After the first few rounds of your fantasy draft, finding value is key to selecting a great team. These forwards, where they currently rank are definite bargains. They are worth drafting over most of the other forwards ranked similarly. Here are the five best bargains at forward going into the 2017-18 NHL season.
Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes
Forward Rank: 45
After scoring 37 goals, a career-high and the sixth best in the NHL last season, you would expect to see Jeff Skinner encroaching into the top-25 forwards for 2017-18, but he just makes it into the top-50. Skinner will be 25 this season, or typically the age most NHL players enter their primes. He has shown continual improvement in his career, meaning his 37-goal season is likely no fluke. The Carolina Hurricanes have more depth on the roster this season and could flip Sebastian Aho to right wing to pair with Skinner to make their top line even more dangerous. Even if he stays paired with his current linemates, he is poised to have another great season. The reason he’s overlooked is because he had just 51 points the year before and a lousy 31 before that. But the Hurricanes have been a mess in terms of putting together offensive talent. This should be one of Skinner’s better situations in his time with the Hurricanes.
T.J. Oshie, Washington Capitals
Forward Rank: 57
If T.J. Oshie can play a full season for the Washington Capitals, he not only is a great fantasy option but a sneaky pick to lead the NHL in goals scored. Oshie scored 33 goals last season and ranked eighth in goals scored per game. He led the NHL in shoot percentage at 23.1%. He will not get you a lot of assists, but he can do enough in just about everything else to offset his low assist totals. If Oshie can keep his shooting percentage around 20% and increase his shot total, he could challenge for 40 goals, while adding 100+ hits and 200 shots on net. Those numbers are good enough to make him one of the better forwards in fantasy hockey.
Alex Wennberg, Columbus Blue Jackets
Forward Rank: 63
Alex Wennberg grew into an elite playmaker last season, finishing the year with 46 assists while adding 23 points on the power play. The Columbus Blue Jackets have one of the more intriguing young cores in the NHL and should continue to see improvements from most of their players this season, including Wennberg. The addition of Artemi Panarin on the top line with Wennberg gives the playmaking center a great option to feed passes and rack up assists. If Wennberg can increase his goal total, he could become a Henrik Zetterberg level player this season.
Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche
Forward Rank: 65
Excluding his rookie season four years ago, the former first overall pick has not lived up to expectations. It is difficult to blame him entirely for his shortcomings, especially after the disaster that was the Colorado Avalanche last season. The team cannot do much worse than they did last season, after finishing with a franchise low and NHL worst 48 points. MacKinnon has 300 NHL games played in his career and with the experience, he should be able to improve on his 6.4% shooting percentage and his 14 power play points he finished with last season. If MacKinnon can increase his shooting percentage to just 10%, which is still below average, he would become a 25-goal scorer and likely finish better than the 65th ranked forward this season.
Milan Lucic, Edmonton Oilers
Forward Rank: 89
In his first season with the Edmonton Oilers, the scrappy left winger finished with modest success, finishing with 25 power play points and 50 points overall. Where Lucic lost most of his value last season was in his +/- rating. Over his previous six seasons, five with Boston and one with the Los Angeles Kings, Lucic never finished with a negative +/- and three times ended the year with a rating of 26 or better. Lucic should help Edmonton develop better two-way players in his second season and see his numbers improve, which will help him finish better than his current ranking.
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