NHL: Power Ranking Top Ten Eastern Conference Centers

Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

NHL Power Rankings: The Young Guns

Evgeny Kuznetsov of the Washington Capitals was fantastic from March onward in his rookie season. The rest of the NHL got introduced to him in the playoffs when he made ridiculous plays and was arguably the Caps’ best skater. Last season, Troy Brouwer really dragged him down. This season, he’ll likely be on a forward line with Justin Williams and Andre Burakovsky (or Marcus Johansson). That should certainly help him get rid of his possession woes.

The Florida Panthers have two of my favorite young NHL centers in Aleksander Barkov and Nick Bjugstad. The Florida Panthers are quickly improving thanks to their foundation of players built around Barkov and Bjugstad. Are they as good as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? No, but when you have two centers to build your team around, it makes the rebuilding go much faster. Barkov already has impressive possession numbers and he hasn’t even began to touch his offensive potential. Bjugstad is an excellent scoring line center.

Alex Galchenyuk of the Montreal Canadiens should skyrocket up this list if he is their first line center. Why? Because that means he gets to play alongside Max Pacioretty, who is one of the most underrated scorers in the NHL. His possession numbers are quite good, especially once you take into consideration Montreal’s puck possession woes.

There’s a lot of hype surrounding Jack Eichel, the second overall pick of the 2015 NHL Draft. While he’s no Connor McDavid, his offense and his two-way style of play should put him among the NHL’s elite fairly quickly. I was concerned about his development because Buffalo’s defensemen are awful at moving the puck, but the addition of Cody Franson helps immensely.

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