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Originally Posted by Flames Draft Watcher
Interesting article up on Sportsnet today. All ranking lists are going to have issues but this one is interesting in its methodology. Uses a variety of stats to rank centres over the past 3 years so guys like Matthews aren't included due to shortened sample size. Its not using pure offensive numbers so do read up on what they used.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/d...three-seasons/
A few interesting notes IMO
23. Stepan - seems like the stats think even more highly of him than I thought would be possible. Should be interesting to see how he does in ARI
16. Backlund - ahead of guys like Benn, Kuznetsov, Pavelski, Draisaitl
13. Trocheck - I wouldn't have expected him to make this list so he was an interesting and surprising inclusion.
8. O'Reilly - A guy I think is underrated by some. He's a hell of a hockey player. Guess the stats recognize it.
3. Barkov - I know we've had a lot of Monahan vs Barkov redraft debates and I've been on the Barkov train. Seems like the stats do back up his franchise centre status.
No Monahan? I'm sure that will bug and annoy some. I can see why using the criteria they've used he doesn't make the top 23. I don't think his transition game is as strong as most of the centres on the list. |
This is why I still have such high hopes for the Panthers. Barkov is a stud, and Trocheck is an exceptionally effective player. Add in Bjugstad as your 3rd line center and the team is rock solid down the middle. They have a good young defense core with Ekblad, Matheson, and now McCoshen, supplemented by Yandle (bleh), Pysyk, and Petrovic. They have at least average goaltending with the tandem of Luongo and Reimer.
Now if only they could get someone other than Huberdeau to help out on the wings. Early returns on Dadonov look good. He's had chemistry with Huberdeau and Barkov. Not sure about Haapala, but he's been pretty solid in the pre-season. And then you have Vrbata who will likely score 20 again this year. A mixed bag with some question marks, but there's reason to believe they'll score enough this year.
Boughner's system looks much more aggressive so far, so hopefully this year puts the team back in a playoff spot.