NHL Network: Wheeler And Laine On The 2019 Top 20 Wingers List

NHL Network continued it’s top 20 lists by ranking their top 20 wingers for right now going into the 2019-2020 season, and to little surprise Winnipeg Jets are well represented with @Blake Wheeler on the list as well as @Patrik Laine, although both of their rankings took a little bit of a dip this year.

Blake Wheeler was ranked just outside the top ten in 11th place this season which seems a little bit low given how he was eighth in scoring this season among NHL wingers with 20 goals and 71 assists. His 71 assists were good for third in the league overall in that category.

Last year he was ranked ninth and the year before that in 2017 he was at 11. His placement outside of the top ten this season feels a little bit more of an indictment on how the Jets finished the season than anything he did on the ice.

Meanwhile Laine even placing in the top 20 has to be considered a mild surprise given how up and down his season had been overall and with his season totals of 30 goals and 20 assists built largely through a white hot November when he racked up 18 goals including a five goal night in St. Louis.

Laine in previous rankings was as high as seventh last year and eighth in 2017. In their breakdown of his past season, NHL Network did allude to Laine as being a fringe top 20 player, but also cited his ability to shoot as the biggest reason he was kept on the list.

The fan voted rankings meanwhile are always good for a laugh and they don’t disappoint here either, putting Wheeler at 20 and Laine a couple of spots ahead of him at 18.

Next week should see the NHL Network take on the defense and it will be interesting to see if Dustin Byfuglien remains on the list as he has been the last two years.