Top 10 teams by centre strength (Both raw power and depth combined).

[Bjornar Moxnes]

1. Edmonton Oilers (McDavid-Draisaitl alone gives them an inconceivable edge, even if their bottom 6 Cs are whatever).
2. Florida Panthers (Probably the deepest centre depth in the entire league, with an elite 1C in Barkov. Lundell is arguably the best 3C in the entire league).
3. Vegas Golden Knights (I actually think Eichel-Hertl-Karlsson is better than Barkov-Bennett-Lundell, but whoever plays their 4C is far worse than whoever the Panthers can run at 4C, since they've been forced to play Roy as a winger a lot).
4. New Jersey Devils (Hughes-Hischier-Dawson is an excellent centre punch, making up for their okay 4C slot).
5. Dallas Stars (Hintz might not be an elite 1C, but Johnston and Duchene make up for that, giving Dallas the 5th best centre strength).
6. Toronto Maple Leafs (Matthews individually is stronger than Hintz, but Tavares is getting in age, and their bottom 6 centre are fine, but not amazing).
7. Washington Capitals (Strome is the weakest 1C by far here, but they have arguably the best 4C on this list in Nic Dowd. That gives them the edge over the next three teams).
8. Tampa Bay Lightning (Lightning have a very strong 1-3C punch in Point-Cirelli-Paul. Their 4th C is pretty weak, so that puts them a bit lower down here).
9. Colorado Avalanche (MacKinnon is that good, even though their depth isn't that great).
10. Ottawa Senators (Better depth than the likes of Tampa and Colorado, but while Stützle has shown flashes of elite skill, he's not quite there yet as an elite all situations 1C).

 

[NikolaTesla]

I think you give too much weight to the 4th C. 4th lines generally don't have much ice time and coach usually avoid matching them against the best players.

 

[HolyHagelin]

Hard to argue with the top 2, although I think it's weird you didn't even mention Henrique for the Oil and he was the big deadline target for everyone last year.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I think you give too much weight to the 4th C. 4th lines generally don't have much ice time and coach usually avoid matching them against the best players.

Connor and Leon obv lead the forwards in icetime in 80 mins of hockey.
Leon didn't crack 30mins

Our 4th Center Janmark was nearly 15mins and his line (Podkolzin/Arvidsson) scored the comeback goal, and had the same icetime as our 3C Henrique (his line was thoroughly outplayed).

Florida iced 3 lines, and were completely gassed after the 2nd period.
They were holding on for dear life in the 3rd and kept icing the puck in OT with nothing in the tank.

They had 2 shots in the 3rd, and faced 14

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

I think you give too much weight to the 4th C. 4th lines generally don't have much ice time and coach usually avoid matching them against the best players.

While that's true, having a 4C like Nic Dowd versus someone like Cole Schwidnt is still going to pay dividends in the end.

 

[Nocashstyle]

For the Devils, Mercer isn’t a center, and if he plays center, he stinks at it. Haula was mostly the 3C this past season. He also stinks.

 

[waitin425]

Habs after July 1st.

Suzuki
Crosby
Dach
Newhook
Evans
Kapanen
Beck
Hage

 

[Scorofeyev]

Roy and Howden are both elite 4C's in theory. But as you say they have both been forced to play on the wing for the most part due to the never ending injuries. Their depth down the middle and on defense is incredible.

 

[landy]

Draisaitl plays wing as much as he plays center. I'd argue the Oilers shouldnt even be top 10 because of that. Theyre an insanely heavy 1 line team and too many like to pretend this is Crosby/Malkin where they only see PP together.

And obviously im biased, but

MacKinnon-Nelson-Coyle-Drury is pretty deep IMO.
116-56-35-18 point production and if Draisaitl is a center then Necas can be too lol.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Washington??

Also, is Duchene and Johnston even Cs most of the time?

 

[wetcoast]

While that's true, having a 4C like Nic Dowd versus someone like Cole Schwidnt is still going to pay dividends in the end.

Sure but like 80% of the focus is on hte top 6 centers and if a team has an elite 3rd line guy, the Capitals don't have elite or even really top 6 centers to make that much of a difference.

The Ducks are moving into the top 10 next year.

Also even with the Kings group aging they have a top 10 center unit.

 

[Sstroh84]

I know Columbus has historically been abysmal at the C position, but they belong in this conversation now.

Monahan - 57 points in 54 games
Fantilli - 30 goal scorer
Cole Sillinger / Boone Jenner
Sean Kuraly

Additional centers who more often play wing:
Kent Johnson, Aston-Reese, Kunin

 

[JFedol]

Gone are the days of Pittsburgh being top 2 in this list lol

 

[NYRnine94]

I mean if you put Miller-Mika-Trocheck down the middle, the Rangers don't look too bad with center depth as long as Mika doesn't suck

 

[MNRube]

Colorado should be higher. Nelson & Coyle are rock solid middle 6 options

 

[HTFN]

While that's true, having a 4C like Nic Dowd versus someone like Cole Schwidnt is still going to pay dividends in the end.

I get how they list him in game time roster stuff but it also helps when Dowd has really been the matchup 3C for years.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

The Washington Capitals? Are you posting from 2019?