In this edition of the hotstove, we share our picks for the best forward group in the NHL.
Todd Cordell
There are a few other teams worthy of serious consideration – Toronto, Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay come to mind – but I give the slight edge to Winnipeg.
They may not have as much star power down the middle as the others mentioned but a 1-2-3-4 of Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, Adam Lowry and Nic Petan is still really solid.
What puts Winnipeg on top is an incredibly strong set of wingers. Blake Wheeler ranks 6th in points over the last two seasons. Patrik Laine sits only behind Alex Ovechkin in goals since entering the league. Nik Ehlers has put up at least 25 goals and 60 points in consecutive years while providing elite neutral zone play. There are other really promising kids like Kyle Connor as well as Jack Roslovic. Oh, and Mathieu Perreault may be one of the most underrated players in the NHL.
They are extremely deep and have a nice mix of skill, speed, and size that allows them to be successful in any style of game.
James Tanner There is only one correct answer here, and to be honest I'm genuinely surprised this wasn't unanimous. The Toronto Maple Leafs are significantly better than both the Jets and the Lightning. Auston Matthews and John Tavares are arguably the two best forwards on either team. Even the Jets can't brag that their fifth best forward is a 32 goal scoring centre. Additionally, the Leafs are adding the AHL's near-scoring champ in Andreas Johnsson, and a player who already scores at a top-six rate while providing above average defence and who is one of the NHL's fastest skaters (Kapanen).
No other team in the NHL is going to ice a fourth line that includes Tyler Ennis (shockingly good stats, look it up) Connor Brown or Josh Leivo. I am pretty sure Josh Jooris - a legitimate NHL player - would make any other team's fourth line, but maybe not Toronto's. And I haven't even mentioned Mitch Marner who scored at a 90 point pace from January on or William Nylander who was something like four more Auston Matthews games played from cracking the top ten in 5v5 scoring.
The Leafs have the most depth and the most elite players. Also, they have two of the top five centers in the NHL and the best 5v5 goal scorer in the game. Case closed, Leafs by a mile.
Peter Tessier Hey give Tessier a chance to go full homer and he won't disappoint but let's take a look at the competition. In no particular order, you can shortlist Tampa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Boston, Pittsburgh and Vegas based on last year and this coming season. Is it even fair to discount the Caps or the Preds?
For the Leafs they lose JVR but gain Tavares so it's a net positive and they still have Kadri, Matthews, Nylander, and Marner. The Lightning are loaded with Stamkos, Kucherov, Point, Callahan, Gourde, Palat and Killorn and don't forget the Jets with Connor, Ehlers, Scheifele Wheeler, Laine and Little as a top six. You can keep going for each team on that short list.
What separates these teams is depth and if you had to go deep on the forwards then you probably go down to Tampa Toronto and Winnipeg. At that point, I give the edge to Tampa. The level of talent on that team has to be the envy of the league..so much skill and thus they are the deepest and best group of forwards in the league.
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