Weve already gone through an exercise in seeing which goaltenders and defensemen rated highest to this point of the season on the ESPN Player Rater. Seems fitting we should check in with the forward ranks, too.If you missed the first two rundowns, heres the scoop on the process: We are using the ESPN Player Rater values to look strictly at what players have done in ESPN standard scoring so far this season. Well list the players in order of their fantasy value, breaking them into tiers for a 12-team league.Our usual rankings, which accompany this article below, take into account much, much more than the statistics registered by a player to date this season. We look at their history, teammates, linemates, injuries, tendencies, streaks, age and other prognostication variables to rank the players according to what we think they will do. The ESPN Player Rater ranks them by what they did do.We went two tiers deep for goaltenders and four tiers deep for defensemen. With the forwards, well go a massive eight tiers deep.No. 1 fantasy forwards1. Evgeni Malkin, C, Pittsburgh Penguins 2. Connor McDavid, C, Edmonton Oilers 3. Jakub Voracek, RW, Philadelphia Flyers 4. Artemi Panarin, LW/C, Chicago Blackhawks 5. Wayne Simmonds, RW/LW, Philadelphia Flyers 6. Patrick Kane, RW, Chicago Blackhawks 7. Ryan Kesler, C, Anaheim Ducks 8. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins 9. Vladimir Tarasenko, RW, St. Louis Blues 10. Cam Atkinson, RW, Columbus Blue Jackets 11. Joe Pavelski, C, San Jose Sharks 12. Nikita Kucherov, RW, Tampa Bay LightningDiscussion: Preseason surprises to perform as No. 1 fantasy forwards are Voracek, Simmonds, Kesler and Atkinson, although with Voracek and Simmonds we knew it was a possibility because theyve done it in recent seasons. ... Kesler has done it before, too -- but not for seven years. He is completely legitimate though, as his inclusion on the top power-play unit following an offseason coaching change has made all the difference. ... We have to be a little more cautious about Atkinson going forward. For crying out loud, hes doing this while playing on the Blue Jackets second line. There has to be some consideration given to selling high if you get the right offer. Even with his improved play and the Blue Jackets high-powered offense, its difficult to envision him staying in this tier all season.No. 2 fantasy forwards13. Claude Giroux, C, Philadelphia Flyers 14. Brad Marchand, LW, Boston Bruins 15. Patrik Laine, LW/RW, Winnipeg Jets 16. Nick Foligno, LW/RW, Columbus Blue Jackets 17. Mark Scheifele, C, Winnipeg Jets 18. David Pastrnak, LW/RW, Boston Bruins 19. Phil Kessel, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins 20. Alex Ovechkin, LW/RW, Washington Capitals 21. Tyler Seguin, C/RW, Dallas Stars 22. Nicklas Backstrom, C, Washington Capitals 23. Antoine Roussel, LW, Dallas Stars 24. Corey Perry, RW, Anaheim DucksDiscussion: Even the most optimistic outlook for Laine (which may have been us in the preseason) wasnt calling for him to be the 15th-best fantasy forward at this point. The kids a sniper, and his ice time even has some room to grow, so dont think he cant at least come close to keeping this up. ... Weve gone over Folignos return to dominance a few times. Give a hat tip to Alexander Wennberg, and keep riding Foligno. ... Also from the absolutely legitimate file is Pastrnak. Hes superbly creative with the puck and being given the prime offensive minutes with his club. Hes on pace for more than 50 goals and we fully expect 40 of them. ... From the where did that come from? file: Roussel is putting on a traditional power forward stat display this season, almost doubling his usual offensive pace to go with his many minutes in the sin bin. The Stars are getting some healthy bodies back, however, so Roussels opportunities to pad his stats with the teams superstars will be limited. Hes still a nice addition to your roster to pad your PIM numbers, but he wont finish this high on the Rater at the end of the season.No. 3 fantasy forwards25. Jeff Skinner, LW, Carolina Hurricanes 26. Max Pacioretty, LW, Montreal Canadiens 27. Artem Anisimov, C, Chicago Blackhawks 28. Jamie Benn, LW, Dallas Stars 29. Eric Staal, C, Minnesota Wild 30. Alexander Wennberg, C, Columbus Blue Jackets 31. Blake Wheeler, RW, Winnipeg Jets 32. Jeff Carter, RW/C, Los Angeles Kings 33. Nazem Kadri, C, Toronto Maple Leafs 34. Andrew Shaw, C/RW, Montreal Canadiens 35. Kyle Okposo, RW, Buffalo Sabres 36. Leon Draisaitl, C, Edmonton OilersDiscussion: Aside from Wheeler, Pacioretty and Benn, this entire grouping of No. 3 fantasy forwards are overperforming. Of them, Skinner, Staal, Carter and Okposo feel more for real than the others. All of them are getting prime ice time with their clubs and they have a history of scoring. ... Anisimov and Wennberg havent scored at a level like this before, but their roles are both beneficial and clearly defined, so we can afford to give them some trust, too. ... If anyone is buying Kadri, Shaw or Draisaitl, you should listen to their trade offer with an open mind. Helpful fantasy assets? Sure. Top-40 fantasy forwards at the end of the season? Not so sure.No. 4 fantasy forwards37. Milan Lucic, LW, Edmonton Oilers 38. Tyler Toffoli, RW, Los Angeles Kings 39. Brayden Schenn, C/LW, Philadelphia Flyers 40. John Tavares, C, New York Islanders 41. Marian Hossa, RW, Chicago Blackhawks 42. Mike Hoffman, LW, Ottawa Senators 43. Alexander Radulov, RW/LW, Montreal Canadiens 44. Auston Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs 45. Sam Gagner, C/RW, Columbus Blue Jackets 46. Charlie Coyle, LW/RW, Minnesota Wild 47. Alex Galchenyuk, C/LW, Montreal Canadiens 48. Ryan Getzlaf, C, Anaheim DucksDiscussion: Two names stick out like sore thumbs from this group. ... Tavares just doesnt have anyone to help him anymore. Hes a No. 1 fantasy forward with even modest skill around him, but hes a No. 4 when hes stuck on an offensive island. It doesnt look like there is a White Knight winger coming to save his campaign, so if someone thinks they are buying low and offers you a reasonable trade, its worth considering. ... Gagner is the other name that stands out and is, quite simply, mind blowing. From almost out of an NHL job to power-play specialist on the hottest man advantage in the league, Gagner has come a long way in a year. The opportunity isnt going anywhere, so he needs to be on more rosters. ... Also deserving of a little more respect is Coyle. A 60-point season is in the works here, and hes owned in barely half of ESPN leagues.No. 5 fantasy forwards49. Derek Stepan, C, New York Rangers 50. Ryan Johansen, C, Nashville Predators 51. Patric Hornqvist, RW, Pittsburgh Penguins 52. Mark Stone, RW, Ottawa Senators 53. Brandon Saad, LW, Columbus Blue Jackets 54. Matthew Tkachuk, LW, Calgary Flames 55. Kevin Hayes, RW/C, New York Rangers 56. Kyle Turris, C, Ottawa Senators 57. Chris Kreider, LW, New York Rangers 58. Nikolaj Ehlers, LW, Winnipeg Jets 59. Jakob Silfverberg, RW, Anaheim Ducks 60. Logan Couture, C, San Jose SharksDiscussion: Dont get too excited about seeing Tkachuk here. Without the penalty minutes hes irrelevant to fantasy -- literally. Hed be 158th among forwards on the player rater without his PIM. ... Turris and Silfverberg are quietly collecting their value in current roles that arent going to change. They should be owned in more than the 66 percent and 59 percent of ESPN leagues in which they are respectively owned. ... Stone is a buy-low candidate here. Hes climbed his way up to this value after doing almost nothing for the month of October.No. 6 fantasy forwards61. Aleksander Barkov, C, Florida Panthers 62. Daniel Sedin, LW, Vancouver Canucks 63. Ryan OReilly, RW/C, Buffalo Sabres 64. Victor Rask, C, Carolina Hurricanes 65. Jaromir Jagr, RW, Florida Panthers 66. Marcus Johansson, LW, Washington Capitals 67. Joe Thornton, C, San Jose Sharks 68. Travis Zajac, C, New Jersey Devils 69. Steven Stamkos, C, Tampa Bay Lightning 70. William Nylander, LW/RW, Toronto Maple Leafs 71. Mikael Granlund, C/LW, Minnesota Wild 72. Brendan Gallagher, RW, Montreal CanadiensDiscussion: Seeing Stamkos name in this grouping still makes us shed a tear for all of his owners. ... Not getting the respect they deserve here are Rask, Zajac and Granlund. All are available in at least 33 percent of ESPN leagues. Granlund is available in 75 percent. ... If Barkov and Jagr have maintained this status without Jonathan Huberdeau all season, whats the ceiling for when Huberdeau returns in a month or so?No. 7 fantasy forwards73. Rick Nash, LW/RW, New York Rangers 74. Jordan Eberle, RW, Edmonton Oilers 75. Mitch Marner, C/RW, Toronto Maple Leafs 76. J.T. Miller, C/RW/LW, New York Rangers 77. Jonathan Marchessault, C/RW, Florida Panthers 78. Viktor Arvidsson, LW/RW, Nashville Predators 79. Mikko Koivu, C, Minnesota Wild 80. Mike Fisher, C, Nashville Predators 81. James van Riemsdyk, LW, Toronto Maple Leafs 82. Henrik Zetterberg, C/RW, Detroit Red Wings 83. Mats Zuccarello, RW, New York Rangers 84. James Neal, LW/RW, Nashville PredatorsDiscussion: On the rise here are Arvidsson and Marner, both of whom are getting plenty of respect as the season progresses. ... On the decline are Miller and Marchessault. Miller has cooled off considerably from a hot start, while Marchessault is battling injuries with a ticking clock behind him counting down Hubderdeaus return.No. 8 fantasy forwards85. Taylor Hall, LW, New Jersey Devils 86. David Backes, C/RW, Boston Bruins 87. Valtteri Filppula, C, Tampa Bay Lightning 88. Alex Killorn, LW, Tampa Bay Lightning 89. Michael Grabner, LW/RW, New York Rangers 90. Paul Stastny, C, St. Louis Blues 91. Rickard Rakell, C/LW, Anaheim Ducks 92. Nino Niederreiter, LW/RW, Minnesota Wild 93. T.J. Oshie, RW, Washington Capitals 94. Conor Sheary, LW/RW, Pittsburgh Penguins 95. Tyler Johnson, C, Tampa Bay Lightning 96. Jonathan Toews, C, Chicago BlackhawksDiscussion: It starts to get a bit uglier down here, with plenty of players you wouldnt feel comfortable with on your roster in a 12-team league. ... Filppula and Killorn are owned in fewer than 40 percent of ESPN leagues -- and rightly so. Grabner has cooled off and Stastny is traditionally hot and cold for fantasy owners. Theres a reason we stopped tiering the forwards here: It starts to get fairly bunched up. The difference in ESPN Player Rater value between Malkin and Kucherov (top and bottom in first tier) is more than six times the difference between Hall and Toews (top and bottom in this eighth tier).So whos missing? We can expect Alexander Steen, Zach Parise, Johnny Gaudreau and Jack Eichel to work their way back to elite status now that health concerns are behind them. Same with Huberdeau when he returns in late January or early February.Whats really concerning are some of the names missing from these tiers that have been relatively healthy the whole time. Evgeny Kuznetsov is 103rd among forwards, Anze Kopitar is 123rd, Patrice Bergeron is 132nd, Filip Forsberg is 146th and Dylan Larkin is 149th. Among them, Kuznetsov and Bergeron have been showing some signs of life lately, while Parise has come on this past week following some line changes for the Wild. Kopitar has rope-a-doped us in the past, so there is less concern there. Forsberg also gets a break here, as his shooting percentage has gone from 13.4 percent last season to 3.8 percent this season. Thats due for a correction. Larkin, however, may be in a straight-up sophomore slump thanks to no one finishing his passes.If youre keeping score at home, the Rangers lead the way with seven forwards among our eight tiers, while no team has six and eight teams are tied with five. The Colorado Avalanche and Arizona Coyotes have no forwards among these tiers. Nathan MacKinnon is the top Avalanche forward at 102nd on the ESPN Player Rater among forwards, while Radim Vrbata leads the Coyotes at 117th.Forwards rising and fallingMark Stone, RW, Ottawa Senators (up 10 spots to No. 59): With 21 points in his past 19 games, Stone not only turned a corner in the second week of November, hes managed to maintain consistency since then. Playing with Mike Hoffman (when hes not suspended) and Derick Brassard at even strength, while exchanging Brassard for Kyle Turris on the power play, Stone has the right combination of linemates and responsibility to build on what was a spectacular 2015-16. Dont forget that outside of one bad month of January last season, Stone had 59 points in 63 games.Bryan Little, C, Winnipeg Jets (up 33 spots to No. 171): With eight points in 10 games since his return from injury, Little is playing as the perfect complementary centerman for the Jets. Opponents now have to afford Mark Scheifele a ton of respect and it frees up Littles line to do more damage than usual. The lines for the Jets really are a 1A and 1B situation, with both units stacked for talent. Little should have little trouble replicating last seasons quality totals, which were also hampered by injury.Defensemen rising and fallingKris Letang, D, Pittsburgh Penguins (down 20 spots to No. 36): Out for whats described as weeks with