Now that the NHL season has completed the first month of games, I thought it would be interesting to see how the Average Draft Picks stack up against the NHL’s current top-scorers. In the below table, you will find the top 50 scoring players in the NHL – according to the DSE scoring system – and where they were drafted in start-up leagues this year.
As the season progresses, I will post an updated table that will highlight players who climb or fall in the rankings. Any player taken in the Free-Agent rounds of the start-up draft whose +/- differential is greater than or equal to 10 has been marked in BOLD, whereas any player whose +/- differential is less than or equal to -10 has been ITALICIZED.
Here is a link to the DSE start-up ADP list.
| Player | Team | Position | Total Points | Rank | Startup ADP | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leon Draisaitl | EDM | C,LW | 114.85 | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Connor McDavid | EDM | C | 113.9 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Andrei Vasilevskiy | TBL | G | 112.4 | 3 | 8 | 5 |
| Philipp Grubauer | COL | G | 108.3 | 4 | 127 | 123 |
| Patrice Bergeron | BOS | C | 92.5 | 5 | 52 | 47 |
| Semyon Varlamov | NYI | G | 92.2 | 6 | 168 | 162 |
| John Gibson | ANA | G | 91.7 | 7 | 131 | 124 |
| Frederik Andersen | TOR | G | 91.2 | 8 | 39 | 31 |
| Jacob Markstrom | CGY | G | 88.8 | 9 | 59 | 50 |
| Auston Matthews | TOR | C | 88.05 | 10 | 2 | -8 |
| Joe Pavelski | DAL | C,RW | 82.95 | 11 | 274 | 263 |
| Kevin Lankinen | CHI | G | 75.6 | 12 | FA | |
| Anze Kopitar | LAK | C | 75.1 | 13 | 75 | 62 |
| Tyler Toffoli | MTL | LW,RW | 72.25 | 14 | 215 | 201 |
| Connor Hellebuyck | WPG | G | 71.4 | 15 | 11 | -4 |
| John Tavares | TOR | C | 69.25 | 16 | 23 | 7 |
| Marc-Andre Fleury | VGK | G | 68.7 | 17 | 257 | 240 |
| Elias Lindholm | CGY | C,RW | 65.75 | 18 | 42 | 24 |
| Ryan O'Reilly | STL | C | 65.5 | 19 | 42 | 23 |
| Jordan Binnington | STL | G | 65.2 | 20 | 49 | 29 |
| Christian Dvorak | ARI | C,LW | 64.35 | 21 | 177 | 156 |
| Brad Marchand | BOS | LW | 64.25 | 22 | 68 | 46 |
| Bo Horvat | VAN | C | 64 | 23 | 26 | 3 |
| Jeff Petry | MTL | D | 63.9 | 24 | 206 | 182 |
| Vincent Trocheck | CAR | C | 63.2 | 25 | 199 | 174 |
| Patrick Kane | CHI | RW | 62.7 | 26 | 41 | 15 |
| Steven Stamkos | TBL | C,LW,RW | 61.45 | 27 | 24 | -3 |
| Jake Allen | MTL | G | 60.6 | 28 | 268 | 240 |
| James van Riemsdyk | PHI | LW | 60.15 | 29 | 328 | 299 |
| Brayden Point | TBL | C | 59.6 | 30 | 20 | -10 |
| Aleksander Barkov | FLA | C | 59.15 | 31 | 17 | -14 |
| Brock Boeser | VAN | RW | 59.05 | 32 | 73 | 41 |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | WPG | LW,RW | 58.75 | 33 | 79 | 46 |
| Mitchell Marner | TOR | C,RW | 58.65 | 34 | 19 | -15 |
| Alex DeBrincat | CHI | LW,RW | 57.95 | 35 | 79 | 44 |
| Jordan Staal | CAR | C | 57.35 | 36 | 354 | 318 |
| Nicklas Backstrom | WSH | C | 57.3 | 37 | 143 | 106 |
| Sidney Crosby | PIT | C | 56.25 | 38 | 24 | -14 |
| Jack Eichel | BUF | C | 54.5 | 39 | 6 | -33 |
| Max Pacioretty | VGK | LW | 54.5 | 40 | 97 | 57 |
| Chris Driedger | FLA | G | 54.1 | 41 | 357 | 316 |
| Filip Forsberg | NSH | LW | 53.75 | 42 | 105 | 63 |
| Johnny Gaudreau | CGY | LW,RW | 53.7 | 43 | 69 | 26 |
| Darnell Nurse | EDM | D | 52.95 | 44 | 157 | 113 |
| Dustin Brown | LAK | RW | 52.75 | 45 | 401 | 356 |
| Jonathan Huberdeau | FLA | LW | 52.6 | 46 | 45 | -1 |
| Ryan Nugent-Hopkins | EDM | C,LW | 51.8 | 47 | 70 | 23 |
| Victor Hedman | TBL | D | 51.65 | 48 | 56 | 8 |
| Patric Hornqvist | FLA | RW | 51.65 | 49 | 295 | 246 |
| Dominik Kubalik | CHI | LW,RW | 51.55 | 50 | 88 | 38 |
Takeaways:
James van Riemsdyk, PHI, LW
James van Riemsdyk is off to a hot start in the first month of the NHL season. Considering his ADP, he’s producing WAY above what most owners expected to start the season. However, given his history, this may be an excellent time to sell high and capitalize on his 18 points to start the season.
Jordan Staal, CAR, C
The 32-year-old Staal is another player producing above his ADP in the first month of the season. Staal is another sell-high candidate for you own him because of his age and previous seasons averages.
Chris Driedger, FLA, G
Unlike the previous two players mentioned, Driedger is a former “elite prospect” who seems to have figured things out. As the #2 goalie for Florida, Driedger is having a very good, if not great, start to the season. I would be buying now on Driedger if you don’t already own him!
Dustin Brown, LAK, RW
Dustin Brown is a 36-year-old winger who is having a fantastic start to the season. I would be selling high on Brown because he is unlikely to sustain this production level throughout the season, given his previous seasons’ performance.
Feel free to reach out to me via Twitter @drunkenangelz.
