NHL Network has started to roll out its annual rankings of the top 20 players at each position, and Boston Bruins fans probably won't agree with the list of the top wingers.
The B's are represented by Brad Marchand at No. 9 and David Pastrnak at No. 11.
Here's where Bruins stand in The Athletic's new NHL Pipeline Rankings
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Here's the full list:
- Alex Ovechkin, WSH
- Nikita Kucherov, TBL
- Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
- Mitch Marner, TOR
- Jonathan Huberdeau, CGY
- Mikko Rantanen, COL
- Johnny Gaudreau, CBJ
- Artemi Panarin, NYR
- Brad Marchand, BOS
- Patrick Kane, CHI
- David Pastrnak, BOS
- Matthew Tkachuk, FLA
- Kyle Connor, WPG
- Jake Guentzel, PIT
- Jason Robertson, DAL
- Chris Kreider, NYR
- Alex DeBrincat, OTT
- Gabriel Landeskog, COL
- Filip Forsberg, NSH
- Mark Stone, VGK
Marchand and Pastrnak should both be higher, but Marchand at No. 9 is the real issue with this list.
Consider the following stats:
- Marchand is eighth in scoring among all forwards and fourth among wingers over the last three seasons with 236 points in 193 games.
- Marchand's 89 goals over the last three seasons rank 12th among all forwards and sixth among wingers.
- Marchand's 147 assists is eighth-most among forwards and fifth among wingers since the start of the 2019-20 campaign.
- Marchand ranks No. 2 in corsi-for percentage (60.07), No. 2 in shots-for percentage (61.65), No. 5 in goals-for percentage (63.1) and No. 6 in scoring chances-for percentage (59.41) among all forwards with 1,000 or more 5-on-5 minutes played over the last three seasons. So in terms of driving puck possession, scoring chances and goals -- Marchand has been elite.
- He's one of the best penalty-killing wingers, helping the Bruins finish top 10 in PK percentage in five of the last six seasons.
Any objective list should have Marchand in the top five. He is the most complete winger in the league and a force in all three zones.
Boston Bruins
His playing style and the suspensions he's been given over the years certainly annoy fans of rival teams and probably some media members around the league, which could hurt him when these types of rankings are constructed.
But if your team is in a Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final, there are few (if any) wingers you'd want on the ice in the most important moments more than Marchand.