Every NHL team's best player for the 2020 season

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Roman Josi, Nashville Predators (Photo by Frederick Breedon/Getty Images) /

Central Division

Chicago Blackhawks – Patrick Kane

Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews deserves some consideration here, but there is little doubt that Patrick Kane is the most valuable player on this Hawks roster. The 31-year-old has been incredible since the moment he stepped into the NHL as an 18-year-old during the 2007-08 season. He is one of the most talented players in the game, and has proven himself on the worlds biggest stage many times, winning three Stanley Cups as well as a Conn Smythe Trophy.

At this point, it doesn’t appear Kane will be slowing down anytime soon. The future Hall-of-Famer was yet again having a fantastic season this year with 84 points in 70 games. Just last season, he set a new career-high in points with 110, which was the second time in his career he has hit the 100-point mark.

Colorado Avalanche – Nathan MacKinnon

It will come to the surprise of no one to see Nathan MacKinnon on this list. Despite a somewhat slow start to his career, he has improved in a massive way the past few seasons and is one of the truly elite forwards in the game. He appeared to be on his way to set new career highs this season prior to the league stoppage, as he had 35 goals and 93 points in just 69 games played.

The Avalanche are a very strong team and have a very bright future ahead of them with players such as Mackinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar. They will be a contender for years to come and it wouldn’t be surprising to see them win the Stanley Cup sooner than later.

Dallas Stars – Ben Bishop

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This pick may come as a surprise to some, but Ben Bishop has been an extremely underrated goalie in the league despite putting up numbers that would suggest he is one of the game’s best. This season, the Stars struggled big-time offensively. Their leading point scorer, Tyler Seguin, recorded just 50 points in 69 games. Despite that, they still finished the season in third place in the Central Division.

This was mainly due to the outstanding play of Bishop. The 33-year-old posted a 2.50 goals-against average (GAA) and a .920 save percentage. He was even better last season, where he put up a 1.96 GAA and a .934 SV%. To this point in his career, he has not captured a Vezina Trophy, but has been in the running many times. If he plays the way he’s capable of this summer, the Stars have a chance to go on big run.

Minnesota Wild – Ryan Suter

Ryan Suter doesn’t get talked about for being a top tier defenceman like he used to, even though he is still very good. In fact, with how little he gets talked about nowadays, you could argue he has become underrated. The 35-year-old averaged a ridiculous 24:38 minutes in ice time per game this year and posted very solid numbers with eight goals and 40 assists in 69 games.

It seems that ever since he joined the Wild, he hasn’t gotten nearly the same hype as he did when he was a member of the Nashville Predators. It is unfortunate because he has been dominant for the majority of his 1,142 regular-season games. There is no doubt the Wild have struggled at times this season due to their age, but Suter has nothing to do with those problems.

Nashville Predators – Roman Josi

There wouldn’t be many teams in the entire NHL that Nashville Predators defenceman Roman Josi wouldn’t be the best player on. The 30-year-old Switzerland native has been one of if not the best defenceman in the entire NHL over the past three seasons. Despite this, he does not yet have a Norris Trophy to his name, but that may change soon.

The Predators captain had an outstanding 2019-20 season, with 16 goals and 65 points in 69 games. He also finished third in the entire league in ice time per game with 25:47. Despite the heavy minutes, he continued to dominate every time he was on the ice.

Though he may lose out on the Norris Trophy again this season because of an incredible year from Washinton Capitals defenceman John Carlson, he will without a doubt be one of the three nominees and will likely continue to be so for seasons to come.

St. Louis Blues – Ryan O’Reilly

The St. Louis Blues were able to win their first-ever Stanley Cup Championship last season, in large part thanks to the play of Ryan O’Reilly. In what was his first season with the Blues, O’Reilly was absolutely dominant, putting up 23 points in 26 playoff games and winning the Conn Smythe Trophy as a result.

O’Reilly was stolen by the Blues from the Buffalo Sabres during the 2018 offseason, and has been incredible since the moment he joined his new team. This season was much of the same as the 29-year-old posted 61 points in 71 games.

The Blues have other high-end players in Vladimir Tarasenko and Alex Pietrangelo, but O’Reilly’s two-way play was the biggest reason they were able to win a Stanley Cup.

Winnipeg Jets – Mark Scheifele

The Winnipeg Jets have an extremely talented forward group, which includes Blake Wheeler, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, and Nikolaj Ehlers. But the best of them all is Mark Scheifele. The 27-year-old has been a part of the Jets organization since being selected 7th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, and he certainly has not disappointed.

Last season saw Scheifele put up a career-high 38 goals and 84 points. Although the goal total from last year’s season wasn’t likely to be reached, he did have a chance to set a new career-high in points as he finished this season with 73 points in 71 games. What could have been a disastrous season in Winnipeg due to the loss of many defensemen ended up going just fine thanks in large part to Scheifele.

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Every NHL team’s best player for the 2020 season

By Colton Pankiw | Jun 26, 2020