Top 5 Players in the league since 2015-16 by Position

[BlueBull]

This is my lists of who I think have been Top 5 at their position since the 2015-16 season, which not only was when McDavid joined the NHL, but also when a new "era" of the NHL began.
This is my list:
(Ranked by my opinions, and helped by some Hockey-Reference stats. Must have played 150+ Games, or 100+ for a goalie)

Center:
1. Connor McDavid (372 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
2. Sidney Crosby (363 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Champ)
3. Nathan MacKinnon (301 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Leon Draisaitl (303 Points)
5. Nicklas Backstrom (301 Points, 1x Champ)
HM: John Tavares (308 Points)

Left Wing:
1. Alex Ovechkin (316 Points, 1x All Star, 1x Champ)
2. Brad Marchand (331 Points, 1x All Star, Gold Medal Winning Goal at WCOH 2016)
3. Johnny Gaudreau (322 Points)
4. Taylor Hall (248 Points in 263 Games, 1x All Star, 1x Hart)
5. Artemi Panarin (320 Points, 1x All Star, Calder, Team Swept Presidents Trophy Winners)
HM: Jamie Benn (290 Points, 1x All Star)

Right Wing:
1. Nikita Kucherov (379 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart?)
2. Patrick Kane (381 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
#1 and #2 are very close, in my opinion.
3. Blake Wheeler (334 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Claude Giroux (312 Points, 1x All Star, could be on any of the forward lists, I chose the right wing list.)
5. Vladmir Tarasenko (283 Points, 1x All Star)
HM: Phil Kessel (303 Points, 2x Champ)

Defenseman:
1. Brent Burns (301 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
2. Erik Karlsson (260 Points, 2x All Star)
3. Victor Hedman (236 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
4. Drew Doughty (200 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
5. Kris Letang (208 Points, 1x All Star, 2x Champ)
HM: Roman Josi (219 Points)

Goalie:
1. Braden Holtby (156 Wins, 2x All Star, 1x Vezina, 1x Champ)
2. Pekka Rinne (137 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
3. Sergei Bobrovsky (130 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
4. Ben Bishop (106 Wins, 1x All Star)
5. Andrei Vasilevsky (117 Wins, 1x All Star?, 1x Vezina?)
HM: Carey Price (98 Wins)

What do you think are the best players at each position are? This is my list, so who is on your list?

Let's Discuss!
-BlueBull

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[Rich Nixon]

This is my lists of who I think have been Top 4 at their position since the 2015-16 season, which not only was when McDavid joined the NHL, but also when a new "era" of the NHL began.

4. Claude Giroux (312 Points, 1x All Star, could be on any of the forward lists, I chose the right wing list).

Incredible that your chosen four-year stretch includes probably the two worst seasons of his career (followed by his best and fourth-best) and he's still top-10 in total points and top-20 in points-per-game.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Just for clarification, when you say all-star, do you mean all-star game or year end 1st or 2nd all-star team?

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Crazy to see some of these point totals. Who would have guess coming into the 2015 season, that Draisaitl would have more points than Mackinnon over the next 4 years.

Panarin with a 320 point, that’s extremely surprising.

I also think it’s stunning that Holtby has 50% more wins than Price, I don’t think anyone expected that with Price coming off his Hart win.

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

I can not believe people still list Leon Draisaitl as a center in discussions like this. He spent roughly half of those minutes playing winger and his performance when he does play center is not even remotely up to par with the top centers in the league.

 

[OiledGun]

I can not believe people still list Leon Draisaitl as a center in discussions like this. He spent roughly half of those minutes playing winger and his performance when he does play center is not even remotely up to par with the top centers in the league.

You need a new schtick. The only time I see you comment is when it's "Draisaitl is not a centre".

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

You need a new schtick. The only time I see you comment is when it's "Draisaitl is not a centre".

There are plenty of other widely held misconceptions that I go out of my way to disprove. I literally dedicated my user title to disproving the misconception that Tampa Bay lost because they were not physical enough.

 

[BlueBull]

Just for clarification, when you say all-star, do you mean all-star game or year end 1st or 2nd all-star team?

All star teams.

 

[McFlash97]

I can not believe people still list Leon Draisaitl as a center in discussions like this. He spent roughly half of those minutes playing winger and his performance when he does play center is not even remotely up to par with the top centers in the league.

Draisaitl makes you feel inadequate. We get it.

 

[LeProspector]

I can not believe people still list Leon Draisaitl as a center in discussions like this. He spent roughly half of those minutes playing winger and his performance when he does play center is not even remotely up to par with the top centers in the league.

Who cares?

 

[Nordique]

This is my lists of who I think have been Top 5 at their position since the 2015-16 season, which not only was when McDavid joined the NHL, but also when a new "era" of the NHL began.
This is my list:
(Ranked by my opinions, and helped by some Hockey-Reference stats. Must have played 150+ Games, or 100+ for a goalie)

Center:
1. Connor McDavid (372 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
2. Sidney Crosby (363 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Champ)
3. Nathan MacKinnon (301 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Leon Draisaitl (303 Points)
5. Nicklas Backstrom (301 Points, 1x Champ)
HM: John Tavares (308 Points)

Left Wing:
1. Alex Ovechkin (316 Points, 1x All Star, 1x Champ)
2. Brad Marchand (331 Points, 1x All Star, Gold Medal Winning Goal at WCOH 2016)
3. Johnny Gaudreau (322 Points)
4. Taylor Hall (248 Points in 263 Games, 1x All Star, 1x Hart)
5. Artemi Panarin (320 Points, 1x All Star, Calder, Team Swept Presidents Trophy Winners)
HM: Jamie Benn (290 Points, 1x All Star)

Right Wing:
1. Nikita Kucherov (379 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart?)
2. Patrick Kane (381 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
#1 and #2 are very close, in my opinion.
3. Blake Wheeler (334 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Claude Giroux (312 Points, 1x All Star, could be on any of the forward lists, I chose the right wing list.)
5. Vladmir Tarasenko (283 Points, 1x All Star)
HM: Phil Kessel (303 Points, 2x Champ)

Defenseman:
1. Brent Burns (301 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
2. Erik Karlsson (260 Points, 2x All Star)
3. Victor Hedman (236 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
4. Drew Doughty (200 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
5. Kris Letang (208 Points, 1x All Star, 2x Champ)
HM: Roman Josi (219 Points)

Goalie:
1. Braden Holtby (156 Wins, 2x All Star, 1x Vezina, 1x Champ)
2. Pekka Rinne (137 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
3. Sergei Bobrovsky (130 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
4. Ben Bishop (106 Wins, 1x All Star)
5. Andrei Vasilevsky (117 Wins, 1x All Star?, 1x Vezina?)
HM: Carey Price (98 Wins)

What do you think are the best players at each position are? This is my list, so who is on your list?

Let's Discuss!
-BlueBull

I think Bobrovsky has 2 Vezinas.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

so, you just went to hockey-reference and sorted on points and position?

only way I can explain you not having Bergeron even mentioned for centers, let alone in your top 5 where he belongs.

138-180-318 in 369 games (0.86 PPG)
Selke finishes of 1-1-2-3 and a finalist again this year, likely to win his 3rd in the last 5

edit: having Letang in your top 5 D is equally absurd

 

[BlueBull]

so, you just went to hockey-reference and sorted on points and position?

only way I can explain you not having Bergeron even mentioned for centers, let alone in your top 5 where he belongs.

138-180-318 in 369 games (0.86 PPG)
Selke finishes of 1-1-2-3 and a finalist again this year, likely to win his 3rd in the last 5

edit: having Letang in your top 5 D is equally absurd

Oh yeah youre right i did. I thought the list was mostly accurate...

 

[tony d]

Thanks for your efforts. Still if you decided this just by points then there's a lot of stuff missing on your lists. Much more to hockey than scoring points.

 

[ESH]

This is my lists of who I think have been Top 5 at their position since the 2015-16 season, which not only was when McDavid joined the NHL, but also when a new "era" of the NHL began.
This is my list:
(Ranked by my opinions, and helped by some Hockey-Reference stats. Must have played 150+ Games, or 100+ for a goalie)

Center:
1. Connor McDavid (372 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
2. Sidney Crosby (363 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Champ)
3. Nathan MacKinnon (301 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Leon Draisaitl (303 Points)
5. Nicklas Backstrom (301 Points, 1x Champ)
HM: John Tavares (308 Points)

Left Wing:
1. Alex Ovechkin (316 Points, 1x All Star, 1x Champ)
2. Brad Marchand (331 Points, 1x All Star, Gold Medal Winning Goal at WCOH 2016)
3. Johnny Gaudreau (322 Points)
4. Taylor Hall (248 Points in 263 Games, 1x All Star, 1x Hart)
5. Artemi Panarin (320 Points, 1x All Star, Calder, Team Swept Presidents Trophy Winners)
HM: Jamie Benn (290 Points, 1x All Star)

Right Wing:
1. Nikita Kucherov (379 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart?)
2. Patrick Kane (381 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
#1 and #2 are very close, in my opinion.
3. Blake Wheeler (334 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Claude Giroux (312 Points, 1x All Star, could be on any of the forward lists, I chose the right wing list.)
5. Vladmir Tarasenko (283 Points, 1x All Star)
HM: Phil Kessel (303 Points, 2x Champ)

Defenseman:
1. Brent Burns (301 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
2. Erik Karlsson (260 Points, 2x All Star)
3. Victor Hedman (236 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
4. Drew Doughty (200 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
5. Kris Letang (208 Points, 1x All Star, 2x Champ)
HM: Roman Josi (219 Points)

Goalie:
1. Braden Holtby (156 Wins, 2x All Star, 1x Vezina, 1x Champ)
2. Pekka Rinne (137 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
3. Sergei Bobrovsky (130 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
4. Ben Bishop (106 Wins, 1x All Star)
5. Andrei Vasilevsky (117 Wins, 1x All Star?, 1x Vezina?)
HM: Carey Price (98 Wins)

What do you think are the best players at each position are? This is my list, so who is on your list?

Let's Discuss!
-BlueBull

Why split the wingers up but not the defensemen? If you’re gonna do 10 wingers I feel like you should do 10 defensemen too.

Also Giroux has probably spent more time at Center over the past 5 seasons than Draisaitl has. It’s only been the past 2 that he’s spent significant time at wing (and it’s been at LW, not RW, fyi).

 

[The Tourist]

Benn probably jumps 4-5 spots on this list if you just go back one or two more seasons. Not arguing where he is based on your starting point but just going back two more seasons gives him an Art Ross, a 1st team All Star, a 2nd team All Star, and two of his three best scoring seasons.

I would have Giroux over Wheeler unless you're just going by points and I wouldn't have Letang in the top 5. I think I would bump Tavares to #4 and maybe put Seguin at HM over Leon or Backstrom. Draisaitl had a monster season that was better than the other guys but Seguin and Backstrom have been better since 2015-2016. Seguin has put up at least 72 points in six straight seasons with two over 80. If the question was who was better in 2018 and going forward then I could see the argument for Drasaitl over Tavares, Seguin and Backstrom but not when you include the last several years.

 

[SI90]

Where is Patrice Bergeron?

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

lol no matt hunwick?

 

[TT1]

Crazy to see some of these point totals. Who would have guess coming into the 2015 season, that Draisaitl would have more points than Mackinnon over the next 4 years.

Panarin with a 320 point, that’s extremely surprising.

I also think it’s stunning that Holtby has 50% more wins than Price, I don’t think anyone expected that with Price coming off his Hart win.

yea who woulda thought having a good team is important in hockey

 

[The Tourist]

I just realized Patrice wasn’t on your list. Yeah he should be ahead of at least a couple of those guys. Same with Kopitar. I think you might be taking the most recent season into account way too much. On a list for the best centers over the last 4-5 seasons there is no way Draisaitl is on there over a few others.

 

[Hal 9000]

This is my lists of who I think have been Top 5 at their position since the 2015-16 season, which not only was when McDavid joined the NHL, but also when a new "era" of the NHL began.
This is my list:
(Ranked by my opinions, and helped by some Hockey-Reference stats. Must have played 150+ Games, or 100+ for a goalie)

Center:
1. Connor McDavid (372 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
2. Sidney Crosby (363 Points, 2x All Star, 2x Champ)
3. Nathan MacKinnon (301 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Leon Draisaitl (303 Points)
5. Nicklas Backstrom (301 Points, 1x Champ)
HM: John Tavares (308 Points)

Left Wing:
1. Alex Ovechkin (316 Points, 1x All Star, 1x Champ)
2. Brad Marchand (331 Points, 1x All Star, Gold Medal Winning Goal at WCOH 2016)
3. Johnny Gaudreau (322 Points)
4. Taylor Hall (248 Points in 263 Games, 1x All Star, 1x Hart)
5. Artemi Panarin (320 Points, 1x All Star, Calder, Team Swept Presidents Trophy Winners)
HM: Jamie Benn (290 Points, 1x All Star)

Right Wing:
1. Nikita Kucherov (379 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart?)
2. Patrick Kane (381 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Art Ross, 1x Hart)
#1 and #2 are very close, in my opinion.
3. Blake Wheeler (334 Points, 1x All Star)
4. Claude Giroux (312 Points, 1x All Star, could be on any of the forward lists, I chose the right wing list.)
5. Vladmir Tarasenko (283 Points, 1x All Star)
HM: Phil Kessel (303 Points, 2x Champ)

Defenseman:
1. Brent Burns (301 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
2. Erik Karlsson (260 Points, 2x All Star)
3. Victor Hedman (236 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
4. Drew Doughty (200 Points, 2x All Star, 1x Norris)
5. Kris Letang (208 Points, 1x All Star, 2x Champ)
HM: Roman Josi (219 Points)


Goalie:
1. Braden Holtby (156 Wins, 2x All Star, 1x Vezina, 1x Champ)
2. Pekka Rinne (137 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
3. Sergei Bobrovsky (130 Wins, 1x All Star, 1x Vezina)
4. Ben Bishop (106 Wins, 1x All Star)
5. Andrei Vasilevsky (117 Wins, 1x All Star?, 1x Vezina?)
HM: Carey Price (98 Wins)

What do you think are the best players at each position are? This is my list, so who is on your list?

Let's Discuss!
-BlueBull

Why the HM? If you can't decide on 5, just call it top 6.

 

[The Tourist]

And Malkin even though he’s missed some games belongs on the list. I keep noticing more names missing after each reply.

 

[CycloneSweep]

Swap Giroux and Draisaitl on their lists.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Why is Kessel below Tarasenko? Why isn't Geno on the list?

 

[BlueBull]

I have seen that I missed alot of players, and I get it.

I am not going to edit the post, but I know I did miss some players. Here are my answers to some replies:

I think Bobrovsky has 2 Vezinas.

He had 1 Vezina between 2015-16 and 2018-19 (I don't have 2019's NHL Awards up, but I'm pretty sure it won't be Bobrovsky's Vezina. I only put 2019 awards in if they were the favourite to win.)

so, you just went to hockey-reference and sorted on points and position?

only way I can explain you not having Bergeron even mentioned for centers, let alone in your top 5 where he belongs.

138-180-318 in 369 games (0.86 PPG)
Selke finishes of 1-1-2-3 and a finalist again this year, likely to win his 3rd in the last 5

edit: having Letang in your top 5 D is equally absurd

First of all, yes Bergeron should be on there, about #4. I won't put him on there just so I don't make this reply invalid, but yes Bergeron is up there.
Secondly, I only put Letang up there because I thought there should be at least one player per position who won a Cup within that period of time.
Lastly, I didn't do it just by points and position... I did it by Points, Position and All Star Teams.

I just realized Patrice wasn’t on your list. Yeah he should be ahead of at least a couple of those guys. Same with Kopitar. I think you might be taking the most recent season into account way too much. On a list for the best centers over the last 4-5 seasons there is no way Draisaitl is on there over a few others.

And Malkin even though he’s missed some games belongs on the list. I keep noticing more names missing after each reply.

... Ok. Reprised C List, for the record: #1 McDavid, #2 Crosby, #3 MacKinnon #4 Bergeron #5 Kopitar HM: Backstrom.
Malkin missed alot of time, but if he was more healthy he would be 4 or 5, maybe even 3.

Last thing to note is about why I chose the time frame of 2015-16 to now. I said in my OP that it's because McDavid joined the league in 2o15 as well as the fact that a Young wave of Speed and Skill also came in. I'll check back and update my list every 1-2 years probably, since this list might be way different by 2025.