Winnipeg Jets: How Mark Scheifele would impact each NHL Division

The Central Division

Scheifele’s (2019-2020) Central Division rivals are:

1. Nathan McKinnon (Colorado): 70.2% – 3rd Overall
2. Ryan O’Reilly (St. Louis): 52.1% – 15th Overall
3. Jonathan Toews (Chicago Blackhawks): 35.2% – 27th Overall
4. Tyler Seguin (Dallas Stars): 34.5% – 28th Overall
5. Matt Duchene (Nashville Predators): 33.1% – 32nd Overall
6. Eric Staal (Minnesota Wild): 27.6% – 33rd Overall

Scheifele scored higher than all other centers except for Nathan McKinnon.

In fact, looking at these scores, the bottom half of the Central Division appears to be below league-average at the center position.

Numbers three to six all tended to score low at Time on Ice, both at Even Strength and on the PP. This means that those teams are distributing responsibility more evenly among their centers. But it also means the coaches aren’t trusting their First Line Centers in too many situations.

Nathan McKinnon is obviously one of the league’s very best centers, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Scheifele as the #2 Center in Colorado. McKinnon wasn’t far off Scheifele’s league-leading TOI and TOI vs. elite, but his CDiff was much improved, which probably created the most separation between the two. In other words, when Nathan McKinnon is on the ice, he creates that more offense and allows that much less defence.

Verdict: Scheifele would be the First Line Center on every team in the Central Division, except the Colorado Avalanche.