Ranking the NHL’s five-best centres ahead of 2023-24 season

Ranking the NHL’s five-best centres ahead of 2023-24 season

With the new NHL season on our doorstep, I thought I’d compile my list of the top players in the league split by position. We’ll kick things off with the centre position.

The centre carries so much responsibility on the ice: dynamic playmaker, explosive goal scorer, reliable defensive presence winner of key faceoffs. It was, for so much of my childhood, the glamour position of the league. From Gretzky, Lemieux, Messier, Stevie Y, Lindros, Fedorov and Forsberg (despite my Rangers fandom, I always had a soft spot for Adam Oates and Pat LaFontaine, too) the centre was your star man.

This list is based on current production, though where I was conflicted, both historic and potential future production was taken into consideration.

5. Auston Matthews – Toronto Maple Leafs

With apologies to Sydney Crosby (still a force as he approaches his 70^th birthday) and Brayden Point, Matthews sneaks into my top five.

The Leafs centre couldn’t back up his stellar 2022 campaign, dropping 20 goals and 21 points though still racking up 40 and 85 respectively.

As well as being a prolific scorer and playmaker, Matthews excels in the defensive elements of the sport. Does that make him worth the newly minted contract that makes him the highest-paid player in the sport? Given he’s just turned 26-years-old and still has growth in him, it’s certainly not an outlandish contract.

4. Jack Hughes – New Jersey Devils

I’ll fully cop to a little bit of recency bias, here, given the way Hughes toyed with my Rangers in the opening round of last season’s playoffs.

Hughes, who won’t turn 23 until midway late into the next playoffs, is a whirring delight of a player to watch. He reminds me quite a bit of LaFontaine with his speed, crafty playmaking and fantastic eye for goal. Once he figures out how to win a faceoff, it’s over.

Whilst there may be a little bit of speculation in picking Hughes this high on my list, how can you deny a 99-point season from such a mature and focused young man? The Devils have their captain.

3. Leon Draisaitl – Edmonton Oilers

Does backing up Connor McDavid (spoilers!) make Draisaitl the best 2^nd line centre since…Joe Sakic? Sergei Fedorov? Mark Messier?

Just when you thought the big German couldn’t get any better, he smashes his previous career high with a 128-point campaign last season, 2^nd in the league only to McDavid. His 52 goals came in 4^th in the NHL. As a big, powerful goal-scoring centre the Messier comparison might be the most apt, though Messier would cross-check his own grandmother to get to a loose puck. Draisaitl is a far fairer player.

2. Nathan MacKinnon – Colorado Avalanche

What a player MacKinnon is with the puck on his stick. As a defenseman, there are few scarier sights than Colorado’s No. 29 bearing down on you at speed. MacKinnon’s dazzling stickhandling leaves defenders continually poking at where the puck used to be as he makes them look like fools.

MacKinnon baked up a remarkable 2022 playoff campaign, culminating in Stanley Cup triumph, with a career season, blasting through the 100 barrier on his way to 42 goals and 111 points.

1. Connor McDavid – Edmonton Oilers

What’s left to be said?

The 26-year-old McDavid already has five Art Ross trophies, four Ted Lindsey’s and three Hart’s. He’s not only the best centre in the sport, he’s the best player on Earth.

McDavid combines elements of so many of the great centres: Fedorov’s skating, Yzerman’s grit, Forsberg’s physicality, Gretzky’s vision and Lemieux’s flair. It all adds up to a player who is utterly inevitable. McDavid led the NHL with 64 goals, 89 assists and 153 points. That points total smashed his previous career by a ridiculous 30 points. A mega star, by any way you measure it.

Now, if only the Oilers brass could put a real team around he and Draisaitl.

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