To be fair that doesn’t mean they were the 2nd best, just one of the most consistently top 10. Contenders that had better PPs in 2016 have aged out and might be rebuilding now, the only apples to apples comparison over a long stretch would be cores around the same age and contention window as ours.
To be fair, I claimed over a period of years, they were the second best. It's a fact. No spin can change that.
But here are the years anyway.
2023/24 - 7th.
2022/23 - 2nd best
2021/22 - 1st
2020/21 - 16th
2019/20 - 6th
2018/19 - 8th
2017/18 - 2nd
Just for reference sake, as to where this started...
I don't like Marner and Rielly on the same PP unit.
It was in response to this.
Marner and Rielly on the same PP unit, have been a top PP unit in the league for years. It was tops in the NHL last year, until the wheels fell off the bus when Marner got injured. It's been top two three times, and top ten three times. On aggregate, it's top two or three over an extended period of time. It's been a top two until, for the last three years... except for the last couple of months of last year. When you have a until that is first, or second, for something like 2.75 years... you don't blow it up, you tweak it to make sure it works all the time.
The top teams over that period are pretty consistent... it's been Edmonton, Tampa and Toronto dominating the top most of the time, and that is what you would guess.