NHL Network recently released their list of the top 20 wings in the league. Three players were noticeably not present and they probably should have been.
Creating a list of the top whatever can be very difficult. Setting standards is hard. And no matter who or what you pick for your list, to paraphrase James Thurber, “Discussion means dissent”. Recently, NHL Network debuted their list of the top 20 wings in the league. Let’s just say there’s a lot of dissent about it.
And the Top 20 Wings Right Now are…#NHLTopPlayers pic.twitter.com/JDQEV17bmd
— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) August 14, 2017
One could argue Nikita Kucherov should have been number one. While Patrick Kane is unquestionably better on offense, keep in mind the guy flanking him for the past two seasons is ranked ninth. To be fair, this might be a “chicken or the egg” discussion.
But regardless, Kucherov puts up similar numbers with lesser line mates. Not to mention he takes on tougher competition and zone starts than Kane. If we’re strictly talking offense, Kane is better. But hockey is a 200 foot game, and Kucherov is a better 200 foot player. Kane over him isn’t an egregious decision, though. It should be interesting to see if Kane and Panarin take steps back since they are now away from each other.
However, not including Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl is quite egregious. This has several layers. Even if the network believes Draisaitl is a center, why isn’t Joe Pavelski classified as one as well? Both take a ton of face-offs and spend time alternating as a wing and center, depending on who’s on the ice. This is maybe not so much a snub, but still a bit of a questionable decision. Let’s look at some of the true snubs.
Saad
T.J. Oshie of the Washington Capitals is a great wing and an underrated two-way player. But there’s no way he belongs on the list over someone with Chicago Blackhawks forward Brandon Saad‘s resume. He has three consecutive 50 point seasons despite not doing much damage on the power play. Just 21 of Saad’s 158 points over the past three regular seasons have come with an extra man.
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He’s a consistent even strength producer who tilts the ice in his team’s favor whenever he’s on the ice. Factor in Saad’s excellent penalty killing and postseason accomplishments, and it’s hard to argue he shouldn’t be somewhere on the list.
Granlund
Looking at the list, it’s fairly obvious recency bias affected the rankings. This makes the exclusion of Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund a bit confusing.
Strictly looking at last season, he was easily one of the top 20 wings in the NHL. If you’re going to put Patrik Laine in the top 10 after one season, why not grant the same luxury to Granlund? Despite starting over 60 percent of his zone starts in the defensive zone, he still put up a career high 69 points. Considering Granlund’s more defensive role, that’s outstanding. And certainly deserving of a spot on the list somewhere.
Stone
The Ottawa Senators are pretty top heavy when it comes to scoring. They rely a lot on their top forwards to score. Mark Stone is especially good at it, with 71 goals and 179 points in his first three full NHL seasons. Factor in his stellar defense and it’s hard to argue he shouldn’t be on the list somewhere. Probably not in the top 10, but Stone’s at least better than Wayne Simmonds.
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There were some other honorable mentions, but the trio of Stone, Granlund and Saad stood out. Draisaitl’s exclusion might be justified, but we’ll have to see where he is on their top centers list. Who do you think got snubbed? Got ranked too high or low? Be sure to let us know in the comments or on social media!