Oilers’ Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid headline top NHL fantasy players

With the 2025-26 season in view, fans across the world are gearing up for their respective fantasy hockey seasons. Getting the chance to be their own general manager has long been a tradition for avid hockey supporters.

Heading into the new campaign, there are many big-name players that people are going to want on their teams. On Tuesday, Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin released his top 300 fantasy hockey player rankings. Among them are 12 members of the Edmonton Oilers, headlined by the team’s dynamic duo – Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.

The two are listed back-to-back, with Draisaitl sitting second behind Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, with McDavid sitting behind him in third. Draisaitl, hot off winning the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the only player to reach 50 goals last season, he’s an easy choice for any fantasy team.

As is McDavid. However, Larkin says McDavid’s lack of goal-scoring over the past couple of seasons has made him a less hot commodity on draft boards and might not be of much use late in the season.

“That one 64-goal year aside, he isn’t the goal-scoring threat his superstar peers are,” Larkin wrote. “Because it’s Stanley Cup or bust, the Edmonton Oilers will load-manage the hell out of him if he shows any wear and tear late in the regular season – a.k.a. fantasy playoff time in head-to-head leagues.”

The only other Oiler in the top 100 is defenceman Evan Bouchard. An offencively gifted blueliner with exceptional durability (along with a nice new contract), Bouchard could rack up the fantasy points, Larkin says.

“Incredibly productive in Edmonton’s dominant attack, and Bouchard is also incredibly durable, missing two games total across his past four seasons. Given how potent his shot is, he could reach 20 goals one of these years on top of the 70 to 80 points.”

From there, things sort of spread out on the Edmonton side of things. Hyman is ranked 115th, thanks to an inconsistent 2024-25 season and a wrist injury that could lead to him missing the start of this year.

Goaltender Stuart Skinner is No. 122 on the list. Certainly far from the “can’t-miss” fantasy talent. With his future as the starting goaltender in question, it might not be worth taking a swing at Skinner, especially since his heroics in the playoffs don’t count toward fantasy seasons.

Coming in at No. 143 is Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. While he has been known to score timely goals for the Oilers, Father Time seems to be catching up to him.

“Averaged his fewest points per game in eight years last season,” Larkin writes. “We can’t write that off as nothing, given he’s 14 seasons into his career. The Nuge may be declining, though he can still help you in assists and power-play points as a 50-point guy.

Defender Darnell Nurse is all the way down to No. 201 on the list. Offencively, he’ll manage to drive up the fantasy points for the larger leagues. The same can be said for Jake Walman. ranked 253rd, he was a key pickup by the Oilers last season. If he can find his scoring touch in his first full season in Edmonton, he’ll be a guy worth taking a swing at.

There are a couple of prospects on Larkin’s list as well. The recently acquired Isaac Howard (267) and Matthew Savoie (268) seem poised to have opportunities to play in the NHL. Veterans Andrew Mangiapane (269) and Mattias Ekholm (274) might be worth drafting in the later rounds as well.