The Top 100 roto-league players as we enter 2015 NHL training camps…

At long last – The Top 100 Roto is back after taking a summer hiatus. My name is Mike McMillan, taking over what Austin Wallace took over in turn from Gates Imbeau two years ago, and hoping to continue producing the best Roto Player Rankings on the 'net.

In case you didn't follow the Roto last season, we use a formula provided by Fantasy Hockey Geek and that weighs all statistical categories on a per game basis to provide a single number value for each player. This is then weighted against the Dobber Hockey player projections to rank the best 100 players (forwards and defensemen only) in a straightforward evaluation.

The standard categories used are as follows:

Goals

Assists

Plus/Minus

Penalty Minutes

Shots on Goal

Power Play Points

Hits

PDO (5 on 5)

Shooting Percentage Differential (5 on 5)

The formula values each category based on repeatability so that a consistent year-to-year stat such as SOG will be more important when evaluating players compared to a varying stat such as plus/minus. To determine a player's production consistency we use their per-game averages weighted over multiple years. And to help you figure out if a player’s surge up the rankings is just a lucky streak or if he is here to stay, we’re including PDO and Shooting Percentage to show you how lucky a player has been getting. For the first time readers, this is how the those stats can help your roster decisions:

Shooting Percentage Differential: How different a player’s shooting percentage this year (Since we don’t have any 2015/16 data yet, it will be showing last season) is from his career average. So if a player is usually a 10% shooter, but shot 15% last year, it’s a red flag as his shooting percentage may regress back to normal.

PDO Differential: How many percentage points someone’s PDO is from 100. As a quick reminder, a PDO of 100 means that when a player is on the ice both goalies are letting in shots at the same rate. If your opponent's goalie is letting in shots at a much higher rate, that can be a mix of talent or luck but is usually at least somewhat lucky. Thus, a player with a PDO of below 100, he should have some lucky bounces coming his way in the future. We are looking at the top 100 players in the world, so their PDO will probably be a bit above 100, but not too much.

As the season goes along, the rankings will gradually incorporate current-season production at a higher and higher weight. With that, we will see some movement in the list and I’ll highlight some players to keep on your radar along the way. The best way to use this information as you approach your Roto draft is take a look at the current ADP’s of your league provider and use this as a guideline to find some undervalued players that put up great peripheral stats but may not be appreciated due to lower goal scoring.





Here is the September Top 100 Roto…



