The Man Advantage: King of the Hill

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Updated on September 27, 2013 1:30PM EST

Hello gentle readers, and welcome back to another FULL season of fantasy hockey power play analysis – not like the lockout-shortened version we had last year (fun as it was). As you all know, this column takes a look at the ever-changing NHL power play landscape, and attempts to shed light on any trends that will help you as fantasy owners. This could be in the form of identifying players who should be receiving PP time but aren't, or finding those up-and-coming young studs who are off the radar. Basically, anything that can help you tweak your fantasy lineup so as to outperform your competition.

As in past years, I like to kick off each season with a quick look at each team's top line, how they ranked overall last season and how they stack up this year. Feel free to agree or disagree as you like, however these projected rankings are really just a gut feel, based on a number of factors, including each team's ranking from last year, and whether they made any significant roster moves over the offseason. Beginning next article, we will start to look at individual players a little more closely - i.e., who's getting PP time, who isn't, and which guys make for good fantasy selections based on their PP prospects.

For now, check out my projected rankings below. At a minimum, this should give you a feel for how each team's first PP unit is shaping up to start the season. Accurate forecasts

For now, check out my projected rankings below. At a minimum, this should give you a feel for how each team's first PP unit is shaping up to start the season. Accurate forecasts are always tough to come up with, but this year I'm calling for Detroit, Chicago and Boston to have the most-improved PP attacks this year, while Calgary should see the sharpest dropoff in production.

Now, discuss among yourselves and enjoy the season.

(LY)PP%	Rk	TY Rk	Team	Projected 1st PP Unit (new faces in bold)	Comment
24.7	2	1	PIT	Crosby, Malkin, Neal, Kunitz, Letang	We've said it before, but a full season with Crosby on board makes this a nasty, dangerous squad.
21.6	3	2	PHI	Lecavalier, Giroux, Hartnell, Streit, Timonen	Addition of Lecavalier more than makes up for loss of Briere. Streit will bolster back end.
26.8	1	3	WSH	Ovechkin, Backstrom, Brouwer, Erat, Green	Someone will need to step up and replace Ribeiro, who led the league last year with 21 PP assists.
20.7	5	4	MTL	Pacioretty, Plekanec, Gionta, Subban, Markov	It all starts and ends with Subban & Markov - best PP blue line tandem in the NHL.
18.4	15	5	DET	Zetterberg, Datsyuk, Alfredsson, Franzen, Kronwall	Look for Alfredsson to blend in nicely with this Swede-heavy lineup.
19.5	12	6	STL	Stewart, Steen, Berglund, Pietrangelo, Shattenkirk	Tons of depth here, with a possible second line of Oshie, Roy, Backes, Tarasenko, Bouwmeester.
20.1	7	7	SJS	Thornton, Marleau, Couture, Pavelski, Boyle	Same observation as last year..."if it ain't broke, don't fix it".
21.5	4	8	ANA	Perry, Getzlaf, Selanne, Fowler, Beauchemin	Losing Ryan and Souray will hurt. Silfverberg will also be given a look, possibly to sub for the aging Selanne.
20.1	8	9	EDM	Eberle, Hall, Yakupov, Perron, Schultz	Will start the season without their top two centers in Gagner and RNH, but plenty of additional talent.
19.9	10	10	LAK	Kopitar, Carter, Richards, Doughty, Muzzin	Dustin Brown (hamstring) questionable for start of season, but still a very deep and skilled squad otherwise.
16.7	19	11	CHI	Sharp, Toews, Kane, Keith, Leddy	Kane and Keith were the only bright spots last year. They will get more help this time around.
20.4	6	12	FLA	Fleischmann, Huberdeau, Versteeg, Campbell, Kulikov	Boyes (12 PP assists last season) would be a major boost, if he signs.
15.9	20	13	OTT	Ryan, Spezza, Michalek, Karlsson, Corvo	Loss of Gonchar will hurt, but Ryan is a huge addition up front. If Spezza can stay healthy, watch out.
18.7	14	14	TOR	Kessel, Kadri, Lupul, Phaneuf, Gardiner	Plenty of spare parts to fashion a decent 2nd line, including JVR, Bozak, Clarkson, Raymond.
17.9	16	15	MIN	Parise, Koivu, Pominville, Heatley, Suter	Expect a slight improvement thanks to a full season with Pominville.
17	18	16	DAL	Benn, Seguin, Whitney, Gonchar, Goligoski	Middle of the pack squad should improve with the addition of Gonchar on the back end plus Seguin up front.
19	13	17	TBL	Purcell, Stamkos, St. Louis, Hedman, Carle	Loaded up front, weak on the back end. Need a proven PP quarterback to make jump to elite squad.
14.8	26	18	BOS	Lucic, Bergeron, Krejci, Chara, Hamilton	Now with Iginla and Eriksson in the fold, lots of extra parts to move around if things don't click right away. Expect improvement.
15.8	22	19	VAN	D Sedin, H Sedin, Kesler, Burrows, Edler	Look for Sedins to rebound after a dismal season last year. But overall this squad lacks depth.
15.9	21	20	NJD	Elias, Zajac, Jagr, Henrique, Zidlicky	Hard to replace a guy like Kovalchuk, but additions of Jagr, Ryder and Clowe provide more depth and balance.
14.6	27	21	CAR	Semin, E. Staal, Tlusty, Skinner, Faulk	Loss of Pitkanen on the back end will be felt. Time for young guys like Faulk and Ryan Murphy to step up.
15	24	22	COL	Landeskog, Stastny, Duchene, Parenteau, Barrie	Excellent young talent. Once all the pieces start coming together, look out. MacKinnon will factor in before seasons end.
15.7	23	23	NYR	Nash, Stepan, Callahan, Richards, Del Zotto	Still trying to find guys who can find chemistry with Richards. Gaborik wasn't the answer, and so far Nash isn't either.
19.9	11	24	NYI	Moulson, Tavares, Okposo, Visnovsky, MacDonald	Big holes with the loss of Boyes and Streit. Tavares can't do it all.
17.1	17	25	NSH	Hornqvist, Cullen, Wilson, Weber, Josi	Cullen is a proven PP performer who will help, but this is still a defense-first squad.
14.8	25	26	PHX	Ribeiro, Hanzal, Vrbata, Yandle, Ekman-Larsson	Even with Ribeiro, hard to see where the offense is going to come from. Yandle and OEK solid on the blue line.
20	9	27	CGY	Cammalleri, Glencross, Hudler, Giordano, Wideman	Welcome to the post-Iginla era. Losses of Tanguay and Bouwmeester will also be felt.
13.8	30	28	WPG	Ladd, Little, Kane, Byfuglien, Enstrom	Same old same old in Winnipeg. Aside from Big Buff on the blueline, not much else going on.
14.2	28	29	CBJ	Umberger, Dubinsky, Gaborik, Wisniewski, Johnson	Interesting to see if Gaborik and Dubinsky can re-invigorate this team. The pieces are all there, but questions remain.
14.1	29	30	BUF	Ennis, Hodgson, Vanek, Myers, Ehrhoff	Gone are the days when Buffalo was a true offensive force. Ehrhoff is not a true QB for the back end.