These Roto Rankings are an attempt to provide a generic fantasy hockey value to this point in the season, taking common fantasy stats and position scarcity into consideration.
The rankings operate under the following assumptions:
- 12 Team leagues - Active lineups with 2 C, 2 LW, 2 RW, 4 D and 2 G with three bench spots;
- Six offensive categories - goals, assists, plus-minus, penalty minutes, power play points and shots on goal;
- Three goaltending categories - goals against average, save percentage, wins;
- All categories are on a per-game basis with the assumption that players can be moved in and out of lineups based on their availability.
As each league's rules differ, or a player's position eligibility changes, a player's roto value can be affected and different than this standardized version. In deeper leagues, for example, players at scarce positions (ie. goaltending, wingers) could have more value.
So, what's the difference between Roto Rankings and the TSN.ca NHL Player Rankings?
The TSN.ca NHL Player Rankings involve more statistics (including hits, blocked shots, giveaways/takeaways, faceoffs and more) that aren't typically covered in fantasy hockey leagues and there are weights applied in the Player Rankings that make certain statistics more important than others.
When it comes to fantasy hockey, though, winning the shots on goal category counts for just as much as winning goals (perhaps a flaw in the system, but that's still the case for most leagues) and the roto rankings attempt to apply equal values in all categories across the board.
The roto value in the right-hand column is effectively a player's value over a replacement at that position and can provide some basic per-game guidelines on value to this point in the season. Note: Goaltenders tend to score highly on a per-game rating, so the percentage of games that they play (especially for backups) is an important factor to consider when evaluating a player's contribution going forward.
If you were considering a two-for-two trade, then you could check the roto values on these rankings to have some idea about the value of each player's total contribution to this point in the season.
Of course, the roto rating is not going to be an absolute value for any player. There will be many factors to consider (hot and cold streaks, improving or declining play, increasing or decreasing ice time, new linemates, injuries, unsustainable percentages etc.) when trying to determine if a player's roto value represents an accurate assessment of his value going forward. And the value going forward is what is most important.
While the list does not include players that have played fewer than 10 games, it will include players that are out of the lineup currently with injuries if they've met that threshold since it's still useful to know what kind of value they have whenever it is that they're due to return.
Certainly 300 players aren't required for leagues of standard size, but those in deep leagues can at least see where certain players are currently ranked, relative to others.
NHL Roto Rankings
2013 Rankings - Regular Season - Final
Name: Craig Anderson
Team: Ottawa
Rating: 2.18
(Photo by: The Canadian Press)
* - minimum 10 games played
Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy Sports on Facebook.
