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Wingers, be they left or right, come off the boards very quickly in every fantasy hockey draft. Once you get past the second round, a lot of the names you know and love are off the board. Now what? Who do you take? There's still a lot of names left and the following are the best 25 in the league.
1) Alex Ovechkin (LW WAS)
With another Rocket Richard trophy under his belt, Ovi is a top 3 pick in any league.
2) Patrick Kane (RW CHI) A lot of turmoil in the offseason, but once that clears, Kane will be firing pucks in dished from linemate Toews.
3) Corey Perry (RW ANA) Perry has been one of the better goal scorers for a few years now. After an off year last year, expect the 30 year old to improve on his 33 goals from last year.
4) Vladimir Tarasenko (RW STL) Tarasenko just signed an 8 year contract with the Blues. Expect him to be motivated to beat his 73 points from last year.
5) Phil Kessel (RW PIT) Kessel took a lot of steps towards becoming elite in Toronto, improving his totals to 80 and 61 points the last couple years. Now playing with Sidney Crosby, need I say more?
6) Jamie Benn (LW DAL) Since Tyler Seguin came to Dallas, Benn has seen his totals increase dramatically. Expect Benn to come close to his 87 points from last year with the addition of Patrick Sharp.
7) Marian Hossa (RW CHI) Chicago has consistently been one of the offensive power houses in the NHL, and it shows with 3 Cups in 6 years. Since joining the Blackhawks in 2009, Hossa has had one season under 50 points and he missed half the season.
8) Rick Nash (LW NYR) Nash has found a nice home in New York, finally reaching similar stats to his Columbus days. He finished last year with 42 goals and 27 assists for 69 points.
9) Taylor Hall (LW EDM) Hall has had a lot of talk about him since going #1 overall in 2010. His scoring consistency is there, and as log as he can stay on the ice, he should be a huge pickup.
10) Zach Parise (LW MIN) Minnesota beefed up their team a few years ago, and since then has been making the playoffs. Parise, now 31, finished last year with 62 points.
11) Max Pacioretty (LW MTL) After finishing last year with 37 goals and 30 assists, Max was handed an A for his jersey. Look for him to take that with huge strides in his offensive output.
12) Henrik Zetterberg (LW DET) Zetterberg has been consistent for Detroit throughout the years, scoring around 50 points on average. If he can stay healthy, he's a good pickup.
13) Jaden Schwartz (LW STL) Scoring 13, 56, and 63 points since entering the league, the 23 year old is a big name that might fly under the radar. Also we've all seen Spaceballs...
14) Blake Wheeler (RW WPG) Wheeler has seen his offensive output jump over the last few years. Now a sure thing as a top 6 forward and should reach the 60 point mark for the 3rd year in a row.
15) Jakub Voracek (RW PHI) Voracek hasn't missed a game in 2 years and scored a career high 81 points last year. If you need help with assist, here's your man.
16) Jordan Eberle (Rw EDM) He's 25 years old and is looking to build on his 63 point output from last year. Look for him to grow more as the Edmonton offense does.
17) Nikita Kucherov (RW TB) Haven't heard of him? Kucherov jumped from 18 to 65 points. Look for him to match that if not exceed it.
18) Wayne Simmonds (RW PHI) Simmonds isn't one of those names that everyone knows. At the same time he quietly goes under the radar scoring 50-60 points over the last two years. He's a great late round winger.
19) T.J. Oshie (RW WAS) Oshie made the move to Washington after scoring 55 points last year with St. Louis. Now playing with Ovechkin, look for him to have a huge year.
20) Marian Gaborik (RW LA) Gaborik can and will score. His issue is staying on the ice missing signifigant time over the last 5 years. If he's there late take him as he is just shy of a point per game player.
21) Milan Lucic (LW LA) Lucic has been around the 50-60 point line over the last 5 years (minus the lockout year). Now with a team that has good offensive power, look for his goal totals to get back around 30.
22) Brandon Saad (LW CBJ) Saad was always a secondary name in Chicago, behind guys like Toews, Kane, and Hossa. Now on Columbus, he can be THE man, and he should have the points to prove it.
23) Patrick Sharp (LW DAL) Sharp had an off year last year only scoring 43 points. Look for him to get back into old form playing on a high flying offense with Dallas.
24) Johnny Gaudreau (LW CGY) Johnny Hockey scored 64 points in his rookie year with Calgary. If he can avoid a sophomore slump, he should be a huge pickup.
25) Andrew Ladd (LW WPG) Ladd is an outlier here, but definitely deserves to be mentioned. He had his best year yet last year scoring 62 points and leading his team to the playoffs. Look for him to continue going up. So there it is, 1-25 best wingers going into 2015-2016 season. These guys should help you get to the playoffs and victory over your friends. Stay tuned later this week for my rankings of defensemen.