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

[The Moose is Loose]

Draisaitl is not a centre. He is Robin.

Why don't Rantanen, Backstrom, Marner, Nylander, Wheeler, Marchard, Pasta, Benn get the same treatment. They also play with top 10 centers, and some of them have good 3rd line mates. McDavid-Draisaitl don't.

 

[JLo217]

Mack should be over McDavid. He's outscored him for the last season and a half.

 

[authentic]

Side note: this is something I've been thinking about for a while and this thread is just kind of an excuse to post it somewhere: I think if Mark Stone played for a better team he'd be almost universally considered a top 5 winger in the league. (And I'm not a Sens or even a Canadian hockey fan)

He is a +7 corsi and fenwick player for his career and is over a PPG player over his last 100 games. That is complete absurdity. There's guys that are a little better goal scorers, but think he's absolutely the best 2 way winger in the league right now.

He's underrated for sure.

 

[Llamamoto]

Good list, although I would put Stone instead of Landeskog.

 

[NoName]

Mack should be over McDavid. He's outscored him for the last season and a half.

McDavid

108 points last season (in 82 games) + 62 points this season (in 41 games)
Totals: 170 points (in 123 games), 1.382 points per game

MacKinnon

97 points last season (in 74 games) + 63 points this season (in 42 games)
160 points (in 116 games), 1.379 points per game


Very similar production, which is why they are 1 and 2 on my list but technically you are incorrect in terms of both gross production and per-game production, but only by the slimmest of margins.

McDavid gets the edge for me since he has had to do more with way less this season than MacKinnon.

 

[authentic]

I think you could argue Marner above Gaudreau and Ovechkin, he plays less minutes while also playing a minute per game on the penalty kill and he's been a decisively better defensive player than either of them. Overall your listings are pretty solid though.

 

[Gabe the Babe]

McDavid

108 points last season (in 82 games) + 62 points this season (in 41 games)
Totals: 170 points (in 123 games), 1.382 points per game

MacKinnon

97 points last season (in 74 games) + 63 points this season (in 42 games)
160 points (in 116 games), 1.379 points per game


Very similar production, which is why they are 1 and 2 on my list but technically you are incorrect in terms of both gross production and per-game production, but only by the slimmest of margins.

McDavid gets the edge for me since he has had to do more with way less this season than MacKinnon.

I don’t disagree with the more with less. But it’s not that drastic imo. I would also have Mack over McJesus. Simply because Mackinnon carries that line even if the stats look like Mikko does. And subsequently that line carries the whole team. And subsequently that team is in the playoff position that Conner’s is not.

Beyond points. MacKinnon has just been hungrier in my viewings. But regardless can’t be mad at McDavid at 1. He is the best player even if I feel he’s not playing the best currently

 

[jonlin]

Id have Aho as a HM on centers. Even more inpressive is that he switched to C this offseason. Playing 1C in Carolina with 41gp, 16g, 29a, 45p and a +12 on a -10 team facing top-competition every night. He also has 2shg + 1sha.
The guy plays with superstars Teräväinen and Ferland mostly...

 

[Sstroh84]

Another player who deserves to be in HM at least for wingers is Cam Atkinson. 24 goals (tied fro 8th in NHL) and a key driver of offense for the CBJ who also made the All Star Team as a 2nd representative from Columbus over Panarin.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Mack should be over McDavid. He's outscored him for the last season and a half.

You're just lying at this point

 

[Tkachuky]

I think you could argue Marner above Gaudreau and Ovechkin, he plays less minutes while also playing a minute per game on the penalty kill and he's been a decisively better defensive player than either of them. Overall your listings are pretty solid though.

I’m listening. Argue it away:

 

[The Moose is Loose]

I don’t disagree with the more with less. But it’s not that drastic imo. I would also have Mack over McJesus. Simply because Mackinnon carries that line even if the stats look like Mikko does. And subsequently that line carries the whole team. And subsequently that team is in the playoff position that Conner’s is not.

Beyond points. MacKinnon has just been hungrier in my viewings. But regardless can’t be mad at McDavid at 1. He is the best player even if I feel he’s not playing the best currently

Everything you said, does it not apply to McDavid as well. He carries his line even more than Mack. He carries his entire offense more than Mack. He carries his whole damn team a lot more than Mack. He puts up more offense, has a better defensive game, and plays with worse players. McDavid is better in essentially every way possible. No slight to Mackinnon on that though, he's clearly #2 right now in my eyes.

If your only argument for Mackinnon is playoff position, I think that pretty weak. McDavid can't help what the team put around him is like, and regardless he is single handily trying to carry the team to the playoffs. Oilers are only 2 points out of WC2 with a game in hand. The Avalanche are in the WC1 spot and slipping pretty quickly. Not to mention its only half way through the season, lot of hockey left, especially for bubble teams like the Oilers and Avalanche. Im just pointing out I think the entire playoff position argument is very weak for players, but even more so in this case when there is very little separating them in the standings. But I hope both teams make it.

 

[57special]

It’s close but maybe Buff. They have similar amount of points but Jones is pkaying 26min a night. That’s insane.

So, a bit less TOI than Suter, and a couple less points than Suter. suter's career avg. TOI is over 25 min.

 

[WreckingCrew]

Id have Aho as a HM on centers. Even more inpressive is that he switched to C this offseason. Playing 1C in Carolina with 41gp, 16g, 29a, 45p and a +12 on a -10 team facing top-competition every night. He also has 2shg + 1sha.
The guy plays with superstars Teräväinen and Ferland mostly...

100% this...the fact that a guy like Lindholm makes Honorable Mentions list while having a career year on a line with Gaudreau and Monahan (having only ever been a 40 point player previously) > Aho who's basically carrying the Hurricanes and elevating others demonstrates this is a list compiled of basically pure stat-watching.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Every time I watch Jones I am blown away. He is the rare example of a player who sounds like they are overhyped on HF but actually live up to that hype on the ice. Put Jones on the Leafs and he can likely do what Rielly does or close offensively and I like his defense better. Not to take away from THIS season only, which this thread is about.

Given this is only for this year, Jones should be in the top 10 IMO. If this was a going forward list he is top 3.

 

[debil]

everyone name your team top player and say he should be higher.

 

[Bonzo111]

Chris Neil

 

[Old Guy]

I'm a Jackets fan, so I look at this list through Blue colored glasses. I'm surprised that Can Atkinson is on pace for 49-50 goals and that is not enough to draw a sniff .

 

[authentic]

I’m listening. Argue it away:

Well he just got passed in points after two big games from Gaudreau and he's a way better defensive player.

Marner has 45 takeaways this season and 30 giveaways, 15 blocked shots and 16 hits.

Gaudreau has 32 takeaways and 60 giveaways, 4 blocked shots and 3 hits.

Gaudreau also plays with Monahan and Giordano who fair better in these stats overall than Tavares and Rielly, infact Monahan is roughly equal here with Marner himself. Marner is noticeably the best two-way player on his team this season despite being a winger, and I know that much from watching them, these stats don't even tell the whole story.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

I'm a Jackets fan, so I look at this list through Blue colored glasses. I'm surprised that Can Atkinson is on pace for 49-50 goals and that is not enough to draw a sniff .

Draisaitl is on pace for 45 goals and is one of 13 guys on pace to get 100 points, and even he doesn't get a sniff

 

[Holymakinaw]

It's a fine list. No point in changing a thing about it. Whatever people are "arguing" is just semantics at this point.

 

[Trocity]

Mark stone producing at similar paces to most wingers mentioned while being beast defensively and takeaway king...

When you play for Ottawa, you get 0 respect. Stone is a great player.

 

[jetsforever]

Don't agree with all of the orders but most of the selections seem good

 

[NoName]

100% this...the fact that a guy like Lindholm makes Honorable Mentions list while having a career year on a line with Gaudreau and Monahan (having only ever been a 40 point player previously) > Aho who's basically carrying the Hurricanes and elevating others demonstrates this is a list compiled of basically pure stat-watching.

This list is about who is top 10 this year. If we are talking about multi-year spans or careers or who we expect to develop into a better player in the future, this would be a different list of players.

Also, just an FYI, Lindholm fell off the HM list after the first edits (hence name has a strike-though now) to make room for Draisaitl. I tried to keep the HMs to four per positions. There are tons of deserving players in the NHL right now, so just narrowing it down the 10 guys + 4HMs means some very good players miss the cut, and I totally admit that it is a subjective interpretation on my part. That is why I am open to arguments from people here about who I missed who is deserving and who already on the list he should replace (which is the difficult part) and why that is the case.

 

[NoName]

When you play for Ottawa, you get 0 respect. Stone is a great player.

Readers argued persuasively that his defensive ability in addition to his offense this season merited he get consideration so I ended up putting him in the HMs after the first round of edits.