END OF SEASON NHL TOP 10
Left Wing Edition
SUFYAN JAWED
Jun 7th 2023
The Top 10 at each position, at the end of the 2022-2023 season...in my opinion.
This series of articles will rank the top 10 players at each position in the NHL. My process will consist of my personal view of the player, their production, and their skill level based on both the eye test and analytics. These are, in my opinion, the best players going in to next season. This is only one man's opinion, and it is inevitable that disagreements will happen. But I’ll do my best to explain why I have players where I do. I’ll also put my favourite play from each player from this past year.
Gamescore by @hockeystatcards on www.hockeystatcards.com = GS
10 - Johnny Gaudreau - Columbus Blue Jackets - Age: 29
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Gaudreau certainly took a step back last season but it is hard to keep him out of the top 10 going in to next year considering he's been on of the best and most consistent wingers of the 2010's. Since he came in to the league Gaudreau has played at almost an exactly 82 point pace. Though he doesn't offer much of anything defensively, he has excelled at creating off the rush during his career and going to Columbus where the level of goal scoring from his line-mates would drop the playmaking ability of almost any player, especially a playmaker like Gaudreau. But in saying all this he still had a solid offensive season, 53 assists and 74 points is fairly impressive given the mediocrity of the team around him.
9 - Kevin Fiala - Los Angeles Kings - Age: 26
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Fiala has taken the progress he made with the Wild and solidified himself as a star with the Kings. The dynamic winger is one the most underrated players in the league. He earned himself a 7 x $7.875M contract with the Kings after a breakout with the Wild last season. Over the last two seasons Fiala has 157 points in 151 games and shows no signs of slowing down. He has elite playmaking skills, especially for a winger with a good shot. The difference between him and a lot of higher scoring wingers is that he doesn't give up much defensively. The Kings have got themselves a very elite winger for years to come.
8 - Jake Guentzel - Pittsburgh Penguins - Age: 28
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Crosby's right hand man of recent years has been one the most consistent players in the league in recent years. He ranks 6th in goals among left-wingers since 2020-2021, 5th in even strength goals and 9th in points per game. Sure, some of his success can be attributed to playing with Crosby but he has been just as effective with Crosby out because of how transferrable his skill-set it is. He can work off of anyone and create's chances for himself with solid skating. His finishing ability is top-tier as well as he possesses an incredibly accruate shot. In 38 games without Crosby in his career, Guentzel has 16 goals and 40 points. Jake Guentzel is elite.
7 - Artemi Panarin - New York Rangers - Age: 31
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Like a lot of the Rangers players under Gallant, Panarin's 5 on 5 play hasn't been up to his usual high standards. Still he managed 92 points and was among the league leaders in assists. "Breadman" is undeniably one of the most skilled players in the show, There are few better stick handlers and passers in the league. Production wise, few players have been as offensively elite as Panarin, since he came in the league in 2015-2016 he leads all left-wingers in points and assists. Critics can scrutinize his recent 5 on 5 effectiveness all the want but there is no denying that Panarin is a lock for this list and it wouldn't surprise me if he once again enters the top 5 if the Rangers improve at even strength with a new coach.
6 - Kyle Connor - Winnipeg Jets - Age: 26
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Kyle Connor has been consistently progressing as a player since coming in to the league, but we aren't talking about small leaps, he has now reached the superstar status at the age of 26. Over the last 4 seasons Connor has amassed 296 points in 288 games, which has been immense value for the AAV that he currently has. At $7.143M a year he is one of the most cost efficient stars in the league. By all accounts this past season was a down season goal-scoring wise, which is laughable because he still scored 31, but he was a bit unlucky as his shooting percentage was at 11.4% this past season which is 4% below his percentage over the last 4 seasons. Connor's wrist shot is in the elite-tier, he has one of the quicker releases in the league. This season however, he showed off some playmaking ability with 31 primary assists, using his slick stick-handling ability to create space for his teammates. Kyle Connor will be on this list for many years to come.
5 - Alexander Ovechkin - Washington Capitals - Age: 37
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
At 37 years old, Ovechkin showed little signs of slowing down. Few players have had a better twilight to their career than Ovi and asides from breaking records seemingly every other week and well his well documented chase of the Great One, he still seems as determined as ever to win. Since turning 30 Ovechkin had 347 goals and 590 points in 587 games which is unprecented production for a player in the latter part of their career. Considering everything went wrong for the Capitals as a team with injuries to key players as well as questionable coaching decisions and a sputtering power-play, Ovi was still a point-per game player with 42 goals. This was also one of the few times in his career where Ovi missed 10 games as he dealt with some minor injuries as well as the passing of his father. Amid all of the turmoil Ovi and the team had this season his play saw little drop off and assuming the team is in a better place next season, which GMBM promises, Ovi should continue to produce at his regular great pace.
4 - Brady Tkachuk - Ottawa Senators - Age: 23
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Brady Tkachuk is a menace, when it comes to the intangibles there are few players that possess more important intangibles than him. But as I have long stated, for a first-line winger making $8M+ you have to figure out how to produce offensively at an elite level. Brady improved massively over this past season at creating offence. A lot of his creation comes from down low as he uses his size well to create space and find open players and then creates havoc in-front of the net. But his greatest improvement came on shot selection. Yes, he is still a volume shooter but rather than just resorting to jam plays he now trusts his underrated wrist shot to shoot from higher up in the slot, as well as the occasional one-timer or shot off the rush. Being that he is only 23 his career is heading in the right direction and he has improved monumentally over the past 3 seasons, seeing his P/PG improve from 0.63 in 2020-21 to 0.85 two seasons ago, to 1.01 last season. I went from being a Brady Tkachuk skeptic to a Brady Tkachuk fan in a very short period of time.
3 - Brad Marchand - Boston Bruins - Age: 35
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Marchand has been the leagues greatest rat for the better part of the last decade, I mean that in the most respectful way possible. What is remarkable about him is that for the first half of his career he was a solid two-way winger and being a pest was most, if not all of his reputation. After his breakout in 2016-2017 at the age of 28 few wingers have been as dominant on both sides of the puck as Marchand. With 219 goals and 573 points in 493 games Marchand ranks 2nd in goals and 2nd points among left-wingers in that timespan. Marchand may not be the fastest player but his stick handling and play making ability is among the best in the NHL. Though he did see a slight decline offensively this season he is still a top 3 left winger going in to next season.
2 - Kirill Kaprizov - Minnessota Wild- Age: 26
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Kaprizov is a special talent. He's one of the best skaters in the league, relying more on his incredible agility rather than his speed. It's the reason he has tormented opposing defences since entering the league 3 seasons ago. He's given a boring team some much needed flair and spends much of the game wheeling around the offensive zone creating offence at an elite level. Since coming in to the league 3 seasons ago Kaprizov has amassed 234 points in 203 games, while ranking 7th among all skaters in goals over that timespan with 114. He has put an entire franchise on his back and he is doing his best to make them more watchable.
1 - Jason Robertson - Dallas Stars - Age: 23
2022-2023 Regular Season Stats:
Robertson is now in the upper echelon of forwards in the show. From purely a production standpoint there have been few players that produced at a higher clip than Robertson. He has 88 goals and 188 points in 156 games over the last two seasons. His 88 goals ranks 8th among all skaters over the last two seasons. We are going to look at Robertson's skillset and what makes him so special.
Starting off with his hockey IQ which is arguably his greatest trait. Robertson is far from the fastest skater, yet he never seems outpaced. This can be attributed to his hockey IQ as he moves efficiently around the ice and pairs that with his top-tier passing ability to create an overload of chances for his teammates.
Here he reads the play and gets in to a position where he can set up his teammate and does so with a slick no-look pass
Next, Robertson has incredible hands in-tight. He uses his reach to coral the puck and create a boatload of chances for himself off of in-tight plays.
When he finds his way to the front of the net he seems to be able to score from the craziest of angles and exposes goalies if they leave any kind of room.
Lastly, Robertson has a criminally underrated shot. His shot placement is unreal and he isn't just always trying to roof it.
Robertson is only 23 years old and there is little doubt in my mind that he will be near the top of this list for years to come. Dallas found a gem in the 2017 draft. Here is a playoff goal to send you off.
Honourable Mentions
Zack Hyman
Edmonton Oilers
Filip Forsberg
Nashville Predators
Andrei Kuzmenko
Vancouver Canucks
Jeff Skinner
Buffalo Sabres