Top 100 Centers in the NHL

We are starting an annual series where we rate the top NHL players by position.  We will keep the criteria simple.  For skaters that means looking at statistics such as points and time on ice.   We also gave players a Hockey Fan rating which denotes value to their respective teams (which is why you may see a player such as Connor McDavid higher up on the list of centers even though he has only played 12 games in the NHL).  From that analysis, The Hockey Fanatic has then compiled the top players by position for 2016.

Top 50 Centers based on Time on Ice

So lets begin the first part of our analysis based on time spent on ice.  This is a key indicator of how important these players can be to their respective teams.  Just because a given player at his respective position does not always put up the highest point totals, that does not mean that he should not be considered as the top player at his position.  Some players play against tougher competition on a given night so they still provide great value to their teams although they may not be putting up the points as some of their other counterparts at their position.  How many of you knew Ryan O’Reilly was leading the league center’s in ice-time?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting to see some of the centers in the top 10 based on time spent on the ice.  Look how high centermen such as Ottawa’s Kyle Turris and Edmonton’s Ryan Nugent-Hopkins spend on the ice, yet they’re not the highest producing point getters.   It just goes to show that coaches place value not solely on point production but on some of the other intangibles that players bring to the game.  Leading centerman in terms of points in Tyler Seguin from Dallas and he’s well down the list at twenty third will a still solid 19+ minutes per game.

Top NHL Centers by Point Production

Next we evaluated the stats.  As of January 10, 2016, here is a look at the top 50 point producers at the center position.

Top 10 Centers – PowerPlay Goals

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM	PPG
1	Evgeni Malkin	PIT	C	41	19	20	39	-5	47	9
2	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	42	18	13	31	-6	16	9
3	Patrice Bergeron	BOS	C	40	15	23	38	6	22	8
4	Ryan O’Reilly	BUF	C	41	17	18	35	-6	6	7
5	Tyler Toffoli	LAK	C	41	19	12	31	23	6	7
6	Joe Pavelski	SJS	C	39	21	19	40	10	22	6
7	Matt Duchene	COL	C	42	19	15	34	-2	8	6
8	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	C	42	14	21	35	0	16	5
9	Sidney Crosby	PIT	C	40	12	19	31	-5	22	5
10	Joe Thornton	SJS	C	39	7	22	29	10	38	5

Top 100 NHL Centers

So after applying our Hockey Fan Weighting to the players, here is a look at your top 100 Centers in the NHL in 2016.  We have compiled a list of the top 100 centermen in the NHL today.

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	+/-	PIM
1	Tyler Seguin	DAL	C	44	24	27	51	14	12
2	Joe Pavelski	SJS	C	39	21	19	40	10	22
3	Evgeni Malkin	PIT	C	41	19	20	39	-5	47
4	Sidney Crosby	PIT	C	40	12	19	31	-5	22
5	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	42	18	13	31	-6	16
6	Nicklas Backstrom	WSH	C	38	13	25	38	15	12
7	Patrice Bergeron	BOS	C	40	15	23	38	6	22
8	Jonathan Toews	CHI	C	43	15	13	28	10	34
9	Kyle Turris	OTT	C	42	13	17	30	-6	20
10	Nathan MacKinnon	COL	C	42	14	21	35	0	16
11	Jason Spezza	DAL	C	44	14	20	34	7	18
12	Matt Duchene	COL	C	42	19	15	34	-2	8
13	John Tavares	NYI	C	39	15	14	29	-6	24
14	David Krejci	BOS	C	35	11	22	33	2	14
15	Ryan Nugent-Hopkins	EDM	C	41	8	21	29	-8	8
16	Joe Thornton	SJS	C	39	7	22	29	10	38
17	Evgeny Kuznetsov	WSH	C	41	13	24	37	19	22
18	Anze Kopitar	LAK	C	41	11	20	31	16	8
19	Ryan Getzlaf	ANA	C	36	3	21	24	-1	38
20	Connor McDavid	EDM	C	13	5	7	12	-4	6
21	Claude Giroux	PHI	C	40	12	18	30	-9	39
22	Tyler Toffoli	LAK	C	41	19	12	31	23	6
23	Henrik Sedin	VAN	C	40	9	25	34	10	10
24	Derick Brassard	NYR	C	41	14	16	30	8	14
25	Ryan O’Reilly	BUF	C	41	17	18	35	-6	6

26	Leon Draisaitl	EDM	C	32	9	23	32	9	10
27	Mikko Koivu	MIN	C	41	10	22	32	5	12
28	Sean Monahan	CGY	C	40	12	15	27	-3	8
29	Jeff Carter	LAK	C	36	12	17	29	17	8
30	Bryan Little	WPG	C	41	14	19	33	-3	8
31	Ryan Spooner	BOS	C	40	9	19	28	-7	25
32	Ryan Johansen	NSH	C	40	7	21	28	-3	27
33	Dylan Larkin	DET	C	40	14	14	28	23	22
34	Carl Soderberg	COL	C	42	7	21	28	-2	18
35	Jack Eichel	BUF	C	41	13	13	26	-10	6
36	Leo Komarov	TOR	C	40	15	13	28	3	20
37	Frans Nielsen	NYI	C	42	14	13	27	1	8
38	Alex Galchenyuk	MTL	C	43	10	17	27	-5	8
39	Adam Henrique	NJD	C	40	14	14	28	8	13
40	Tomas Plekanec	MTL	C	43	8	24	32	5	14
41	Mathieu Perreault	WPG	C	41	6	21	27	1	22
42	David Backes	STL	C	45	11	13	24	1	39
43	Aleksander Barkov	FLA	C	31	12	14	26	13	4
44	Victor Rask	CAR	C	41	11	15	26	2	16
45	Tyler Bozak	TOR	C	36	9	18	27	3	14
46	Eric Staal	CAR	C	43	8	18	26	2	24
47	Mika Zibanejad	OTT	C	41	8	16	24	-1	10
48	Mike Ribeiro	NSH	C	42	4	22	26	5	48
49	Vincent Trocheck	FLA	C	41	12	12	24	-2	22
50	Antoine Vermette	ARI	C	35	6	12	18	-8	20

 

51	Mark Scheifele	WPG	C	37	12	11	23	10	18
52	Brandon Dubinsky	CBJ	C	36	7	15	22	-5	37
53	Sean Couturier	PHI	C	34	9	11	20	8	14
54	Artem Anisimov	CHI	C	43	15	8	23	7	6
55	Martin Hanzal	ARI	C	28	6	16	22	-1	26
56	Pavel Datsyuk	DET	C	26	5	11	16	7	0
57	Charlie Coyle	MIN	C	41	10	12	22	8	8
58	Nazem Kadri	TOR	C	40	8	14	22	-1	33
59	David Desharnais	MTL	C	43	8	13	21	1	12
60	Brayden Schenn	PHI	C	38	9	12	21	0	15
61	Brandon Pirri	FLA	C	41	9	12	21	-2	24
62	Jordan Staal	CAR	C	43	10	11	21	-1	10
63	Paul Stastny	STL	C	28	3	15	18	-6	6
64	Jiri Hudler	CGY	C	35	5	15	20	-10	11
65	J.T. Miller	NYR	C	41	8	12	20	6	23
66	Teuvo Teravainen	CHI	C	39	9	11	20	6	8
67	Mikhail Grabovski	NYI	C	42	6	13	19	1	14
68	Oscar Lindberg	NYR	C	40	11	8	19	6	28
69	Cody Eakin	DAL	C	44	9	10	19	3	16
70	Boone Jenner	CBJ	C	43	14	9	23	-9	38
71	Ryan Kesler	ANA	C	40	8	8	16	-15	54
72	Tomas Hertl	SJS	C	38	6	12	18	-2	10
73	Elias Lindholm	CAR	C	43	6	12	18	-8	12
74	Derek Stepan	NYR	C	31	8	7	15	5	6
75	Rickard Rakell	ANA	C	37	8	10	18	1	4

76	Valtteri Filppula	TBL	C	42	5	13	18	-8	24
77	Vladislav Namestnikov	TBL	C	42	6	12	18	10	21
78	Travis Zajac	NJD	C	34	6	12	18	7	10
79	Peter Holland	TOR	C	35	7	10	17	-7	11
80	Jori Lehtera	STL	C	45	4	13	17	6	22
81	Bo Horvat	VAN	C	42	6	9	15	-19	10
82	Sam Reinhart	BUF	C	41	9	7	16	-3	6
83	Mattias Janmark	DAL	C	44	9	7	16	11	12
84	Mikael Granlund	MIN	C	41	4	20	24	3	16
85	Mikael Backlund	CGY	C	40	5	11	16	2	6
86	Joe Colborne	CGY	C	35	5	10	15	-8	15
87	Alexander Wennberg	CBJ	C	31	4	11	15	-5	0
88	Alex Killorn	TBL	C	41	7	11	18	5	14
89	Vernon Fiddler	DAL	C	44	6	9	15	0	14
90	Robby Fabbri	STL	C	39	10	4	14	1	2
91	Sam Bennett	CGY	C	39	5	9	14	-2	8
92	Dominic Moore	NYR	C	39	4	6	10	2	10
93	Lars Eller	MTL	C	43	7	6	13	-5	20
94	John Mitchell	COL	C	31	8	5	13	3	22
95	Calle Jarnkrok	NSH	C	41	6	7	13	-3	8
96	Casey Cizikas	NYI	C	42	4	9	13	3	22
97	Jean-Gabriel Pageau	OTT	C	42	9	4	13	0	4
98	Nick Bjugstad	FLA	C	26	7	5	12	-2	12
99	Brad Richards	DET	C	28	4	8	12	8	0
100	Tyler Johnson	TBL	C	29	4	8	12	3	2

There you have it the Top 100 NHL centers in 2016.  Of course this list will change, however we will be compiling an annual comparison each January to see which players have improved and which players have dropped based on their performance by position.  Hockey poolies take note, for your fantasy pools for this season and next.