Fantasy Hockey 2014: Top 50 NHL Players Rankings and Analysis

Many sports fans are currently enamored with the chatter about fantasy football, but hockey fans have already turned their attention to the 2014-15 NHL season and the top 50 players for this year’s fantasy drafts.

While big names such as Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Washington’s Alexander Ovechkin are dominating the rankings, the key for any successful fantasy team is to find the players with the most upside throughout the draft.

Here are the top 50 fantasy rankings for this season, followed by a breakdown of the top stud, dud and sleeper to help you win your league:

Rank	Player	Team
1	Sidney Crosby, C	Pittsburgh
2	Alex Ovechkin, RW	Washington
3	Steven Stamkos, C	Tampa Bay
4	Evgeni Malkin, C/RW	Pittsburgh
5	Corey Perry, RW	Anaheim
6	John Tavares, C	New York Islanders
7	Claude Giroux, C/RW	Philadelphia
8	Ryan Getzlaf, C	Anaheim
9	Henrik Lundqvist, G	New York Rangers
10	Patrick Kane, C/RW	Chicago
11	Tuukka Rask, G	Boston
12	Jonathan Quick, G	Los Angeles
13	Jonathan Toews, C	Chicago
14	Pavel Datsyuk, LW/C	Detroit
15	Erik Karlsson, D	Ottawa
16	Carey Price, G	Montreal
17	Nathan MacKinnon, C/RW	Colorado
18	Patrick Sharp, LW/C	Chicago
19	P.K. Subban, D	Montreal
20	Taylor Hall, LW/C	Edmonton
21	Jamie Benn, LW	Dallas
22	Tyler Seguin, C/RW	Dallas
23	Anze Kopitar, C	Los Angeles
24	Phil Kessel, RW	Toronto
25	Henrik Zetterberg, LW/C	Detroit
26	Shea Weber, D	Nashville
27	Duncan Keith, D	Chicago
28	Eric Staal, C	Carolina
29	Jason Spezza, C	Dallas
30	Martin St. Louis, RW	New York Rangers
31	Drew Doughty, D	Los Angeles
32	Thomas Vanek, LW/RW	Minnesota
33	Zdeno Chara, D	Boston
34	Rick Nash, LW/RW	New York Rangers
35	Joe Pavelski, LW/C	San Jose
36	Chris Kunitz, LW	Pittsburgh
37	Gabriel Landeskog, LW	Colorado
38	Matt Duchene, LW/C	Colorado
39	Wayne Simmonds, RW	Philadelphia
40	Marian Hossa, RW	Chicago
41	Sergei Bobrovsky, G	Columbus
42	Joe Thornton, C	San Jose
43	Daniel Sedin, LW	Vancouver
44	Pekka Rinne, G	Nashville
45	Keith Yandle, D	Arizona Coyotes
46	Patrice Bergeron, C	Boston
47	Marian Gaborik, RW	Los Angeles
48	Zach Parise, LW	Minnesota
49	Henrik Sedin, C	Vancouver
50	Nicklas Backstrom, C	Washington

Stud: Claude Giroux, C/RW, Philadelphia

Despite a slow start last season that featured Philadelphia Flyers captain and leading scorer Claude Giroux going the first 15 games without scoring a goal, he ended up with 28 goals and 86 points in 82 games.

For fantasy owners who stuck through the slow start, the latter half of his season helped guide many owners to the championship. With Giroux going in the middle-to-later stages of the first round, he will be the biggest value of the season.

Hockey insider Brady Trettenero breaks down Giroux’s NHL.com rank, via Twitter:

The key to a successful season is the reliance of the team on his offensive production, and it is abundantly clear that Giroux will continue being the main offensive cog for the Flyers at even strength and on the power play.

With 37 power-play points, Giroux is the all-around threat owners are looking for early in the first round. He is the perfect fantasy option for those who missed out on Crosby, Ovechkin and Steven Stamkos.

Dud: Semyon Varlamov, G, Colorado

One of the top goalies being picked this season is Colorado Avalanche starter Semyon Varlamov, but do not fall into this trap. Varlamov has fantasy dud written all over him.

While there is no questioning how impressive the numbers Varlamov put up last year were (a 41-14-6 record, a 2.41 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage), these were all career-Ahighs with Colorado and could easily be an anomaly.

Some owners are banking on him to repeat the best year of his career, but you have better options.

Instead of taking the risk on a Western Conference goalie who could be involved in more high-scoring games throughout the season, fantasy owners should be looking to Sergei Bobrovsky of Columbus or even Pekka Rinne of the defensive-minded Predators.

If Varlamov starts dropping down the draft board, he would be worth a pick if the value is acceptable, but fantasy owners shouldn’t be riding with the Colorado starter as the No. 1 goalie on their roster.

Sleeper: Nail Yakupov, RW, Edmonton

This will be the third year in the NHL for Edmonton Oilers right wing Nail Yakupov, and it’s time to see the 20-year-old star blossom into the elite player the franchise selected No. 1 overall in the 2012 draft.

After racking up 17 goals and 14 assists in his first NHL season, he only amassed 24 points last season and took a major step backward in his progression protecting the puck and playing defense.

The second year is typically the hardest for a player, but Yakupov has too much talent to not figure it out. With another offseason to work on his craft and learn the NHL ways, Yakupov should break out in his third year and give Edmonton the secondary scoring it needs.

*Stats via NHL.com.

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