MLB Best Bets – Free (Wednesday 7/24)
Josh Gross
The puck drops on the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs Saturday, so I’ve ranked 100 players for your fantasy hockey pools. The following players are ranked for pools that award one point for a goal and one for an assist. If you’re playing in leagues that award extra points for shots and hat tricks, make sure you target volume shooters. Keep in mind the following players are ranked based on how far I think they’ll go in the playoffs. You don’t need me to tell you Alex Ovechkin is one of the game’s best snipers, but 5-7 games of Ovechkin won’t be enough to win your playoff pool.
My strategy has always been to go all in on 3-4 teams. Have two teams you feel strong about potentially meeting up in the Stanley Cup Finals, and back it up with two other teams you think could go deep. If you’re in a box pool, I would stick to 3-4 teams depending on how the boxes are set up. If you’re drafting players with your buddies, go all in on two teams and think about players who get power-play time. Somtimes your plan changes when you see palyers on teams people are fading. For example, I'd expect most people to draft players from Tampa Bay and Vegas before Florida and Minnesota. If the Panthers or the Wild go on a run and you have one or two palyers from each team it coud be the difference in your pool. As much as I love the Lightning, I've decided to fade them due to the tough path. Below you’ll see team goalies ranked as we could see a couple of tandems this season.
If you have any questions, hit me up @chrismeaney. If you’re looking for a video or audio version, be sure to check out the 2021 NHL Playoffs Preview. Also be sure to follow our FTN Bet Tracker at FTNBets.com as I’ll be giving picks, props and parlays throughout the playoffs.
- Nathan MacKinnon, COL
- Connor McDavid, EDM
- Auston Matthews, TOR
- Mitchell Marner, TOR
- Mikko Rantanen, COL
- Leon Draisaitl, EDM
- Gabriel Landeskog, COL
- Sebastian Aho, CAR
- Patrice Bergeron, BOS
- Brad Marchand, BOS
- David Pastrnak, BOS
- Sidney Crosby, PIT
- Cale Makar, COL
- Jake Guentzel, PIT
- Andrei Svechnikov, CAR
- Dougie Hamilton, CAR
- Mark Stone, VGK
- Max Pacioretty, VGK
- John Tavares, TOR
- Shea Theodore, VGK
- Taylor Hall, BOS
- David Krejci, BOS
- William Nylander, TOR
- Alex Ovechkin, WAS
- Aleksander Barkov, FLA
- Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA
- Nikita Kucherov, TB
- Steven Stamkos, TB
- Victor Hedman, TB
- Vincent Trocheck, CAR
- Martin Necas, CAR
- Nazem Kadri, COL
- Andre Burakovsky, COL
- Brayden Point, TB
- William Karlsson, VGK
- Jonathan Marchessault, VGK
- Nicklas Backstrom, WAS
- John Carlson, WAS
- Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
- Teuvo Teravainen, CAR
- Craig Smith, BOS
- Bryan Rust, PIT
- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, EDM
- Evgeni Malkin, PIT
- Jordan Staal, CAR
- Chandler Stephenson, VGK
- Alex Tuch, VGK
- Alex Pietrangelo, VGK
- Kris Letang, PIT
- Darnell Nurse, EDM
- Tyson Barrie, EDM
- Kyle Connor, WPG
- Mark Scheifele, WPG
- Nikolaj Ehlers, WPG
- Jeff Carter, PIT
- Sam Bennett, FLA
- Nino Niederreiter, CAR
- Kevin Fiala, MIN
- Blake Wheeler, WPG
- Joonas Donskoi, COL
- Mats Zuccarello, MIN
- T.J. Oshie, WAS
- Anthony Mantha, WAS
- Reilly Smith, VGK
- Morgan Rielly, TOR
- Nick Foligno, TOR
- Zach Hyman, TOR
- Patric Hornqvist, FLA
- Carter Verhaeghe, FLA
- Ondrej Palat, TB
- Alex Killorn, TB
- Anthony Cirelli, TB
- Mathew Barzal, NYI
- Tom Wilson, WSH
- Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
- Jared McCann, PIT
- Anthony Duclair, FLA
- Frank Vatrano, FLA
- Yanni Gourde, TB
- Matt Grzelcyk, BOS
- Tyler Toffoli, MTL
- Nicholas Suzuki, MTL
- Jeff Petry, MTL
- Brendan Gallagher, MTL
- Ryan O'Reilly, STL
- David Perron, STL
- Vladimir Tarasenko, STL
- Brayden Schenn, STL
- Filip Forsberg, NSH
- Roman Josi, NSH
- Devon Toews, COL
- Jesse Puljujarvi, EDM
- Blake Coleman, TB
- Jared Spurgeon, MIN
- MacKenzie Weegar, FLA
- Jordan Eberle, NYI
- Brock Nelson, NYI
- Anthony Beauvillier, NYI
- Samuel Girard, COL
- Jason Zucker, PIT
Goalie power rankings
Colorado Avalanche
Vegas Golden Knights
Carolina Hurricanes
Toronto Maple Leafs
Boston Bruins
Pittsburgh Penguins
Edmonton Oilers
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Winnipeg Jets
Minnesota Wild
Washington Capitals
New York Islanders
Montreal Canadiens
St. Louis Blues
Nashville Predators
