This article is part of our Cap Compliance series.
Dynasty leagues have become an increasingly popular way to play fantasy sports. In short, in a dynasty league, you keep your entire roster each season. In this piece, we are going to cover some basically dynasty strategies, some buy-low and sell-high options, in addition to our top 250 fantasy rankings for the 2021-22 season.
BASIC STRATEGIES
Be realistic about your situation: This is by far the most important one. The worst thing you can be in a dynasty league is a middling team. If you're team is lousy, blow it up and start over. If you're in a dynasty league, you are, by definition, in it for the long haul. On the flip side, flags fly forever. If you have a chance to win it all, go for it.
Target goaltending: You aren't going to win your fantasy league without good goaltending. It's difficult to find serviceable goalies during the season, cause there aren't enough to go around and no one is looking to move those guys during the year. There's a huge advantage in having stable netminders.
Don't overvalue prospects: Look, we all love prospects, and if you were lucky to get Connor McDavid coming out of the OHL, you're set for life. Yet the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of prospects don't make a serviceable, long-term fantasy impact. I'm not saying to ignore prospects entirely, but there's real value in having a player who you know will help you immediately instead.
BUY-LOW CANDIDATES
Jack Eichel (F-BUF): Alright, listen to me here. Yes, Eichel is looking at serious neck surgery and his long-term destination remains unknown. Eichel also won't turn 25 years of age until late October and assuming he does have the surgery, I'm confident it will be successful. No NHL club would take the risk if they weren't certain it would turn out well. It's a rare chance to buy a top-10 talent at a fraction of the cost.
Jack Hughes (F-NJ): The Devils haven't lit the world on fire in Hughes' first two NHL season, but better days are ahead. The addition of Dougie Hamilton should help New Jersey's power-play immensely, which should, in turn, help Hughes' offensive production.
Alexis Lafreniere (F-NYR): Lafreniere didn't set the league on fire in his first NHL season, but his rookie numbers (12 goals, 21 points), prorated over a 82-game season, would have been perfectly reasonable (18 goals, 30 points). There is a jump in ice time and production coming this year.
Ryan Pulock (D-NYI): Pulock's offensive game was MIA most of last season, but he got hot in the playoffs and there is really no obvious reason for his poor year. His power-play time remains high, and he shoots the puck about as well as any defender in the league. I expect a rebound effort
SELL-HIGH CANDIDATES
Sam Reinhart (F-FLA): Reinhart was by far Buffalo's best player a season ago. His reward? A trade to a much better team in the Panthers. I still expect steady numbers, but I wouldn't be surprised if his numbers dipped with guys like Barkov and Huberdeau around to share the wealth.
Tyson Barrie (D-EDM): Barrie led all NHL defenders in scoring a season ago, with 48 points in 56 games. He should excel in that area once again, but his value is tied to his production with the man advantage and NHL power-play's are notoriously fickle on a year-to-year basis.
Vincent Trocheck (F-CAR): Trocheck was healthy last season, and as expected, positive results (17 goals, 43 points in 47 games) followed. I'm still worried about his injury history over the long-term.
Pavel Buchnevich (F-STL): There is no defensible reason the Rangers traded Buchnevich, fresh off a season in which he set a career-high in points (48 in 54 games), to St. Louis for Sammy Blais and a third-round pick. I expect Buch to have another strong year with the Blues, but he fit very well alongside Mika Zibanejad and Chris Kreider in New York, and I think he will miss playing with those two.
2021-22 NHL TOP 250 DYNASTY RANKINGS
(Note: There is no hard and fast rule about how to run a dynasty team. If your team is light in net, bump goalies up the list. If you're in a clear rebuild, try for younger players. Just remember -- don't get caught in the middle!)
1- Connor McDavid (F-EDM)
2- Nathan MacKinnon (F-COL)
3- Auston Matthews (F-TOR)
4- Leon Draisaitl (F-EDM)
5- Andrei Vasilevskiy (G-TB)
6- Nikita Kucherov (F-TB)
7- David Pastrnak (F-BOS)
8- Mikko Rantanen (F-COL
9- Mitch Marner (F-TOR)
10- Cale Makar (D-COL)
11- Artemi Panarin (F-NYR)
12- Aleksander Barkov (F-FLA)
13- Brad Marchand (F-BOS)
14- Sebastian Aho (F-CAR)
15- Elias Pettersson (F-VAN)
16- Brayden Point (F-TB)
17- Andrei Svechnikov (F-CAR)
18- Mika Zibanejad (F-NYR)
19- Patrick Kane (F-CHI)
20- John Tavares (F-TOR)
21- Jack Eichel (F-BUF)
22- Jonathan Huberdeau (F-FLA)
23- Kirill Kaprizov (F-MIN)
24- Dougie Hamilton (D-NJ)
25- John Carlson (D-WSH)
26- Victor Hedman (D-TB)
27- Sidney Crosby (F-PIT)
28- Connor Hellebuyck (G-WPG)
29- Matthew Tkachuk (F-CGY)
30- Kyle Connor (F-WPG)
31- Quinn Hughes (D-VAN)
32- Adam Fox (D-NYR)
33- Steven Stamkos (F-TB)
34- Mark Scheifele (F-WPG)
35- Johnny Gaudreau (F-CGY)
36- Roman Josi (D-NSH)
37- Brady Tkachuk (F-OTT)
38- Mark Stone (F-VGK)
39- Alex Ovechkin (F-WSH)
40- Alex DeBrincat (F-CHI)
41- Jake Guentzel (F-PIT)
42- Alexis Lafreniere (F-NYR)
43- Jack Hughes (F-NJ)
44- Nick Suzuki (F-MTL)
45- Tim Stutzle (F-OTT)
46- Evgeni Malkin (F-PIT)
47- Mathew Barzal (F-NYI)
48- Quinton Byfield (F-LA)
49- Jakob Chychrun (D-ARI)
50- Shea Theodore (D-VGK)
51- Igor Shesterkin (G-NYR)
52- Trevor Zegras (F-ANA)
53- Cole Caufield (F-MTL)
54- Juuse Saros (G-NSH)
55- Rasmus Dahlin (D-BUF)
56- Filip Forsberg (F-NSH)
57- Brock Boeser (F-VAN)
58- Teuvo Teravainen (F-CAR)
59- Vladimir Tarasenko (F-STL)
60- Sean Couturier (F-PHI)
61- Kris Letang (D-PIT)
62- Morgan Rielly (D-TOR)
63- Jacob Markstrom (G-FLA)
64- Seth Jones (D-CHI)
65- Elias Lindholm (F-CGY)
66- Kevin Fiala (F-MIN)
67- Patrice Bergeron (F-BOS)
68- Sam Reinhart (F-FLA)
69- Roope Hintz (F-DAL)
70- Gabriel Landeskog (F-COL)
71- Aaron Ekblad (D-FL)A
72- Thomas Chabot (D-OTT)
73- Thatcher Demko (G-VAN)
74- Zach Werenski (D-CBJ
75- Miro Heiskanen (D-DAL)
76- Jordan Binnington (G-STL)
77- William Nylander (F-TOR)
78- Nikolaj Ehlers (F-WPG)
79- Joel Farabee (F-PHI)
80- Patrik Laine (F-CBJ)
81- Tomas Hertl (F-SJ)
82- Jakub Vrana (F-DET)
83- Jason Robertson (F-DAL)
84- Evgeny Kuznetsov (F-WSH)
85- Tyson Barrie (D-EDM)
86- Torey Krug (D-STL)
87- Darcy Kuemper (G-COL)
88- Taylor Hall (F-BOS)
89- Cole Perfetti (F-WPG)
90- Martin Necas (F-CAR)
91- Owen Power (D-EDM)
92- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (F-EDM)
93- Max Pacioretty (F-VGK)
94- Bryan Rust (F-PIT)
95- William Eklund (F-SJ)
96- Conor Garland (F-VAN)
97- J.T. Miller (F-VAN)
98- Kirby Dach (F-CHI)
99- Jonathan Marchessault (F-VGK)
100- John Klingberg (D-DAL)
101 - Alex Newhook (F-COL)
102- Anthony Mantha (F-WSH)
103- Zach Hyman (F-EDM)
104- Anton Lundell (F-FLA)
105- Dylan Strome (F-CHI)
106- Nazem Kadri (F-COL)
107- Vincent Trocheck (F-CAR)
108- Darnell Nurse (D-EDM)
109- Pierre-Luc Dubois (F-WPG)
110- Claude Giroux (F-PHI)
111- Dylan Larkin (F-DET)
112- Moritz Seider (D-DET)
113- Mikhail Sergachev (D-TB)
114- Ryan Pulock (D-NYI)
115- Matt Boldy (F-MIN)
116- Drake Batherson (F-OTT)
117- Kent Johnson (F-CBJ)
118- Jeff Petry (D-MTL)
119- Travis Konecny (F-PHI)
120- Tyler Seguin (F-DAL)
121- Blake Wheeler (F-WPG)
122- Tyler Toffoli (F-MTL)
123- Bo Horvat (F-VAN)
124- David Perron (F-STL)
125- Ivan Provorov (D-PHI)
126- Neal Pionk (D-WPG)
127- Pavel Buchnevich (F-STL)
128- Clayton Keller (F-ARI)
129- Sean Monahan (F-CGY)
130- Mike Hoffman (F-MTL)
131- Ryan O'Reilly (F-STL)
132- Dylan Cozens (F-BUF)
133- Alex Pietrangelo (D-VGK)
134- Charlie McAvoy (D-BOS)
135- Lucas Raymond (F-DET)
136- Matt Dumba (D-MIN)
137 - Jordan Kyrou (F-STL)
138- Tom Wilson (F-WSH)
139- Brendan Gallagher (F-MTL)
140- Brandt Clarke (D-LA)
141- Devon Toews (D-COL)
142- Brent Burns (D-SJ)
143- Luke Hughes (D-NJ)
144- Peyton Krebs (F-VGK)
145- Spencer Knight (G-FLA)
146- John Gibson (F-ANA)
147- Robin Lehner (G-VGK)
148- Nicklas Backstrom (F-WSH)
149- Logan Couture (F-SJ)
150- Carter Hart (G-PHI)
151- Kaapo Kakko (F-NYR)
152- Carey Price (G-MTL)
153- Brayden Schenn (F-STL)
154- William Karlsson (F-VGK)
155- Victor Olofsson (F-BUF)
156- Ryan Ellis (D-PHI)
157- Tony DeAngelo (D-CAR)
158- Philipp Grubauer (G-SEA)
159- Sergei Bobrovsky (G-FLA)
160- Eeli Tolvanen (F-NSH)
161- Brandon Saad (F-STL)
162- Oliver Bjorkstrand (F-CBJ)
163- Timo Meier (F-SJ)
164- Nils Hoglander (F-VAN)
165- Semyon Varlamov (G-NYI)
166- Tyler Bertuzzi (F-DET)
167- Nico Hischier (F-NJ)
168- Samuel Girard (D-COL)
169- Jaden Schwartz (F-SEA)
170- Chris Kreider (F-NYR)
171- Dominik Kubalik (F-CHI)
172- Anze Kopitar (F-LA)
173- Philip Danault (F-LA)
174- Cam Talbot (G-MIN)
175- Bowen Byram (D-COL)
176- Jamie Drysdale (D-ANA)
177- Matt Beniers (F-SEA)
178- Alexander Radulov (F-DAL)
179- Maxime Comtois (F-ANA)
180- Viktor Arvidsson (F-LA)
181- Jared Spurgeon (D-MIN)
182- Christian Dvorak (F-MTL)
183- Dylan Guenther (F-ARI)
184- Yaroslav Askarov (G-NSH)
185- Jonathan Toews (F-CHI)
186- Rickard Rakell (F-ANA)
187- Ilya Samsonov (G-WSH)
188- Linus Ullmark (G-BOS)
189- Marc-Andre Fleury (G-CHI)
190- Arthur Kaliyev (F-LA)
191- Oliver Wahlstrom (F-NYI)
192- Ryan Strome (F-NYR)
193 - Jared McCann (F-SEA)
194- Mikael Granlund (F-NSH)
195- MacKenzie Weegar (D-FLA)
196- Nils Lundkvist (D-NYR)
197- Filip Hronek (D-DET)
198- Adam Boqvist (D-CBJ)
199- Filip Chytil (F-NYR)
200- Noah Dobson (D-NYI)
201- Tomas Tatar (F-NJ)
202- Josh Morrissey (D-WPG)
203- Vince Dunn (D-SEA)
204- Kasperi Kapanen (F-PIT)
205- Oliver Ekman-Larsson (D-VAN)
206- Evander Kane (F-SJ)
207- Cam Atkinson (F-PHI)
208- Nick Schmaltz (F-ARI)
209- T.J. Oshie (F-WSH)
210- Tristan Jarry (G-PIT)
211- Kevin Hayes (F-PHI)
212- Gabriel Vilardi (F-LA)
213- Ty Smith (D-NJ)
214- Mark Giordano (D-SEA)
215- Andre Burakovsky (F-SEA)
216- Kevin Labanc (F-SJ)
217- Jonathan Drouin (F-MTL)
218- Reilly Smith (F-VGK)
219- Kyle Palmieri (F-NYI)
220- Pius Suter (F-DET)
221- Matt Duchene (F-NSH)
222 Filip Zadina (F-DET)
223- Alexander Romanov (D-MTL)
224- Frederik Andersen (D-CAR)
225- Anthony Cirelli (F-TB)
226- Chaz Lucius (F-WPG)
227- Ilya Sorokin (G-NYI)
228- Petr Mrazek (G-TOR)
229- Shayne Gostisbehere (D-ARI)
230- Erik Karlsson (D-SJ)
231- Jacob Trouba (D-NYR)
232- Jakub Voracek (F-PHI)
233- Anders Lee (F-NYI)
234- Casey Mittelstadt (F-BUF)
235- Ondrej Palat (F-TB)
236- K'Andre Miller (D-NYR)
237- Alex Nedeljkovic (G-CAR)
238- Jake Oettinger (G-DAL)
239- Evgenii Dadonov (F-VGK)
240- Anthony Duclair (F-FLA)
241- Jordan Eberle (F-SEA)
242- James van Riemsdyk (F-PHI)
243- Jack Roslovic (F-CBJ)
244- Pavel Zacha (F-NJ)
245- Drew Doughty (F-LA)
246- Brock Nelson (F-NYI)
247- Joe Pavelski (F-DAL)
248- Sam Bennett (F-FLA)
249- Cal Petersen (G-LA)
250- Matt Grzelcyk (D-BOS)
JUST MISSED
- Kailer Yamamoto (F-EDM)
- Vitek Vanecek (G-WSH)
- Jamie Benn (F-DAL)
- Jack Campbell (G-TOR)
- Blake Coleman (F-CGY)
- Mackenzie Blackwood (G-CGY)
- Joel Eriksson Ek (F-MIN)
- Jeremy Swayman (G-BOS)
- Denis Gurianov (F-DAL)
- Robert Thomas (F-STL)
