Top 10 players at each position at the mid-way mark

[The S5]

McDonagh easily in top 10 for D. The guy is grossly under rated.

 

[NoName]

McDonagh easily in top 10 for D. The guy is grossly under rated.

Who would you have him push out?

 

[The S5]

Who would you have him push out?

Hedman
Letang
Chabot
Josi
Byfuglien
Carlson
E. Karlsson

 

[NoName]

What is your argument tht Barkov has been better thn Monahan in the first half of the year?

Along with Bergeron, he is the best two-way player in the NHL. As was posted previously by another person he is second in the NHL in takeaways, draws tons of penalties while taking almost none in return (2PIM) and despite all the defensive responsibilities still is putting up over a point per game. Monahan wins out on sheer offense, definitely, but Barkov's two way game counts as well and in my mind pulls him ahead, for now.

I honestly almost put Barkov above Tavares, because I think he drives his line more (Tavares has Marner carrying the puck a lot); Tavares' goalscoring was the only reason he eked ahead for me.

All the guys in the top 10 are deserving but if I would replace Nick with one it would be Barkov. Nick has slightly better stats than him and his team is doing better. If not in the top 10 he should definitely get an HM callout.

For me the traditional offensive stats are roughly a wash (Backstrom's got two more points but Barkov's got six more goals), but Barkov's elite two-way play puts him ahead for now. You could have a point about Backstrom deserving to push out one of the guys from the HM list though.

 

[Duffalufagus]

Along with Bergeron, he is the best two-way player in the NHL. As was posted previously by another person he is second in the NHL in takeaways, draws tons of penalties while taking almost none in return (2PIM) and despite all the defensive responsibilities still is putting up over a point per game. Monahan wins out on sheer offense, definitely, but Barkov's two way game counts as well and in my mind pulls him ahead, for now.

I honestly almost put Barkov above Tavares, because I think he drives his line more (Tavares has Marner carrying the puck a lot); Tavares' goalscoring was the only reason he eked ahead for me.

For me the traditional offensive stats are roughly a wash (Backstrom's got two more points but Barkov's got six more goals), but Barkov's elite two-way play puts him ahead for now. You could have a point about Backstrom deserving to push out one of the guys from the HM list though.

Well defended.

Imo Barkov’s two-way game is overrated. I know +/- is overrated as a stat but he has one of the worst in the top 40 scorers in the league.

Conversely, Monahan’s two way game is underrated.

Fair enough though and I love the thread.

 

[NoName]

Well defended.

Imo Barkov’s two-way game is overrated. I know +/- is overrated as a stat but he has one of the worst in the top 40 scorers in the league.

Conversely, Monahan’s two way game is underrated.

Fair enough though and I love the thread.

That is an opinion I can definitely respect; Monahan definitely has put up some brilliant numbers this season. I am neither a Calgary or Florida fan, but I admit, my high opinion of Barkov could be due to me seeing him a lot when watching the Leafs play the Panthers and watching him just tilt the ice when he is playing.

I absolutely admit that this is a subjective call at this point; this is by no means clear-cut, and I wouldn't be surprised if Monahan rockets up my list by the end of the season.

 

[Dache]

There is a gaping chasm between the two, that's my point.

Care to explain why?

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Care to explain why?

Tavares is literally better in every facet of the game.

 

[Dache]

Tavares is literally better in every facet of the game.

So just a nonsense opinion to stir the pot? Got it.

 

[NoName]

Hedman
Letang
Chabot
Josi
Byfuglien
Carlson
E. Karlsson

Really? Offensively he does lag behind all those guys by a substantial margin. I know he is having a solid season, but is he being a far better defensive player than all those listed defenders on that list?

IMO McDonagh has been better than Hedman on Defense

I do feel like defense is the hardest position to judges just looking at the NHL.com easily accessible stats, so it is the list I feel lest confident about seeing as how I only regularly watch games featuring a small portion of these players. Maybe Tampa Bay fans can point out to me why they would put McDonagh ahead of Hedman this season, so that I can get a better idea?

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

So just a nonsense opinion to stir the pot? Got it.

What is nonsense about that? Name one thing Monahan does better than Tavares.

Skating? No
Puck carrying? No
Stick handling? No
Playmaking? No
Shooting? No
Hands around the net? No
Defensively? No
Creativity? No
Strength? No

Tavares is a franchise C who can drive the play. Monahan is a complimentary scorer who relies heavily on his linemates for production.

 

[Dache]

What is nonsense about that? Name one thing Monahan does better than Tavares.

Skating? No
Puck carrying? No
Stick handling? No
Playmaking? No
Shooting? No
Hands around the net? No
Defensively? No
Creativity? No
Strength? No

Tavares is a franchise C who can drive the play. Monahan is a complimentary scorer who relies heavily on his linemates for production.

I’ve seen countless posts this year from leafs fans about how it’s not Marner being a product of Tavares but the other way around. And all the “proof” you just posted is complete opinion. I actually do think that Tavares is better. But this whole huge gap talk is nonsense when Monohan has 52pts and Tavares has 47

 

[The S5]

Really? Offensively he does lag behind all those guys by a substantial margin. I know he is having a solid season, but is he being a far better defensive player than all those listed defenders on that list

Yes, he is a far better defender than almost all listed in your top 10. I feel he is the best on that list, but there are a couple of other strong defenders. Some on your list are poor defenders.

The offensive D are great for many fans with short attention spans.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

I’ve seen countless posts this year from leafs fans about how it’s not Marner being a product of Tavares but the other way around. And all the “proof” you just posted is complete opinion. I actually do think that Tavares is better. But this whole huge gap talk is nonsense when Monohan has 52pts and Tavares has 47

Stat watching at it's finest. Judge them with your eyeballs and tell me that they are even close to the same tier of player.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Draisaitl should be in top centers or wingers. Really depends on your opinion because he has spent a lot of time at both. He is top 10 in points, and is on an absolutely atrocious team. Guy is on pace 45 goals and a 100 point season. I don't know how is isn't included on those lists.

You not even giving him an honorable mention is even more embarrassing. By far the highest scoring guy to not get placed.

 

[Dache]

Stat watching at it's finest. Judge them with your eyeballs and tell me that they are even close to the same tier of player.

I do watch them with my eyeballs and that’s what I’m telling you.

 

[Ben White]

Since we are (roughly) half-way through the season, I thought it would be a good time to see which players are the absolute "cream of the crop" for their positions (centre, wings, defense and goal). NOTE: this is going by their "listed positions" on NHL.com, not necessarily where they play the bulk of their ice-time.

Centre

McDavid
MacKinnon
Crosby
Matthews
Point
Bergeron
Scheifele
Eichel
Tavares
Barkov

HM: Monahan, Stamkos, Duchene, Lindholm


Wing

Kucherov
Rantenen
Gaudreau
Ovechkin
Marner
Pastrnak
P. Kane
Panarin
Wheeler
Skinner

HM: M. Tkachuck, Landeskog, Huberdeau, Kessel


Defense

Rielly
Burns
Giordano
Hedman
Letang
Chabot
Josi
Byfuglien
Carlson
E. Karlsson

HM: Yandle, Jones, Barrie, Suter

NOTE: I will totally admit that defense is the toughest here to order, particularly near the top. I think most people here have pretty similar top-5/top-10 lists but what you particularly value (passing, scoring, own-zone play ability to munch minutes) will shape how we order them.


Goaltending

Gibson
Rinne
Andersen
Bishop
Vasilevskiy
Lehner
DeSmith
Halak
Rittich
Fleury

HM: Hutton, Howard, Greiss, Dubnyk

NOTE: This is also a tough one to rank since beyond just sv% you also have to look at what team/blue line they are playing behind as well as their volume of work. I tried to avoid just going by "name brand" here. Work-horses get favor from he here.



So what do you guys think? What are your own mid-way of the season top-10 lists? If someone raises a convincing argument, I am totally willing to modify my lists; I admit, I don't regularly watch all 31 teams, so I might have missed something here having just relied on the paper stats for a bunch of these guys. After feedback, I will make any changes in an edit and highlight how those changes affected the overall rankings of all guys in the top-10 (+ or - from original position).

Lol at not having Pettersson even as a HM

 

[Duffalufagus]

I’ve seen countless posts this year from leafs fans about how it’s not Marner being a product of Tavares but the other way around. And all the “proof” you just posted is complete opinion. I actually do think that Tavares is better. But this whole huge gap talk is nonsense when Monohan has 52pts and Tavares has 47

As I said upthread, his take is a (thinly) veiled attempt to flex Gaudreau.

Monahan is criminally underrated.

 

[NoName]

Draisaitl should be in top centers or wingers. Really depends on your opinion because he has spent a lot of time at both. He is top 10 in points, and is on an absolutely atrocious team. Guy is on pace 45 goals and a 100 point season. I don't know how is isn't included on those lists.

You not even giving him an honorable mention is even more embarrassing. By far the highest scoring guy to not get placed.

Fair point, I concede I have underrated him. I am going by "listed positions" so it would be centre which is a really competitive spot, but even there his stats should get him somewhere. Will change it on the first major edit.

Lol at not having Pettersson even as a HM

Who would you have him replace?

 

[Duffalufagus]

Draisaitl is not a centre. He is Robin.

 

[NoName]

Yes, he is a far better defender than almost all listed in your top 10. I feel he is the best on that list, but there are a couple of other strong defenders. Some on your list are poor defenders.

The offensive D are great for many fans with short attention spans.

There are great all-rounders on that list too (Giordano, Hedman, Josi as well as Jones and Suter among the HMs), but yeah, offensive totals do get lime-light. When you don't see every team night-in and night-out you do have to lean more on paper-stats when judging which does help offensive players. However, I don't think many of the guys on that list are flat-out poor defenders; even guys like Burns, Karlsson and Rielly are at least "ok" defenders so nowadays.

I really need a bit more information on what is so especially great about Doughty's defensive ability this season that offsets his (compared to other guys here) less brilliant offensive stats to justify putting him ahead of the likes of Hedman. Care to expand a bit for my sake?

 

[Ben White]

Who would you have him replace?

At least all of the HM’s anything else suggests you haven’t watched the Canucks at all this season. Considering his environment and his importance to the Canucks I’d put him at #6-10 among centers so far this season.

Edit: I mean, cmon, I’ve watched basically all Canucks games this season. Duchesne, Lindholm and Monahan wasn’t even in the same ballpark seeing them on the same ice surface.

 

[Duffalufagus]

At least all of the HM’s anything else suggests you haven’t watched the Canucks at all this season. Considering his environment and his importance to the Canucks I’d put him at #6-10 among centers so far this season.

Edit: I mean, cmon, I’ve watched basically all Canucks games this season. Duchesne, Lindholm and Monahan wasn’t even in the same ballpark seeing them on the same ice surface.

The kid is good but let’s let him play a whole year first. Monahan is too 10 in league scoring.

Talent-wise I’m with you though. Kid is special.

 

[NoName]

First round of edits based on feedback are up.

Draisaitl is added to the list of honorable mentions, pushing Lindholm off. I have been convinced is raw scoring stats justify this, regardless of the impact of McDavid or the Oilers current situation. Lindholm falling off hurts, but I don't want to expand the list and I have Duchene as just a fraction ahead considering he has to carry the Sens offense night-in and night-out in a way that Lindholm doesn't with guys like Monahan and Gaudreau to help with the scoring.

Stone is added to the honorable mentions list pushing Skinner off the list entirely. The advocates swayed me here that leading the league in takeaways along with his solid offensive stats justify this. I was going to put Skinner down on the HM list, but frankly while his goals are impressive, his less than stellar assist numbers (and overall sup point-per game pace) make it hard to justify me keeping him ahead of M. Tkachuck, Huberdeau, Kessel.

Burns moves above Rielly for Defense. Originally I gave Rielly the edge due to superior goal-scoring (leading all defensemen with 13 goals), but Burns can eat minutes as well as put up similar point values (24:13 min/game vs 22:26 min/game for Rielly) so I give him the edge here.

Also added top-5 rookies. This is best this season, not necessarily who projects to be the best long-term. Rookies do tend to be even more subjective then most though.

Defense and goaltending will likely get further attention.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Fair point, I concede I have underrated him. I am going by "listed positions" so it would be centre which is a really competitive spot, but even there his stats should get him somewhere. Will change it on the first major edit.



Who would you have him replace?

Glad to hear it