Just which centers are best for fantasy depends on your league. It’s a very close call for many. Sometimes top scorers have poor plus/minus, penalty, hits or blocked shots stats rendering them less valuable in multi-category leagues. It’s impossible to factor in all the various league scoring systems out there. With the growing number of pools emphasizing more than points totals, I’ll lean more multi-cat in my rankings, acknowledging that points often are weighted more heavily than other stats in them. I assigned each player with multiple-position eligibility just their dominant position for the purposes of this article, so your parameters may vary. Here are some stats, in no particular order, to see where things ended up for the statistically-best Western centers last year.

2016-17 WESTERN CONFERENCE CENTERS

….and here are my top-ten predictions for the West next year.

1. Connor McDavid outscored everyone, particularly in the West where there was an eleven-point gap between him and second place Patrick Kane. From there it’s another seven-point drop to Mark Scheifele. While his final goal total landed outside the top ten in the conference, his 70 assists topped the league. Beyond earning the Art Ross Trophy, McDavid’s plus-27 ranks behind only three in the West, all from the Wild’s positive-differential machine – Jason Zucker, Ryan Suter, and Jared Spurgeon. His 251 shots-on-goal and 27 power-play points both tied for second among West centers. That’s enough to offset the lower peripheral stat totals in other areas and earn him top billing for 2017-18.

2. Mark Scheifele – This looks like the year Winnipeg puts it together and at least makes the playoffs, particularly on the strength of an offense bolstered by another year of development  for young forwards Laine, Ehlers, perhaps heralded prospect Kyle Connor, and Scheifele. At 24, Scheifele’s game continues to take off along with the Jets. His 82 points ranked second among West centers and 32 goals tied for best with Jeff Carter. His 50 assists sat just behind McDavid and Getzlaf, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that increase somewhat. While his faceoff percentage numbers aren’t great, his total faceoff wins are respectable for upper-crust scoring centers and he chips in a solid plus-18.

3. Tyler Seguin – Seguin again had an impressive campaign, even while skating with a badly injured Stars club. The 2017-18 season should see the Stars score more after adding Martin Hanzal and Alexander Radulov, exert more defensive bite with Marc Methot in tow, and (hopefully) keep more opponent shots out of the net with Ben Bishop. On a first line likely featuring Jamie Benn and Radulov, if fully recovered from his torn labrum Seguin’s point totals will probably surpass last year’s 72. His 301 shots, best among West centers, may be tough to duplicate without him having to carry as much of the burden, but the minus-15 should rise out of the negative. His hits, block and penalty minutes are still pretty low in keeping with the best point-generating pivots, but his hits slightly outpace several. Slightly lower in the pecking order for faceoffs, both total and percentage.

4. Ryan Getzlaf – Last offseason many predicted a demise for the Ducks and Getzlaf, but they kept rolling last year all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The long-tenured captain registered his highest point total (73) since 2013-14, and best assist totals (58) since 2008-09. His helpers total placed second in the West and third in the league behind McDavid and Nicklas Backstrom. The goal numbers have dipped though, landing 13 and 15 the past two campaigns after 31 and 25 the previous two. With Shea Theodore and Clayton Stoner headed to Vegas, and Sami Vatanen and Elias Lindholm injured, Anaheim’s blue line depth will be tested and the slow-it-down Ducks might pick up the pace a bit offensively. Getzlaf should also again produce impressive hits and blocks numbers for a top pivot. Now at age 32 just keep in mind this won’t last forever for, but the next year or two at least should be fine.

5. Joe Pavelski – San Jose’s captain keeps chugging along with solid scoring totals and hits numbers (130) that outpaced all top West pivots but Ryan Kesler. Philly import  Brayden Schenn out-hit both by a wide margin last year in the East, but Pavelski still ranked near the top amongst highly-ranked centers in scoring, face-off percentage, power play points, blocks and plus/minus. As with everything  Sharks, we’ll have to see how another year of age on the supporting cast, as well as a crop of incoming prospects and Patrick Marleau’s departure influence things, but Pavelski is still a wise early-round selection on draft day. His eligibility as a right wing in some leagues is also a big plus. Like Getzlaf, age may influence his physical game before long, but the 33-year-old Pavelski should produce at least another top notch year or two before slowing down.

6. Jeff Carter – Leading the offense on a team that has a tough time scoring and putting up stats comparable to those on potent squads, Carter had a great year. After his third consecutive 60+ points campaign featuring 66 points, his best since 2010-11, and 22 power-play points his highest since 2009-10, he’s poised for more.  Enter a re-invigorated offensive philosophy in LA (although there have been few off-season additions to add punch) and Carter may see an even greater uptick in production. He’ll continue to offer multi-category poolies high faceoff numbers and percentages, and his hits (86 in 2016-17) are a welcome bonus. 

7. Ryan Kesler – It’s all about the peripherals for Kesler whose 83 penalty minutes, 146 hits and 57.4% on faceoffs last year outpaced the rest of the West’s best centers. His 1029 faceoff wins was nearly 100 more than second place Mikko Koivu (938), and 75 blocks placed second only to fellow Duck Getzlaf in 2016-17. Add to that a respectable 58 points (22 goals, 36 assists) featuring 20 on the power play and a plus-eight, and Kesler doesn’t really have any holes in his multi-category game. In terms of points and assists, both were his highest since his work during Vancouver’s 2010-11 Cup Finals run. Like Getzlaf, Kesler is 32 and, while last year’s spike may subside a bit, should bring more of the same for a few more years.

8. Brayden Schenn – Coming over from Philly with those fantastic hits totals and now likely lining up with Vladimir Tarasenko, expect those plus/minus figures to rise and Schenn to assume a place among the upper-crust of West pivots. Tops in the league in power play goals for centers (17), and his 28 points on the man-advantage would have ranked second only to Seguin among Western pivots, he should make a potent combo with Tarasenko, who registered 22 last year on the league’s 8^th-most efficient power play (21.3%). Turning 26 in a few weeks he should be a force for years to come. Left wing eligibility in some leagues to boot.

9.Ryan Johansen – When he eventually recovers from that untimely, excruciating compartment syndrome leg injury, Johansen and his supporting cast will be focused on returning to the Finals. Whether they get there again or not is debatable, but expect Johansen and that dynamite top line to be tremendously driven after getting so close. That injury was so difficult I have lingering doubts until I see him on the ice, but Nashville must be confident he’ll make a full recovery after agreeing to that lengthy and high-dollar contract. If he’s indeed healthy, solid faceoff, power play, hits and penalty minute numbers, coming in with more experience skating next to Filip Forsberg and Viktor Arvidsson, should bring another great year to the tune of 60-plus points again. Don’t be surprised if that plus-minus improves as well with the Predators’ blue line crew now having a full year of experience together.

10.Anze Kopitar – Was 2016-17 an aberration for Kopitar or more the result of having a less-than-potent supporting cast? Probably some of both. Losing starting netminder Jonathan Quick in year’s first game didn’t help either, as it precipitated an even more defensive-oriented LA game for much of the year. The Kings’ 2.43 goals per contest signaled a significant decline from the previous two campaigns’ 2.72 and 2.66 marks. After Quick’s return, Kopitar went on a 19-point tear in the season’s final 22 games as compared with 33 in his first 54 contests, all but one without Quick. That’s more like it. A November arm injury was also not ideal and probably exacerbated his slump. But his prior stats are outstanding and should at least come close to returning. Other than strike-marred 2012-13 during which the current Kings’ captain still averaged 0.93 points per game, Kopitar had never finished a campaign with fewer than 60 points. A dip to 52 with just 12 goals, an eight percent shot success rate, and a minus-10 when we have grown accustomed to numbers above plus-30, were low-lights of a less-than-stellar personal and squad-wide year. Respectable hits numbers throughout his career should help him return to multi-category success as well.

Right there…

      Eric Staal – Staal had a great bounce-back year in 2016-17 with 65 points, his best since 2011-12 with Carolina and 28 goals his most since 2010-11, adding a career-high plus-17. Will it continue? Along with Chicago some are predicting a Wild downturn, but even so top linemates Charlie Coyle and either Nino Niederreiter or Zach Parise should continue exhibiting their chemistry with Staal. Maybe he won’t quite reach last year’s heights, and he’s turning 33 shortly after the puck drops on opening night, but a total Staal collapse doesn’t seem imminent.

      Jonathan Toews – How far will Chicago slide? Or will they? I’ve seen some early prognosticators projecting them as missing the playoffs and Toews as taking a deep dive in stats. It’s possible, but I don’t think it’s as gloomy for the Blackhawks as some do. Toews may not hit elite levels any longer but, reunited with Saad, should provide good scoring and faceoff production. I’d venture not quite top-ten good though. 

     Mikael Backlund – With Calgary looking for redemption after their embarrassing first-round sweep at the hands of the Ducks, Backlund should have another solid scoring and plus-minus campaign including lots of faceoffs on their vaunted 3M line.

     Mikael Granlund – So much scoring and plus-minus goodness in St. Paul last year. Granlund with a new contract extension in tow should continue to produce well, but might dip some along with the entire Wild squad who will be hard-pressed to duplicate their 2016-17 magic prior to a late schedule swoon.

     Derek Stepan – Stepan will do some great things for AZ. As that core group of prospects matures his stats should increase, but the move from last year’s high scoring Ranger squad to the Desert should eat into his points totals enough to render him just outside the top-ten this year.

     Mikko Koivu – Age and potential Minnesota regression may result in a slight decline for the Wild’s captain. He’s still a great asset to your fantasy team, particularly if your league counts faceoffs, but hesitate before relying upon Koivu as your top center.

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