On Wednesday, Sportsnet revealed its list of the top 10 NHL players entering the 2022-23 season, as chosen by a panel of 13 insiders. But who just missed the cut?
Below are the players who ranked 11th through 15th, along with reasons why they should have been included in the top 10.
11. KIRILL KAPRIZOV, MINNESOTA WILD
Case for being in the top 10: In his first full-length season, the dazzling winger put up 47 goals and 108 points. Kaprizov is a wizard with the puck, maneuvering around defenders with ease. Only Connor McDavid had more successful open-ice dekes per game than Kaprizov last season, among 406 skaters with at least 1,000 minutes played.
On top of that, Kaprizov was a top-10 skater in both controlled exits (9.4) and entries (6.9) per game. Now that Kevin Fiala is in Los Angeles, Kaprizov could see a spike in his offensive metrics, which would make him even more valuable to the Wild.
12. NIKITA KUCHEROV, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING
Case for being in the top 10: Since winning the Hart Trophy in 2019, Kucherov has missed 93 of a possible 208 regular-season games, including all 56 in 2020-21 after undergoing hip surgery.
When Kucherov has been healthy, though, his numbers are staggering. Kucherov averaged 1.47 points in 47 games last season — a 121-point pace that would have placed him behind only McDavid in the scoring race.
Among his many talents, Kucherov possesses a preternatural ability to find his teammates in the most dangerous areas of the offensive zone.
In all situations last season, Kucherov shared the league lead among forwards (min. 500 minutes) with 3.6 successful passes to the slot per game and was first with 4.2 successful east-west passes per game.
13. ALEKSANDER BARKOV, FLORIDA PANTHERS
Case for being in the top 10: Barkov is a force all over the ice and in every situation.
The 2021 Selke Trophy winner was fifth among forwards last season with 6.6 defensive touches per game. That includes successful blocked passes and stick checks, among other plays. Barkov was also one of the best at creating scoring chances, finishing seventh with 11.8 offence-generating plays per game.
When Barkov is skating downhill, good luck knocking him off the puck. He was credited with 4,132 total touches last season and committed only 491 turnovers — an 11.9 per cent rate that ranked second at the forward position.
There isn’t much that Barkov can’t do.
14. ALEX OVECHKIN, WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Case for being in the top 10: For starters, Ovechkin is the greatest scorer of this generation. He is 21 goals away from tying Gordie Howe for second on the all-time list. Wayne Gretzky is 114 goals ahead of Ovechkin, who could catch “The Great One” in the next few years.
Even at 37, Ovechkin has showed few signs of slowing down on the offensive end.
Teams have tried and failed to shut down Ovechkin on the power play for almost 20 years. He continues to launch rockets from the left circle, scoring 26 power-play goals off the one-timer over the past three seasons. That trails only Leon Draisaitl, who has 31 during that span.
15. MITCH MARNER, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
Case for being in the top 10: As detailed earlier this week, Marner is a multifaceted forward.
One aspect of Marner’s game that often goes overlooked is his play on the penalty kill. He is especially good at disrupting breakouts when the Leafs are shorthanded, leading all forwards last season with 0.14 successful offensive zone defensive touches per two minutes.
Marner’s awareness was a big reason why the Leafs scored a league-leading 13 shorthanded goals.
Data via Sportlogiq.
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