McDavid Tops Fantasy Hockey Draft Tiers with 237.9 Projected Points

Connor McDavid leads Tier 1 projections for the fantasy hockey draft with 237.9 points, followed by Nathan MacKinnon at 235.8.

Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers leads the Tier 1 projections for the upcoming NHL season with 237.9 expected points, following a 263.5-point performance last year. Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon follows closely with a 235.8 projection, while San Jose Sharks center Macklin Celebrini sits third at 232.5 points. Nikita Kucherov, a right-winger for the Tampa Bay Lightning, rounds out the top tier with a 221.9 projection after recording 234.1 points last season. These four players represent the elite stratosphere of fantasy forwards, separated from defenders like Cale Makar and Evan Bouchard.

Tier 2 is headlined by Montreal Canadiens center Nick Suzuki, who is projected for 203.6 points. Matt Boldy follows with 201.0, while Wyatt Johnston of the Dallas Stars holds a 200.1 projection. Martin Necas, serving as MacKinnon’s sidekick in Colorado, is slated for 198.8 points. Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov and Toronto’s Auston Matthews follow with projections of 197.1 and 197.0 respectively. Leon Draisaitl is projected at 196.9 points, a slight increase from his 182.9 total last season, while Jason Robertson is expected to reach 193.3 points.

Mid-Tier Projections and Scoring Variance

Tier 3 features Juraj Slafkovsky with a 186.9 projection and Mark Scheifele at 183.9. Tage Thompson is expected to earn 183.0 points for the Buffalo Sabres. Dylan Guenther of the Utah Mammoth is projected at 182.7, narrowly ahead of Sam Reinhart’s 182.6. Leo Carlsson sits at 180.0, while Jack Hughes is projected for 176.0 points. Dylan Holloway, who averaged 2.59 fantasy points per game in 24 contests following the Olympic break, is projected at 174.5. David Pastrnak and Aleksander Barkov complete this group with 173.7 and 172.3 points respectively.

Tier 4 includes Kyle Connor and Brandon Hagel, both projected at 171.6 points. Mikko Rantanen and Jake Guentzel share a 170.6 projection. Young talents Adam Fantilli and Cutter Gauthier are both slated for 170.5 points. Logan Cooley follows at 169.5, while Alex DeBrincat is projected for 168.9. Lucas Raymond and Jack Eichel are tied at 168.7. Other notable projections in this group include William Nylander at 167.3, Robert Thomas at 166.3, and Dylan Larkin at 166.0. Cole Caufield is expected to reach 165.4, while Tim Stutzle sits at 162.8.

Veteran Value and Emerging Risks

Tier 5 introduces Artemi Panarin with a 157.8 projection and Matthew Tkachuk at 157.7. Adrian Kempe is projected for 156.8 points, while Aliaksei Protas sits at 156.7. Mitch Marner, now with the Vegas Golden Knights, is projected for 153.4 points after failing to reach 2.0 fantasy points per game for the first time since 2017-18. Elias Pettersson and Sebastian Aho are projected at 150.4 and 150.3 respectively. Rookies and young players like Anton Frondell (150.6), Ivan Demidov (148.1), and Gavin McKenna (147.2) also appear in this range.

Tier 6 features established veterans facing the age curve. Mika Zibanejad leads this group at 145.0 points. Sidney Crosby is projected for 139.5 points, while Alex Ovechkin is slated for 136.7. Alexis Lafreniere, who posted 2.02 fantasy points per game after the Olympic break, is projected at 139.2. Matt Coronato represents the Calgary Flames' first entry at 133.7 points. Porter Martone rounds out the tier at 133.4 based on a split between regular season and playoff performance.

Late Round Strategy and Depth Options

Tier 7 includes Matt Savoie at 133.1 and Ryan Leonard at 132.4. Nikolaj Ehlers is projected for 131.9 points, while Dylan Strome sits at 130.1. J.T. Miller and Zach Hyman are projected for 123.5 and 123.4 points respectively. Tier 8 concludes the list with Elias Lindholm at 121.8 and Brayden Point at 120.8. Travis Konecny is projected for 113.8, while James Hagens holds a 113.6 projection. The final ranked player, Caleb Desnoyers, is projected for 112.8 points. These projections utilize a three-year average, age-based comparisons from the last 15 seasons, and manual adjustments based on standard ESPN scoring.