Ten years ago in 2012, The Hockey Fanatic polled hockey fans to come up with a list of the top twenty centers in the National Hockey League. A lot has changed in the NHL over the past seasons so it was time to revisit the fans’ list of the top NHL centers.
Top 20 NHL Centers 2022/23
Here is an update to our Top 20 NHL Centres list for 2022/23. Based mainly on point production but factoring in points per game averages. Jack Hughes for example has the seventh best points per game percentage of all NHL centers over the past two seasons.
#1. Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers. Connor McDavid is in a class by himself. After 50 games of the 2022/23 NHL season, McDavid has 92 points including 41 goals. Leads the league in both categories.
#2. Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers. At the time of this writing, over the past two seasons Draisaitl sites second in points with 186 in 128 games second behind only Connor Mc David’s 215 in 130 games.
#3. Steve Stamkos – Tampa Bay Lightning – our top centre ten years ago is still number three on this updated installment. Stamkos sits third in points behind the two Oilers centres with 163 points in his has 128 games.
#4. Nathan Mackinnon – Colorado Avalanche – 142 points over his last 102 NHL games has Staley Cup champion Nathan Mackinnon at number four on our list of top 20 NHL centres.
#5. Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs – Mathews has 85 goals in his last 120 games played tied with McDavid for the most by NHL centres over the past two seasons.
Here are the remainder of the top twenty NHL Centers in 2022/23.
#6. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
#7. Aleksander Barkov – Florida Panthers
#8. Jack Hughes – New Jersey Devils
#9. Johnathan Huberdeau – Florida Panthers
#10. J.T. Miller -Vancouver Canucks
#11. Tage Thompson – Buffalo Sabres
#12. Sebastian Aho – Carolina Hurricanes
#13. Nazem Kadri – Calgary Flames
#14. Jordan Kyrou – St. Louis Blues
#15. Mika Zibanejad – New York Rangers
#16. Elias Pettersson – Vancouver Canucks
#17. Brayden Point – Tampa Bay Lightning
#18. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – Edmonton Oilers
#19. Mark Scheifele – Winnipeg Jets
#20. Joe Pavelski – Dallas Stars
Only three of the centers on our 2022/23 list were on our original list from 2012. Steven Stamkos (previously ranked #1), Sidney Crosby (previously ranked #3) and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins previously ranked #16).
Here is a look at the top twenty NHL centers based on points over the past two seasons (as of Feb. 5, 2023):
