WTFMAN99
Registered User
- Jun 17, 2009
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You can have playmaking wingers also, and most players have more assists than goals in their stat totals. Can you think of many players that have more goals than assists in a year?
Kessel as more assists then goals every year, but it doesn't make him a center even though he was drafted as one and played it in junior and at college. He is considered a finisher and goal scorer first and foremost as he is among the NHL leaders in shots on net in a year.
Assists and puck distributing is only a part of the offensive side of the game.. To be a center face-off ability and winning % is vital to play the position.. If you can't win 45-55% of your face-offs in comparison to other centers then your simply giving the opposition puck possession in all zones. A player that plays wing regularly doesn't take draws and as such is not getting better at that skill. Becoming proficient in the dot comes with practice, experience and through repetitions. Its not a skill set that all players can master to be effective at winning them. Becoming a #1C requires you not only to win them but doing it against the best in the business when you go head to head.
Defensive zone coverage and responsibility is night and day between a center and a winger also, so you have to be highly motivated to play well without the puck and aggressively backcheck to help out your defense or they will be outnumbered on the attack. You most often have to be the 1st forward back on the play when puck possession is lost as your main defensive responsibility in our own zone is the opposition center on the attack. So good 2-way centers hustle back defensive without the puck as well as they play with the puck offensively.
Kessel isn't a one dimensional offensive threat - he can pass with the best of them., but it's not about Kessel...
Nylander is pretty good with face-offs. He was fine defensively on the wing, centre is a different story though, so we'll have to see how he handles that on the smaller ice. We really won't have an answer on this until next season.