2017 Fantasy Hockey Draft Prep: Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Kane headline Top 100

There are few surprises at the top of the Top 100 heading into the 2017 season.

By Jason Chen

Aug 14, 2017 at 2:43 pm ET • 4 min read

There's no question that reigning scoring champion Connor McDavid should be at the top of Fantasy hockey wish lists across all formats. McDavid was the only player to notch 70 assists and score 100 points this past season, and he became just the 15th player in league history to win the Art Ross, Ted Lindsay and Hart trophies in the same year.

Following close behind are Sidney Crosby and Patrick Kane, who should find themselves in the mix for the scoring title again, and they're no-brainer choices at No. 2 and No. 3. After the top three, however, the competition is wide open. Nikita Kucherov, Brad Marchand and Mark Scheifele have to prove that their 80-point seasons were no fluke, and they face significant competition from one of the best generations of young players ever, including Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, Jack Eichel and Jonathan Drouin. Don't forget about the players coming back from injuries who are looking to have bounce-back seasons, too, including Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Huberdeau. The rate of scoring may suggest otherwise, but the NHL's offensive talent runs deep – perhaps deeper than ever before.

Erik Karlsson and Brent Burns remain the top two fantasy options on the blue line, but Victor Hedman isn't far behind after a monster season. The modern game is catering to skilled, skating defensemen, which means that players such as P.K. Subban, Justin Schultz and Kevin Shattenkirk are playing bigger roles and remain in high demand. Kris Letang should also be part of the conversation, but his inability to stay healthy is still a going concern. The youth movement across the league will also see players such as John Klingberg and Rasmus Ristolainen build on their previous successes, and their teams are expected to make big jumps forward this year.

Former Vezina Trophy winner Braden Holtby still leads the pack among goalies, but following close behind are Carey Price, Sergei Bobrovsky and Matt Murray, who enters his first full season as an undisputed starter. Proven goalies Cam Talbot, Corey Crawford, Tuukka Rask and Pekka Rinne can be counted on as part of a strong second tier that also includes the California triumvirate of Jonathan Quick, John Gibson and Martin Jones. Adding some intrigue are former teammates Ben Bishop and Andrei Vasilevskiy, who have been given big opportunities and are expected to carry heavy workloads. Henrik Lundqvist, who's in decline after serving as one of the best goalies in league history for a decade, rounds out an impressive and intriguing group.