But Kesler would be a 1C on 10+ NHL teams... That's why this question doesn't make any sense. Putting parameters on who is included and who isn't makes it an impossible discussion. If Malkin isn't allowed because he's too good, then where is the talent cutoff? Zetterberg and Carter should run away with this if we don't include Malkin, but they'd be #1C on 15+ NHL teams.
Well he's definitely not a 1C on:
Pittsburgh
Anaheim
Chicago
Los Angeles
Dallas
Vancouver
Detroit
Tampa Bay
New York (Islanders)
Columbus
Philadelphia
Washington
San Jose
Boston
Carolina
Colorado
And then you have teams who it'd be arguable with like:
Winnipeg
Ottawa
St. Louis
Toronto
Montreal
Nashville
Minnesota
New York (Rangers)
Edmonton (and yes I'm being serious, we're ignoring the black hole that is the rest of the team and focusing on RNH)
And then you throw in the teams that have arguably 2 or more number 1 centers in Pittsburgh (Malkin), Detroit (Zetterberg), San Jose (Couture/Pavelski), Tampa Bay (Johnson), Los Angeles (Carter, although I personally feel he's a lower end guy and closer to a 2C than he is to an elite 1C), Boston (Krejci/Bergeron share the role), and Dallas (Seguin and Spezza, although Seguin is IMO more of a winger).
I think at best Kesler is only the 21st or 22nd best center in the league, and that's being fairly generous IMO (for me he's probably closer to 26th). So while he would indeed be a number 1 C on a fair number of teams (if the talent were spread evenly, which it isn't) he's not a guy who a perennially contending team would rely upon in that role.
That to me is what a top 2C is. A guy who could play a 1st line role on a weak team, but is ideally the 2C behind a top-20 caliber center like Logan Couture or Anze Kopitar. Yes Kesler COULD be a 1C, but excellent teams do not have Kesler as the focal point of their team's offense.