<p>With the final days of 2023 ahead, I figured, what better way to celebrate some of the best performances that we’ve witnessed in the calendar year? Over these last five days of the year, I’ll look at the best players at all five positions (goaltender, defense, right wing, left wing, and center) from 2023, which includes the January to April months of the 2022-23 season, the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and the start so far in the 2023-24 season.</p>



<p>Today, we’re looking at the best centers of the year, and if you haven’t gotten mad yet with these lists, you might now. Players who didn’t even crack the honorable mentions probably make the list if they played a different position, leading to some big names getting snubbed. And of course, there’s a few polarizing centers I’m sure everyone will agree with for my specific rankings of them.</p><div class="injected-ad injected-video" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="0" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="147"></div>



<p>Let’s look at a few honorable mentions before kicking off the countdown:</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Honorable Mentions</h3>



<p><strong>Aleksander Barkov</strong></p>



<p>A perennial Selke candidate who puts up a 100-point pace? Sign me up! That’s exactly what Barkov did this year, with 89 points in just 74 games, and he’s already starting to run away with the Selke this season. He was a bit disappointing in the playoffs, but he was still a big impact player on the Panthers’ Cup Final run.</p>



<p><strong>Jack Eichel</strong></p>



<p>Turns out the key to finally unlocking Eichel was taking him out of a toxic environment in Buffalo and putting him on a top team in Vegas. He’s managed to gel well on the Golden Knights with 77 points in 77 games, and then he took another big step for their Cup victory, with 26 points in 22 games and probably a Conn Smythe Trophy if he had more than six goals.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="1" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="149"></div>



<p><strong>Elias Pettersson</strong></p>



<p>After teasing us in his rookie season, Pettersson has finally hit his full potential these past couple seasons with 35 goals and 101 points in 2023, and hopefully the Canucks’ success this season means we can get more of him in the playoffs. I already said this with William Nylander for the right wingers list, but Pettersson is probably the other egregious snub on these lists. It just goes to show how talented the center position is.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">5. Jack Hughes</h2>



<p><strong>Regular Season:&nbsp;</strong>38G, 64A, 102P, 72GP<br><strong>Playoffs:&nbsp;</strong>6G, 5A, 11P, 12GP</p>



<p>Hughes’ career has been a roller coaster up to this point. First, he was drafted first overall in 2019 and came into the league with really high expectations, only to fall a bit short right out of the gate. Two seasons into his career, he had just 18 goals, 34 assists, and 52 points in 117 games, and people were starting to dust off their “bust” labels. He then followed that up with his first season above a point-per-game in 2021-22, but injuries made it fall under the radar for most people.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="2" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="179"></div>



<p>And then there’s whatever the past year and a half has been. He went from looking like a strong first-line center to one of the league’s best overnight, and it helped transform the New Jersey Devils from a chaotic basement dweller to a playoff contender. 2023 in particular was good for him, as he finishes with the fourth highest points-per-game in the regular season at 1.42, just a bit behind Nikita Kucherov, and ahead of the likes of Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, Auston Matthews, and Pettersson. Hughes nearly hit the 100-point mark in 2022-23, and barring health, he should this season with a 112-point pace, one that had him leading the league in scoring early on in the season. He even kept up that play in the playoffs with 11 points in 12 games to give the Devils their first playoff series win in 11 years. And on top of that, he’s just a joy to watch on the ice. It should be interesting to see how his career progresses over the years, but consider me excited.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="3" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="177"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">4. Leon Draisaitl</h2>



<p><strong>Regular Season:&nbsp;</strong>47G, 61A, 108P, 77GP<br><strong>Playoffs:&nbsp;</strong>13G, 5A, 18P, 12GP</p>



<p>Depending on which circle you’re a part of in the hockey world, Leon Draisaitl can be a very polarizing player. Some live in their own bubble where he’s the undisputable second best center because he scores the second-most points after McDavid, easy-peasy. Some recognize Draisaitl’s talent, but acknowledge that some centers who don’t score as much enter the conversation ahead of him because they drive play better, don’t rely on the power play for 50 percent of their offense and are doing what they do without McDavid by their side. And an extreme few would debate that Draisaitl isn’t even an elite center because of those same reasons.</p>



<p>I fall in the middle of the three. He’s an incredibly skilled player, no doubt, you don’t just put up the point totals that he does every year without having some talent on your own. But, you can’t deny that some of the reason his point totals are so crazy is because he either plays on McDavid’s line at even strength or with him on the power play, or he’s playing in a second line role against easier competition because they’re going to lean more on shutting down McDavid. Swap him and Nathan MacKinnon or Auston Matthews, and it’s probably likely we see them elevate their play even more in Draisaitl’s old role, while Draisaitl hovers closer to the 80-90 point range as a top line center. It’s pretty telling that his craziest point totals like 2022-23 usually come when McDavid is putting up even crazier numbers, and even more telling that as McDavid has struggled and dealt with injuries this season, Draisaitl’s numbers drop off a bit. I can’t deny that he deserves to be on here, and at the very least, his insane playoff performance puts him above Hughes, but he still doesn’t touch the top three until he proves he can thrive without McDavid (for more than seven days, I’m looking at you 2019-20).</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="4" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="333"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">3. Auston Matthews</h2>



<p><strong>Regular Season:&nbsp;</strong>51G, 36A, 87P, 70GP<br><strong>Playoffs:&nbsp;</strong>5G, 6A, 11P, 11GP</p>



<p>Matthews was somewhat close to not even making the list this year. After all, his 2022-23 season was quite disappointing, at least by his standards. Most players would dream of 40 goals and 85 points in a season, but for Matthews, we expect a lot more. Even after scoring five goals in the first round against the Tampa Bay Lightning, going scoreless in the second round soured that performance a bit. With a 60-goal season and a Hart Trophy showing us why he’s the best goal scorer and one of the best players in the league, we expect that every season.</p>



<p>But his start to the 2023-24 season is what keeps him on the podium. His scoring touch is back with 29 goals in his first 33 games, including a recent seven-game goal streak, and right now he’s on pace for 72 goals. Even if you take the whole calendar year into account, his 0.74 goals per game is a decent amount ahead of every other center in the league, the next closest being Nathan MacKinnon with 0.64. And it puts him on pace for 60 goals, even after he started the year with just 22 in 37 (which is still good for 48 goals). There will always be doubts about if he can do it in the playoffs, but that doesn’t stop him from being the best goal scorer in the league.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="5" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="241"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">2. Nathan MacKinnon</h2>



<p><strong>Regular Season:&nbsp;</strong>53G, 80A, 133P, 83GP<br><strong>Playoffs:&nbsp;</strong>3G, 4A, 7P, 7GP</p>



<p>We always knew MacKinnon was one of the best players in the league, but we’ve never really got the chance to see it because he almost never plays a full season. He still didn’t in 2022-23, but even in 71 games, he put up 111 points, which is still insane, and with Connor McDavid struggling out of the gate this season, he’s played himself into the Hart Trophy conversation with 56 points in 36 games early on.</p>



<p>In fact, MacKinnon is putting up what may be the closest we’ll see to McDavid numbers from someone not named McDavid. In the calendar year, no one had more points than MacKinnon’s 133 in 83 games this season, not even McDavid (although MacKinnon played nine more games). Even by points per game, it’s still close, with McDavid scoring at a 1.71 pace while MacKinnon is at 1.6. He was only scoring at a point per game pace in the playoffs, but he didn’t exactly have a lot of help in that regard. MacKinnon’s effort to dethrone McDavid was valiant, but unfortunately Connor is still in a different stratosphere. That doesn’t stop MacKinnon from being special in his own right though.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="6" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="205"></div>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-1-connor-mcdavid">1. Connor McDavid</h2>



<p><strong>Regular Season:&nbsp;</strong>45G, 83A, 128P, 75GP<br><strong>Playoffs:&nbsp;</strong>11G, 13A, 24P, 20GP</p>



<p>Any time another player comes along to try and stake a claim for best player in the league, he takes what makes them better than him and becomes better at it. Not a top goal scorer? No problem, McDavid can score 64. Struggles defensively? Well, he’s fixed that aspect too, although he’s still far from the Selke conversation.</p>



<p>The debate on McDavid being the best player in the league more or less ended when McDavid had 153 points in 2022-23, unless Matthews can hit 70 goals or something crazy like that. It’s the kind of production no one ever thought they’d see again in hockey, and yet McDavid is so good that he makes it possible. While the Oilers still can’t get it done in the playoffs, that didn’t stop McDavid from getting them as far as he possibly could before the Golden Knights managed to contain him. Even this season has proven his value, as the Oilers were abysmal to start the year when McDavid was either out of the lineup or struggling because of the lingering injury. He’s just too good to not hand him this spot every year.</p><div class="injected-ad" data-nn-ad-tech-injection-count="7" data-nn-ad-tech-max-gap="130" data-nn-ad-tech-current-gap="199"></div>



<p>_____</p>



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<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Recently by Scott Maxwell</h2>



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<li><a href="https://publish.dailyfaceoff.com/the-top-5-nhl-right-wingers-of-2023/">The Top 5 NHL right wingers of 2023</a></li>



<li><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/the-top-5-nhl-left-wingers-of-2023">The Top 5 NHL left wingers of 2023</a></li>



<li><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/the-top-5-nhl-defensemen-of-2023">The Top 5 NHL defensemen of 2023</a></li>



<li><a href="https://www.dailyfaceoff.com/news/the-top-5-nhl-goaltenders-of-2023">The Top 5 NHL goaltenders of 2023</a></li>
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