Predictor Glossary - What Does it All Mean!

Glossary - Skaters

Glossary - Goalies

A Note on Ranking and Fantasy Points

Ranking is based on the fantasy points category - Puckjunkie's proprietary formula that weighs selected stat categories that you have chosen and assigns an overall point value to each player. We get asked a lot, but we don't share that formula - that's what makes it proprietary! But we will tell you that it developed through extensive testing based on real world stats. It is not based on a simple average (assigning 1 point for every goal, assist, penalty minute, etc.). We tried that and it doesn't work! Stat categories that are included in the ranking formula are: goals, assists, points, powerplay goals, powerplay assists, shorthanded goals, shorthanded assists, plus/minus, penalty minutes (as a positive) and shots. Of course the rankings will change depending on which of these categories you include in your cheatsheet. The ranking system also factors in position scarcity - d-men are given a bump because there are less of them. If your league doesn't set a premium on d-men (i.e. makes you choose a certain number of them) you'll want to drop each d-man a few spots in the ranking (use points as a rule of thumb for where they better fit in).

The goalie ranking stat categories can include Wins, Shutouts, GAA, GA, Save % and Saves . The formula accounts for Goals Against as a negative (to reflect that lower is better), so it is possible to have a negative Fantasy Point total for a goalie.

We give you the option of seeing both the ranking (1, 2, 3...) and the Fantasy Points because this helps to determine the true differential between players. While two players might be ranked one after another, the actual difference between those two players can be big or small. Even if the fantasy points number is the same, they are ranked on the raw number (before rounding - hey even the smallest number counts!). So if you are trying to choose between two guys who seem pretty much the same have a look at the totals in the fantasy point column to get a complete picture of the difference between them.

Of course, no ranking system is perfect - not when you are dealing with as many variables as we are (not to mention the greatest variable - human behaviour!). What we have tried to do with our system is give you as much information as possible so that you can make an informed choice.

A Note on Safety Rating

There are a number of things that can impact the Safety Rating, including: injury risk, being in the coaches dog-house, being a new player without a reputation in the league, etc. The numbers in the Safety Rating correspond to the following table: