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Ryan O’Reilly, Conn Smythe and Selke winner, is one of the best centers in the NHL

Thanks for pointing that out, NHL Network. Does he deserve to rank higher?

By hildymac
NHL: Stanley Cup Final-St. Louis Blues at Boston Bruins Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

It’s the off-season, which for us fans of the NHL Network means one thing: list shows. No highlights? No problem.

They’re on the Top 20 Centers Right Now, which will then segue into looks at the top 20 in every other position. No word on whether this format will also transfer over to mascots, but I really do think they’re missing a golden opportunity by not producing that show (even though we all know who number one is). Here’s their top twenty:

For those of you who don’t want to squint to see who every player is, this is the list. You might notice a familiar name at number 12:

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

2. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

3. Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche

4. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers

5. John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs

6. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

7. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins

8. Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning

9. Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets

10. Brayden Point, Tampa Bay Lightning

11. Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars

12. Ryan O’Reilly, St. Louis Blues

13. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

14. Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes

15. Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres

16. Evgeny Kuznetsov, Washington Capitals

17. Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks

18. Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals

19. Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames

20. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks

The question here is if O’Reilly, who won the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP, the Selke, and the Stanley Cup this year, should be ranked a little higher on up.

Eeehhhhhhh, probably not.

He was a consistent performer on a Blues team that didn’t always have a consistent performance, he was incredible in the post-season (by far better than Bergeron in the Final), but doesn’t offer the scoring punch of those above him. I could argue that perhaps he may be a little higher, but who do you take out of the top ten, and can ROR inch upward past eleven?

I’m happy with his performance last season and Blues fans know that we have something special. Let’s just leave it at that and enjoy the fact that number one on this list will probably never be Sidney Crosby again. Viva fresh blood.