By Matt Romig
April 11, 2007
Big Boards: Football | Baseball | Basketball | Hockey
The Big Board takes into consideration past returns, current performance and expected future gains in determining who should be included among the top 50 fantasy hockey players. Essentially, the Big Board is a cheat sheet designed for a fantasy owner who is planning to participate in a draft today. Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Hockey default scoring settings are used as the baseline for the Big Board, which is updated on a weekly basis.
| Rank |
Player |
Stock |
Pvs. |
| 1 |
Sidney Crosby, Pit, C |
Sophomore slump? No, how 'bout a Hart Trophy? |
1 |
| 2 |
Dany Heatley, Ott, LW |
Only player with 50 goals, 50 assists, 50 PIM. |
2 |
| 3 |
Roberto Luongo, Van, G |
Top 6 in wins, GAA, save pct., shutouts. |
4 |
| 4 |
Joe Thornton, SJ, C |
3rd player ever with back-to-back 90-ast seasons |
9 |
| 5 |
Teemu Selanne, Ana, RW |
82 PIM nearly doubled previous career high. |
3 |
| 6 |
Marian Hossa, Atl, RW |
Increased point output for fourth straight season. |
5 |
| 7 |
Martin Brodeur, NJ, G |
Record win total (48) came in 14th season. Wow. |
6 |
| 8 |
Jarome Iginla, Cal, RW |
82-game pace: 46 goals, 64 assists, 47 PIM. |
7 |
| 9 |
Vincent Lecavalier, TB, C |
Rocket Richard winner finished w/52 goals. |
8 |
| 10 |
Alexander Ovechkin, Was, LW |
Search for a veteran center begins (again). |
12 |
| 11 |
Jason Spezza, Ott, C |
40 points in last 27 games. A force when healthy. |
13 |
| 12 |
Evgeni Malkin, Pit, LW |
Full training camp + experience could equal 100 pts. |
15 |
| 13 |
Marian Gaborik, Min, RW |
30 goals in under 50 games. But can he stay healthy? |
14 |
| 14 |
Henrik Zetterberg, Det, RW |
49 points in last 31 games before back flared up. |
- |
| 15 |
Jaromir Jagr, NYR, RW |
30 goals was lowest full-season output since rookie yr. |
17 |
| 16 |
Martin St. Louis, TB, RW |
Increased scoring output by 41 points in 2006-07. |
11 |
| 17 |
Miikka Kiprusoff, Cal, G |
Needs strong playoff run to restore some luster. |
10 |
| 18 |
Ilya Kovalchuk, Atl, LW |
Averaging 43.25 goals over last four seasons. |
20 |
| 19 |
Daniel Alfredsson, Ott, RW |
Few were better after a terrible October. |
16 |
| 20 |
Pavel Datsyuk, Det, C |
Time to slay some playoff demons. |
18 |
| 21 |
Dominik Hasek, Det, G |
Only 3 regulation losses in last 19 starts (13 wins). |
19 |
| 22 |
Daniel Briere, Buf, C |
UFA's 2007-08 address is still in question. |
21 |
| 23 |
Jean-Sebastien Giguere,Ana, G |
Solid final month: 7-2-1, 2.17 GAA, .916 save pct. |
22 |
| 24 |
Chris Pronger, Ana, D |
82-game pace: 72 points, 86 penalty minutes. |
33 |
| 25 |
Sheldon Souray, Mon, D |
One of two players with 20+ goals, 100+ PIM. |
24 |
| 26 |
Niklas Backstrom, Min, G |
Stopped 259 of last 273 shots faced (.949 save %) |
45 |
| 27 |
Daniel Sedin, Van, LW |
Only eight players had more power-play goals. |
26 |
| 28 |
Scott Niedermayer, Ana, D |
Career-best 69 points led all defensemen. |
27 |
| 29 |
Milan Michalek, SJ, LW |
90-pt upside in full season w/Thornton-Cheechoo. |
36 |
| 30 |
Nicklas Lidstrom, Det, D |
Safe to expect another 60-pt season in 2007-08. |
23 |
| 31 |
Henrik Lundqvist, NYR, G |
Only four goalies started more games. |
29 |
| 32 |
Olli Jokinen, Fla, C |
Point-PIM guy hasn't missed a game in 3 seasons. |
28 |
| 33 |
Ryan Whitney, Pit, D |
37 points in final 44 games hints at huge 2007-08. |
49 |
| 34 |
Kristian Huselius, Cal, LW |
37 points in 35 games after the All-Star break. |
31 |
| 35 |
Milan Hejduk, Col, RW |
20 goals/20 assists after break saved season. |
32 |
| 36 |
Jonathan Cheechoo, SJ, RW |
Closed with 15 goals in last 16 games. |
- |
| 37 |
Maxim Afinogenov, Buf, RW |
Headed for 33 goals, 90 points before injury. |
- |
| 38 |
Marc Savard, Bos, C |
Minus-15 in last 20 games as Bruins faded. |
30 |
| 39 |
Marty Turco, Dal, G |
May see less action w/emergence of backup Smith. |
35 |
| 40 |
Joe Sakic, Col, C |
9 pts in last 4 got him to 100 for 6th time in career |
37 |
| 41 |
Tomas Vokoun, Nas, G |
Playoffs will go a long way toward setting 07-08 value. |
39 |
| 42 |
Thomas Vanek, Buf, RW |
Plus-7 in final week to take over league lead (+47). |
43 |
| 43 |
Pavol Demitra, Min, RW |
Health a worry...his and linemate Gaborik's. |
40 |
| 44 |
Sergei Gonchar, Pit, D |
PP force will go after teammate Whitney next year |
25 |
| 45 |
Patrick Marleau, SJ, C |
Had his best fantasy run as Thornton's wing. |
34 |
| 46 |
Evgeni Nabokov, SJ, G |
Remains to be seen how Nabby-Toskala battle goes |
44 |
| 47 |
Henrik Sedin, Van, C |
34 of 35 power-play points were helpers. |
38 |
| 48 |
Dion Phaneuf, Cal, D |
Slight uptick in points, PIM as a sophomore. |
42 |
| 49 |
Dan Boyle, TB, D |
Has a career-best season to build on. |
46 |
| 50 |
Paul Stastny, Col, C |
20-game pt. streak was one of season's highlights. |
- |
|
|
ON THE BUBBLE: Mats Sundin C, Tor; Chris Drury, C, Buf; Chris Mason, G, Nas; Alexander Frolov, LA, LW; Slava Kozlov, Atl, LW; Simon Gagne, Phi, LW; Brad Richards, TB, C; Peter Forsberg, Nas, C; Lubomir Visnovsky, LA, D; Rick Nash, Cls, LW; Keith Tkachuk, LW, Atl; Andy McDonald, C, Ana; Andrew Brunette, LW, Col; Alexei Zhitnik, D, Atl; Ryan Smyth, LW, NYI; Matt Carle, D, SJ; Kari Lehtonen, G, Atl; Alexander Semin, Was, LW; Michael Cammalleri, LA, C; Bryan McCabe, Tor, D; Derek Roy, Buf, C; Rick DiPietro, NYI, G; Steve Sullivan, Nas, RW
DROPPED OUT: Rod Brind'Amour, Car, C; Martin Havlat, Chi, RW; Ray Emery, Ott, G; Ryan Miller, Buf, G
|
Sounding Board
Why isn't Jason Blake at least on the bubble. He has the 8th most goals in the NHL with 40. I think the 40 goals is good enough to at least crack the bubble. – Mike, Long Island, NY
Malkin at No. 15: 33 goals, 52 assists, 85 points, 80 PIM, +2 – Stastny on bubble: 27 goals, 49 assists, 76 points, 38 PIM, +4 – Enough with Pittsburgh's rookie Malkin. Stastny is providing equally as good numbers and,in my opinion, penalty minutes shouldn't be rewarded, cause you know, putting your team down a man is a good thing (sarcasm). – Jeremy, Wilber, NE
In reply to Joe from Sacramento (last Sounding Board) who said Semin should be on the Big Board, and even compared him to Kovalchuk: Before Semin's recent hot streak over the last couple weeks, Semin had 4 goals 4 assists in 19 games, while recording a -10 rating! There was a time Semin was in the top 30, but maybe you should look at what a player did that caused him to be kicked off the Big Board before opening your mouth! Keep up the good work, Romig, even if I do not agree with a lot of your rankings, its a pretty good gauge of where players should be!
– Zain, Toronto, Ontario Matt Romig is a senior editor for Yahoo! Sports. Send Matt a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast. Updated on Wednesday, Apr 11, 2007 12:12 pm, EDT Email to a Friend | View Popular
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