NHL Network: Scheifele Is Ninth Best Center In NHL

It’s been a personal belief of mine – and I am sure many of you – that Mark Scheifele is legitimately a top 10 center in the NHL, and on Sunday the NHL Network agreed for the third year in a row as they kicked off their annual top twenty rankings with the league’s top twenty centers and Scheifele making the list at number nine.

The placement of ninth is actually a slight dip in the rankings for Scheifele who was as high as seventh last year at this time on NHL Network’s list. Leapfrogging over number 55 this year are Steven Stamkos (who placed 11th after missing a large portion of that previous season with injury), Aleksander Barkov of the Florida Panthers and the Toronto Maple Leaf John Tavares.

In the three years that the NHL has been doing these top twenty rankings, Scheifele has been in the top ten for each of them, placing tenth in the original back in 2017. Only Connor McDavid, Sidney Crosby and Auston Matthews are the only players that can boast that level of consistency.

For what it’s worth, Scheifele finished tenth in league scoring among centers this past season with a 38 goals, 46 assists and 84 points – a career high in both goals and points. His production did trail off a bit near the end of the season as well which is a shame because midway through the season it sure felt like Mark’s level of play was Hart Trophy worthy.

While those in the know certainly are aware of Scheifele’s worth, we’re sad to report that NHL fans by in large remain clueless if the “fan poll” is any indication.

Scheifele, along with other very notable names such as Evgeni Malkin, Sebastian Aho and Jack Eichel do not appear at all on the list voted on by NHL fans, while the likes of Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Toews and Dylan Larkin do.

Yikes.

Winnipeg hockey fans of course know exactly just how good Scheifele is and in the end that’s all that matters as he will remain a key cornerstone – maybe even a more vocal one going forward – for the Jets for years to come.