Which NHL teams need to upgrade at center? Ranking all 32 by current quality

The offseason is here, and one of the most crucial things to know going into it is how each team stands on a position-by-position basis.

Today, we look at each teams center depth with regard to what they already have and what they need this summer.

Using Net Rating as a starting point, we looked at how much value each team is currently carrying down the middle to figure out what holes they need to address.

The stronger a team looks up the lineup, the better its baseline looks.

After adding a subjective touch to the rankings, heres how each teams center depth ranks from best to worst before free agency begins.

1.

Edmonton Oilers Current quality: 100th percentile Looking for: Bottom-six center No surprise which team ranks first: its the one that has the best player in the world and the second-best player in the world down the middle.

As long as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are around and dominating, the Oilers will be the top team at center every time.

And its not particularly close.

Advertisement All the Oilers really need here is a center for the bottom six.

Whether he slots in ahead of or behind Adam Henrique doesnt really matter; Edmonton is already stacked enough.

2.

Vegas Golden Knights Current quality: 97th percentile Looking for: None Assuming Vegas doesnt pull anything truly wacky to clear space for anyone (cough, Mitch Marner, cough), it might have the most complete depth chart in the league.

Rolling Jack Eichel, Tomas Hertl, William Karlsson and Nicolas Roy down the middle is a terrific place to start.

Hertl is still effective and would be a first-liner on plenty of teams, and Karlsson remains a complete player.

Vegas issue here, if there is one, is that Eichel isnt an all-world talent on par with the McDavids and Draisaitls of the world.

Its not that Eichel isnt great in his own right, either; the bar is just that high and this past postseason, when he had zero goals in a five-game loss to Edmonton, provides some proof.

3.

New Jersey Devils Current quality: 96th percentile Looking for: Top-nine center, depth center We debated between the Golden Knights and Devils as the best non-Oilers team at center and settled on Vegas.

As great as Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier are as a 1-2 punch arguably only the Oilers are better Vegas depth earns the edge.

With Cody Glass currently in the 3C slot and the need for a 4C still present, the Devils fall just shy of Vegas.

Ideally, New Jersey looks for an upgrade at 3C to shift Glass to the wing, but thats a nitpick.

What the Devils have with Hughes and Hischier is seriously special, a strong foundation toward contention.

It makes the need for a stronger top-nine center behind them more of a luxury than a pressing concern.

4.

Colorado Avalanche Current quality: 94th percentile Looking for: None No single player in the league is better equipped to deal with McDavid and Draisaitl than Nathan MacKinnon.

His presence gives Colorado an edge on virtually every other team.

Brock Nelson, who this month signed a three-year deal with a $7.5 million AAV, is the above-average second-line center the Avs had chased since Nazem Kadri left town.

Advertisement Behind them are Charlie Coyle and Jack Drury.

Coyle is fine as a 3C in a vacuum, but his contract ($5.25 million AAV for one more season) isnt ideal.

Drury gives them some decent defensive depth for the fourth line.

5.

Dallas Stars Current quality: 88th percentile Looking for: None On Thursday morning, it was fair to wonder what Dallas lineup would look like at the end of the offseason.

Roope Hintz is a solid first-liner and Wyatt Johnston, as a 2C, is a luxury item.

You cant reasonably ask for much more from your top two guys.

Matt Duchenes pending UFA status, though, was a wrench in the works.

If he were to walk, Dallas would need to replace him and thatd be no easy task.

Duchene led the Stars in overall points (82) and was second at five-on-five (47).

Now, after Duchenes four-year, $4.5 million AAV extension on Thursday, our question has an answer.

Down the middle, Dallas is set.

6.

Tampa Bay Lightning Current quality: 76th percentile Looking for: Depth center After the Stars and Avalanche, theres a fairly steep drop to the next tier.

The Stars have three top-six centers to the Lightnings two.

As for the Avalanche, Brayden Point is obviously not MacKinnon.

Point and Anthony Cirelli dont even add up to MacKinnon, which is part of what creates such a divide.

Regardless, the Lightning are pretty set down the middle.

Point is a high-end 1C, Cirelli is a great shutdown center coming off a career year and one of Yanni Gourde or Nick Paul rounds out the top nine with defensive utility.

Its a very strong trifecta thats easily contender-caliber, especially when paired with Tampa Bays strengths elsewhere.

All the Lightning really need is a stable 4C.

Ideally, they get an upgrade from Luke Glendening, the teams go-to option last season.

While the fourth line isnt and shouldnt be high on many teams priority lists, it does help to at least be average at center there.

The Lightning have been playing a bit too much catch-up with that role over the last few years.

Advertisement 7.

New York Islanders Current quality: 72nd percentile Looking for: None Things are in flux for the Isles.

Jean-Gabriel Pageau, a still-solid 3C, is once again a trade candidate, and there are indeed interested teams, according to Islanders reporter Stefen Rosner .

If new GM Mathieu Darche decides to move him, its even more likely that Mathew Barzal will move back to center.

He spent most of last season on Bo Horvats right wing.

Either way, the Islanders are in decent shape.

Horvat is a competent 1C, and Barzals offensive production will give them a major advantage on the second line.

If Pageau is moved, prospect Calum Ritchie acquired from Colorado for Brock Nelson figures to be in the mix as his replacement.

8.

Florida Panthers Current quality: 61st percentile Looking for: Middle-six center While theres a good chance that Sam Bennett will remain a Panther, hes not signed yet, so its worth looking at where the Panthers stand with and without him.

Without him, the Panthers will probably be fine thanks to having a succession plan in line with Anton Lundell.

Thats an advantage that other teams with 2Cs hanging in the balance dont have.

Lundell should have no trouble moving up the lineup and already looks 2C-worthy at age 23.

That means the Panthers only need to find a middle-six center to fill the void, and not a true 2C a much easier job.

Alternatively, Sam Reinhart can also shift to the middle, if needed.

The Panthers have options, a result of having a deep team led by Aleksander Barkov, one of the leagues top centers.

If Bennett returns, thats obviously ideal because it would give the Panthers the vaunted 1-2-3 punch thats made them feel unstoppable over the last two years.

With Bennett, Florida has a top-five center group in the 88th percentile.

9.

Los Angeles Kings Current quality: 60th percentile Looking for: High-end center Advertisement If youre a Kings fan whos yelling, We have two high-end centers, take a breath.

Anze Kopitar and Quinton Byfield are both, indeed, really good.

But as Kopitar ages hell be 38 on opening night it becomes even more crucial for Byfield to continue his development.

Last season, once his puck luck changed in December, it was another step in the right direction.

For now, though, Byfield is projected to be a low-end 1C in 2025-26.

They need him to continue pushing that number in the right direction.

At 3C, little has changed.

Phillip Danault is one of the best in the league at what he does.

10.

Buffalo Sabres Current quality: 62nd percentile Looking for: None Assuming Tage Thompson is the teams 1C, the Sabres look surprisingly set.

Thompson is a bona fide star at the top of the lineup, especially now that hes taken serious strides defensively.

Hes Buffalos best forward and the main reason the Sabres rank so highly.

If the Sabres put Thompson on the wing, however, they would drop to 22nd.

Both Ryan McLeod and Josh Norris look like decent top-six options, which should give the Sabres an advantage on the third line again, assuming Thompson is driving the top line.

Add Peyton Krebs, a solid 4C, to the mix, and Buffalos pivots look playoff-caliber.

Whether they (finally) make due on that promise is the big question.

11.

Ottawa Senators Current quality: 65th percentile Looking for: Depth center The Sens top three makes plenty of sense.

Tim Stutzle has the juice necessary to be a first-liner on a good team, though he shot the puck less frequently in 2024-25 (about six per 60 minutes) than ever before.

Dylan Cozens still profiles as a 2C, even though his numbers lag a bit.

Shane Pinto, meanwhile, brings plenty of defensive value to a third line.

If they find a competent fourth-liner and if Cozens resumes his upward trajectory, things will look even better for the Sens.

Advertisement 12.

Carolina Hurricanes Current quality: 57th percentile Looking for: Top-six center When Carolina signed Jesperi Kotkaniemi to an offer sheet, the vision was clear: lock in the entire prime of a potential 2C behind Sebastian Aho once Jordan Staal ages.

Kotkaniemi, still just 24, has shown flashes, but never for long enough to believe hes that caliber of player.

Within a deep lineup, thats one of Carolinas most glaring holes.

Aho is still a great 1C, Staal is fine as a 3C and Mark Jankowski is great as a 4C.

But the presence of Kotkaniemi is what keeps the Hurricanes outside of the top 10.

An upgrade there, or Kotkaniemi finally realizing his potential, is sorely needed.

13.

Toronto Maple Leafs Current quality: 52nd percentile Looking for: Top-six center, Top-nine center A John Tavares-less world is not an ideal one for the Leafs at least not without an acceptable backup plan to fill the void behind Auston Matthews.

With Tavares, the Leafs jump to the 94th percentile and into the top five.

Without him, theyre barely above average.

The presence of Matthews can only do so much.

Thats partially because the teams bottom-six center depth is also lacking.

Neither Max Domi nor Scott Laughton looks like a strong enough 3C option, and that was apparent against the Panthers when going up against Lundell.

Laughton works very well as a defensively responsible 4C, but an upgrade on Domi is necessary.

If Tavares leaves on top of that, Toronto might be in trouble.

14.

Detroit Red Wings Current quality: 59th percentile Looking for: None Dylan Larkin once again projects to provide completely legit production for a first-line center.

For the first time in a long time, Detroit has reason for optimism behind him.

Marco Kaspers first NHL season was a success.

He led Detroits regulars in expected goal share and popped off in the seasons second half, leading all rookies with 17 goals after Jan.

10 and adding a welcome dose of creativity and tenacity to the mix.

Advertisement For next season, he projects as an average 2C.

That should be great news for the Red Wings and the better news, based on his age and second-half production, is that he seems to be capable of more.

Larkin needs help, and the other options (Andrew Copp and J.T.

Compher) are limited for a team desperately trying to take the next step.

15.

Washington Capitals Current quality: 41st percentile Looking for: High-end center, Bottom-six center The key theme for the Capitals across the board will be similar: prove last year was no fluke.

That might be harsh, but when it came time to actually play a legit contender, the Capitals folded.

It was enough to warrant skepticism that many of the career years experienced throughout the roster were just that: highs that will be hard to repeat.

That brings us to Pierre-Luc Dubois.

Hes a high-pedigree player who flashed the potential of a two-way stud early in his career, but has also been plagued by consistency issues.

Last year, he finally realized that potential, playing to the level of a top-15 center.

Can he do it again? Maybe, but were going to wait and see.

Dubois is the big key to Washington seeing consistent success, as he and Dylan Strome form a solid one-two punch down the middle: a shutdown center and a scoring center.

They just need one of them to do it at a high enough level, and Dubois seems like the better bet.

Aside from that, Washingtons only external need is another bottom-six center to pair with Nic Dowd.

Ideally, Dowd works as a wonderful defensive 4C and someone is brought in above him.

But hes strong enough that getting a depth center to play behind him is also fine.

16.

Pittsburgh Penguins Current quality: 44th percentile Looking for: Top-six center Theres a reason this could be Evgeni Malkins last year with Pittsburgh.

Hes starting to fall short of expectations.

Malkins age (39 on opening night), combined with his drop in point production (50 in 68 games, 1.65 per 60 at five-on-five), has him projecting as a below-average second-line center for the first time in his career.

He once was an MVP-caliber superstar.

Then, he was an elite 2C.

Then, he was an adequately, appropriately paid 2C.

Now, were talking about the end of the line.

Age and injury catch up with everyone.

Advertisement Theres obviously no such problem for Sidney Crosby, who should remain a high-end 1C in his age-38 season.

Still, Malkins decline combined with underwhelming options on the bottom six Kevin Hayes, Connor Dewar and so on means that Pittsburgh can add overall down-the-middle ability to its list of problems.

17.

Minnesota Wild Current quality: 44th percentile Looking for: Top-nine center As is, Minnesotas center depth is probably not good enough.

Joel Eriksson Ek is a solid 1C, just not to the level of the leagues top teams.

And the team has a gaping hole at 3C that needs to be addressed.

Naturally, that means one thing: the Wild should make it worse by trading their 23-year-old 2C.

With Ryan Hartman sliding up in the event of a Rossi trade, the Wild would drop to 25th in these rankings.

Its odd that a franchise thats spent decades searching for center depth is so willing to trade a young 60-point center.

Yes, Rossis size is a concern, and yes, his production is partly a Kirill Kaprizov byproduct.

Still, hes worth holding onto unless an obvious upgrade comes back the other way.

And that feels unlikely.

With Rossi, Minnesotas center depth is at least average.

Without? Woof.

18.

Winnipeg Jets Current quality: 39th percentile Looking for: Top-six center Like too much of the dialogue surrounding the Jets, their lack of down-the-middle talent is old news.

Its still a fact, though, even with Mark Scheifele once again projecting as a legit first-liner.

Vladimir Namestnikov has some defensive value.

Adam Lowry is a solid 3C.

Neither of them comes close to offering the reliable offensive pop that the Jets need if theyre going to show the capability to truly rely on anything other than consistently great goaltending.

They had that shot against Dallas and, once again, fell short.

Advertisement 19.

St.

Louis Blues Current quality: 38th percentile Looking for: Middle-six center Robert Thomas was incredible last season and has emerged as one of the games best.

Oskar Sundqvist is a perfectly cromulent 4C.

Those are St.

Louis center bookends what they need is to fill the hole between them, whether that means a top-six center in front of Brayden Schenn, or a top-nine center behind him.

Schenn looked great once Jim Montgomery took over, meshing well on a line with Dylan Holloway and Jordan Kyrou.

But if were looking at the leagues best teams, 2C is definitely an area where St.

Louis is lacking in comparison.

Shifting Schenn down would be the ideal move, allowing him to win bottom-six matchups.

Without a superstar forward, St.

Louis best bet is building a depth advantage.

If that cant be accomplished, the Blues at the very least need a trustworthy player behind Schenn.

Sundqvist wont cut it as the teams 3C.

20.

New York Rangers Current quality: 33rd percentile Looking for: Bottom six centers If the Rangers hold on to Mika Zibanejad though theres increasing reason to think that they wont their on-paper center depth would improve.

In these rankings, theyd be comfortably inside the top 10.

Of course, thatd leave out some important context.

Both sides seem to be done with each other, though Zibanejads contract ($8.5 million AAV through 2030 with full trade protection) remains a roadblock.

Getting out from under Zibanejads contract isnt a bad idea, but his absence would certainly make the Rangers worse in the short term.

Well see what happens there.

For now, were assuming that Zibanejad is either playing elsewhere or on the wing.

That leaves the Rangers situation behind J.T.

Miller, a middle-of-the-road first liner, and Vincent Trocheck, a high-end 2C, incredibly bleak.

Theres not a solid fourth-liner on the roster, let alone another top-nine option.

Advertisement 21.

Columbus Blue Jackets Current quality: 33rd percentile Looking for: Bottom-six center There are a lot of variables at play when it comes to analyzing Columbus center depth.

Can Sean Monahan repeat last years magic? Is Adam Fantilli ready to become a star? How good can Cole Sillinger be? For all three, theres a wide range of possibilities where its easy to see the potential upside.

But were going to play things a bit safer.

Mostly, what we need to see is Fantilli and Sillinger offering the substance in the middle-six necessary to bring Columbus into above-average territory.

Fantilli looks like a future star with this production (with his top comp being Dylan Larkin), but his two-way game is still lacking.

The same thing goes for Sillinger, whos had his fair share of struggles at five-on-five.

While Boone Jenner is an option to solidify things, it might be prudent for the Blue Jackets to look at a defensively capable bottom-six center to keep things steady.

Betting on growth from Fantilli and Sillinger is the way to go, but it wouldnt hurt to have a safety net in case they struggle again.

22.

Calgary Flames Current quality: 37th percentile Looking for: Top-line center In some spots, youll hear that the Flames who scraped their way to 96 points last season need a center to play behind Nazem Kadri.

What they actually need, though, is someone to play in front of him.

At this point in his career, Kadri projects as a high-end second-line center.

On teams with another similar player in the mix, thats acceptable enough.

The Kings, with Kopitar and Byfield, come to mind.

The Mammoth do too, to a lesser degree.

Sticking a garden-variety 2C between Kadri and Mikael Backlund, though, wont get Calgary anywhere close to contender status, especially as Backlund always offensively limited enters the back half of his 30s.

It might not get them too far into the wild-card discussion, either.

Dustin Wolf can only do so much.

Advertisement 23.

Utah Mammoth Current quality: 27th percentile Looking for: High-end center Its no secret that the Mammoth are looking to add down the middle, and its easy to see why.

Barrett Hayton has turned into a solid shutdown center who would be perfect for the third line, while Logan Cooley is an ascending star, but still a second-liner at the moment.

In order for Utah to make the playoffs, the Mammoth need to add to those two and they need those two to add to their games.

Even if Utah adds a strong second-line center, internal development will decide the teams ceiling.

The top contenders all have legitimate high-end stars as their 1Cs and unless Cooley gets there, a shiny 2C probably wont get the Mammoth to where they need to go.

Cooley is the teams biggest X-factor.

24.

Montreal Canadiens Current quality: 27th percentile Looking for: Middle-six centers Last season, Nick Suzuki shouldve removed all doubt: hes a quality first-line center.

Did he deserve that first-place Hart Trophy vote? Nope.

Would he have been a reasonable down-ballot consideration? Absolutely.

He does it all for Montreal and was one of the best players in the league after the 4 Nations break.

There, the Canadiens are set.

Behind him, its a plane built entirely of below-average third liners.

There, the Canadiens are not set.

Kirby Dach showed promise in 2022-23 but had his last two seasons derailed by major injuries.

Alex Newhook has yet to show hes capable of producing enough offensively.

Jake Evans has some defensive utility, but he fits best on a fourth line.

Whats left? The single biggest impediment to the Canadiens attempt to build on last seasons great leap forward.

Theyve got long-term pieces in place everywhere else, but thats a big asterisk to carry.

25.

San Jose Sharks Current quality: 26th percentile Looking for: Top-six center, depth center Advertisement Macklin Celebrini is already a star.

The next step is superstardom, and that should cause the Sharks to quickly rise up these ranks.

In Celebrini, the Sharks have locked in the most important piece.

Will Smith is next in line, though he still needs to show a fair bit more to establish himself as a bona fide 2C.

Smith started really slow and looked overwhelmed without the puck at the NHL level, but to his credit played a lot better in the seasons second half.

More of that effort would boost his stock heavily.

If Smith can be the guy many expect him to be, the Sharks would have a formidable 1-2 punch that could be top-five worthy sooner rather than later just not yet.

After the teams dynamic duo, the Sharks look pretty settled at 3C with the steady and defensively capable Alex Wennberg.

Its after him where theres room to improve.

For teams of San Joses ilk, addition by subtraction usually goes a long way.

Just having an average 4C would push the Sharks to the middle of the pack.

Further growth from their young dynamic duo should take care of the rest.

26.

Chicago Blackhawks Current quality: 23rd percentile Looking for: High-end center, middle-six center Perhaps no team is better situated to have its needs met by internal candidates than the Blackhawks.

Connor Bedard isnt a high-end first-liner yet but can he be? Obviously.

And it might happen soon.

Frank Nazar isnt a quality middle-six center yet but can he be? Obviously.

And it might happen soon.

Behind those two is Jason Dickinson, a solid bottom-sixer.

In a perfect world, Chicago would add someone in the middle of the mix to stabilize things and help both Bedard and Nazar reach their potential.

In the meantime, theyre closer to the bottom of these rankings than the middle.

27.

Vancouver Canucks Current quality: 22nd percentile Looking for: Top-six center Advertisement Last year the Canucks with Elias Pettersson, J.T.

Miller and Pius Suter ranked sixth.

No team has fallen farther after Pettersson struggled heavily, Miller was downgraded to Filip Chytil and Suter looks likely to walk in free agency.

The depth that made the team a contender during the 2023-24 season has evaporated.

While Pettersson should be able to bounce back with good health and Chytil should be a suitable Suter replacement, that still leaves the Canucks with a gaping hole at 2C.

Maybe Chytil steps up and the need lowers to a competent 3C.

For now, its difficult to see the Canucks doing much damage.

28.

Seattle Kraken Current quality: 18th percentile Looking for: High-end center Heres the optimists view for the Kraken: If they shift Matty Beniers to 2C, Shane Wright to 3C and Chandler Stephenson to 4C, everything looks great.

Thats partially due to Wright popping a bit in his first protracted NHL action; he scored 19 goals last season as a 21-year-old.

Heres the pessimists view for the Kraken: they cant actually shift any of those guys, so everything looks ...

not-great, lets say.

All of their centers are playing a level over their heads, and thats no recipe for success.

Beniers and Wright are still young enough to make a leap, but the clock is ticking, and the options behind them are basically non-existent.

29.

Anaheim Ducks Current quality: 12th percentile Looking for: High-end center, top-nine center Before last season, Leo Carlssons top comps were Zibanejad, Barkov and Dubois.

He looked like he had the makings of a two-way stud the exact type of player a rebuilding team needs at the top of the lineup.

One year later, his top comps are Nolan Patrick, Brendan Perlini and Christian Fischer.

Not ideal! There are other comps that paint Carlsson in a better light (Ryan Johansen, Sean Couturier and Zibanejad again), but after a slightly disappointing sophomore season, theres a little more doubt about Carlssons ceiling.

The same is true of Mason McTavish, whose poor defensive game has him lining up closely with Max Domi, Dylan Strome and Casey Mittelstadt at the same age.

Advertisement More than anything, the Ducks need Carlsson and McTavish to step up and break through.

Anaheim needs one of them to be a high-end center.

Otherwise, this rebuild will struggle to get off the ground.

One thing that could help: a reliable 3C behind them.

Trevor Zegras is probably better suited to the wing anyway.

30.

Boston Bruins Current quality: 12th percentile Looking for: High-end center For a few seasons in Calgary, Elias Lindholm centered a first line.

In 2024-25, the Bruins bet on him being a true first-line center.

Those arent quite the same things, and now Boston has proof.

While Lindholm settled in at least a bit as the season progressed, its safe to say that Boston is still living without any sort of legit replacement for Patrice Bergeron.

Lindholm isnt the whole problem either.

He still projects as an above-average 2C.

Behind him is Casey Mittelstadt, who had a nightmare of a season and was traded at the deadline for the second straight year, and Matthew Poitras, who bounced between the AHL and NHL.

The Bruins, in other words, are looking for centers, plural not just one fit to take the opening faceoff.

31.

Philadelphia Flyers Current quality: 17th percentile Looking for: High-end center From a center-ice perspective, things look really rough for the Flyers.

Sean Couturier, Noah Cates and Ryan Poehling that depth is not great, to say the least.

Couturier, at this stage of his career, is probably similar in quality to Anton Lundell, the 3C of the Stanley Cup champions.

Cates is a fine shutdown 3C but neither he nor Couturier provides much offense, which is a big problem.

The Flyers are in desperate need of an offensive star, and theyre probably only finding what they need at the draft.

A stud 1C is the most important piece to find in a rebuild and until the Flyers do, theyll be a long way from relevancy.

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Nashville Predators Current quality: 9th percentile Looking for: High-end center, top-nine center Last season, Nashvilles situation down the middle wasnt ideal, but it still made sense.

All four of their centers fit neatly into their roles, but all four also came in on the lower end.

This season, things have devolved.

Ryan OReilly is now a high-end 2C playing on a first line.

Behind him are two players who project as fourth-liners (the recently acquired Erik Haula and Colton Sissons) and not much else.

So, if you find yourself watching the Predators and wondering how a team with Filip Forsberg, Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos could look so punchless, theres your answer.

(Top photo of Leon Draisaitl and Nathan MacKinnon taking a faceoff: Andy Devlin / NHLI via Getty Images).

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