Top 10 players at each position at the end of the season

[KingPuckChoo]

I previously ranked the top 10 players in the NHL at the midway mark of the season in an article here: Top 10 players at each position at the mid-way mark

Now given that game 82 was played last night and the playoffs are still a few days away, it looks like the perfect time to re-rank all the players based on this season's body of work.

So it is the top 10 centres, wingers defencemen and goalies with 4 honourable mentions (and no more)

NOTE: this is going by their "listed positions" on NHL.com, not necessarily where they play the bulk of their ice-time.

Centre
1) McDavid
2) Crosby
3) MacKinnon
4) Barkov
5) Draisaitl
6) Bergeron
7) Stamkos
8) Tavares
9) Point
10) Matthews

HM: Eichel, Scheifele, Monahan, Giroux

Winger
1) Kucherov
2) P. Kane
3) Marchand
4) Gaudreau
5) Ovechkin
6) Pastrnak
7) Marner
8) Rantanen
9) Huberdeau
10) Panarin

HM: Wheeler, Landeskog, Kessel, Radulov

Defense
1) Giordano
2) Burns
3) Rielly
4) Letang
5) Josi
6) Carlson
7) Hedman
8) E. Karlsson
9) Chabot
10) Krug

HM: Suter, Doughty, Yandle, Jones

Goaltending
1) Vaslivskiy
2) Bishop
3) Lehner
4) Kuemper
5) Andersen
6) Price
7) Rinne
8) Greiss
9) Murray
10) Fleury

HM: Bobrovski, Binnnington, Dubnyk, Gibson

NOTE: Goalie seems especially subjective given the need to strike a balance when weighing being a work-horse vs raw sv% and GAA over a more limited amount of games started (and thus a fresher, more rested goalie).


Rookies
1) Petterson
2) Dahlin
3) B. Tkachuck
4) Heiskanen

NOTE: for the top-4 rookies I just looked at teenagers. Rookies in their 20s are much more physically developed so comparing them is apples to oranges.

So what do you guys think? What are your own 2018-2019 season top-10 lists? If someone raises a convincing argument, I am totally willing to modify my lists; I admit, I don't regularly watch all 31 teams, so I might have missed something here having just relied on the paper stats for a bunch of these guys. Just remember, if you want to move someone up into the top-10, you also have to say who you would move out to make room for him.

NOTE: After feedback, I will make any changes in an edit and highlight how those changes affected the overall rankings of all guys in the top-10 (+ or - from original position).

overall a good list, i don't have much to say about your top 10 forwards, sounds about right

However your list shows and confirms how no one really knows how to judge defense

It's incredible that Suter & Jones are just honorable mentions
Also, Doughty isn't even worth an honorable mention this season

Note also, that Binnington is considered an honorable mention for goalies, but he wouldn't even crack the top 4 rookies for the year

other than that, good job

 

[BRUINS since 1995]

C

1. McDavid
2. Crosby
3. MacKinnon
4. Bergeron
5. Malkin
6. Barkov
7. Eichel
8. Tavares
9. Scheifele
10. Stamkos

LW

1. Marchand
2. Gaudreau
3. Draisaitl
4. Ovechkin
5. Panarin
6. Hall
7. Forsberg
8. Huberdeau
9. Giroux
10. Benn

RW

1. Kucherov
2. Kane
3. Marner
4. Pastrnak
5. Wheeler
6. Tarasenko
7. Stone
8. Rantanen
9. Radulov
10. Kessel

D

1. Hedman
2. Giordano
3. Doughty
4. Burns
5. Karlsson
6. Josi
7. Jones
8. Letang
9. Rielly
10. Dahlin

G

1. Price
2. Vasilevskiy
3. Bobrovsky
4. Rinne
5. Holtby
6. Gibson
7. Fleury
8. Murray
9. Rask
10. Bishop

Jones is the top d imo. Extremely i,oress with this kid. Written Norris all over him.

 

[57special]

NHL history is filled with Darcy Kuempers -goalies who had brief SV% spikes- that I view these type of goalies with a large amount of skepticism. For me, consistency is significantly more important when evaluating goalies and I'm willing to be wrong and assume Kuemper is a flash-in-the-pan and we just witnessed his high water mark.

Kuemper has always had elite potential. Some goalies just take a long time to get their game down,( mentally, in is case) or even better, get on a team where they actually play defence.

 

[57special]

overall a good list, i don't have much to say about your top 10 forwards, sounds about right

However your list shows and confirms how no one really knows how to judge defense

It's incredible that Suter & Jones are just honorable mentions
Also, Doughty isn't even worth an honorable mention this season

Note also, that Binnington is considered an honorable mention for goalies, but he wouldn't even crack the top 4 rookies for the year

other than that, good job

Suter is really good, but had an off year, though his stats might not show it. His ankle hurt him during the year, and he'd be seen limping around off ice to and from the rink. Agree about Jones. He seems to have it all. I admire guys who can get their offense w/o going MIA on defense.

 

[yababy]

I know you explained your reasoning, but I really disagree with Draisaitl being rated among the centres. Put him sixth among wingers, put Scheifele at 9, and slide the other centres up.

Six among wingers. Generous.
Only Kucherov was a better winger this year

 

[yababy]

There's nothing wrong with putting any of those 10 wingers ahead of Draisaitl. He may not be carried by McDavid but you can't play with the best player in the world and not have your stats padded quite a bit.

Sorry man, mcdavid is not that guy. If he made player around him that much better Oilers wouldn't still be one of the worst teams in the league

 

[Dominance]

Six among wingers. Generous.
Only Kucherov was a better winger this year

Oh shit, you’re serious..

 

[LaMasquerade]

Yep, Rask is awful..

 

[ijif]

I think you are underrating Mark Stone. He is better than most players on your winger list.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

For this year alone? Yeah I think Gaudreau deserves his spot there. 10 more points then OV and he led the Flames to the best record in the West against the prediction of all the pundits, so yeah I give him the edge. What Ovechkin did again this year leading the NHL in goals was damn impressive. That is why I still rated him as being the 5th best winger in the entire league this season.

15 goals more > 10 points more

 

[Sensators]

I actually dont think kessel belongs in the top10 rw anymore. He was a 5v5 liability last yr.. big time.

 

[Clamshells]

Stone easily fits anywhere below #2 for wingers. Kucherov and Kane are the only two who are clearly ahead in overall game.

 

[Captain Creampuff]

Darcy Kuemper at #4 and Chabot in the top 10 just proves how much of a joke these lists are. Brady Tkachuk over Binnington even for rookies? I don't think Tkachuk carried his team from dead last in Juanuary to 4 wins from a SCF appearance.

 

[LeonDraisaitl]

Oilers fan here who considers Draisaitl to be exclusively wing now.

He should definitely be in the top 10 for wings tho.

If you put a person that played winger primarily in juniors he wouldn’t have the same dominance that Draisaitl has. McDavid and drai are a perfect compliment because drai handles a lot of face offs and he creates a lot by himself

 

[illpucks]

Ovi is best LW. Worse than Gaudreau? LOL