Where does Barkov rank right now for best centers in the NHL?

[elmaco]

A team that has never won the president's trophy doesn't dominate the regular season.

But you know what i mean, compared to their playoff success you can call it domination.

 

[keglu]

Lots of overreactions here, he's not better than MacKinnon, Draisaitl or Matthews.

5th is the absolute highest you could rank him, and even then I'd still have him closer to the group of guys below him like Hughes, Miller, Crosby, Eichel and Pettersson than I would to the big 4.

Pretty much this. Over Draisaitl based on last 3 games?. Im pretty sure Barkov was held pointless in 4 of 5 games in last year finals. PO carrer production is 1.5PPG vs 0.86PPG

If Barkov played on a Canadian team, he'd be hailed as the best player in the world. He doesn't produce as many points but he helps you win games. You want individual trophies or you want to win the Cup?

Peak Datsyuk was never considered best player in the league. Safe to assume Barkov never will, regardless of team he plays for.

 

[TS Quint]

In the top 10. But better than Matthews.

 

[Craft Beer Lover]

Uhm because he just scored 69 goals

Is one of the premier goal scorers most likely of all time

Why would he not be top 3?


I mean the regular season is what gets you to the playoffs is it not?

And despite what people on here say regular season numbers do matter

Because Matthews isn’t even a center. He’s a left wing playing out of position. Dude couldn’t distribute pucks if he was placing them on a conveyor belt.

 

[Thallis]

But you know what i mean, compared to their playoff success you can call it domination.

It's still stupid. Florida won the President's trophy when Barkov was Matthews's current age and got swept in round 2. It took a major restructuring of the roster for Florida to be an effective playoff team with Barkov on it. Putting him in the top 5 is some extreme recency bias due to team success.

 

[2for1PizzaPastuh]

Bobrovsky's putting up a first all star/Vezina/HoF performance in the finals and you'd think it was Barkov putting on the pads the way a few folks are going on about him now

 

[elmaco]

It's still stupid. Florida won the President's trophy when Barkov was Matthews's current age and got swept in round 2. It took a major restructuring of the roster for Florida to be an effective playoff team with Barkov on it. Putting him in the top 5 is some extreme recency bias due to team success.

Correct. It's where were at right now.

 

[tucker3434]

If he had better offensive consistency, he would be easier to rate. In the regular season he was close to 30th in scoring, 20th if you go by points per game. That’s right with Quinn Hughes. Then he has some years where he’s closer to 100 and you could argue that his defense closes the gap to the guys at the top of the scoring. But you never know what you’re going to get.

On average, I guess I’d say about #5 or so.

 

[KevinRedkey]

I know. I think top 5 is an absolute lock. You say he's not, so who would you have ahead aside from the obvious 2-4 that's already been discussed.

Last 2 years combined (including playoffs):
Crosby: 75g, 187p in 164 games (1.14 points per game)
Barkov: 58g, 195p in 182 games (1.07 points per game)

We can probably agree Barkov is better defensively, but Crosby is better offensively and elevates those around him more. I'm not saying Crosby is hands down better, but I am questioning whether it's really a 'lock' that he's worse than Barkov. If it's debatable, then having Barkov at #6 really isn't all that controversial at all.

Note:
Not calling you out directly by any means here. Just trying to open up the discussion.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Uhm because he just scored 69 goals

Is one of the premier goal scorers most likely of all time

Why would he not be top 3?

Because he is extremely one dimensional and disappears in the playoffs, babyshit soft and ugly as sin

Would happily take McDavid, Draisaitl, MacKinnon, and Barkov over him

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

and ugly as sin

But that hairline.

 

[JackSlater]

Top ten, somewhere around number 5. Excellent player. I don't know why the poll options imply that Matthews is clearly ahead of Draisaitl. I could see going as high as 3 with Barkov, but that may just be because he is at his most prominent at this moment.

 

[Raccoon Jesus]

Why post things like this? It just leads to pushback and greater discredit. Barkov is nowhere near the best player in the world. This wouldn't even be a conversation if not for Bobrovky saving his bacon in these finals.

Bobrovsky's putting up a first all star/Vezina/HoF performance in the finals and you'd think it was Barkov putting on the pads the way a few folks are going on about him now

You do realize you’re owning yourself and symbolizing/illustrating the point by basing alllll of this discussion on only the 3 games played in the Final vs. your Canadian team and ignoring the rest of the body of work, right?

It’s poetic.

 

[Nasti]

This whole notion that the best players are always the top offensive players needs to he challenged. The Selke types routinely come in, shut down the “better player”, while also putting up more points themselves. More Selke centers have won the cup since 2005 than “the better centers”.

 

[wetcoast]

I know. I think top 5 is an absolute lock. You say he's not, so who would you have ahead aside from the obvious 2-4 that's already been discussed.

Like I said upthread I treat this question as a throw everyone in the poll going into next season redraft for a single season and Barkov missing 10+ games a year for 4 straight years has him in the mix for 5th with EP40, Hughes, Aho, Echiel, Miller ect...

So for me there is a Big 4 among centers right now and Barkov is in the mix for 5th and maybe even has a stronger case than the guys I mentioned but those 10 games a year and I'm not as sure that barkov is really 5th as sure as I am that the top 4 are the top 4 if you get what I mean....

 

[BB88]

It’s only one top 3 center season. Pay attention.

Nope, try again

& Barkov has been elite for years and has still managed to take his game to a new level. Top 3/5 C ranking is absolutely well earned

2 Selkes
Multiple high end offensive seasons
Dominant playoff run under his belt

 

[BB88]

So strange how people consider him a top 3 center. Literally nothing backs that up.

Let me guess points?

What a surprise

 

[2for1PizzaPastuh]

You do realize you’re owning yourself and symbolizing/illustrating the point by basing alllll of this discussion on only the 3 games played in the Final vs. your Canadian team and ignoring the rest of the body of work, right?

It’s poetic.

Yea, Bobrovsky is unreal?

Not nearly as poetic as you thought lmao.

 

[BraveCanadian]

He just had what the most dominant Selke run and is currently in the middle of the most dominating 2way playoff run we’ve seen

Easy now lol

 

[2for1PizzaPastuh]

He just had what the most dominant Selke run and is currently in the middle of the most dominating 2way playoff run we’ve seen

LOL

 

[Rogue Winger]

(moved the message to Conn Smythe thread)

 

[sadpanda]

Sure that's why I said top 10 closer to 5th than 10th but I can't make the solid lock or stronger argument for 3 or 4 or maybe even 5th.

the Panthers as a whole just took the next step when they flipped tkachuk for Huberdeau and Montour really stepped up in replacement of Weegar.

I followed Montour career very closely as I had him in a keeper fantasy league and he always had the last 2 seasons potential in him.

All that being said I have no problem with people putting Barkov as high as 3 or 4 but for me the argument is stronger that he is in the mix for 5 or 6ish and the constant missing 10 games per season is the tipping point there..

I think Aho and Kopitar are still up there in the top 10 argument but sure Barkov is higher than them and Bedard is going to explode offensively as soon as next year if he gets some reasonable top line talent to play with.

McDavid, Drai/Mack even Matthews all have the more proven track record over the past 3 to 4 years.

Montour stepped up? Are we watching the same player? To be fair, I have not seen every Montour game.

 

[BB88]

Easy now lol

So far results speak for themselves

 

[NotCommitted]

#1 if you're able to match him up against the other teams top line.

Doesn't crack top 10 if you're just stacking a scoring line.

I think that puts him in the top 4 since you can't control in game situations. I wouldn't put him over Mack/McD/Matthews

Last time the Panthers stacked a scoring line for majority of the season (at least what I can remember, 18-19 season with Barkov & Huberdeau on the 1st line), Barkov finished the season with 96 points which was good for 6th in the league (all skaters).

Limiting to centers, past 5 seasons combined he's 7th in points. Even if you drop his best point finish out and use 19-20 as cutoff, he's still 9th and he's defensively in a different league to most other centers in that top10.

 

[BB88]

Last time the Panthers stacked a scoring line for majority of the season (at least what I can remember, 18-19 season with Barkov & Huberdeau on the 1st line), Barkov finished the season with 96 points which was good for 6th in the league (all skaters).

Limiting to centers, past 5 seasons combined he's 7th in points. Even if you drop his best point finish out and use 19-20 as cutoff, he's still 9th and he's defensively in a different league to most other centers in that top10.

When they won the Presidentsh tropy he also had 88 points in 67 games

He’s easily offensively top10C in this league, easily.
He’s just never going to cheat on defense for offense