)
240. Paul Stastny, C, VGK
241. Max Domi, C/LW, MTL
242. Mikael Backlund, C, CGY
243. Zdeno Chara, D, BOS*
244. Alex Kerfoot, C/RW, COL\\
245. Nick Foligno, C/LW/RW, CBJ
246. Ondrej Kase, LW/RW, ANA (RFA)
247. Henrik Borgstrom, C, FLA
248. Thomas Chabot, D, OTT
249. Michael Rasmussen, C, DET
250. Martin Necas, C, CAR
Dropped out from previous rankings: Shea Weber, D, MTL (INJ.); Henrik Zetterberg, C/LW, DET (INJ.); Jesse Puljujarvi, RW, EDM; Jonathan Drouin, C/LW/RW, MTL; Matt Niskanen, D, WSH; Rick Nash, LW/RW, BOS (UFA); Quinn Hughes, D, VAN (returning to University of Michigan)
RELATED: [Top 250 rankings 2018-19, June]