NHL.com provides fantasy hockey draft strategy for the first four rounds at each spot in a standard, non-keeper league for the 2025-26 season.

NOTES: Players are listed in order of latest NHL.com top 200 rank, but some may be worth reaching for earlier based on position scarcity, ceiling/floor or other trends. Players who fall to a later pick or round in any situation should be prioritized ahead of the three options listed for any particular pick. These suggestions are for standard snake drafts.

ROUND 1

1. Nathan MacKinnon or Connor McDavid

2. MacKinnon or McDavid

3. Leon Draisaitl or Nikita Kucherov

4. Draisaitl or Kucherov

5. Cale Makar or Kirill Kaprizov

6. Makar or Kaprizov

7. Brady Tkachuk, David Pastrnak or Mikko Rantanen

8. B. Tkachuk, Pastrnak or Rantanen

9. B. Tkachuk,

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