How many times can Aleksander Barkov be crowned the NHL’s most underrated player before he’s no longer underrated? Barkov’s a remarkably gifted franchise center but at some point, we have to recognize that he’s gotten his flowers and start looking elsewhere.
That’s the genesis for this article’s idea: Identifying a new crop of underrated NHL centers.
Making a list of underrated players can be tricky because performance isn’t the only consideration. To earn an “underrated” label, a player’s impact needs to be significantly higher than their perceived value around the league — judging the latter is often difficult because you’re making assumptions about how highly other people rate a player.
Let’s take Roope Hintz, for example. Hintz is a high-quality No. 1 center, and casual hockey fans probably don’t appreciate how good he is. But after his dominant playoff run last spring, is he still flying under the radar among die-hard hockey fans? I lean toward “no” but others will disagree and think he should be on this list. That’s the fun, subjective nature of an exercise like this.
Here’s my take on 10 of the NHL’s most underrated centers, presented in no particular order. I’ve tried to include a diverse mix of player types including top-six centers that out-of-market fans have already heard of but whose talent/production they may not appreciate, under-the-radar middle-six forwards and a couple of elite fourth-line/bottom-six defensive specialists.
Thomas is arguably the most underrated No. 1 center in the NHL.
The 24-year-old slick playmaker ranks 10th among NHL centers with 73 points in 72 games. He leads the Blues in scoring by a substantial 16-point margin, which was an even wider lead before Jordan Kyrou’s recent seven-points-in-three-games outburst. Thomas’ offensive production, especially with “good but not elite” wingers, is impressive but the massive strides he’s taken this season as a 200-foot player is what truly has him ascending toward stardom.
With the departure of Ryan O’Reilly, Thomas has been tasked with defensive shutdown responsibilities. He’s logged the most minutes against “elite” competition of all NHL forwards, according to PuckIQ. He also eats up the most penalty-killing time of all Blues forwards.
Which Forwards Play Toughest Matchups?
Rank
| Player
| 5v5 TOI Against “Elites”
|
---|---|---|
1 | 454 mins | |
2 | 452 mins | |
3 | 446 mins | |
4 | 445 mins | |
5 | 445 mins | |
6 | 432 mins | |
7 | 428 mins | |
8 | 427 mins | |
9 | 425 mins | |
10 | 423 mins |
Thomas has thrived in this difficult workload, surrendering just 2.1 goals against per hour at five-on-five. St. Louis is plus-13 with Thomas on the ice at five-on-five but craters to a minus-17 goal differential when he’s on the bench.
Offensively, Thomas has always been a pass-first player because of his elite vision, almost to a fault at times. He’s more well-rounded offensively this year thanks to a more assertive shooting mentality. Across the board, he’s generating more shots, chances and goals for himself.
Robert Thomas’ shooting improvement
Season
| Shot Attempts/60
| Scoring Chances/60
| Goals/60
|
---|---|---|---|
2023-24 | 11.6 | 7.0 | 0.91 |
2022-23 | 7.6 | 5.1 | 0.76 |
Thomas has scored some filthy goals from midrange that I didn’t know he was capable of. Here’s a recent power-play snipe against the Oilers:
And here’s one from earlier in the season, where he cuts into the slot and rips one home:
To summarize, Thomas is in the top 10 among centers in points, plays some of the toughest defensive minutes of all forwards and is decisively winning those daunting matchups. He’s a two-way workhorse whose breakout isn’t capturing as much attention because of St. Louis’ futility as a team.
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This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .