The Athletic’s Harman Dayal recently ranked every NHL team’s top center duo, grouping them into tiers from best to worst. It’s a worthwhile read, and it’s clear a lot of thought went into the rankings.
Unsurprisingly, the Edmonton Oilers’ tandem of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl sits alone in the top tier. The second tier features just two teams: the two-time Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers with Aleksander Barkov and Sam Bennett, and the Colorado Avalanche with Nathan MacKinnon and Brock Nelson.
I’ll let you check out the rest of Dayal’s rankings for yourself, but one thing that stood out to me was just how much Colorado’s center depth has improved from where it was even 24 months ago.
For a few years, the Avalanche leaned almost exclusively on MacKinnon. There wasn’t always another true top-six center behind him. Now they have Nelson as a legitimate No. 2 option, while Nazem Kadri, Nic Roy and Fedor Svechkov provide even more depth down the middle.
Do you believe the Avalanche have one of the NHL’s three best center duos? If not, where would you rank them? Top five? Top 10?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.