Top 20 Centers - EP Rinkside

[activeStick]

https://eprinkside.com/2022/09/08/ep...2022-23-season

Lindholm and Kadri both make the cut at 19 and 20.

Lindholm is a tough player to evaluate. A season stapled to two superstars in Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk earned him his first point-per-game campaign, a Selke nomination, and a lot of acclaim as a premier No. 1 centre in the league. This season will be a good test of that. Lindholm is a great finisher but has also received more high-danger passes than almost anyone in the league since he came to Calgary, and his workload in transition has been understandably non-existent. With#Nazem Kadri#in the mix, he’ll have to prove he can hold things down himself.

It’s very possible that Kadri will score 50 points next season and make both me and the Calgary Flames look foolish for overreacting to a one-off contract year explosion. But for the past two years in Colorado, even when the results weren’t always there the process was pretty darn good. Kadri is an excellent creator of individual shots and scoring chances, getting into dangerous areas of the ice and often even scoring from them. His passing game isn’t quite as impressive but still strong; no one in the league completes more low-to-high passes than he does. Add in a transition game that should adapt well in Sutter’s system and he should at least be a strong contributor.

[dino7c]

Gaudreau and Tkachuk getting way too much credit for Lindholms play here. He made them as much a they made him.

Lindholm did a lot of the heavy lifting

[MrMike]

2nd in Selke for a 40 goal center but a number 19 ranking? Psh

[Kasi]

Well he wasn’t going to be top ten. Too many locks in that group so I think somewhere in the teens makes sense. Probably would have had him a bit higher (like five or so spots more) Still two top 20 centers is pretty good.

[Sandman]

I would like to see a rating of Center Depth. I think we would be far up that list.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Gaudreau and Tkachuk getting way too much credit for Lindholms play here. He made them as much a they made him.

Lindholm did a lot of the heavy lifting

Lindholm allowed them to get away with a lot of cheating. He definitely benefited from the nice passes from Gaudreau and Tkachuk, but he will likely be playing with Huberdeau, so that part might be a wash.

[Mass_nerder]

Originally Posted by dino7c

Gaudreau and Tkachuk getting way too much credit for Lindholms play here. He made them as much a they made him.

Lindholm did a lot of the heavy lifting

You can't deny that Lindholm recieved a lot of insane passes in his sweet spot from Johnny and Chucky.
Hopefully Huberdeau can do the same thing for him, but I think it's fair to question whether Lindholm is a .75ppg guy that benefited from played with two of the top offensive players in the league last year, or of he's actually a 1.0ppg guy.

[Nelson]

Two mid-level, first-line centres? That’s pretty good.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by Kasi

Still two top 20 centers is pretty good.

Yeah, two 1Cs by this definition. And I'm sure Backlund would be somewhere in the next 44.

[activeStick]

Centers from other Canadian teams that didn't make the top 20:

Jets: Schieifele
Leafs: Tavares
Sens: Norris
Canucks: Miller
Habs: Suzuki

[GreenLantern2814]

The importance of being 3-deep at centre cannot be understated.

It means there’s a 100% chance of having a rested Lindholm, Kadri or Backlund on the ice against a superstar at home, and a 75% chance on the road.

2 centres = 75% and 50% chance of getting your matchup, and you can’t give Connor McDavid that many chances.

[SebC]

Lindholm is a great finisher

no one in the league completes more low-to-high passes than [Kadri] does

... when you put it that way, it makes playing them together very intriguing.

[butterfly]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

The importance of being 3-deep at centre cannot be understated.

It means there’s a 100% chance of having a rested Lindholm, Kadri or Backlund on the ice against a superstar at home, and a 75% chance on the road.

2 centres = 75% and 50% chance of getting your matchup, and you can’t give Connor McDavid that many chances.

I'm curious how you calculated those percentages.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Centers from other Canadian teams that didn't make the top 20:

Jets: Schieifele
Leafs: Tavares
Sens: Norris
Canucks: Miller
Habs: Suzuki

Wait, did Horvat make it above Lindholm and Kadri? I assume not. Did Pettersson?

[dino7c]

Originally Posted by Mass_nerder

You can't deny that Lindholm recieved a lot of insane passes in his sweet spot from Johnny and Chucky.
Hopefully Huberdeau can do the same thing for him, but I think it's fair to question whether Lindholm is a .75ppg guy that benefited from played with two of the top offensive players in the league last year, or of he's actually a 1.0ppg guy.

Huberdeau was #1 in the NHL in primary assists ahead of McDavid and set an all time NHL record for assists by a LW playing with Bennett as his center.

[dammage79]

Lol, yeah, Hubeys a factual upgrade on Gaudreau.

Lindy isn't going to skip a beat. He's just entering his prime and I am happy to let the media sleep on him. We know what we got.

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Wait, did Horvat make it above Lindholm and Kadri? I assume not. Did Pettersson?

No. Only players from Canadian teams that made the list going from memory were Mcdavid, Draisaitl, Kadri, Lindholm, Matthews

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by activeStick

No. Only players from Canadian teams that made the list going from memory were Mcdavid, Draisaitl, Kadri, Lindholm, Matthews

OK, fair enough, I misunderstood. You could make an argument for Pettersson if you're looking at players when they're at their best but not any of the others.

[Kasi]

I don’t have a sign in there but you’d have to think McDavid, McKinnon, Matthews, Draisatl, Crosby, Barkov, Bergeron, Zibenejad, Point and Stamkos are all above. Then add some young players like Thomas, Eichel, Hughes who they might rate higher on potential I’d say mid teens is about right. Really depends on where they stick some vets like O’Reilly and Pavelski and others.

[dino7c]

Lindholm had 78 in the previous full NHL season too with Monahan as his center...it's not like he has never scored before