The National Hockey League sent the Twitterverse into a tizzy Monday night with a simple question.
Who’s rounding out your Top 5 centres in the League?
The response was diverse, and massive, so much so that ‘McDavid’ — as in Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid — became Twitter’s top trending topic.
The league’s tweet listed Sidney Crosby, Ryan O’Rielly, Evgeni Malkin, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Brayden Point, Nathan MacKinnon, Leon Draisaitl, Jack Eichel, Mark Scheifele, Mathew Barzal and ‘other’ as choices.
Well, for starters, there should be no debating who the top three centres are in the NHL, right?
McDavid is the best player on the planet, period. The 23-year-old dazzles opponents with his elite level speed and skill and is virtually unstoppable in the offensive zone.
Crosby, even at 33, is still so dominant at both ends of the ice, the faceoff dot, along the boards, in front of the net, in the dressing room, etcetera etcetera.
MacKinnon, who is 25, is a handful on the ice who has the talent to single-handedly take over a game with his skill, speed and hockey IQ.
Picking the No. 4 and 5 players isn’t so easy, but here goes.
How can we not include the reigning Hart and Art Ross Trophy winner? Leon Draisaitl has amassed 215 points over the last two seasons — more than McDavid and Nikita Kucherov (213) — and is so deadly around the net.
Lastly, with goal scoring at a premium in today’s NHL, Auston Matthews is in my top five. The mustachioed Maple Leafs sniper has basically scored a goal in every other game during his first four years in the league.
Rick Zamperin is the assistant program, news and senior sports director at Global News Radio 900 CHML.
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