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Ranking Top 5 Roster Groups - Blog #1 |
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You might have noticed decent blog topics are hard to find in August.
One kind person (thanks Oildrum!) suggested I write a blog comparing the Oilers Top 5 players to the top five groups from other teams. I can do that.
This is the first part of a two-part blog where we look at Top 5 groups from every team in the NHL. Today we'll look at the Top 15 - Top 5 groups, if you can follow me. Keep in mind that I'm deciding who the top five players are on each team, so some of you may disagree with my choices.
Oh, and why I am doing this is, at the end of everything, we'll have a ranking of all 30 teams. It will be interesting to go back at the end of the season to see if the final team standings match the Top 5 rankings I am posting.
You all know which teams needs to go first...
1. Pittsburgh Penguins
Top 5 Players - Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, James Neal and Chris Kunitz
How could I not put the Penguins first? They have two of the best five forwards in the league in Crosby and Malkin, and Letang is a top five defenseman. Way too much talent here to ignore.
2. Chicago Blackhawks
Top 5 Players - Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp
Toews and Hossa are two of the best two-way players in the game. Kane is absolutely electric and Sharp is a sniper. Keith is an all-around all-star defenseman. It's easy to understand how this team wins cups.
3. Boston Bruins
Top 5 Players - Zdeno Chara, Tukka Rask, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Milan Lucic
I was tempted to put Iginla in this group, but Lucic is frightening at this point of their careers. You could make the argument as well that Brad Marchand could fit. But we aren't here to talk about anyone but the Top 5. Chara is a monster, Rask is brilliant, Krejci is a wizard and Bergeron is a leader of epic proportions. A little bit of everything from this group of five. First team with a goalie on the list.
4. Los Angeles Kings
Top 5: Jonathan Quick, Drew Doughty, Mike Richards, Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar
You can understand why this team won a cup. Quick is perhaps the best goalie in the world right now. Doughty can play like the best defenseman, and Kopitar when he is healthy is impossible to contain. Richards and Carter might be ass-hats off the ice, and they don't always show up. Just in the playoffs, when winning actually matters. Great group of five.
5. Vancouver Canucks
Top 5: Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, Roberto Luongo, Ryan Kesler and Alexander Edler
Oh, there is so much quality here, it makes you wonder why the Canucks are destined to crash and burn. Sedin is one of the best players in the world, and his brother isn't bad either. Luongo is elite. Kesler when he is healthy is the perfect 2nd line center. I couldn't decide if I should put Edler or Bieksa, as they're both great.
6. Detroit Red Wings
Top 5 Players - Pavel Datsyuk, Henrik Zetterberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Niklas Kronwall and Jimmy Howard
Datsyuk and Toews are about even in my mind, which is really good. Kronwall is no Lidstrom, but he's close. Alfredsson is, well, Alfredsson. Incredible two-way talent on this team.
7. St. Louis Blues
Top 5 Players - Alex Pietrangelo, Jay Bouwmeester, David Backes, Chris Stewart and Alexander Steen
The beauty of the Blues roster is that there are about eight or nine guys I could insert into this group and it would still make sense. Such a big, powerful team, and one that has the ability to impose their will on the opposition. Steen and Bouwmeester are severely underrated as players.
8. Ottawa Senators
Top 5 Players - Erik Karlsson, Jason Spezza, Bobby Ryan, Craig Anderson and Mika Zibanejad
Ah, the first to include a player not for what they've done, but because of what's to come. Zibanejad is going to be an absolute force this season. Big, gifted, gritty...Love this kid. If I was coaching Team USA at the Olympics, I'd put Anderson in net. Karlsson is the best defenseman in hockey. Adding Ryan is going to make up for the loss of Alfredsson and then some.
9. Tampa Bay Lightning
Top 5 Players - Steven Stamkos, Martin St. Louis, Jonathan Drouin, Victor Hedman and Matt Carle
If I was doing a Top 2 list, the Lightning would be right there at the top next to the Capitals and Penguins. Drouin is more or less an unknown commodity at the NHL level, and there is plenty of debate over what Hedman brings. Still, talent is talent and this group has it.
10. San Jose Sharks
Top 5 Players - Logan Couture, Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau, Brent Burns and Dan Boyle
On paper, this is a better group than it actually is. Thornton is getting old and Marleau is the worst point-per-game player you'll ever find. Boyle is about 100 now, too. Couture is the heart and soul of this team. But pushing all negatives aside, this is a solid group of really big players who can win games whenever they want to.
11. Anaheim Ducks
Top 5 Players - Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, Teemu Selanne, Jonas Hiller, and Viktor Fasth
Ignore Selanne's age...The Finnish Flash lives. Perry and Getzlaf are both beasts. Weird to have two goalies on one list, but they both deserve to be there. It will be interesting to see which one goes and which one stays by the end of the season. Sadly, there are no D on this list, and the Ducks will struggle because of it.
12. Carolina Hurricanes
Top 5 Players - Eric Staal, Alexander Semin, Jordan Staal, Jeff Skinner and Cam Ward
I know it isn't cool to like Cam Ward anymore, but I believe in him. The Staal brothers are both huge and powerful players. Semin is brilliant with the puck, and so is Skinner. You'd think this team would do better than they do, but no D = No good.
13. Philadelphia Flyers
Top 5 Players - Claude Giroux, Scott Hartnell, Kimmo Timonen, Jakub Voracek and Vincent Lecavalier
I struggled in looking at this team in a couple of ways. First, do you rank Lecavalier ahead of Couturier and Schenn? I did. Secondly, just how good...or bad...is this group? It's not that I haven't watched Flyers hockey. Giroux is amazing, but the other four...I dunno.
14. Minnesota Wild
Top 5 Players - Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Niklas Backstrom and Jason Pominville
I'm not a real big fan of Pominville, and perhaps Parise is overrated, but this is a solid group.
15. Washington Capitals
Top 5 Players - Alexander Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom, Mike Green, John Carlson and Marcus Johansson
Weird. Big drop-offs here. If Green was healthy, he'd be on the same level as Ovechkin and Backstrom. Carlson is pretty good, but after that the Caps roster really starts to struggle. Washington is as high on this list as it is mostly because Ovechkin and Backstrom are world-class.
By now there are 101 Oilers fans screaming at their monitors: "Where is Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins, Yakupov and Justin Schultz". Well, I understand your frustration. It just seems to me this is a group of five that still has plenty to prove. Maybe by the end of the 2013/2014 season, this group will belong on the Top 10 of this list. But for now...we wait.
This brings to an end Blog on ranking Top 5 groups. Join me next time for Blog two, and my thoughts on the entire thing (if it actually indicates anything about how the season is going to go).
Edmonton Oilers Blogger • 
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