Welcome to this year’s premier edition of the DailyFaceoff.com fantasy hockey Keeper Rankings. Every league is different and a manager’s attitude towards keepers changes based on whether the team is contending this year or building for the future. Consider these rankings as a trading cheat sheet for a hypothetical team that wants to compete this year but doesn’t want to mortgage the future. There is a good balance of present and future on this list.
These rankings are determined based on a long-term league (at least five years) with standard Yahoo! Scoring. And of course, position matters. All stats and comments are up to date as of November 25th.
Off The Board: N/A
Market Movers: N/A
Free Fallin’: N/A
| Rnk. | Player | Prvs. | |
| 1 | Alex Ovechkin | Behind both Crosby and Stamkos in points but too early to move from this plateau. | - |
| 2 | Sidney Crosby | Second in goals, points and assists. | - |
| 3 | Steven Stamkos | 21 goals in 22 games just unreal; could creep up this list. | - |
| 4 | Nicklas Backstrom | Centering Ovechkin will keep him this high. | - |
| 5 | Evgeni Malkin | Struggling to gain momentum but plays on second line with grinders. Can’t imagine it always stays this way. | - |
| 6 | Daniel Sedin | Fourth in the League in goals; could score 50 this year. | - |
| 7 | Henrik Sedin | Lacking goals as predicted but leads the League in assists. | - |
| 8 | Mike Green | Struggling to get going but should finish right where expected, playing on powerful powerplay | - |
| 9 | Dany Heatley | More assists than goals so far but still one of the most consistent scoring threats possible. | - |
| 10 | Corey Perry | Unique combination of goal scoring and PIM will always keep him at the top of this list. | - |
| 11 | Roberto Luongo | Off to slow start as usual but Canucks cannot be ignored. | - |
| 12 | Alexander Semin | Playing the best hockey of his career, unfortunately could be last as a Cap. | - |
| 13 | Mike Richards | The captain is leading the Flyers in points and the team to the top of the Eastern Conference. | - |
| 14 | Duncan Keith | Rough start but still an elite defender on strong team. | - |
| 15 | Martin St. Louis | Signing extension makes us feel better about long-term value. Setting up Stamkos proving invaluable source of points. | - |
| 16 | Drew Doughty | Only one goal this season but too valuable to place lower. | - |
| 17 | Patrick Kane | One point behind Sharp for team lead in points, likely he takes over that role by the end of the year. | - |
| 18 | Pavel Datsyuk | Showing his 70 points last year were a bit low. | - |
| 19 | Ilya Kovalchuk | Incredibly disappointing start but knows he needs to turn it around. All 15 years can’t be this bad. | - |
| 20 | Zach Parise | Without injury is a lock in the top 10. | - |
| 21 | Jonathan Toews | One of the few Blackhawks forwards with a plus rating. | - |
| 22 | Jeff Carter | On pace to break 40 goals once again. | - |
| 23 | Jimmy Howard | Playing on the Red Wings means he rarely loses. Also much better peripherals than other heavily winning goalies. | - |
| 24 | Henrik Zetterberg | Over a point-per-game and enjoying renaissance playing with Datsyuk all season. | - |
| 25 | Ryan Getzlaf | Points down again and showing top line can’t carry team alone. | - |
| 26 | Bobby Ryan | Scores regardless of playing on first or second line. | - |
| 27 | Eric Staal | One of the few reasons the Canes actually win games. | - |
| 28 | Jonathan Quick | Love this underrated goalie on a potential powerhouse Kings team. | - |
| 29 | Carey Price | Carrying the Habs. Talent not in question, keeping up this unbelievable pace is. | - |
| 30 | Patrick Marleau | Still riding shotgun to one of the best lines in hockey. On pace for 40 goals. | - |
| 31 | Anze Kopitar | Offensive leader on the potential powerhouse Kings | - |
| 32 | Ryan Miller | Winning three of last four means only injury holding him back. | - |
| 33 | Rick Nash | Tied for fourth in the League in goal scoring; bringing Columbus back to respectability. | - |
| 34 | Ilya Bryzgalov | Carrying the Coyotes for the second straight season. | - |
| 35 | Marian Hossa | Injuries and now age keeping him this low. Top 10 talent. | - |
| 36 | Joe Thornton | Jumbo Joe still number 1 center in San Jose but for how long? | - |
| 37 | Nathan Horton | Starting his Bruins career off strongly; good to see what he can do on a good team. | - |
| 38 | Marian Gaborik | Probably one of the most dynamic goal scorers in the League. Definitely the most injury prone. | - |
| 39 | Brad Richards | Age and contract concerns keep him lower on the list. Talent keeps him a top 10 point getter. | - |
| 40 | Tomas Plekanec | The main scoring threat for the Habs but has struggled with consistency in the past. | - |
| 41 | Jaroslav Halak | Off to a good start during Blues’ career, if he keeps it up he should easily climb up the list. | - |
| 42 | Tomas Vokoun | Might rise if he gets traded to an actual contender. | - |
| 43 | Paul Stastny | One of the best pure playmakers in the League. Starting another offensive juggernaut in for the Avs. | - |
| 44 | Henrik Lundqvist | Has had a plethora of success in the past, should lead the Rangers back into the playoffs. | - |
| 45 | Michael Cammalleri | Scoring a bit down this season but one of the best pure snipers in the League. | - |
| 46 | Shea Weber | Over 15 goals in three of the last four years. | - |
| 47 | Patrick Sharp | Offensive production already slowing down; seems to be more complimentary than core. | - |
| 48 | Matt Duchene | Keeps scoring in bunches, becoming more dynamic by the day. | - |
| 49 | John Tavares | Draft status the only thing keeping him this high. | - |
| 50 | Taylor Hall | Hasn’t really turned the corner yet but cannot discount number 1 pick. | - |
Just Missed The Cut: James Neal, DAL; Chris Stewart, COL; Martin Brodeur, NJD; Pekka Rinne, NSH; Claude Giroux, PHI; Dustin Byfuglien, ATL; Dion Phaneuf, TOR; Phil Kessel, TOR; Vincent Lecavalier, TBL; Jarome Iginla, CGY; Ryan Kesler, VAN; Kris Letang, PIT; Dan Boyle, SJS; Andrei Markov, MTL; Erik Johnson, STL; Steve Downie, TBL; Chris Pronger, PHI; Zdeno Chara, BOS; Derek Roy, BUF; Loui Eriksson, DAL; Thomas Vanek, BUF; Milan Lucic, BOS; Nicklas Lidstrom, DET; Tyler Myers, BUF; Jeff Skinner, CAR; Tim Thomas, BOS; Dustin Brown, LAK; Tyler Seguin, BOS.
