It is a bit of a slow news day on the LA Kings front as the team prepares its weekend trip to Las Vegas to take on the Colorado Avalanche at the MGM Grand. The game is part of the annual Frozen Fury event, and will close out the Kings preseason.
We do have some talking points though. To close out the month of September, TSN did their annual list of the top 50 players in the NHL. The Los Angeles Kings had three representatives:
Drew Doughty came it at No. 7, the same rank in which he was last year.
Anze Kopitar fell from No. 5 just one year ago to No. 17 in 2016.
Finally, Jonathan Quick went from No. 20 to No. 35. This is the lowest Quick has been on the list since his inaugural inclusion in 2013 at No. 16 overall.
In terms of position rankings, Doughty ranked as the highest defenseman. Next in line were Erik Karlsson at 10, Duncan Keith at 12, and Shea Weber at 16.
Kopitar feel pretty far but is still in pretty elite company amongst the C group. He is sandwiched between Claude Giroux and Tyler Seguin.
Quick slots in as the fourth ranked goalie behind Price, Lundqvist, and Rinne (Hmm).
Ranking lists are always interesting to look at, because after all they are opinion. There is really no science behind them. It becomes equally fun when you compare a list like this to the guys that do profess to have a grasp behind the science of it all. I am of course talking about the writers at Hockey Prospectus.
The site recently released their great big 2015-16 preview book, and if you want everything from top 50 players, top players at each position both projected and from recent seasons, top historical players, top prospects, analytics, team write-ups, and player write-ups, it is an awesome tool to have. It includes contributions from some pretty solid names like Rob Vollman, Corey Pronman, Tom Awad, Timo Seppa, and Stephen Burtch. There may be one or two writers like a certain Kings Hockeybuzz writer in there also! (Shout out to Ryan Wilson, our Pens writer as well.)
But seriously do check it out, it is an amazing resource, and only 14.99 on digital download and 25.99 in paperback
Enough promotion!
The lists in Hockey Prospectus's book are pretty different. How different? Well let's sample them.
The top 50 projected players heading into the 2015-16 season, Kopitar comes in at 46.
.....and that's it! Dun dun duuuuuun
But that is okay. Why? Because some Kings players show up on several other lists.
Doughty is projected to be the No. 1 defensively scored defenseman in the league. Jonathan Quick pops up at No. 15 in projected goaltending, and Kopitar 11th on the projected assists list. Several other Kings players like Toffoli and Carter made the 'best of' 2014-15 lists as well and they have the Kings finishing in the top 10 for the season.
In general though, this just goes to show you there are very different ways to compile a list of outstanding players.
Whereas the TSN top 3 goaltenders going into 2015-16 are Price, Lundqvist and Rinne, the top 3 projected 2015-16 goaltenders with Hockey Prospectus are Price, Rask, and Bobrovsky. The Top 3 centers in the league for TSN? Crosby, Toews, Tavares. HP? Seguin, Tavares, Crosby. Guys like Max Pacioretty are in at 32 on one list (TSN), and 11 on another (HP). It is an interesting and vastly different process from both sides of it. One side using numbers, the other side using some numbers but still probably rolling on opinion and eye test quite a bit. (How else would Jonny Toews go from No. 2 from TSN to No. 20 with HP?) It is refreshing to have such a collective to muse on. Especially when some are so different.
If you asked the unbridled opinion of this writer? John Tavares is the best center in the league. Goaltender? Hard to argue with Carey Price, but Schneider probably gives him a run for his money. Defenseman? I'd share the sentiments that Drew Doughty, Duncan Keith, and Erik Karlsson are in a group that precedes the rest of the pack.
Basically, do not harp heavily on one list or another. Rather, take them and incorporate them into your own rankings and views. The nice thing about the hockey blogosphere is we have a nice collective of different minds and thinkers, all of which do things different ways. Hockey Prospectus uses the numbers to come up with their lists. They have been spot on in the past. TSN uses a combination of traditionalists and some numbers. They, too, have been spot on in the past. There are so many resources we as fans can pull from in making these decisions.
Just for fun, who would you consider to be the best overall players in the league going into the 2015-16?
First, Centers:
What about defensemen? Who do you rate as the best overall defenseman?
And finally, who do you rate as the best goaltender in the NHL going into 2015-16?
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