Fantasy Hockey Playoff Power Rankings - West

Playoff Power Rankings

1.     Colorado Avalanche
2.     Tampa Bay Lightning
3.     Dallas Stars
4.     Carolina Hurricanes
5.     Vegas Golden Knights
6.     Minnesota Wild
7.     Montreal Canadiens
8.     Edmonton Oilers
9.     Utah Mammoth
10.  Buffalo Sabres
11.  Boston Bruins
12.  Pittsburgh Penguins
13.  Philadelphia Flyers
14.  Los Angeles Kings
15.  Ottawa Senators
16.  Anaheim Ducks

Colorado Avalanche

Main players to target: Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Nazem Kadri, Brock Nelson, Cale Makar

Secondary players to target: Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, Devon Toews, Sam Malinski

Despite the spotty history of Presidents’ Trophy winners who manage to also win the Cup, there’s no doubt the Avs are the favorites to win it all.

Obviously, anything can happen, but a first-round upset by the Kings seems very unlikely, and you’re hoping the Stars and Wild beat each other to a pulp, so when the Avs face the winner, they’ll prevail by being fresher and less banged up.

Injuries are where it might trip up the Avs. They’re notorious for playing their best players a ton of minutes, and it just gets taxing at this time of the year. Nazem Kadri, a proven playoff performer who can elevate his game and played a crucial role in their Cup win, has a finger fracture. It’s uncertain if Nathan MacKinnon sat out the season finale due to rest or injury, or both. Josh Manson has had a great season but currently suffering from an upper-body injury.

The wild card is Valeri Nichushkin. It was a disappointing season with 17 goals in 71 games, but he’s built for the playoffs with 22 goals in his past 37 playoff games. If you think the Avs will go far, he’s a worthwhile pick in playoff pools.

The Avs do not have an easy path and that might be the best argument against them winning the Cup after an outstanding regular season. They’ve got all the pieces; they just need to hold it altogether for the next month.

Dallas Stars

Main players to target: Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen, Miro Heiskanen

Secondary players to target: Roope Hintz, Matt Duchene, Jamie Benn, Mavrik Bourque, Thomas Harley

For the fourth straight season, the Stars have a tough first-round draw, but note they’ve made the conference final in each of the past three playoffs. The Wild will be a formidable opponent, but the Stars are a little deeper at center and earned the most wins on home ice in the West, potentially making home-ice advantage a significant factor.

It’s a little strange that a Cup contender really only has three elite forwards for playoff pools, and all three come with some warts. I’m not convinced Wyatt Johnston will be nearly as effective; he scored a league-leading 27 goals on the power play, and I doubt there will be that many opportunities in the playoffs. Mikko Rantanen had good overall numbers in the previous playoffs but after Game 1 against the Jets scored only one goal over the next 10 games. I’m not sure Jason Robertson’s game is built for the playoffs, not to mention his usage was very perplexing at times, barely averaging 15 minutes per game against the Jets.

That being said, perhaps Glen Gulutzan noticed how the Oilers leaned heavily on their stars and will take the same approach. The key players will be Roope Hintz and Matt Duchene. Can Hintz stay healthy? He’s slated to miss the first two games, which will hurt his fantasy value in playoff pools, and he’ll likely be operating at less than 100 percent. Duchene runs hot and cold, and over the past two runs has 11 points in 37 games with a minus-16 rating. Yikes.

The Stars could go far, and if you think so, certainly there’s nothing wrong loading up on them. They have the hardest path in the West and there’s some question marks with some of their player performances, so if you’re risk-averse perhaps looking at the other Pacific side of the bracket would produce better results.

Minnesota Wild

Main players to target: Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy, Mats Zuccarello, Joel Eriksson Ek, Quinn Hughes

Secondary players to target: Marcus Johansson, Ryan Hartman, Vladimir Tarsaenko, Brock Faber

Unless you’re convinced the Wild can go all the way to at leas the conference final, I wouldn’t bother with the secondary players. It’s conceivable Kirill Kaprizov, Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes will score more points in a single seven-game series than other players who play multiple rounds, but one round might be all you get out of them with a tough matchup against the Stars.

The season series was split, so you know this series will be tight. And the victor still has to face the Avs in the next round. Is this the Wild’s year or do they need another top-six center to complete the puzzle?

The Wild’s first-round exits are well-documented, and it just seems like they won’t be good enough to advance just yet, with no thanks to a tough draw.

Edmonton Oilers

Main players to target: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, Zach Hyman, Evan Bouchard

Secondary players to target: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Matt Savoie, Mattias Ekholm

That the Oilers’ list of players who are attractive in playoff pools tells you a lot about their depth and Cup prospects. They’ll make it out of round one against an inexperienced Ducks team that can’t defend – their affinity for rush offense plays right into the Oilers’ hands – but their defense and goaltending is such a mess that a stronger defensive team – such as the Knights in the next round – can neutralize the Oilers’ offense, their only real weapon.

With Leon Draisaitl’s status so uncertain, it only diminishes the Oilers’ offensive firepower, and there’s no mix of second-tier forwards, including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins or even Matt Savoie on his best nights, can fill that void.

The Oilers will only be worthwhile in playoff pools for contrarian managers, but it’s looking like this Oilers team will be making an earlier exit compared to the past two seasons.

Utah Mammoth

Main players to target: Clayton Keller, Nick Schmaltz, Dylan Guenther, Mikhail Sergachev

Secondary players to target: Logan Cooley, JJ Peterka, Lawson Crouse

A very intriguing team with some upset potential in the first round, but it’s an absolute bummer they’re in a stacked Central and end up losing home-ice advantage even though they finished just three points behind the Knights, who enter the playoffs on a heater.

Inexperience will be the Mammoth’s biggest challenge and captain Clayton Keller has just nine games of playoff experience from six years ago. Mikhail Sergachev can provide the most given his time with the Lightning, but as a whole this group is very untested.

The head scratcher is Logan Cooley, who will be a fantastic player one day but hasn't put up the numbers as some of his peers (Juraj Slafkovsky, Cutter Gauthier) and rode a sky-high, unsustainable 23.5 shooting percentage to 24 goals in 53 games. Nick Schmaltz is their 1C and Keller's long-time running mate, which caps Cooley's value. The talent is tempting, but it just hasn't been realized yet. 

Even if they manage to knock off the Knights – they did win the season series, after all – they’ll likely face the Oilers, a team they had a lot of trouble defending against during the regular season. However, of all the teams in the West, the Mammoth seem the most likely candidate to be a Cinderella. A lot has to go right for them, and they’re a definite longshot, making their playoff pool value quite limited.

Los Angeles Kings

Main players to target: Artemi Panarin, Adrian Kempe

Secondary players to target: Quinton Byfield, Anze Kopitar, Brandt Clarke, Corey Perry

The Kings’ biggest trump card might be a red-hot Anton Forsberg and Corey Perry’s history of making the final, and that’s just not a very convincing argument.

In the best-case scenario, the Kings might steal a game or two from the Avs, but forget about going past two rounds. Without Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko, the Kings just don’t have enough offensive depth to really compete, and their defense is anchored by a bunch of 30-somethings who are well past their prime or below-average altogether.

Artemi Panarin and Adrian Kempe will put up some points and Quinton Byfield might, but the Kings just aren’t a real threat to win the Cup, making them nearly value-less in fantasy pools. Keep in mind the Kings don’t win games by generating much offense, but clamping down on scoring opportunities and grinding them out. Unless they go deep, players on teams that play this way don’t tend to generate many fantasy points.

Anaheim Ducks

Main players to target: Leo Carlsson, Cutter Gauthier, John Carlson

Secondary players to target: Beckett Sennecke, Troy Terry, Chris Kreider, Mikael Granlund, Mason McTavish, Jackson LaCombe

With only two wins in their last 10 games to finish the season, the Ducks should just be really glad they’re here. They’re an up-and-coming team and this experience will be invaluable, and despite a stack of proven veteran playoff performers in John Carlson, Chris Kreider and Mikael Granlund, it’s just not the Ducks’ time yet.

That they’re matched up against the Oilers, who don’t mind at all playing pond hockey, does not bode well for a team that does not defend well and comes limping into the playoffs with an inexperienced young core. Only the biggest Ducks fans should be tempted to pick them in playoff pools.

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