Teams with great center depth

[QJL]

Chytil
Zibanejad
Hayes
Andersson
Namestnikov
Howden
Spooner

...

But really the Pens are first. Jets, Lightning, Oilers, Leafs, Islanders are right there as well.

 

[oooooooooohCanada]

Why is faceoff percentage being listed?

Preds have to be in the discussion here...

Johansen
Turris
Bonino
Fisher

With Jarnkrok and Sissons available to rotate in when needed as well.

Eh..I don't think they are near the tops. Johansen is good but he's not an elite #1. Turris is a solid #2. Bonino is nothing special. Fisher is alright. It's great center depth compared to Nashville's center depth in years past thats for sure. With that defense it's nasty.

Sheifele > Matthews
Stastny > Kadri
Little > Bozak
Lowry > Plek

No... Leafs aren't top 3.. Pitts, Edmonton forsure, Winnipeg, Nashville ahead as well

I'll give you Little and Lowry over Bozak/Pleks but there's big arguments for Matthews and Kadri over Scheifele and Stastny. They both share almost identical stat lines this season despite Matthews playing with lesser linemates (Connor/Ehlers = Nylander roughly, and then potential Hart candidate Blake Wheeler on the other side versus Hyman).

Kadri last 2 yrs: 153 gp, 60 goals, 51 assists, 111 points (59.4 pace while being used in a shutdown role)
Stastny last 2 yrs: 139gp, 33 goals, 57 assists, 90 points (53.1 pace, not familiar with his usage but he played 1-2 mins more than Kadri with STL and I presume was their #1 with those mins)

 

[buud]

Islanders are sneaky good.

Tavares - #1
Barzal- #1
Nelson-#3
Cizikas- Very good #4

Beauvillier is a good to great C prospect as well, but is 'stuck' alongside Barzal right now. not to mention Bailey, who is in a similar position as Beauvillier.

Tavares
Barzal
Bailey
Beauvillier
Nelson
Cizikas

 

[egelband]

Especially when you list Plekanec at 24 points, not a single one of which was with the Leafs.

Hahahahahaha.

 

[Tommy Shelby]

There's a whole bunch of teams with good depth, more than I thought.

Even more surprising is that the Avs have lost Stastny, Duchene and O'Reilly down the middle and still are okay with C depth anchored by MacKinnon and Soderberg with Jost trending upward and Compher/Kamanev too.

 

[Kuz]

The Caps are definetly top 5 in center depth and you could argue top 3. Backström and Kuznetsov have proved they can play close matchups vs the Penguins in the last two playoffs. In 2016 before the Caps aquired Eller the Hagelin-Bonino-Kessel line ran circles around the Caps 3rd line centered by Beagle. In the meantime Crosby and Malkin got 2 points while Backström had 4 and Kuznetsov 1.

When they added Eller for the next year Caps where able to match Pens third line the next year. Bonino went from 5 points to 2 while Eller had 3. Backström and Kuznetsov both with 4 goals and 7 points. Crosby and Malkin also had 7 with 2 goals on Crosby and 3 for Malkin.

Pens have gotten a little bit better at C now with Brassard, but Caps are still one of few teams that can compete with them in C depth.

 

[Werewolf]

Lightning Center depth better than Leafs. It’s not close.

 

[robbieberns]

Carolina has to be up there

Staal
Rask
Ryan
Kruger

 

[Tom Hanks]

Lightning Center depth better than Leafs. It’s not close.

Edit: Read the post wrong. Carry on.

 

[CupsOverCash]

We are talking NHL not the Atlantic division.

Crosby, Malkin, Brassard, Sheahan not close eh?

He said Leafs.

 

[Tom Hanks]

He said Leafs.

I read it wrong. Thought they implied Tampa the Leafs and then it’s not close.

 

[CupsOverCash]

I read it wrong. Thought they implied Tampa the Leafs and then it’s not close.

But yea Id say Pittsburgh has the best center depth. A huge reason why they could 3peat.

 

[KeithIsActuallyBad]

Oilers belong nowhere in this conversation, Drai gets most of his points from playing with McDavid, not from centering the 2nd line

He just came off a four point game and wasn't on McDavid's line...

 

[Empoleon8771]

First thing I noticed. Why the heck would you list only 5 points? Is the OP not aware that Brassard actually played more than the 10 or so games he's been a Penguin?

Sheahan's stats are wrong too and I have no idea how you can justify that, he's at 28 points, not 18.

The Penguins clearly have the best center group in hockey, followed by the Jets at #2. At that point, a lot of teams can fall in the #3-#10 range, but Pittsburgh and Winnipeg clearly have the best center depth.