ESPN’s fantasy hockey rankings are pretty weak this season. I’ve been in a couple drafts already and some players are simply rated WAY too high. Some are only off by a bit but some, like Theodore, are just so far up compared to where they should be it’s crazy. Similar to my Yahoo-based list of too highly ranked players, some players are just ranked high for specializing in certain categories and others are so high ranked I don’t even know what they were thinking when they made these rankings.

Below you’ll find a quick list of 25 overly highly ranked players by ESPN fantasy hockey for the 2008-2009 season. Of course they could change, but for the here and now, this list can definitely help you know who to avoid during your ESPN drafts and be able to snatch up some quality players that fall because of rankings. There are some really solid players that have been ranked pretty low so you should be able to grab some late gems.

1. Jose Theodore – G – Rank 7
2. Ilya Bryzgalov – G – Rank 15
3. Cristobal Huet – G – Rank 18
4. Nathan Horton – RW – Rank 25
5. Jonathan Cheechoo – RW – Rank 30
6. Johan Franzen – C – Rank 32
7. Philippe Boucher – D – Rank 39
8. Brian Rolston – LW – Rank 42
9. Markus Naslund – LW – Rank 43
10. Jeff Carter – C – Rank 47
11. Scott Hartnell – LW – Rank 48
12. Jere Lehtinen – RW – Rank 51
13. Manny Fernandez – G – Rank 56
14. Andrei Kostitsyn – LW – Rank 62
15. Mathieu Garon – G – Rank 68
16. Steve Downie – RW – Rank 70
17. Brendan Shanahan – LW – Rank 73
18. Kevin Bieksa – D – Rank 75
19. Dennis Wideman – D – Rank 84
20. Andrew Raycroft – G – Rank 91
21. Marek Svatos – RW – Rank 96
22. Daniel Cleary – RW – Rank 105
23. Andrew Ladd – LW – Rank 106
24. Steven Stamkos – C – Rank 115
25. Erik Christensen – C – Rank 143

For more in-depth fantasy hockey related analysis on these players and every NHL team check out the full fantasy Team Breakdowns List.