A look at the top-10 pivots from the Eastern Conference to build your fantasy teams around …

This week we shift our focus to the top 10 centers in the East for the 2015-16 campaign. Due to this being a list for one-year leagues, age will not be a factor outside of predicting breakout young performers and declines among aging veterans. Offensive production will be the main focus although other scoring categories will be taken into consideration, mostly for tiebreakers. Of course, other factors will be taken into account such as projected power play opportunities, overall ice time and the quality of teammates.

Unfortunately, in some cases deciding which position a player should be listed under is not clear. It varies in the NHL and it also varies from one fantasy league host site to another. For the purpose of this series each forward will be assigned one position.

Missing the cut

It is not often we have rookies in the mix with so much short-term upside. In addition to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel is also one of the top prospects of the last decade and could be a star as early as this year. Granted, there is tremendous risk here – John Tavares and Steven Stamkos had rough first years relative to where they sit today. In Eichel’s case, many of the pieces are in place for him to have immediate success, including Ryan O’Reilly to take on defensive assignments and a pair of wingers in Matt Moulson and Evander Kane that possess size and the ability to finish around the net. Given the opportunity and environment, expect Eichel to finish with at least 50 points with a strong possibility of finishing well above 60 points.

While he constantly hovers around the point-per-game mark, Pavel Datsyuk simply does not have the durability to turn his abilities into elite fantasy seasons. And with his latest ankle surgery likely holding him out until November, he is not turning the corner anytime soon health-wise. With that said, he is a top-notch contributor when he plays which makes him much more valuable to own in shallower leagues where an adequate replacement can be scooped off the wire when Datsyuk hits the IR. His current status also makes him a solid later-round grab on draft day as most of your rivals are surely going to rank him lower due to his ongoing ailments.

Other honorable mentions

Patrice Bergeron, Derick Brassard, David Krejci, Eric Staal, Kyle Turris

10) Derek Stepan – New York Rangers 

Last year’s 55 points were skewed by the 14 games Stepan missed due to injury. In fact, those were his first games missed during his five-year NHL career. This could cause him to be undervalued by more casual poolies if they are relying on last year’s stats. Simply put, Stepan is durable and coming into his own as a great fantasy contributor. Last year’s numbers were on pace for 66 points over 82 games with a normal shooting percentage and a lot power point total. Look for him to finish in the 65-point range.

9) Henrik Zetterberg – Detroit

The Red Wings’ captain is also an injury risk but the worries are not nearly as severe as they are with Datyuk. Aside from 2013-14 when he missed 37 games, Zetterberg has not missed more than eight games in any year since 2007. If that pattern continues, he should easily hit 65 points and actually as room for improvement in the goal-scoring department after shooting just 7.5 percent last year. If we adjust that to his career rate of 10.3 percent he would have had six extra goals for a total of 23. Even though he is turning 35 in October Zetterberg remains an outstanding fantasy contributor.

8) Tyler Johnson – Tampa Bay 

One of last year’s top surprises, Johnson continued his rapid ascent from undrafted undersized prospect to NHL stardom. Part of the reason for his gaudy numbers is unreal chemistry with Ondrej Palat and Nikita Kucherov. In all likelihood this unit will stick together to start the year but with Steven Stamkos being the face of the franchise look for him to see time with the two wingers when line changes become necessary. Still, the Lightning have several strong options on the wing to help keep Johnson’s points up. He may not reach last year’s numbers but he should be good for 65 points but could get to the mid-70s if he sticks with Kucherov who has top-level potential this year.

7) Ryan Johansen – Columbus 

The Blue Jackets are a team on the rise and Johansen is by far their best offensive player moving forward. With the likes of Nick Foligno and Scott Hartnell already in the mix and the recent acquisition of Brandon Saad, Johansen has a number of talented wings available to play at his side. Not to mention, Johansen’s breakout 71-point campaign happened on a team destroyed by injuries and he managed to do it without any major outliers in his statistics. There is a lot to like about him this year as the best Eastern Conference centerman outside of the six established superstar pivots.

6) Nicklas Backstrom – Washington 

Alexander Ovechkin’s setup man has had a remarkable NHL career and is very reliable to finish in the point-per-game neighborhood. Unfortunately, he is often undervalued due to his lack of goal-scoring ability including falling short of 20 goals each year since 2010. In some fantasy leagues this hurts his value relative to other elite players as he is also not a high-volume shooter and has gotten fantasy owners six power play goals or less in each of the last five years.  However, his reliability putting up points should put him high on your radar on draft day regardless of the scoring format.

5) Steven Stamkos – Tampa Bay 

You know a player is very good when 72 points is considered an off year. That was the case for Stamkos who finished below the point-per-game mark for the first time since his rookie campaign. This was primarily due to playing with lesser wingers as Palat, Johnson and Kucherov played the majority of the year as a unit. What separates Stamkos from so many other centermen is his goal-scoring ability. He is the only guy on this list to top 40 goals last year and John Tavares was the only other player to top 30 goals. This year look for Stamkos to get his assist total back up especially if he gets Palat or Kucherov on his wing for any extended period of time. A return to 80 points would not be surprising.

4) Claude Giroux – Philadelphia

Based on the prior three years, Giroux’s 73 points last year was a bit of a disappointment. Instead, the puck bounced more favorably for linemate Jakub Voracek and Giroux fell victim of poor shooter’s luck, scoring on just nine percent of shots. With his percentage adjusted to his career mark of 11.4, he would have scored an additional seven goals for a total of 32 and would have brought up his point total to 80. This shows what could have been for Giroux last year. Look for him to get right back to 80 points this year with the potential for much more. He could even be considered an Art Ross dark horse if the leaderboard looks similar to last year with 87 points being tops in the league.

3) Evgeni Malkin – Pittsburgh  

To continue with a recurring theme, Malkin also put up disappointing numbers last year. Sure, injuries were a factor but he always misses games and still manages to post great numbers. With a top goal-scorer like Phil Kessel in the mix it should give Malkin a shot in the arm. His goal-scoring was normal given his shot total last year but Kessel’s addition will help with assists and power play points. If Malkin can manage to suit up for 70 games he should be able to clear 80 points with ease. Also, his ability to occasionally dominate has to be factored into his value on draft day. He has an upside that is matched by few.

2) John Tavares – New York Islanders

Tavares has been the key cog in the resurgence of the Islanders and is only starting to realize his potential. Last year’s Art Ross runner-up set a career-high with 86 points but his emergence as a goal-scorer was even more impressive. As mentioned, he and Stamkos were the only two centers on this list to top 30 goals. With the supporting cast around him only getting better there is plenty of room for growth as Tavares will always get prime opportunities to produce. Do not be surprised if he reaches 40 goals and 90 points for the first time this year.

1) Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh 

There is no way Crosby should finish with 84 points unless he misses significant time to injury. That alone is enough to expect a bounce-back this year. Additionally, he was victim of unlucky shooting, hitting the back of the net on 11.8 percent of his shots compared to 14.4 percent over his career. With normal shooter’s luck he would have had 34 goals, six more than the 28 he had a year ago. That alone would have put him at 90 points. Adding Kessel to the mix will help Crosby’s assist and power play point totals. Barring major injury Crosby should flirt with 95 points and could even get back to the century mark. 

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