HFBoards Top 32 Centers - #2

[leafsfan5]

Matthews
Draisaitl
Mackinnon

In that order

 

[wetcoast]

Matthews IMO.

I picked him too but thought long and hard about Draisaitl.

Matthews
Draisaitl
Mackinnon

In that order

After that it start to get really interesting.

Is there an argument for anyone other than Matthews or MacKinnon?

Drai as well, anyone one of the 3 could be the best center next year of the grouping.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

Another argument in favour of Draisaitl is that he spent most of the season playing with subpar wingers while Mac and Matty played with all-star wingers in Rantanen and Marner respectively. Draisaitl's best winger was...Kailer Yamamoto.

Was Drai playing against first pairing defenses assigned to him? If so, that tips the scale in favor of him in my eyes as number 2. I don’t get to watch games in West often. But Matthews is a one trick pony surrounded by propaganda and MacKinnon floats too much for 82 games. I do think Mack is a playoff beast, but he couldn’t lift that cup without that little kid carrying his team which takes away from some of his glory.

 

[Love]

Voted Draisaitl but I think it’s so close between him and Matthews

 

[wetcoast]

Voted Draisaitl but I think it’s so close between him and Matthews

I originally voted AM even though my gut said Draisaitl and thus changed my vote back to the Big German.

 

[sting101]

MacKinnon
add Barzal Lindholm Pettersson Scheifele O'Reilly Miller Malkin and Kopitar

 

[Paul4587]

Is there an argument for anyone other than Matthews or MacKinnon?

There is a pretty good argument for Draisaitl. Especially given how good his playoff production is.

 

[Dion TheFluff]

Matthews
add Scheifele

 

[Stamkos4life]

Mack
Drai
Matthews
Barkov

Seems most continue to under rate the playoffs and over rate the regular season.

 

[Duke74]

Was Drai playing against first pairing defenses assigned to him? If so, that tips the scale in favor of him in my eyes as number 2. I don’t get to watch games in West often. But Matthews is a one trick pony surrounded by propaganda and MacKinnon floats too much for 82 games. I do think Mack is a playoff beast, but he couldn’t lift that cup without that little kid carrying his team which takes away from some of his glory.

Draisaitl played against elite competition about as much as McDavid, so yes, he often drew the other team's top lines and top-pairing defenders. The perception of him as a "defensive liability," an age-old narrative mustier than your local public library, comes from the fact that he plays against top competition while being burdened with subpar wingers.

 

[leafsfan5]

Was Drai playing against first pairing defenses assigned to him? If so, that tips the scale in favor of him in my eyes as number 2. I don’t get to watch games in West often. But Matthews is a one trick pony surrounded by propaganda and MacKinnon floats too much for 82 games. I do think Mack is a playoff beast, but he couldn’t lift that cup without that little kid carrying his team which takes away from some of his glory.

LMAO, the "one trick pony" is doing things we haven't seen since Mario Lemieux

Pretty good trick he has, luckily he has others as well

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Was Drai playing against first pairing defenses assigned to him? If so, that tips the scale in favor of him in my eyes as number 2. I don’t get to watch games in West often. But Matthews is a one trick pony surrounded by propaganda and MacKinnon floats too much for 82 games. I do think Mack is a playoff beast, but he couldn’t lift that cup without that little kid carrying his team which takes away from some of his glory.

 

[McJedi]

Is there an argument for anyone other than Matthews or MacKinnon?

No. Unless you’re a delusional Oil fan. Their other guy is number 4.

 

[Connor McConnor]

AM
Drai
MacK

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Mack

 

[banks]

I love how the poll options are ordered in an assumed ranking.

Matthews. Add Malkin.

 

[ottawa]

Matthews, add Suzuki

Too much of a liability defensively.

Kind of like the guy who went 1st and is going 2nd?

 

[Regal]

Matthews, add Suzuki



Kind of like the guy who went 1st and is going 2nd?

Neither of them are defensive liabilities

 

[93gilmour93]

Easily Matthews

 

[Connor McConnor]

Other than recency bias what is the argument for MacK here?

I need people (non Colorado fans) to explain to me how Drai gets discounted because he plays on the same PP as McDavid or occasionally on the same line but MacKs wingers are Rantanen and Landeskog with the best offensive dman in the game feeding him?

Even with those teammates he gets outproduced by Drai over the past 3 years and please don’t bring up defense because MacK doesn’t play any, he just plays on a stacked line that controls possession

 

[bobholly39]

Other than recency bias what is the argument for MacK here?

I need people (non Colorado fans) to explain to me how Drai gets discounted because he plays on the same PP as McDavid or occasionally on the same line but MacKs wingers are Rantanen and Landeskog with the best offensive dman in the game feeding him?

Even with those teammates he gets outproduced by Drai over the past 3 years and please don’t bring up defense because MacK doesn’t play any, he just plays on a stacked line that controls possession

Wouldn't recency bias actually favor the other 2, especially Matthews?

Last 4 seasons; Mack 1.31 ppg, Matthews 1.24 ppg
Last 3 seasons: Mack 1.35 ppg, Matthews 1.29 ppg
Last 2 seasons: Mack 1.35 ppg, Matthews 1.38 ppg

Playoffs: MacKinnon 77 points in 57 games (1.35 ppg) last 3 years, vs.....very little for Matthews.

Mack > Matthews argument is based on them being close in regular season, and Mack quite a lot better in playoffs.

As for Drai - in the end, it comes down to how much people value McDavid, and his contributions to Drai's numbers. His points per game in the regular season is higher than both, and even in playoffs now after the 2022 playoffs. So - it comes down to the McDavid factor.

I really think you can make an argument for any of the 3 of them, just depending on what you like better.

I personally voted for Drai, but it's close.

 

[Tufted Titmouse]

Mack > Matthews argument is based on them being close in regular season, and Mack quite a lot better in playoffs.

So Matthews and Mackinnon only played against the same team 1 time in the playoffs over the last few years. It was Tampa. Mackinnon got the version with an injured Point for the entire series.

Here's how they fared (Keep in mind, this forum regularly states that Rantenen > Marner aswell, and Makar defintiely > Rielly, so linemates aren't a disadvantage for Mack).

Mackinnon 6GP, 1G, 5Pts
Matthews 7GP, 4G, 9Pts

Call me crazy but maybe there is more to this than just saying one is better because one has more counting stats.

They share a tier directly below McDavid.

I have them:

1. McDavid

2. Matthews
3. Drai
4. Mackinnon

5. Barkov / Point / Bergeron etc

 

[HFpapi]

Draisaitl, Mack, and AM are fully interchangable and noone can tell me otherwise.

I voted homerish for AM but also because he's coming off 60 goals and a Hart trophy but there is really no gap between the 3 imo.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Voted Drai but can easily be Matthews , AM34 better in his own end

 

[bobholly39]

So Matthews and Mackinnon only played against the same team 1 time in the playoffs over the last few years. It was Tampa. Mackinnon got the version with an injured Point for the entire series.

Here's how they fared (Keep in mind, this forum regularly states that Rantenen > Marner aswell, and Makar defintiely > Rielly, so linemates aren't a disadvantage for Mack).

Mackinnon 6GP, 1G, 5Pts
Matthews 7GP, 4G, 9Pts

Call me crazy but maybe there is more to this than just saying one is better because one has more counting stats.

They share a tier directly below McDavid.

I have them:

1. McDavid

2. Matthews
3. Drai
4. Mackinnon

5. Barkov / Point / Bergeron etc

That's an extremely weak rebuttal. Playoff opponents vary across conferences. And if you were to look at strength of opponents, not so sure Mack doesn't still have the edge. Leafs lost to teams they had no business losing to past 3 years (Columbus, Habs). Colorado - not so much. And in the end - playoff production and leading team to victories matters in playoffs, regardless of opponents.


Matthews' case over Mack lies in focusing on the past 2 seasons mostly, as well as goals. And its a good case he has if you want to argue him above Mack.

My point was all 3 including Drai are similar tier - who you rank above depends on what you value more (or, in many cases, which team you're a fan of).