Every year we like to rank the top-5 players at each position in hockey. Since not much else is going on we decided now is as good of a time as any to start up this series again.
In the first edition we rank the top-5 centers.
Todd Cordell
1. Sidney Crosby - He was back to his dominant self after Mike Sullivan took over as coach and remains, for my money, the best player in the NHL.
2. Connor McDavid - No center averaged more points per game. McDavid also drove possession and posted positive goal differentials despite playing for a terrible team. He is going to take off in 2016-17 and it's going to be spectacular.
3. Tyler Seguin - Creating offense is tougher than suppressing offense and few do it better than Tyler Seguin. He's elite in possession, is a threat every time he touches the puck and his defensive game is probably better than he's given credit for.
4. Anze Kopitar/Patrice Bergeron - I'm going to cheat a bit here but to me these guys are cut from the exact same cloth. They are elite defensive players who can also put up points despite playing ridiculously tough minutes. And they do it every year.
5. Joe Thornton - He just put up 82 points in 82 games, drove possession and was perhaps the most important player on team that made it to the Stanley Cup Final.
Honorable mentions: John Tavares (quiet about his business but consistently performs at an elite level) and Evgeni Malkin (when he is on he's as dominant as anyone in hockey).
Jason Lewis 1. Sidney Crosby - Still the best all-around C in the game. Scoring, defensively, etc. He does it all.
2. Joe Thornton - Thornton is still one of the best centers in the league at dictating play. When he has the puck, god help you.
3. Anze Kopitar - On a defensively stringent team, he still finishes near the top of the league in scoring every year. Good all over the ice.
4. Tyler Seguin - As exciting a center as they come. From a pure offensive standpoint he may be the best in the group.
5. Joe Pavelski - Would be higher if not for the protection granted to him by Thornton and the fact that he shifts to wing pretty often. He is still a monster in his own right and would be the No. 1 C on about 26 of 30 teams.
Honorable mentions: Connor McDavid (Just not a big enough sample size yet), Patrice Bergeron, John Tavares, Tyler Johnson, Evgeny Kuznetsov
James Tanner 1. Sidney Crosby.
I think any list still has to begin with Sidney Crosby. 85 points and the Cup.
2. Connor McDavid
He outpaced Cosby's points/60 contribution while being more effective at limiting shots against. Only an injury prevented him from being the best player in the league in his rookie season.
3. Patrice Bergeron
No one in hockey makes his linemates better, and no one plays better defense. And he still put up roughly 70 points.
4. Joe Thornton
Only a couple centres had a higher points/60 and none of them offer Joe's defense, which is elite.
5. Kopitar / Tavares
I couldn't pick between them. Tavares put up Crosby- like rations and numbers in what seemed like an off year, while Kopitar is like Bergeron in that he gives you near-elite scoring with crazy defense.
A tie is a cop-out, but how you gonna choose between these guys.
John Jaeckel 1. Jonathan Toews
WHY: 3 Stanley Cups, 2 Olympic Gold Medals, World Junior Championship, Conn Smythe Trophy, Selke Trophy, Messier Award, and maybe the best face-off man in the game.
2. Sidney Crosby
WHY: Best offensive player in the game, also no slouch defensively. Doesn't have quite as many skins on the wall as Toews, except for scoring.
3. Anze Kopitar
WHY: 2 Cups, Selke. Great and sometimes overlooked player.
4. Patrice Bergeron
WHY: has a lot of Toews and Kopitar's qualities. 3 Selkes, best defensive center of the bunch.
5. (tie) John Tavares, Tyler Seguin
WHY: Just very good, all around, young players.
Peter Tessier I feel like this is Letterman and I should do something goofy but alas it will be legit.
5. Kopitar. Guy is a stud 2 way player and puts up numbers in an unheralded manner 25 goals and 49 assists as them most consistent player on LA
4. Seguin. I like my centres to score and Sequin does this with 33 goals in 72 games 8 more than Anze and with 9 less games
3. Thornton. In fact he could go higher but I suspect we see a little bit of father time catching him soon. At 37 he was 2nd in NHL for his position in points
2. Tavares. This may be pushing it for some people but they guy is a stud and did we not notice him in the playoffs killing the Panthers? oh yeah 33 goals too!
1. Crosby. Why argue this? What player does as much as Crosby and takes so much flack for how he does it. Even when the old coach was running team to ground Crosby still did his job as a the best player and a leader. Once the reigns came off he took off. So yeah, it's Sid.
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