With training camps just a few weeks away, it’s time to take a look at the best of the best for Fantasy hockey. The good news in 2022-23 is that it won’t be hard to get an elite talent in the first round of your draft, especially if you’re toward the front of the list. Connor McDavid again headlines the rankings after bringing home his second straight Art Ross Trophy. Just a step behind him is his Oilers teammate, Leon Draisaitl, who may not challenge for the scoring lead but has a 50-goal, 100-point expectation. Auston Matthews, meanwhile, logged the NHL’s first 60-goal campaign in a decade last year.
On defense, rising Avalanche star Cale Makar is the clear-cut top defenseman. He has the best team situation and the best skill set while being significantly younger than fellow Norris Trophy nominees Victor Hedman and Roman Josi. Other young stars like Adam Fox and Aaron Ekblad are also solid choices to lead your Fantasy blue line.
The next generation of goaltending is firmly here, with Andrei Vasilevskiy and Igor Shesterkin the obvious top-two netminders. Don’t sleep on Jacob Markstrom, either, as he has an excellent-on-paper defense in front of him that should allow him to at least remain in the Vezina conversation in 2022-23.
This set of Top 100 rankings is based on CBS Fantasy Hockey’s standard head-to-head scoring, which can be found here.
- Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers
- Leon Draisaitl, C/W, Edmonton Oilers
- Auston Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Andrei Vasilevskiy, G, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Kirill Kaprizov, LW, Minnesota Wild — Just two seasons into his NHL career, Kaprizov’s flashed the ability to flirt with 50 goals. He had 108 points in 81 games a year ago, showing both excellent talent and durability.
- Igor Shesterkin, G, New York Rangers
- Nathan MacKinnon, C, Colorado Avalanche
- Cale Makar, D, Colorado Avalanche
- Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay Lightning — Stamkos’ resurgent 2021-22 saw him eclipse the 100-point mark with 42 goals and 64 assists in 81 games. Long considered an injury risk, he proved that he’s still got something left for the latter half of his career.
- Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Mikko Rantanen, RW, Colorado Avalanche
- Jacob Markstrom, G, Calgary Flames
- Matthew Tkachuk, LW/RW, Florida Panthers
- Jonathan Huberdeau, LW, Calgary Flames — The blockbuster trade that saw Huberdeau head to Calgary with Tkachuk going to Florida could very well be a win-win for both teams and Fantasy managers. Huberdeau’s all but guaranteed a top-line role on a team in win-now mode while Tkachuk can grow his game alongside a two-way stud in Aleksander Barkov.
- Thatcher Demko, G, Vancouver Canucks
- Aleksander Barkov, C, Florida Panthers
- Mitch Marner, RW, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Alex Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals — This may seem a bit low for Ovechkin, coming off his ninth 50-goal campaign, but he’s entering his age-37 campaign. Nicklas Backstrom (hip) probably won’t play this year, so Ovechkin will have to click with Evgeny Kuznetsov for the season, meaning there’s no chemistry-based safety net unless Dylan Strome steps up.
- Kyle Connor, LW, Winnipeg Jets
- Sebastian Aho, C, Carolina Hurricanes
- David Pastrnak, RW, Boston Bruins
- Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Juuse Saros, G, Nashville Predators
- Jake Oettinger, G, Dallas Stars — Getting a deal done for Oettinger, currently an unsigned RFA, will be paramount to his success. If he misses part of training camp, he could have a sluggish start, but don’t discount his talent on draft day. He’s got the potential to finish the year as a top-five goalie.
- Artemi Panarin, LW, New York Rangers
- Mika Zibanejad, C, New York Rangers
- Evander Kane, LW, Edmonton Oilers
- Johnny Gaudreau, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets — Gaudreau’s signing in Columbus gives the Blue Jackets some street cred, but they still have to prove it on the ice. Expecting a repeat of his 2021-22 115-point campaign is a stretch, but Gaudreau remains a quality scoring winger.
- Darcy Kuemper, G, Washington Capitals
- JT Miller, C/W, Vancouver Canucks
- Tristan Jarry, G, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Elias Lindholm, C, Calgary Flames
- Ilya Sorokin, G, New York Islanders
- Marc-Andre Fleury, G, Minnesota Wild — Fleury’s numbers didn’t improve much after a midseason trade from Chicago to Minnesota, but the potential for a workhorse role solidifies his standing as a high-end goalie.
- Jake Guentzel, LW, Pittsburgh Penguins
- Gabriel Landeskog, LW, Colorado Avalanche
- Adam Fox, D, New York Rangers
- Pavel Buchnevich, LW, St. Louis Blues
- Jason Robertson, LW, Dallas Stars — Like Oettinger, Robertson is an unsigned RFA with camp approaching. He’s proven himself quickly in the league, but a slow start could be detrimental to his third NHL campaign.
- Roman Josi, D, Nashville Predators
- Andrei Svechnikov, RW, Carolina Hurricanes
- Frederik Andersen, G, Carolina Hurricanes
- Victor Hedman, D, Tampa Bay Lightning
- Brady Tkachuk, LW, Ottawa Senators
- Connor Hellebuyck, G, Winnipeg Jets — The Jets made no significant upgrades in free agency, so they’re stuck with what they had last year. Hellebuyck remains a workhorse goalie, but he can probably be had at a discount after his brutal slump since March 1 last year (.315 GAA, .907 save percentage).
- Aaron Ekblad, D, Florida Panthers
- Patrik Laine, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets
- Sam Reinhart, RW, Florida Panthers
- Filip Forsberg, LW, Nashville Predators — Regression should be baked into just about every Predators’ projection, but Forsberg remains the safest bet among Nashville forwards.
- Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, St. Louis Blues
- Jack Campbell, G, Edmonton Oilers
- Kevin Fiala, LW, Los Angeles Kings
- Patrick Kane, RW, Chicago Blackhawks
- Alex DeBrincat, LW/RW, Ottawa Senators — There’s a lot to like with the Senators going into 2022-23, with DeBrincat bringing 40-goal credibility to the table. He’ll need to mesh with new linemates, as there won’t be any sublime Patrick Kane passes to score on in Ottawa, but the likes of Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk should make up for it.
- Chris Kreider, LW, New York Rangers
- Kris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins
- William Nylander, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Timo Meier, LW, San Jose Sharks
- Roope Hintz, C, Dallas Stars
- John Carlson, D, Washington Capitals
- Morgan Rielly, D, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Brayden Point, C, Tampa Bay Lightning — Injuries limited Point in the regular season and playoffs — he’s a buy low candidate if he can flirt with a point-per-game pace again.
- Joe Pavelski, RW, Dallas Stars
- Bryan Rust, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins
- John Tavares, C, Toronto Maple Leafs
- Mark Scheifele, C, Winnipeg Jets
- Jack Eichel, C, Vegas Golden Knights
- Devon Toews, D, Colorado Avalanche
- Sergei Bobrovsky, G, Florida Panthers
- Cam Talbot, G, Minnesota Wild
- Nazem Kadri, C, Calgary Flames
- Jack Hughes, C, New Jersey Devils — Shoulder and knee injuries limited Hughes to 49 games, but he put up 26 goals and 30 assists last year. The breakout is coming, as long as he can stay healthy, and there’s a good chance this could be the year he cements himself among the top forwards in the league.
- Brad Marchand, LW, Boston Bruins — Double hip surgery will keep Marchand out until December at a minimum, but expect the premier pest to be an all-situations force once he’s cleared to return.
- Quinn Hughes, D, Vancouver Canucks
- Matt Duchene, C, Nashville Predators
- Evgeny Kuznetsov, C, Washington Capitals
- Brent Burns, D, Carolina Hurricanes — Getting out of San Jose is a huge boost to Burns’ outlook. He’ll quarterback the Hurricanes’ top power play, and the upgrade in talent should offset the 37-year-old’s diminishing returns on offense for a year or two more.
- Robert Thomas, C, St. Louis Blues
- Torey Krug, D, St. Louis Blues
- Shea Theodore, D, Vegas Golden Knights
- Elias Pettersson, C, Vancouver Canucks
- Jordan Kyrou, RW, St. Louis Blues
- Mats Zuccarello, RW, Minnesota Wild
- Drew Doughty, D, Los Angeles Kings
- Clayton Keller, RW, Arizona Coyotes — A near point-per-game campaign ended with a broken leg in March. Still just 24 years old, Keller will be the face of the Coyotes during their rebuild. The plus-minus rating will hurt, but he proved last year that he could get the better of defenses even when they focused on him.
- Rasmus Andersson, D, Calgary Flames
- Pierre-Luc Dubois, C, Winnipeg Jets
- Jordan Binnington, G, St. Louis Blues
- Tony DeAngelo, D, Philadelphia Flyers — DeAngelo will try to take his success from Carolina to Philadelphia, where the Flyers are deep in a rebuild. A power-play ace, DeAngelo should be a safe floor option as a No. 2 Fantasy defender.
- Dylan Larkin, C, Detroit Red Wings
- Jesper Bratt, LW, New Jersey Devils
- Patrice Bergeron, C, Boston Bruins
- Ryan O’Reilly, C, St. Louis Blues
- Alexandar Georgiev, G, Colorado Avalanche — Georgiev’s numbers weren’t great last year with the Rangers, but playing behind the Avalanche’s smothering, championship-level defense gives him a rosier outlook for 2022-23.
- Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Winnipeg Jets
- Claude Giroux, RW, Ottawa Senators
- Josh Norris, C, Ottawa Senators
- Miro Heiskanen, D, Dallas Stars — Already an excellent defender, Heiskanen has a chance to take his overall game to the next level with John Klingberg out of the picture. The boost in power-play production alone should make Heiskanen an enticing option in the middle rounds.
- Justin Faulk, D, St. Louis Blues
- Alex Pietrangelo, D, Vegas Golden Knights