I think Ethereum is in the number one spot with increment this year.Ethereum is a gold coin and it can possibly stretch around 1000 dollars by around 2018. Ethereum is the second on cryptos market.Ethereum has an extreme idea and solid team.
ETH's relative strength has been ICOs, and we know there are regulatory crackdowns happening almost everywhere.
Another segment where ETH will be loosing ground is mining related. When they turn POS, they will loose miner's adoption. However profitability in that segment has been declining anyway. Hodling miners are another kind.
From technology perspective I do agree. This is the hottest tech developing, and they have a Wiz in their team. Vitalik ranges right in the same class as Satoshi, in breaking new ground.
A smaller candidate could be LSK Lisk. To be mentioned as a possible Second Place since they started like $0.13 into 2017 and will manage to stay above $3.50. Because since two monthes beeing at $6.00, so unlikely to fold down below 50% of that level at christmas.