Fantasy forwards: Second line fueling Predators

"The Neutral Zone" Fantasy Hockey Report

Ryan Johansen

The Ryan Johansen trade was expected to boost the Nashville Predators offense. It has certainly done so, indirectly.

Playing with James Neal on a full-time basis, Johansen has taken the pressure off Filip Forsberg and Mike Ribeiro in their secondary role. In 26 games with Johansen on board, Nashville's leading scorers are Forsberg (25 points) and Ribeiro (21), with Craig Smith (16, T-5th on team in span) along for the ride.


Johansen's points-per-game average in 26 games with Nashville (.69) is nearly identical to his rate in 38 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets this season (.68). But the trade has allowed Predators coach Peter Laviolette to split up his top players to form two cohesive lines. ––> Read this on NHL.com.

TOP 100 FANTASY FORWARDS ––> Read this on NHL.com.

These rankings indicate fantasy expectations for the rest of the season. Value is quantified by line combinations, power-play usage, past performance and overall upside in standard Yahoo categories (goals, assists, plus-minus, penalty minutes, power-play points and shots on goal.

1. Patrick Kane, C/RW, CHI
2. Alex Ovechkin, LW/RW, WSH
3. Jamie Benn, LW, DAL
4. Tyler Seguin, C/RW, DAL
5. Sidney Crosby, C, PIT
6. Evgeni Malkin, C/RW, PIT (+1)
7. Evgeny Kuznetsov, C/LW, WSH (-1)
8. Joe Pavelski, C/LW/RW, SJS
9. Patrice Bergeron, C, BOS (+1)
10. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, STL (-1)
11. Claude Giroux, C/RW, PHI (+1)
12. Joe Thornton, C, SJS (+5)
13. Nicklas Backstrom, C, WSH (-2)
14. Anze Kopitar, C, LAK (+2)
15. Daniel Sedin, LW, VAN
16. Ryan Getzlaf, C, ANA (+5)
17. Steven Stamkos, C, TBL (-4)
18. Brad Marchand, LW, BOS (+4)
19. Taylor Hall, C/LW, EDM    
20. Johnny Gaudreau, LW, CGY (-6)
21. John Tavares, C, NYI (-3)
22. Nikita Kucherov, RW, TBL (+1)
23. Corey Perry, RW, ANA (+1)
24. Artemi Panarin, LW, CHI (+1)
25. Jonathan Toews, C, CHI (+1)
26. Blake Wheeler, RW, WPG (-6)
27. Filip Forsberg, C/LW/RW, NSH (+1)
28. Wayne Simmonds, LW/RW, PHI (+4)
29. Jason Spezza, C, DAL (+7)
30. Nathan MacKinnon, C/RW, COL (-1)
31. Ryan Johansen, C/RW, NSH    
32. Connor McDavid, C, EDM (+1)
33. Patrick Sharp, C/LW/RW, DAL (DTD)
34. Jakub Voracek, LW/RW, PHI (DTD)
35. Max Pacioretty, LW, MTL    
36. James Neal, LW/RW, NSH (+1)
37. Tyler Toffoli, C/LW/RW, LAK (-3)
38. Matt Duchene, C/LW, COL    
39. Phil Kessel, RW, PIT (+2)
40. Jaromir Jagr, RW, FLA (+2)
41. Gabriel Landeskog, LW, COL (+3)
42. David Krejci, C, BOS (-3)
43. Zach Parise, LW, MIN (-3)
44. Henrik Zetterberg, C/LW, DET (-1)
45. Aleksander Barkov, C, FLA (+2)
46. Derick Brassard, C, NYR    
47. Patric Hornqvist, RW, PIT (+15)
48. Tyler Johnson, C, TBL (+5)
49. Jeff Carter, C/RW, LAK
50. Pavel Datsyuk, C/LW, DET (DTD)
51. Ryan Kesler, C/RW, ANA (+3)
52. Justin Williams, RW, WSH (-4)
53. Loui Eriksson, LW/RW, BOS (-2)
54. T.J. Oshie, C/RW, WSH (+3)
55. Andrew Ladd, LW, CHI (+3)
56. Jonathan Huberdeau, C/LW, FLA (NR - INJ.)
57. Dylan Larkin, C/LW, DET (-5)
58. Henrik Sedin, C, VAN (DTD)
59. Logan Couture, C/LW, SJS (-4)
60. Scott Hartnell, LW, CBJ (+1)
61. David Perron, LW/RW, ANA (+4)
62. Kyle Okposo, RW, NYI (+9)
63. Mike Hoffman, C/LW, OTT (-7)
64. Mats Zuccarello, LW/RW, NYR    
65. Jack Eichel, C, BUF (+2)
66. Shane Doan, LW/RW, ARI    
67. Bobby Ryan, LW/RW, OTT (-8)
68. Kyle Palmieri, LW/RW, NJD (+2)
69. Milan Lucic, LW, LAK (+3)
70. Eric Staal, C/LW, NYR (+3)
71. Brayden Schenn, C/LW, PHI (+6)
72. Sean Monahan, C, CGY (-3)
73. Brandon Saad, LW/RW, CBJ (DTD)
74. Brendan Gallagher, RW, MTL (DTD)
75. Tomas Hertl, C/LW, SJS    
76. Tomas Plekanec, C, MTL (-2)
77. Mark Scheifele, C, WPG (+21)
78. Andre Burakovsky, LW, WSH    
79. Jussi Jokinen, C/LW/RW, FLA (+4)
80. David Backes, C/RW, STL (+2)
81. Evander Kane, LW, BUF    
82. Boone Jenner, C/RW, CBJ (-3)
83. Mike Ribeiro, C, NSH (+12)
84. Lee Stempniak, LW/RW, BOS (+3)
85. Max Domi, C/LW, ARI (-8)
86. Leon Draisaitl, C/RW, EDM (-6)
87. Mark Stone, RW, OTT (+3)
88. Mikko Koivu, C, MIN (+3)
89. Chris Kunitz, LW, PIT (-3)
90. Jeff Skinner, LW/RW, CAR (+4)
91. Jordan Eberle, RW, EDM (-7)
92. Jaden Schwartz, LW, STL (-4)
93. Ryan Spooner, C/LW, BOS (-4)
94. Vincent Trocheck, C/RW, FLA (+3)
95. Jarome Iginla, RW, COL (+1)
96. Brandon Dubinsky, C/LW, CBJ (-3)
97. Mikkel Boedker, LW/RW, COL (+3)
98. Ondrej Palat, LW, TBL (NEW)
99. Chris Kreider, LW, NYR (-7)
100. Rickard Rakell, C, ANA (NEW)

Just missed: Justin Abdelkader (LW/RW, DET), Adam Henrique (C/LW, NJD), Frans Nielsen (C, NYI), Nazem Kadri (C, TOR), Marcus Johansson (C/LW/RW, WSH), Victor Rask (C, CAR), Tomas Tatar (LW/RW, DET), Gustav Nyquist (C/LW/RW, DET), Cam Atkinson (RW, CBJ), Jason Pominville (RW, MIN)

Dropped out: Abdelkader, Carl Soderberg

Key injuries: Alexander Steen (C/LW, STL), Rick Nash (LW/RW, NYR), Marian Hossa (RW, CHI), Ryan O'Reilly (C/LW/RW, BUF), Mike Cammalleri (C/LW, NJD), Bryan Little (C/RW, WPG), James van Riemsdyk (LW, TOR), Alex Galchenyuk (C/LW, MTL), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (C, EDM), Benoit Pouliot (LW, EDM), Nikolaj Ehlers (LW/RW, WPG), Brandon Pirri (C/LW/RW, ANA)