Mid-season Rankings

Well, we’re half way through the season, and I hope all of your teams are doing well. One thing’s for certain: a lot of the preseason player projections have not panned out as planned in the new NHL. How many people wasted a second-round pick on Sergei Gonchar? Did you expect big things out of Martin St. Louis and Brad Richards, but haven’t been getting what you had hoped for? On the other hand, it must feel good if you snagged Eric Staal, Brian Gionta, and Martin Gerber off the waiver wire early in the season, as they are among the league leaders at their respective positions.

Invariably, things have changed since the Cafe’s first cheat sheets were compiled during the preseason. After some requests, we decided to overhaul and update them. Four Cafe regulars, familiar to forum visitors as Blades Of Steel, go_jays_go, PlayingWithFire, and The Hammer24, submitted their top 35 players from each position. The four rankings were averaged, with any player not ranked automatically receiving a score of 36. These composite rankings are sorted by position below.

A few notes: First, the rankers were asked to rank each player as if they were going to draft today and start a team for the second half of the season. These rankings should not be taken as the bible; merely a crutch to help make some decisions along the road. Furthermore, keep in mind that things continue to change in the NHL. For example, Ziggy Palffy, who would have been ranked as the 16th-best right wing on this list, surprisingly decided to retire shortly after these rankings were compiled. Nevertheless, hopefully these rankings will be able to help you through the second half of the season.

C RW LW D G

Centers	Avg Rank	H a m	G J G	P W F	B o S
Jason Spezza – Ott	1.50	2	1	2	1
Joe Thornton – SJ	2.00	1	3	1	3
Peter Forsberg – Phi	2.50	3	2	3	2
Joe Sakic – Col	5.75	6	4	6	7
Marc Savard – Atl	6.50	4	14	4	4
Pavel Datsyuk – Det	6.50	7	6	7	6
Eric Staal – Car	6.75	5	9	8	5
Pavol Demitra – LA	7.50	8	8	5	9
Brad Richards – TB	9.00	9	7	12	8
Vincent Lecavalier – TB	9.75	10	5	9	15
Patrick Marleau – SJ	11.00	11	13	10	10
Brian Rolston – Min	14.50	12	21	13	12
Olli Jokinen – Fla	14.50	19	12	13	14
Mike Modano – Dal	15.75	13	11	18	21
Sidney Crosby – Pit	16.00	14	18	21	11
Vaclav Prospal – TB	17.00	16	22	16	14
Craig Conroy – LA	18.75	15	15	15	20
Robert Lang – Det	19.75	17	15	11	36
Mats Sundin – Tor	21.00	18	10	20	36
Rod Brind’Amour – Car	21.50	20	27	22	17
Alexei Yashin – NYI	22.25	27	19	25	18
Saku Koivu – Mon	23.00	23	26	24	19
Jarret Stoll – Edm	24.25	22	19	23	23
Jason Williams – Det	26.00	26	26	26	16
Jason Arnott – Dal	26.25	34	17	32	22
Scott Gomez – NJ	27.50	21	36	17	36
Brendan Morrison – Van	27.25	28	16	29	36
Daymond Langkow – Cal	28.75	24	36	19	36
Mario Lemieux – Pit	29.25	31	20	30	36
Martin Straka – NYR	30.25	32	24	36	29
Jason Allison – Tor	30.50	36	23	36	27
N. Horton – Fla	30.75	29	31	27	36
Jeff O’Neill – Tor	30.75	30	32	33	28
Shawn Horcoff – Edm	31.25	33	33	35	34
Mike Comrie – Pho	31.25	25	36	28	36
Daniel Briere – Buf	33.25	36	28	36	33
Michael Nylander – NYR	33.25	36	36	36	25
Mike Ribeiro – Mon	33.50	35	36	31	32
Sergei Fedorov – Clb	33.50	36	36	34	35
Chirs Drury – Buf	33.50	36	36	36	26
Pierre-Marc Bouchard – Min	34.50	36	36	36	30
Doug Weight – StL	34.50	36	30	36	36
Andy McDonald – Ana	34.75	36	36	36	31
Rob Niedermayer – Ana	35.50	36	36	36	34
Patrice Bergeron – Bos	35.50	36	34	36	36
Joffrey Lupul – Ana	35.75	36	36	36	35
Sean Avery – LA	35.75	36	35	36	36

Right Wings	Avg Rank	Ham	GJG	PWF	BoS
Daniel Alfredsson – Ott	2.00	2	2	1	3
Dany Heatley – Ott	2.00	3	1	2	2
Jaromir Jagr – NYR	2.00	1	3	3	1
Marian Hossa – Atl	4.50	4	6	4	4
Jarome Iginla – Cal	5.00	5	4	5	6
Todd Bertuzzi – Van	8.25	6	7	8	12
Martin St. Louis – TB	8.50	9	5	9	11
Pavol Demitra – LA	8.50	10	13	6	5
Jonathan Cheechoo – SJ	9.00	7	14	7	8
Milan Hejduk – Col	12.50	15	8	18	9
Marian Gaborik – Min	12.75	8	20	16	7
Alexei Kovalev – Mon	14.25	11	19	10	17
Brian Rolston – Min	14.50	12	24	12	10
Steve Sullivan – Nas	15.00	13	9	14	24
Teemu Selanne – Ana	17.75	16	22	11	22
Marek Svatos – Col	18.25	17	23	19	14
Brian Gionta – NJ	20.25	14	18	13	36
Peter Bondra – Nas	20.25	19	16	21	25
Miroslav Satan – NYI	20.75	28	15	24	16
Michael Ryder – Mon	21.25	22	12	15	36
Mike Knuble – Phi	21.25	18	21	28	18
Jere Lehtinen – Dal	22.75	23	25	20	23
Bill Guerin – Dal	24.50	20	11	31	36
Ales Hemsky – Edm	25.75	24	36	22	21
Shane Doan – Pho	28.00	26	32	26	28
Scott Walker – Nas	28.00	27	36	36	13
Mark Recchi – Pit	29.00	32	27	23	34
Scott Hartnell – Nas	29.50	25	36	27	30
Jeff O’Neill – Tor	30.50	36	28	29	29
Mikael Samuelsson – Det	30.75	36	36	36	15
Glen Murray – Bos	31.00	35	17	36	36
Nathan Horton – Fla	31.75	30	36	25	36
Justin Williams – Car	32.00	36	36	36	20
Michel Ouellet – Pit	32.50	31	36	36	27
Darcy Tucker – Tor	33.25	36	36	30	31
Ales Kotalik – Buf	33.50	29	33	36	36
Pierre-Marc Bouchard – Min	33.50	36	36	36	26
Tony Amonte – Cal	33.50	36	26	36	36
Maxim Afinogenov – Buf	33.75	36	31	36	32
Alexander Mogilny – NJ	34.25	36	29	36	36
Nils Ekman – SJ	34.50	33	36	33	36
Chris Neil – Ott	34.50	36	30	36	36
Anson Carter – Van	34.75	36	35	32	36
Richard Zednik – Mon	35.00	34	36	34	36
Joffrey Lupul – Ana	35.25	36	36	36	33
Mark Parrish – NYI	35.50	36	34	36	36
Ian Laperriere – Col	35.75	36	36	35	36
Zigmund Palffy – Retired	(16.75)	21	10	17	19

Left Wings	Avg Rank	H a m	G J G	P W F	B o S
Ilya Kovalchuk – Atl	1.25	1	2	1	1
Markus Naslund – Van	2.00	2	1	2	3
Simon Gange – Phi	3.25	3	5	3	2
Henrik Zetterberg – Det	4.25	5	3	5	4
Alex Tanguay – Col	6.25	6	4	4	11
Ladislav Nagy – Pho	6.50	4	6	6	10
Brendan Shanahan -Det	7.75	9	9	7	6
Rick Nash – Clb	8.00	7	8	8	9
Marian Gaborik – Min	9.50	8	14	9	7
Alexander Ovechkin – Was	9.75	10	7	14	8
Alexander Frolov – LA	12.00	13	12	10	13
Patrick Elias – NJ	12.50	14	16	15	5
Vaclav Prospal – TB	13.25	12	15	12	14
Paul Kariya – Nas	15.50	11	13	17	21
Brenden Morrow – Dal	16.00	15	19	11	19
Ryan Smyth – Edm	17.25	16	11	13	29
Cory Stillman – Car	17.75	22	18	19	12
Slava Kozlov – Atl	18.75	19	25	16	15
Fredrik Modin – TB	20.25	29	10	24	18
Shane Doan – Pho	22.25	18	21	20	30
Jere Lehtinen – Dal	24.25	26	27	18	26
Eric Cole – Car	25.00	20	36	22	22
Sergei Samsonov – Bos	25.25	30	24	28	19
Keith Tkachuck – StL	27.00	17	24	21	36
Mike Ribeiro – Mon	27.25	27	23	36	23
Scott Hartnell – Nas	27.75	21	30	36	24
Mark Recchi – Pit	27.75	31	22	23	35
Martin Rucinski – NYR	27.75	23	36	36	16
Tomas Holmstrom – Det	28.25	24	28	36	25
Mark Bell – Chi	29.25	36	17	36	28
Darcy Tucker – Tor	30.00	34	26	29	31
Ray Whitney – Car	30.50	25	36	25	36
Daniel Sedin – Van	30.75	36	20	31	36
Ethan Moreau – Edm	31.25	36	36	36	17
Marco Sturm – Bos	32.75	36	29	33	33
Nils Ekman – SJ	33.00	28	36	32	36
Pierre-Marc Bouchard – Min	33.50	36	35	36	27
Raffi Torres – Edm	33.75	32	31	36	36
Andrew Brunette – Col	34.00	36	32	36	32
John LeClair – Pit	34.25	35	36	30	36
Richard Zednik – Mon	35.00	33	36	35	36
Andy McDonald – Ana	35.25	36	33	36	36
Jason Blake – NYI	35.50	36	36	36	34
Martin Havlat – Ott	35.50	36	36	34	36

Defensemen	Avg Rank	H a m	G J G	P W F	B o S
Bryan McCabe – Tor	1.00	1	1	1	1
Nicklas Lidstrom – Det	3.00	3	3	3	3
Wade Redden – Ott	3.50	2	4	2	6
Mathieu Schneider – Det	4.50	5	5	4	4
Zdeno Chara – Ott	5.50	6	2	6	8
Lubomir Visnovsky – LA	8.25	4	22	5	2
Joni Pitkanen – Phi	9.00	7	17	7	5
Marek Zidlicky – Nas	9.00	9	6	9	12
Scott Niedermayer – Ana	9.50	8	7	8	15
Dan Boyle – TB	11.00	11	9	13	11
Tomas Kaberle – Tor	12.50	16	12	15	7
Chris Pronger – Edm	14.00	14	11	10	21
Ed Jovanovski – Van	14.50	12	15	14	17
Sergei Gonchar – Pit	14.75	10	8	18	23
Dion Phaneuf – Cal	15.50	21	14	17	10
Rob Blake – Col	17.50	19	10	11	30
Paul Mara – Pho	17.50	20	16	20	14
John-Michael Liles – Col	18.00	15	36	12	9
Kimmo Timonen – Nas	18.75	17	21	24	13
Sami Salo – Van	19.00	13	25	22	16
Alexei Zhitnik – NYI	20.50	22	24	16	20
Sergei Zubov – Dal	22.75	18	18	36	19
Philippe Boucher – Dal	22.75	25	19	21	26
Andrei Markov – Mon	25.00	23	27	23	27
Jaroslav Spacek – Chi	26.00	27	32	27	18
Brent Seabrook – Chi	28.00	26	34	30	22
Brian Leetch – Bos	30.25	30	36	19	36
Mattias Ohlund – Van	30.25	31	26	28	36
Joe Corvo – LA	30.75	34	28	36	25
Mike Van Ryn – Fla	31.25	36	31	36	22
Brian Rafalski – NJ	32.00	36	20	36	36
Jamie Heward – Was	32.25	28	36	29	36
Kim Johnsson – Phi	32.50	24	36	34	36
Brent Sopel – NYI	32.75	36	23	36	36
Pavel Kubina – TB	32.75	36	33	26	36
Teppo Numminen – Buf	32.75	36	30	36	29
Jaroslav Modry – Atl	33.00	35	36	25	36
Frantisek Kaberle – Car	33.00	36	36	36	24
Brian Campbell – Buf	33.25	33	35	33	32
Ric Jackman – Pit	33.50	29	36	36	33
Greg De Vries – Atl	33.50	36	36	31	31
Patrice Brisebois – Col	34.00	36	36	36	28
Andrej Meszaros – Ott	34.00	32	36	32	36
Tom Preissing – SJ	34.25	36	29	36	36
Ryan Whitney – Pit	35.75	36	36	35	36
Bryan Berard – Clb	35.75	36	36	36	35

Goalies	Avg Rank	H a m	G J G	P W F	B o S
Miika Kipprusoft – Cal	2.00	1	4	2	1
Dominik Hasek – Ott	2.75	2	6	1	2
Marty Turco – Dal	4.00	3	5	4	4
Tomas Vokoun – Nas	4.75	4	2	5	8
Martin Brodeur – NJ	4.75	6	1	7	5
Manny Legace – Det	5.50	5	11	3	3
Martin Gerber – Car	9.00	8	13	9	6
Roberto Luongo – Fla	9.00	10	3	6	17
Manny Fernandez – Min	9.50	7	16	8	7
Evgeni Nabokov – SJ	10.00	9	8	11	12
Curtis Jospeh – Pho	12.50	11	14	14	11
Henrik Lundqvist – NYR	15.00	12	25	10	13
Jean-Sebastien Giguere – Ana	15.00	16	7	17	20
Alexander Auld – Van	15.25	15	18	12	16
John Grahme – TB	15.50	23	9	15	15
Jose Theodore – Mon	17.50	19	10	16	25
Mathieu Garon – LA	17.75	17	23	13	18
Ryan Miller – Buf	18.25	13	32	19	9
Ed Belfour – Tor	19.00	20	17	18	21
Dwayne Roloson – Min	21.25	21	15	25	24
Kari Lehtonen – Atl	21.50	14	36	26	10
Rick Dipietro – NYI	21.50	26	19	22	19
Antero Niittymaki – Phi	22.25	22	30	23	14
David Aebischer – Col	21.50	24	12	21	33
Robert Esche – Phi	24.75	25	20	31	23
Martin Biron – Buf	24.75	27	22	28	22
Nikolai Khabibulin – Chi	26.50	28	21	27	30
Olaf Kolzig – Was	27.50	29	26	24	31
Marc-Andre Fleury – Pit	27.50	18	36	20	36
Andrew Raycroft – Bos	30.25	33	24	30	34
Hannu Toivonen – Bos	30.50	31	33	29	29
Chris Osgood – Det	31.50	36	28	36	26
Jason LaBarbera – LA	31.75	32	34	34	27
Kevin Weekes - NYR	32.75	36	27	36	32
Mikael Tellqvist – Tor	33.50	35	35	36	28
Marc Denis – Clb	33.50	30	36	32	36
Jussi Markkanen – Edm	34.25	36	29	36	36
Ray Emery – Ott	34.25	34	31	36	36
Ilya Bryzgalov – Ana	35.75	36	36	35	36
Mike Dunham – Atl	35.75	36	36	36	35

Legend
Ham = TheHammer24
GJG = go_jays_go
PWF = PlayingWithFire
BoS = Blades of Steel

Assumed League Settings:

Single-season (no keepers), head-to-head with playoffs, 17-man rosters with the following starters:

2 C
2 LW
2 RW
4 D
2 G

along with a 4-man bench (any positions).

Scoring categories are:

Goals, assists, game-winning goals, power-play points, +/-, PIM, wins, shutouts, save percentage, GAA

Many thanks to the fantasy buffs who took the time to update their cheat sheets and share the results with us!

Mid-season Rankings

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