NHL.com ranks top 20 centers

[Deadly Dogma]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1826395104812433858

Click to read more...

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Zibanejad isn’t even top 100 tbh


Otherwise I like it, finally giving respect to Point he’s a beast

 

[NVious]

I'm a Leafs fan but in no world can you rank Matthews over Drai and Barkov with how bad he has been in the playoffs.

 

[pantherbot]

Barkov may not have the same offensive numbers, but head-to-head, he's owned three of the four ahead of him in playoffs...and the fourth he's yet to meet in the post season.

 

[Sam de Mtl]

Sounds pretty good. No point in arguing one or two spots for a player. It is up to interpretation.

 

[Letsdothis]

Barkov may not have the same offensive numbers, but head-to-head, he's owned three of the four ahead of him in playoffs...and the fourth he's yet to meet in the post season.

How did he own McDavid..? Goals were 1-1 when they shared the ice, and McDavid did a lot better against non-Barkov matchups than vice versa.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Matthews over Barkov and Draisaitl is too funny

 

[Deadly Dogma]

Matthews over Barkov and Draisaitl is too funny

69 goals will do that

 

[DitchMarner]

Overall, it's not a bad list.

I'm not sure about Eichel over Hughes. I'm expecting a huge '24-'25 season from Hughes. I think Eichel has peaked. Still very good obviously.

 

[Zirakzigil]

How did he own McDavid..? Goals were 1-1 when they shared the ice, and McDavid did a lot better against non-Barkov matchups than vice versa.

You answered your own question.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

69 goals will do that

1 in the playoffs should undo it

 

[MasterMatt25]

Put Eriksson Ek instead of Zibanejad

 

[Connor McConnor]

Barkov may not have the same offensive numbers, but head-to-head, he's owned three of the four ahead of him in playoffs...and the fourth he's yet to meet in the post season.

Barkov was pretty bad in the last 4 games of the series. He owned an injured Drai in games 1-3. I’d still take him over Matthews but chill

 

[WhataKnight]

Overall, it's not a bad list.

I'm not sure about Eichel over Hughes. I'm expecting a huge '24-'25 season from Hughes. I think Eichel has peaked. Still very good obviously.

I’m not sure, either.

Eichel’s up there somewhere, but it would be nice to see his production across a 75-games-plus season under Cassidy.

With good health he could be a slightly watered-down Bergeron without the Lady Byng chops, but we haven’t seen that yet.

Still, good list overall - even if Hughes and Eichel are swapped.

f*** me; is it October yet???

 

[FunkySeeFunkyDo]

69 goals will do that

Cripes the guy has 3 Rockets, a Hart and will pass 400 goals in his age 27 season. Maybe he’s the second best center or maybe the fifth. It’s pretty close after McDavid.

 

[Letsdothis]

You answered your own question.

Not really.

 

[DitchMarner]

Why is Zibanejad such a whipping boy on this board? I don't really get it.

I've read he's a PP merchant, but he still produces very good numbers overall. Even if his ES production isn't that great, he's not a defensive liability at Even Strength and he produces on the PP. Maybe he's not Top 20, but he can't be that far off.

 

[Bacon Artemi Bravo]

Why is Zibanejad such a whipping boy on this board? I don't really get it.

I've read he's a PP merchant, but he still produces very good numbers overall. Even if his ES production isn't that great, he's not a defensive liability at Even Strength and he produces on the PP. Maybe he's not Top 20, but he can't be that far off.

Mostly Ranger fans are tired of him. He has all the tools to be a legit top 10-15 guy in the league and he has just consistently underperformed(especially at ES) for a couple seasons now. Worse still, he doesn't show up in tough times or must win situations. It's hard to watch game in and game out when you know what he's capable of.

 

[McPoyle]

Pretty good list, would flip around a few guys (Miller & Pettersson) but I cant think of any glaring issues.

 

[GordonGraham]

The Bedard hype machine is still running , great potential for sure but it says RIGHT now so 16 is way too high

 

[Xirik]

Zibz
Suzuki
Bedard

Over Hischier? Okay..

Larkin I will say is more of a toss up and I really don't know much about Thomas.

 

[Regal]

The Bedard hype machine is still running , great potential for sure but it says RIGHT now so 16 is way too high

Yea that was the big standout for me. I’m guessing they’re projecting for this year but he’s too big of a defensive liability to be that high if it’s based on last year.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Yea that was the big standout for me. I’m guessing they’re projecting for this year but he’s too big of a defensive liability to be that high if it’s based on last year.

All 18 centers suck defensively lol

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

You answered your own question.

...by playing him to a draw? That's not owning someone lmao.

 

[Hammman]

...by playing him to a draw? That's not owning someone lmao.

If you hold the best offensive player in the league to a draw, you owned that shared ice time.