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Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick

August 25, 2018 at 12:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

Our look back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft is now in full swing as we poll the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now.  Through the first three picks, we have already seen big changes from what actually happened.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
3rd Overall: Nicklas Backstrom (Chicago Blackhawks)

Although the Blackhawks didn’t get Toews this time around, they wind up with a solid consolation prize in Backstrom, who would certainly fit in well as their number one center today.  He quietly leads all 2006 draft points in NHL assists (590) and points (799) and certainly would have made for a dynamic one-two punch alongside winger Patrick Kane.

Now, let’s move forward to the fourth pick in the draft, which was held by the Washington Capitals.

It’s safe to say that their original selection turned out to be the right one as Backstrom has been a go-to player for them for the last 11 years and still has two years remaining on a team-friendly contract with a $6.7MM cap hit.  While Alex Ovechkin draws most of the headlines, Backstrom has made a strong career for himself largely serving as his setup man while emerging as a capable two-way threat as well.  Obviously, with him now off the board as Chicago’s pick, Washington will have to pick someone else this time around.

With the fourth pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Washington Capitals select?  Cast your vote below!

Mobile users, click here to vote.

Polls| Washington Capitals NHL Entry Draft| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Third Overall Pick

August 23, 2018 at 1:44 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’ve begun our journey looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, polling the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Already we’ve seen big changes at the top of the draft, with Erik Johnson falling out of the first-overall slot and the St. Louis Blues picking a potential Hall of Fame captain in his place.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Giroux beat out Nicklas Backstrom to be the second pick, finishing with close to 35% of the vote. The Philadelphia Flyers captain is among the very best offensive players in the league, and would have given the Penguins another versatile player to fit in beside or behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Though Jordan Staal, who was the real second pick by the Penguins, helped the team to a Stanley Cup as a young player, adding Giroux could have made Pittsburgh even more dominant through the years.

Now we’ll move forward to the third pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks obviously lucked out when Toews fell to them in the third spot, getting their future captain and leader for a run of success nearly unparalleled in the cap era. Toews led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2010 with a Conn Smythe-winning effort, and has captained them to two more titles since. The perennial Selke and Hart trophy nominee was the easy choice at first overall, meaning Chicago will have to go with someone else this time around.

With the third pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Chicago Blackhawks| Polls NHL Entry Draft| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick

August 21, 2018 at 1:37 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 4 Comments

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

Starting this week, we’re looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain in much the same order, or will some late round picks jump to the top of the board?

On Monday we asked the PHR community to weigh in on who should have been selected first overall in 2006 and after more than 2,500 votes the decision is clear. Though he didn’t get quite the 88% that Sidney Crosby came away for the top honor in 2005, Jonathan Toews earned the majority of votes at nearly 57%. The Chicago Blackhawks legend was an easy choice for many readers, who noted his three Stanley Cups and decade of success in the NHL. Claude Giroux and Nicklas Backstrom both earned more than 10% of the vote, and are solid challengers for the second position.

In reality, the Pittsburgh Penguins held the second pick in 2006 and used it on a familiar NHL name. Jordan Staal, the younger brother of then-Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal ,was a big center for the Peterborough Petes and was in real contention for the top spot going into the draft. The older Staal had just cracked 100 points and led his team to the Stanley Cup, but it wasn’t just the family success that decided Pittsburgh’s selection. The NHL’s Central Scouting Service had Staal ranked only behind eventual first-overall pick Erik Johnson among North American skaters, and ahead of Toews who was already playing at the University of North Dakota. Staal already stood 6’4″ and well over 200-lbs, making him the prototypical first line center in the eyes of many.

Unfortunately perhaps for the Penguins, who passed on the chance to get Toews, Staal didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations. He did find early success with Pittsburgh, slotting in behind Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to win the Stanley Cup in 2009, but was eventually moved out of town as he got too expensive. He reunited in Carolina with his brother for a short time, and has put up a fine if unremarkable career since. Staal has failed to win any major individual awards, and likely wouldn’t be Pittsburgh’s pick if they got another chance at it today. Who would they take if given the benefit of more than a decade of hindsight?

With the second pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Pittsburgh Penguins select? Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Polls Jordan Staal| NHL Entry Draft| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

4 comments

Poll: Who Are The Best Wingers In The NHL?

August 20, 2018 at 2:34 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

Over the last few weeks the NHL Network have released their lists of the Top 20 Centers and Top 20 Defensemen in the league, sparking huge debate across the hockey world. In a response to this we polled the readers in the PHR community and came up with our own lists, which varied greatly from the original. For our centers, Sidney Crosby came out just ahead of Connor McDavid for the best in the NHL, while John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron were given much more respect.

On the blue line, NHL Network had Victor Hedman as the best defenseman following his Norris Trophy season while several other respected names found themselves off the list entirely. After nearly 10,000 votes, PHR chose Erik Karlsson as the top dog despite his disappointing 2017-18 campaign. Karlsson just barely edged out Drew Doughty and Hedman at the top of our list, while there were some other interesting inclusions further down. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Defenseman list currently looks like this:

  1. Erik Karlsson (867 votes)
  2. Drew Doughty (862 votes)
  3. Victor Hedman (857 votes)
  4. P.K. Subban (694 votes)
  5. Brent Burns (633 votes)
  6. Roman Josi (429 votes)
  7. Seth Jones (387 votes)
  8. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (378 votes)
  9. Alex Pietrangelo (373 votes)
  10. John Carlson (341 votes)
  11. Dustin Byfuglien (326 votes)
  12. Shea Weber (219 votes)
  13. Aaron Ekblad (215 votes)
  14. John Klingberg (203 votes)
  15. Ryan Suter (194 votes)
  16. Kris Letang (166 votes)
  17. Dougie Hamilton (165 votes)
  18. Duncan Keith (163 votes)
  19. Ryan Ellis (139 votes)
  20. Charlie McAvoy/Ivan Provorov (137 votes)

Today, the NHL Network released their next ranking, this time valuing the Top 20 Wingers in the league. Nikita Kucherov took down the top spot after once again proving he is an elite offensive talent for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Registering a career-high 100 points last season, Kucherov led the Lightning in scoring for the third consecutive season despite only just turning 25 and was rewarded with a huge eight-year $76MM contract extension this summer. He’ll be in Tampa Bay for quite a while putting up huge point totals and driving an offense that is among the best in the NHL.

Behind Kucherov was the ageless Alex Ovechkin who recently took home his seventh Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s best goal scorer, and finally won the Stanley Cup after being ousted annually by nemesis Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ovechkin also broke the 600-goal threshold in 2017-18, and will likely end up among the very best goal scorers to ever play the game. Reigning Hart Trophy winner as the league MVP falls in just behind the top two, as Taylor Hall managed to hold off Patrick Kane and Brad Marchand for third in the ranking. The rest of the group is a mishmash of veteran stars like Blake Wheeler and Phil Kessel, and young talents like Brock Boeser and Mikko Rantanen.

Just like the debate over centers and defensemen, we will now as you at PHR to rank the top wingers in the NHL. The NHL Network did their own fan vote which ended up being somewhat hijacked by Jake Virtanen fans, but also included other names like Mitch Marner and Tom Wilson. Where do you think those players fall in? Since there are an incredible amount of talented wingers in the league, this time we’ll ask you to cast your vote by selecting 20 names. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the center and defense polls ended. We’ve included many names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important (which we undoubtedly have) make sure to leave his name down below.

[Mobile users click here to vote]

Polls Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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PHR Originals: 8/13/18 – 8/19/18

August 19, 2018 at 6:51 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Here’s a rundown of some of the original content at PHR over the past seven days.

For the second straight year, the Oilers will be heading into the season without the services of veteran defender Andrej Sekera.  Zach broke down what’s left of the free agent market as well as some possibilities to hit the waiver wire if Edmonton decides to try to fill his spot with a cheap veteran.

Our Salary Cap Deep Dive series continues.  I took a look at the situations for the Penguins, Devils, and Flames while Holger assessed the Kings.

Meanwhile, the Red Wings currently find themselves over the salary cap.  Zach went over their situation including possibilities for long-term injury reserve, players that could be snuck through waivers, as well as some potential trade candidates.

While the salary cap rightfully gets most of the attention, there is also a contract cap in the NHL.  Gavin notes that the Coyotes are presently right up against the limit and even if their signed junior-aged players don’t make the team, it’s a situation they’re going to have to carefully navigate throughout the season.

Troy Brouwer was a late entrant into the free agent market after the Flames used a window after their salary arbitration cases to buy out the remainder of his contract.  Zach reviewed his free agent case and what type of deal he may have to settle for this summer.

Topics in our latest mailbag included a look at what the Senators should do with their notable pending unrestricted free agents, projects the Metropolitan Division, reviews Henrik Zetterberg’s injury situation and Detroit, and discusses whether Boston needs to make a move for top-six help now or wait until later in the season.

Teams have been looking overseas for players more and more frequently and this offseason has been no exception.  Zach provided a listing of all of the signings and looked at some of the players that are already projected to have an impact in the NHL next season.  Some of those players came from some non-traditional hockey markets; another non-traditional place that is starting to produce some talent is Southern California as Zach detailed.

With several key defensemen already inking long-term extensions to stick with their current teams, Toronto’s Jake Gardiner is quickly becoming one of the more intriguing UFAs on the back end.  Zach previewed his situation, noting that if Toronto wants to keep their top forward group intact, they may have some difficulties finding enough cap space to keep him in the fold as well.

Uncategorized Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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Draft Pick Landscape: Breakdown By Team

August 19, 2018 at 12:46 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 2 Comments

The NHL trade market lives and dies in the movement of draft picks, a future promise of talent whose value perceived value is impossible to assess. A third-round pick today might be worth a second-round pick three years from now, but vary in value from conversation to conversation among the NHL’s executives. It’s difficult to see who won a trade that involves picks even years after the fact, given that the path a player goes down is immeasurably dependent on the team that drafts him and their development process.

Still, draft picks are the currency which teams use to improve in the short term while others try to stockpile for a rebuild that may never truly come. We’ve already seen quite a bit of movement among the picks for the 2019 draft, including several high selections changing hands this summer. Below is a list of where each team sits as we approach the season, and who has a few more coins in their pocket for any in-season trading.

2019 NHL Entry Draft Selections:

Anaheim Ducks – 1st (ANA), 2nd (ANA), 4th (ANA), 5th (ANA), 6th (ANA)

Arizona Coyotes – 1st (ARZ), 2nd (ARZ), 3rd (ARZ), 3rd (CHI), 4th (ARZ), 6th (ARZ), 6th (CBJ)*, 6th (PIT)

*The Coyotes will only acquire this pick if Ryan MacInnis plays 20 NHL games in 2018-19.

Boston Bruins – 1st (BOS), 2nd (BOS), 3rd (BOS), 5th (BOS), 6th (BOS)

Buffalo Sabres – 1st (BUF), 1st (SJS)*, 1st (STL)*, 3rd (BUF), 4th (SJS)*, 6th (BUF), 6th (TOR), 7th (BUF)

*Conditions on each of these picks could push them to 2020.

Calgary Flames – 1st (CGY), 3rd (CGY), 4th (NYI), 5th (CGY), 7th (CAR)

Carolina Hurricanes – 1st (CAR), 2nd (CAR), 2nd (BUF), 3rd (CAR), 4th (CAR), 5th (CAR), 6th (CAR), 6th (CGY), 7th (BOS)

Chicago Blackhawks – 1st (CHI), 2nd (CHI), 4th (CHI), 4th (BOS), 5th (ARZ), 6th (CHI), 7th (CHI), 7th (ANA)

Colorado Avalanche – 1st (COL), 1st (OTT), 2nd (COL), 3rd (COL), 3rd (OTT), 5th (COL), 6th (COL), 7th (COL)

Columbus Blue Jackets – 1st (CBJ), 3rd (CBJ), 4th (CBJ), 7th (CBJ)

Dallas Stars – 1st (DAL), 2nd (DAL), 3rd (DAL), 4th (DAL), 4th (PIT/MIN)*, 5th (DAL), 6th (DAL), 7th (DAL)

*The Stars will receive the earlier of the two picks

Detroit Red Wings – 1st (DET), 2nd (DET), 2nd (NYI), 3rd (DET), 4th (DET), 5th (DET), 5th (BUF), 5th (CBJ), 6th (DET), 7th (DET), 7th (ARZ)*

*The Red Wings will only acquire this pick if Robbie Russo plays 30 NHL games in 2018-19.

Edmonton Oilers – 1st (EDM), 2nd (EDM), 3rd (EDM), 3rd (NYI), 4th (EDM), 6th (EDM), 7th (EDM)

Florida Panthers – 1st (FLA), 4th (FLA), 5th (FLA), 6th (FLA), 7th (FLA)

Los Angeles Kings – 1st (LAK), 2nd (LAK), 3rd (LAK), 4th (LAK), 5th (LAK), 6th (LAK), 7th (LAK)

Minnesota Wild – 1st (MIN), 2nd (MIN), 3rd (MIN), 5th (MIN), 5th (WSH), 6th (MIN), 7th (MIN)

Montreal Canadiens – 1st (MTL), 2nd (MTL), 3rd (MTL), 4th (MTL), 4th (CGY) 5th (CHI), 5th (EDM), 6th (MTL), 7th (WPG)

Nashville Predators – 1st (NSH), 2nd (NSH), 3rd (FLA), 4th (NSH), 4th (COL), 5th (NSH), 6th (NSH), 7th (NSH)

New Jersey Devils – 1st (NJD), 2nd (NJD), 3rd (ANA), 4th (NJD), 5th (NJD), 6th (NJD), 7th (NJD)

New York Islanders – 1st (NYI), 2nd (CGY), 5th (NYI), 6th (NYI), 7th (NYI)

New York Rangers – 1st (NYR), 2nd (NYR), 2nd (TBL)*, 3rd (NYR), 4th (NYR), 5th (NYR), 6th (NYR), 7th (NYR)

*This pick will become a 1st if Tampa Bay wins the Stanley cup in 2018-19

Ottawa Senators  – 2nd (OTT), 3rd (PIT), 4th (OTT), 5th (OTT), 6th (OTT), 7th (OTT), 7th (CGY)

Philadelphia Flyers  – 1st (PHI), 2nd (PHI), 3rd (PHI), 3rd (NJD), 4th (PHI), 5th (PHI), 6th (PHI), 7th (PHI), 7th (MTL)

Pittsburgh Penguins – 1st (PIT), 2nd (PIT), 4th (PIT), 4th (BUF)*, 5th (PIT), 7th (PIT), 7th (VGK)

*If Conor Sheary scores 20 goals or 40 points in 2018-19 or Matt Hunwick is traded before the 2019 draft, this pick becomes a 3rd.

San Jose Sharks – 2nd (SJS), 2nd (FLA), 3rd (SJS), 5th (SJS), 6th (SJS), 7th (SJS)

St. Louis Blues – 2nd (STL), 3rd (STL), 5th (STL), 6th (STL), 7th (STL)

Tampa Bay Lightning  – 1st (TBL), 3rd (TBL), 4th (TBL), 5th (TBL), 6th (TBL), 7th (TBL)

Toronto Maple Leafs – 1st (TOR), 2nd (TOR), 3rd (TOR), 4th (TOR), 4th (STL), 5th (TOR), 7th (TOR)

Vancouver Canucks  – 1st (VAN), 2nd (VAN), 3rd (VAN), 4th (VAN), 5th (VAN), 6th (VAN), 6th (WSH), 7th (VAN)

Vegas Golden Knights – 1st (VGK), 2nd (VGK), 2nd (CBJ), 3rd (VGK), 3rd (NSH), 3rd (WPG), 4th (VGK), 5th (VGK), 5th (MTL) 6th (VGK)

Washington Capitals – 1st (WSH), 2nd (WSH), 3rd (WSH), 4th (WSH), 7th (WSH)

Winnipeg Jets – 1st (WPG), 2nd (WPG), 4th (WPG), 5th (WPG), 6th (WPG)

Uncategorized NHL Entry Draft| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

2 comments

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: First Overall Pick

August 19, 2018 at 11:32 am CDT | by Gavin Lee 11 Comments

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

In the fall of 2016, PHR ran a series where fans were able to choose the order in which draft picks should have been selected during the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. While Sidney Crosby was still the obvious choice for first overall, there was huge turnover for the rest of the first round. Even looking back less than two years later some voters may change their mind, given Carey Price’s (voted second overall) recent struggles.

This time around we’ll be looking at the infamous 2006 draft, in which Erik Johnson was picked first overall ahead of star forwards like Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel and Nicklas Backstrom. Three players from the 2006 first round would never suit up for a single NHL game, while seven others would last fewer than 100 games. The 2006 draft was loaded with talent at the top, but where would these stars go if selected today with the benefit of hindsight?

Over the next month as we wait for training camp to begin, we’ll be going through the entire 2006 NHL Entry Draft and have the PHR community select who they would have picked knowing the result of the player’s career. We’ll include a list of players to vote for, and update the first round as it progresses. While 2005 was a clear cut answer at first overall, there might be a little more debate on who is the first off the board this time around.

The St. Louis Blues had the first selection over a decade ago, and went with a big physical defenseman from the US National Team Development Program in Johnson. After a year at the University of Minnesota, Johnson stepped right into a full-time role with the Blues and hasn’t looked back. With 637 career games under his belt and still an important part of the Colorado Avalanche blue line, Johnson can’t be considered a bust. Was he the right selection though at the very top of the draft?

With the first pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the St. Louis Blues select? Cast your vote below!

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Polls| Prospects| St. Louis Blues Erik Johnson| NHL Entry Draft| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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Submit Your Questions For The #PHRMailbag

August 17, 2018 at 3:15 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 14 Comments

Training camps are just a month away and the NHL season isn’t far behind. While the offseason has slowed considerably since the frenzy of unrestricted free agency, there are still plenty of unanswered questions around the league. Where will Erik Karlsson be playing at the start of 2018-19? What kind of impact will Rasmus Dahlin have for the the Buffalo Sabres? Will the Edmonton Oilers bounce back and contend for the Stanley Cup?

Our team at PHR is here to answer any question you have about the upcoming season, and this is your chance to get a more detailed response than during our Thursday evening Live Chat. Just submit your question using #PHRMailbag on Twitter or by leaving a comment down below. We’ll run the mailbag this weekend and try to get to everyone’s question.

Don’t forget to check out our last mailbag where Brian La Rose notes how well the Nashville Predators did by inking UFA Dan Hamhuis and RFA Juuse Saros to below-market deals to strengthen their team even further. Brian also dives into the Toronto cap situation, and a potential 2020 work stoppage among several other lengthy answers. If you want to get some similar insight, submit your question now!

Uncategorized PHR Mailbag| Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

14 comments

Poll: Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Available In 2019?

August 15, 2018 at 3:27 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 3 Comments

The 2019 Superclass is losing some of its power. At this point a few months ago, hockey fans across North America were drooling with anticipation while thinking about the group of players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2019. There were some incredible defensemen set to hit the open market, and real questions about whether their current teams would be able to hammer out an extension in time. Now, just six weeks into that extension period and we’ve already seen several names crossed off the list.

On July 1st alone, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Drew Doughty, Ryan McDonagh and Niklas Hjalmarsson were all removed from a possible free agent frenzy by inking huge contract extensions with their respective teams. Ekman-Larsson and Doughty would re-up for eight years each, while McDonagh would receive seven and Hjalmarsson an extra two. It took a few more weeks but Ryan Ellis would join them with an eight-year extension of his own, taking another elite defenseman off the market well before anyone could even prepare a sales pitch.

It wasn’t just defensemen. Logan Couture received an eight-year $64MM extension from the San Jose Sharks as soon as they could give it out, and Adam Henrique was given five more years from their state rival Anaheim Ducks. Marc-Andre Fleury was rewarded for his playoff performance with a three-year deal that makes him one of the highest-paid goaltenders in the league, despite only playing 46 regular season games for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18.

A ton of talent has already been locked up, but it wasn’t dubbed a Superclass because of just a few players. The 2019 market still has a long list of talent scheduled, including superstar forwards like Tyler Seguin and Artemi Panarin. Erik Karlsson hasn’t signed an extension with the Ottawa Senators and may still be traded before the season, while Sergei Bobrovsky and Pekka Rinne provide some elite goaltending options if they aren’t re-signed.

So who will be the best free agent to make it all the way to market? After John Tavares showed that a superstar can indeed change teams in the prime of their career, who will be next to follow the money (or the home cooking) to a new club? Cast your vote below not for the player who you think is currently the best, but the best player you think will actually become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2019. Explain your thoughts in the comment section below.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Free Agency| Polls Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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Poll: Who Are The Best Defensemen In The NHL?

August 13, 2018 at 12:14 pm CDT | by Gavin Lee 8 Comments

Last week the hockey world exploded into debate when the NHL Network released their list of the Top 20 Centers in the league. They had Connor McDavid ahead of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at the top of the list, while others like Jonathan Toews were left off completely. At PHR we did our own poll in which readers were asked to rank the ten best, and after more than 10,000 votes the list looked quite different. The PHR community-voted Top 20 Center list currently looks like this:

  1. Sidney Crosby (1,213 votes)
  2. Connor McDavid (1,127 votes)
  3. Evgeni Malkin (817 votes)
  4. John Tavares (797 votes)
  5. Patrice Bergeron (732 votes)
  6. Auston Matthews (696 votes)
  7. Nathan MacKinnon (689 votes)
  8. Steven Stamkos (596 votes)
  9. Anze Kopitar (591 votes)
  10. Mark Scheifele (435 votes)
  11. Tyler Seguin (401 votes)
  12. Evgeny Kuznetsov (335 votes)
  13. Jonathan Toews (307 votes)
  14. Nicklas Backstrom (301 votes)
  15. Jack Eichel (237 votes)
  16. Aleksander Barkov (160 votes)
  17. Ryan Getzlaf (156 votes)
  18. Ryan O’Reilly (100 votes)
  19. Sean Couturier (99 votes)
  20. Mathew Barzal (85 votes)

Today, the network released their ranking of the Top 20 Defensemen in the NHL right now. At the very top is Victor Hedman, who has established himself as not only one of the best two-way defensemen in recent history, but an absolute superstar for the Tampa Bay Lightning capable of taking home a Norris trophy in any season. Hedman took home the trophy for the 2017-18 season after averaging nearly 26 minutes a night and recording 63 points in 77 games. Behind him though will bring plenty of controversy, as the rest of the list contains some interesting decisions and leaves out several seemingly deserving candidates.

Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and P.K. Subban, winners of four out of the five previous Norris trophies before Hedman took home this year’s award round out the top five. Duncan Keith, who won his second Norris in 2013-14, is nowhere to be found on the list after a down year with the Chicago Blackhawks. Taking up spots previously given to older players like Keith are a handful of youngsters, including Zach Werenski, Seth Jones, and Charlie McAvoy.

Just like the center debate, we’d like to ask you at PHR who you think deserves to be on the list. Can others like Ivan Provorov, Hampus Lindholm, Mattias Ekholm or Marc-Edouard Vlasic make it into the top group? Once again we’ll ask you to cast your vote by selecting 10 names. Makes sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the center poll ended. We’ve included many of the names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important make to to leave his name down below.

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

Polls Pro Hockey Rumors Originals

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