Not to dunk on this dude but that's one thing I appreciate about this place, little bit more level headed. I know people are bummed about how the season ended and Mika's off-year... but these takes are crazy. Really... Bo Horvat is a better player? The guy who has one 70 point season? Duchene had 6 points in 19 playoff games this post-season... that's a guy you'd rather have?
Come on...
Guess what... since becoming a top line center in the 2018-2019 season, depending on what position you'd categorize Stamkos as, Zibanejad is tied with Aho for tenth in points for centers. Add in the fact that he's a great defensive forward and PKs as well. Plus, statistically the difference between the surrounding players and Mika/Aho is the matter of a few points... so really once you get past the few elite of the elite... McDavid, Draisaitl, MacKinnon, Crosby... its almost a toss up after that. One guy has an up year, one guy has a down year. It happens
The grass isn't always greener. Imagine if Stepan or Brassard had to match up against Barkov? Zibanejad definitely had a disappointing season but he's still one of the elite centers in the game today. People forget what a "low end" 1C or a 2C actually look like