Not putting Petterson in that group right now as things stand. As a Ranger fan first and foremost (yea I know I'm in here a lot lol), I love Zibby. But he's 29, and while he's very very good, I don't think I would put him there either. I would say both of these guys are top 30. Maybe even top 20. But not top 10 for me. Ah man, I would LOVE to be able to put Lafreniere and/or Kakko in that group, but that's not happening heh.
And Point, well, I am honestly not sure either. He's great too don't get me wrong. This is a really hard thought experiment. If you're putting 29 year old guys, Hedman is only 31. Kucherov is only 28, even though he gets injured a lot.
Plus, I am definitely fitting Svechnikov in the top 20 somewhere, maybe top 10.
I guess it depends, is it building a team from scratch for like the next decade to 15 years, or is it to compete for the next 5 years? I think they'd be two very different teams. If it's the former, then I am probably putting Svech ahead of guys like Zibby and probably even Point. And honestly, even then, I am not trusting Pettersson right now as that kind of asset. I know his ceiling is high but I just don't trust he's going to reach that ceiling enough. I am also probably putting Owen Power somewhere in that mix, unless it's literally "in the league" rather than just NHL assets in general.
There are other guys that I would probably take ahead of Pettersson, Zibby, Barkov and Point if it's starting from scratch for the long haul too. And if it's for the next few years, then I am still taking Ovi and Hedman and guys like that. But I am guessing it's long term assets. In which case, I honestly might have to consider Lundell. The kid is good. Real good. And I think the sky is the limit if he can eventually move ahead of Barkov. I am taking him over Pettersson as well. And probably adding Kaprizov somewhere up there ahead of Pettersson also.
No specific order, think mine would be (excluding guys who aren't in the NHL right now like Power)
mcdavid
Fox
Makar
Mackinnon
Seider
Matthews
Drai
Aho
Kaprizov
Svechnikov
Special mention: Point, Lundell, Brady Tkachuk, Matt Tkachuk, Suzuki, Chychrun, Chabot Rantanen and I guess I would put Pettersson in this realm.