Fantasy: Top 250 rankings for 2017-18, Update No. 1

The 2016-17 fantasy hockey season has come to an end, which means it's a good time to preview 2017-18.
The top three players in standard leagues should not surprise anyone. Forwards Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) and Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) have unparalleled offensive production compared to the rest of the pack when healthy. Alex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) also remains a surefire first-round pick after another season covering goals, shots on goal, and power-play points at an elite level.

YEAR-END RANKINGS:
TOP 100 'F'
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TOP 50 'D'
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TOP 25 'G'
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AWARDS
That said, these perennial fantasy studs have a number of young players in their rearview mirror. Rookies Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Patrik Laine (Winnipeg Jets), along with 23-year-old Nikita Kucherov and 20-year-old Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres) led the NHL's youth movement. Each warrants first-round fantasy consideration next fall.
Among defensemen, the usual names lead the list: Brent Burns (San Jose Sharks) and Erik Karlsson (Ottawa Senators). But another defenseman has surfaced among the top 20 overall. Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning) broke out for 72 points and 33 power-play points in 79 games, even though the Lightning missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs because of injuries to forwards Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson. With Kris Letang (Pittsburgh Penguins) uncertain for training camp because of neck surgery, Justin Schultz has a chance to sustain his offensive production next season.

The goalie landscape starts and ends with Braden Holtby (Washington Capitals) after his third consecutive 40-win season. Carey Price (Montreal Canadiens) has been outstanding since the hiring of Claude Julien as coach and deserves to be taken in the first or second round, per usual. Sergei Bobrovsky (Columbus Blue Jackets) bounced back to rejoin the elite, and fantasy owners should not hesitate to view Cam Talbot as a top-five option at the position given his heavy workload and the Edmonton Oilers' rise to contention. Other keeper-league gems at the position include Matt Murray (Penguins), John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks), Jake Allen (St. Louis Blues) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning).
Then there's the potential class of unrestricted free agents. The Capitals (defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk; forwards T.J. Oshie, Justin Williams) and San Jose Sharks (forwards Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau) face some big offseason decisions. Other notable players who could hit the market include right wings Alexander Radulov (Montreal Canadiens) and Jaromir Jagr (Florida Panthers), plus goalies Brian Elliott (Calgary Flames) and Ben Bishop (Los Angeles Kings).
With all these trends fresh in our minds, let's take an early look at the top 250 player rankings for 2017-18. These rankings, which include injured players, are based on performance this season and take into account expectations for next season. Use these rankings as food for thought until we revisit them at the end of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Also keep in mind these rankings could be shaken up by the NHL Expansion Draft for the Vegas Golden Knights in June.
1. Connor McDavid, C, EDM
2. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT
3. Patrick Kane, RW, CHI
4. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL
5. Alex Ovechkin, LW, WSH
6. Brent Burns, D, SJS
7. Braden Holtby, G, WSH
8. Auston Matthews, C, TOR
9. Patrik Laine, LW/RW, WPG
10. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS
11. Jack Eichel, C, BUF
12. Erik Karlsson, D, OTT
13. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH
14. Evgeni Malkin, C, PIT
15. Carey Price, G, MTL
16. Jamie Benn, LW, DAL
17. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL
18. Victor Hedman, D, TBL
19. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG
20. John Tavares, C, NYI
21. Tyler Seguin, C/RW, DAL
22. Artemi Panarin, LW, CHI
23. Sergei Bobrovsky, G, CBJ
24. Dustin Byfuglien, D, WPG
25. Steven Stamkos, C, TBL (INJ.)
26. Joe Pavelski, C/RW, SJS
27. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT
28. Cam Talbot, G, EDM
29. Blake Wheeler, RW, WPG
30. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM (RFA)
31. David Pastrnak, RW, BOS (RFA)
32. Max Pacioretty, LW, MTL
33. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS
34. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA
35. Roman Josi, D, NSH
36. Wayne Simmonds, RW, PHI
37. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY
38. Devan Dubnyk, G, MIN
39. Mitch Marner, C/RW, TOR
40. John Gibson, G, ANA
41. Jake Allen, G, STL
42. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, WSH (RFA)
43. Kevin Shattenkirk, D, WSH (UFA)
44. Duncan Keith, D, CHI
45. Tuukka Rask, G, BOS
46. Mike Hoffman, LW/RW, OTT
47. Claude Giroux, C, PHI
48. Sean Monahan, C, CGY
49. Filip Forsberg, LW, NSH
50. William Nylander, C/RW, TOR
51. Matt Murray, G, PIT
52. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA
53. Corey Crawford, G, CHI
54. Jonathan Quick, G, LAK
55. Kris Letang, D, PIT (INJ.)
56. Mikael Granlund, C/LW/RW, MIN (RFA)
57. Cam Atkinson, RW, CBJ
58. Shea Weber, D, MTL
59. Ryan Johansen, C, NSH (RFA)
60. Martin Jones, G, SJS
61. Pekka Rinne, G, NSH
62. Corey Perry, RW, ANA
63. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI
64. Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, TBL
65. Jakub Voracek, LW/RW, PHI
66. Jeff Carter, C, LAK
67. Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, FLA
68. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK
69. Dougie Hamilton, D, CGY
70. P.K. Subban, D, NSH
71. Conor Sheary, LW/RW, PIT (RFA)
72. Jonathan Drouin, LW/RW, TBL (RFA)
73. Sebastian Aho, LW/RW, CAR
74. Rasmus Ristolainen, D, BUF
75. Drew Doughty, D, LAK
76. Eric Staal, C, MIN
77. Ryan Kesler, C, ANA
78. Zach Werenski, D, CBJ
79. James van Riemsdyk, LW, TOR
80. Frederik Andersen, G, TOR
81. Justin Schultz, D, PIT (RFA)
82. Jeff Skinner, LW, CAR
83. Logan Couture, C, SJS
84. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW/RW, WPG
85. Alexander Radulov, LW/RW, MTL (UFA)
86. Torey Krug, D, BOS
87. Nazem Kadri, C, TOR
88. Henrik Zetterberg, C/LW, DET
89. Brian Elliott, G, CGY (UFA)
90. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, NSH (RFA)
91. Nathan MacKinnon, C/RW, COL
92. Brayden Schenn, C/LW, PHI
93. Ryan Suter, D, MIN
94. Mark Stone, RW, OTT
95. Henrik Lundqvist, G, NYR
96. Taylor Hall, LW, NJD
97. Ryan O'Reilly, C/LW, BUF
98. Craig Anderson, G, OTT
99. Alex Pietrangelo, D, STL
100. T.J. Oshie, RW, WSH (UFA)
101. Mats Zuccarello, RW, NYR
102. Ben Bishop, G, LAK (UFA)
103. Mark Giordano, D, CGY
104. Mikko Koivu, C, MIN
105. Derek Stepan, C, NYR
106. Kyle Turris, C, OTT
107. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT
108. Anders Lee, LW, NYI
109. Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D, ARI
110. Milan Lucic, LW, EDM
111. Evander Kane, LW, BUF
112. John Klingberg, D, DAL
113. Tyler Toffoli, C/RW, LAK (RFA)
114. Rickard Rakell, C/LW, ANA
115. James Neal, RW, NSH
116. Zach Parise, LW, MIN
117. John Carlson, D, WSH
118. Jaroslav Halak, G, NYI
119. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR
120. Kyle Okposo, RW, BUF
121. Nino Niederreiter, LW/RW, MIN (RFA)
122. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, CGY
123. Aaron Ekblad, D, FLA
124. Alex Galchenyuk, C, MTL
125. Kyle Palmieri, RW, NJD
126. Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL (RFA)
127. Nick Foligno, LW/RW, CBJ
128. Jaden Schwartz, C/LW, STL
129. Cory Schneider, G, NJD
130. Brandon Saad, LW/RW, CBJ
131. Robin Lehner, G, BUF (RFA)
132. Justin Faulk, D, CAR
133. Marcus Johansson, LW/RW, WSH
134. Keith Yandle, D, FLA
135. Jake Guentzel, C/LW, PIT
136. Oscar Klefbom, D, EDM
137. Shayne Gostisbehere, D, PHI (RFA)
138. Vincent Trocheck, C, FLA
139. Jason Spezza, C/RW, DAL
140. David Krejci, C, BOS
141. Alex Wennberg, C, CBJ (RFA)
142. Tyler Johnson, C, TBL (RFA)
143. Connor Hellebuyck, G, WPG (RFA)
144. Joe Thornton, C, SJS (UFA)
145. Ryan McDonagh, D, NYR
146. Patrick Maroon, LW, EDM
147. Bryan Little, C, WPG
148. Nick Schmaltz, C/LW, CHI
149. Alexander Steen, LW/RW, STL
150. Jaromir Jagr, LW/RW, FLA (UFA)
151. James Reimer, G, FLA
152. Roberto Luongo, G, FLA
153. Jake Gardiner, D, TOR
154. Andre Burakovsky, LW/RW, WSH (RFA)
155. Brady Skjei, D, NYR
156. Colton Parayko, D, STL (RFA)
157. Sam Reinhart, C/RW, BUF
158. Jordan Eberle, RW, EDM
159. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL
160. Elias Lindholm, C/RW, CAR
161. Joshua Ho-Sang, C/RW, NYI
162. Matt Duchene, C/RW, COL
163. Marian Hossa, RW, CHI
164. Rick Nash, LW/RW, NYR
165. Charlie Coyle, C/RW, MIN
166. Anthony Mantha, LW/RW, DET
167. Cam Fowler, D, ANA
168. Seth Jones, D, CBJ
169. Marc-Andre Fleury, G, PIT
170. Robby Fabbri, C/LW, STL
171. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL
172. Max Domi, LW, ARI
173. Bo Horvat, C, VAN (RFA)
174. Tyson Barrie, D, COL
175. Jimmy Howard, G, DET
176. Mathew Dumba, D, MIN
177. Jesse Puljujarvi, RW, EDM
178. Nick Leddy, D, NYI
179. Nikita Zaitsev, D, TOR (RFA)
180. Mika Zibanejad, C/RW, NYR (RFA)
181. Mikael Backlund, C, CGY
182. Jakob Silfverberg, RW, ANA
183. Teuvo Teravainen, C/LW/RW, CAR (RFA)
184. Cam Ward, G, CAR
185. Matt Niskanen, D, WSH
186. Richard Panik, LW/RW, CHI (RFA)
187. Juuse Saros, G, NSH
188. Dmitry Orlov, D, WSH (RFA)
189. Brent Seabrook, D, CHI
190. Justin Williams, RW, WSH (UFA)
191. Patrick Eaves, RW, ANA (UFA)
192. Artem Anisimov, C, CHI
193. Dion Phaneuf, D, OTT
194. Thomas Greiss, G, NYI
195. Gustav Nyquist, LW/RW, DET
196. Tyler Bozak, C, TOR
197. Boone Jenner, C/LW, CBJ
198. Daniel Sedin, LW, VAN
199. Jaccob Slavin, D, CAR
200. Jacob Trouba, D, WPG
201. Brandon Dubinsky, C, CBJ
202. J.T. Miller, C/LW/RW, NYR
203. David Backes, RW, BOS
204. Ivan Barbashev, C/LW, STL
205. Tyson Jost, C, COL
206. Ryan Ellis, D, NSH
207. Hampus Lindholm, D, ANA
208. Patrick Marleau, C/LW, SJS (UFA)
209. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, C, EDM
210. Tomas Tatar, LW/RW, DET (RFA)
211. Tomas Hertl, C/LW, SJS
212. Zdeno Chara, D, BOS
213. Anthony Stolarz, G, PHI (RFA)
214. Andrei Markov, D, MTL (UFA)
215. Brayden Point, C/RW, TBL
216. Michael Frolik, C/RW, CGY
217. Pierre-Luc Dubois, C, CBJ
218. Jake Muzzin, D, LAK
219. Mathieu Perreault, C/LW, WPG
220. Jonathan Marchessault, C/LW, FLA
221. Ivan Provorov, D, PHI
222. Kevin Hayes, C/RW, NYR
223. Dylan Larkin, C/RW, DET
224. Scott Darling, G, CHI
225. Jason Zucker, LW/RW, MIN
226. Jared Spurgeon, D, MIN
227. Antti Raanta, G, NYR
228. Paul Stastny, C, STL
229. Mathew Barzal, C, NYI
230. Sean Couturier, C, PHI
231. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, D, SJS
232. Andrew Shaw, C/RW, MTL
233. Derick Brassard, C, OTT
234. Jonathan Bernier, G, ANA (UFA)
235. Andreas Athanasiou, C/LW, DET (RFA)
236. Kyle Connor, LW, WPG
237. Sami Vatanen, D, ANA
238. Mikko Rantanen, LW/RW, COL
239. Philipp Grubauer, G, WSH (RFA)
240. Radim Vrbata, RW, ARI (UFA)
241. Tanner Pearson, LW, LAK (RFA)
242. Charlie McAvoy, D, BOS
243. Mike Smith, G, ARI
244. Connor Brown, RW, TOR (RFA)
245. Brock Boeser, RW, VAN
246. Semyon Varlamov, G, COL
247. Jakob Chychrun, D, ARI
248. Scott Hartnell, LW, CBJ
249. Clayton Keller, C, ARI
250. Ryan Pulock, D, NYI
NOTES: Standard Yahoo categories include goals, assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes, PPP and SOG for skaters, and wins, goals-against average, save percentage and shutouts for goalies. Value has been quantified based on factors including line combinations, power-play usage, team goalie situations, injury history, bounce-back or breakout potential, projected regression, age, and contract status (pending unrestricted and restricted free agents are noted below).