New York Rangers Mika Zibanejad ranked 10th best, not good enough

The New York Rangers have the 10th best center in the NHL according to the NHL Network

The experts at the NHL Network ranked the top centers in the NHL and came up with a list of the two 20.  New York Rangers star Mika Zibanejad came in at 10th overall. For the most part, the rankings make a lot of sense, but Zibanejad could easily have moved up at least two or three slots.

Here are the top 20 centers:

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton
2. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado
3. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton
4. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh
5. Auston Matthews, Toronto
6. Jack Eichel, Buffalo
7. Patrice Bergeron, Boston
8. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh
9. Brayden Point, Tampa
10. Mika Zibaejad, New York Rangers
11. Aleksander Barkov, Florida
12. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg
13.  Sebastian Aho, Carolina
14. John Tavares, Toronto
15. Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis
16. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver
17. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Sean Couturier, Philadelphia
18. Sean Couturier, Philadelphia
19. Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders
20.  Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles

It’s hard to argue with the Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon.  Auston Mathews and Jack Eichel had pretty spectacular seasons and deserved spots in the top ten.  The argument for ranking Zibanejad higher is when it comes to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patrice Bergeron and Brayden Point.  Let’s look at them individually.

Zibanejad vs Crosby

Crosby was ranked fourth best and this had to be a reputation pick.  He only played in 41 games, scoring 47 points.  He averaged 20:16 Time on Ice (TOI) and won 55% of his faceoffs.  His plus/minus was -8 and he scored only 16 goals.  Interestingly, the description of Crosby was all about his prior years, not this one.

ZIbanejad averaged 21:38 TOI and had a better goals per game and points per game average than Crosby.  He killed penalties and was solid on faceoffs.  He also had the single greatest goal output for any player in the NHL last season with his five goal game against Washington.  No doubt about it, this season Mika Zibanejad was  better center than Sid the (no longer a) Kid.

Zibanejad vs Malkin

This one is a little tougher.  They were both incredibly close statistically.  Malkin had 74 points in 55 games. Zibanejad had 75 points in 57 games.  Malkin had many more assists and Zibanejad had 16 more goals.  When it came to ice time, Zibanejads 21:38 TOI was a full two minutes more than Malkin with 19:31.

It’s the defensive side of the game that tilts the scales in Zibanejad’s favor.  He averaged 2:37 TOI shorthanded, sixth most among centers. Malkin played all of 1:30 on the penalty kill last season.  He played one full minute less in the entire season than Zibanejad averaged every game.

When it came to power play time, it was a wash as Malkin averaged 3:42 TOI to Zibanejad’s 3:40.  Zibanejad had a higher shooting percentage and a better plus/minus (+9 to +7).

Sure, Malkin led the Penguins in scoring last season, but when they have to point out that he won the Conn Smythe Trophy in the 2009 playoffs, they are talking about…