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AIPROPX ReportCBS Sports · 2h ago
2026-27 forward preview: Connor McDavid leads loaded Fantasy hockey tiers featuring elite stars, rising talent
The best of the best in the current forward class have cleanly set themselves apart from the rest, but the difference between elite and great, then great and good, gets blurrier the further down you go. To help you better sort through your options up front, I've separated forwards into tiers. What you'll find below is meant to be representative of each forward's expected value for 2026-27 assuming standard fantasy categories. There's nuance within each tier, and I'll go into that while evaluating each tier below:
McDavid, Kucherov and MacKinnon finished first, second and third in regular-season points last year, and no other player was particularly close. On top of that, each of them surpassed the 40-goal mark. Of course, they're not just at the top of the list for having amazing 2025-26 campaigns. Combining the past five regular seasons, they rank in the top three for league scoring, with McDavid leading the pack at an eye-popping 646 points in 387 outings. These three also represent the three most recent Hart Trophy winners among forwards (goaltender Connor Hellebuyck is the only other player to win the Hart in the past four years). They're all also still in their prime, with only Kucherov creeping towards the end of it after turning 33 in June. Getting any of these three on your team would be an amazing starting point.
Macklin Celebrini, David Pastrnak, Leon Draisaitl
For each member of this trio, there is only the smallest reason to exclude them from Tier 1. Draisaitl was limited to 65 regular-season outings in 2025-26, which brought an end to his run of four straight campaigns with at least 40 goals and 100 points. Pastrnak hit the century mark for the fourth straight campaign, but his goal scoring dipped to 29, which marked the first time he finished below 40 since 2018-19 and 30 since 2015-16, excluding the shortened 2020-21 campaign. Meanwhile, Celebrini broke out with 45 goals and 115 points in 82 outings last season, but for as much promise as he has, he's still not quite as established as McDavid, Kucherov and MacKinnon. Nevertheless, if anyone in Tier 2 ended up winning the Hart, no one would be shocked. The risk in Tier 2 is slightly higher, but the offensive upside is comparable to Tier 1.
Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Nick Suzuki, Cole Caufield, Juraj Slafkovsky, Martin Necas, Jason Robertson, Kirill Kaprizov, Mikko Rantanen, Jake Guentzel, Clayton Keller, Dylan Guenther
If you end up having to wait until late in the first round for your opening pick, then you'll probably miss out on everyone from Tiers 1 and 2. Fortunately, there's a lot to love in Tier 3. You could even potentially snatch both of Winnipeg's Connor and Scheifele, or at least two-thirds of Montreal's Suzuki, Caufield and Slafkovsky. I think Montreal's top line is going to be phenomenal this year, in no small part because I anticipate Slafkovsky to continue to elevate his game, so investing in part or all of that trio would be a high priority of mine. Necas is another strong option. He's coming off a 38-goal, 100-point 2025-26 regular season and is a strong bet to put up a similar return this year as long as he remains paired with MacKinnon. If I had to pick someone I'm less enthused about, it's Keller. He's ranged from 26-37 goals as well as 76-90 points in each of the past four regular seasons, and that high-end consistency is worthy of respect. However, his highs aren't quite as high as others in this Tier, and at the age of 28, that's unlikely to change. If you want a safe bet, he's good, but I'd take him after the other options on this Tier have been exhausted.
Auston Matthews, Jack Hughes, Connor Bedard, Sidney Crosby, Mark Stone, Aleksander Barkov, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Brad Marchand
Let's take a moment to appreciate that four members of the Panthers are in this tier. No one is going to argue with the potential of Florida, but those who are measuring the Panthers against what they look like at 100 percent might be falling into a trap, because history suggests they won't have many occasions where their core is completely healthy. Barkov missed all of 2025-26, of course, but he also hasn't reached the 75-game mark in any regular season since 2018-19. Brady Tkachuk has missed 32 regular-season outings over the past two years, and his older brother Matthew has fared far worse, missing 81 regular-season games over the same span. Then there's Marchand, who was limited to 52 outings last year and is hard to rely on to stay healthy at the age of 38. Getting up there in age is the same reason Crosby is here. Although he was limited to 68 regular-season appearances in 2025-26, he has otherwise been fairly healthy in recent years. Even still, he's 39 years old now, so it might be too much to hope for an almost completely uninterrupted campaign.
Wyatt Johnston, Matt Boldy, Alex DeBrincat, Lucas Raymond, Artemi Panarin, Tim Stutzle, Tage Thompson, Sebastian Aho, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, Mika Zibanejad, Filip Forsberg, Brandon Hagel, Jesper Bratt, Robert Thomas, Tom Wilson
There is nothing wrong with the forwards in this tier. Far from it. All of them can reach or exceed a point per game and would look great on any team's top line. However, at this point, you're not looking at anyone who is entering the season with a great shot at capturing the Hart or leading the league in goals or points. Panarin is a great example of that. At his height, he would belong at least one Tier above this group, but at the age of 34 (35 on Oct. 30), he's more of a forward you can bank on for about 30 goals and 80 points. If Panarin is the norm for this tier, Thompson and Johnston are arguably the two most undervalued. Johnston finished the 2025-26 regular season with 45 goals and 86 points and is still just 23 years old, so it's not unreasonable to believe 2026-27 will be even better. However, his 21.8 shooting percentage was a major jump for him and a pote...
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