How does a team get a top line center? I last looked at this in the summer of 2022, so let’s do a little update in January of 2025. Previously I used the depth charts at CapFriendly, but this time I’ll use average TOI for each team’s centers.
Team | Player | Obtained | Draft Position | Draft Year | Main Trade Piece |
Anaheim | Trevor Zegras | Draft | 9 | 2019 | |
Boston | Pavel Zacha | Trade | 6 | 2015 | Eric Haula |
Buffalo | Tage Thompson | Trade | 26 | 2016 | Ryan O’Reilly |
Calgary | Mikael Backlund | Draft | 24 | 2007 | |
Carolina | Seth Jarvis | Draft | 13 | 2020 | |
Chicago | Connor Bedard | Draft | 1 | 2023 | |
Colorado | Nathan MacKinnon | Draft | 1 | 2013 | |
Columbus | Sean Monahan | UFA Signing | 6 | 2013 | |
Dallas | Wyatt Johnson | Draft | 23 | 2021 | |
Detroit | Dylan Larkin | Draft | 15 | 2014 | |
Edmonton | Connor McDavid | Draft | 1 | 2015 | |
Florida | Alexander Barkov | Draft | 2 | 2013 | |
LA | Anze Kopitar | Draft | 11 | 2005 | |
Minnesota | Joel Eriksson Ek | Trade | 20 | 2015 | |
Montreal | Nick Suzuki | Trade | 13 | 2017 | Max Pacioretty |
Nashville | Filip Forsberg | Trade | 11 | 2012 | Martin Erat, Michael Latta |
New Jersey | Jack Hughes | Draft | 1 | 2019 | |
NYI | Mat Barzal | Draft | 16 | 2015 | |
NYR | Vincent Trochek | UFA Signing | 64 | 2011 | |
Ottawa | Joshua Norris | Trade | 19 | 2017 | Erik Karlsson |
Philadelphia | Travis Konechny | Draft | 24 | 2015 | |
Pittsburgh | Sidney Crosby | Draft | 1 | 2005 | |
San Jose | Mikael Granlund | Draft | 9 | 2010 | |
Seattle | Chandler Stephenson | Trade | 77 | 2012 | 5th Round Pick |
St. Louis | Robert Thomas | Draft | 20 | 2017 | |
Tampa Bay | Jake Guentzel | Trade | 77 | 2013 | 3rd Round Pick |
Toronto | Auston Matthews | Draft | 1 | 2016 | |
Utah | Clayton Keller | Draft | 7 | 2016 | |
Vancouver | Elias Pettersson | Draft | 5 | 2017 | |
Las Vegas | Jack Eichel | Trade | 2 | 2015 | Tuch, Krebs, picks |
Washington | Dylan Strome | UFA Signing | 3 | 2015 | |
Winnipeg | Mark Scheifele | Draft | 7 | 2011 |
We can sort the data by how they were obtained and then which draft pick each one was, to get a better view of how the players are obtained. 20 of the 32 were obtained in the draft and 15 of those 20 were in the first 15 picks. Barzal just misses as the 16th pick, but Bruins fans will certainly scream that he should have been a top 15 pick. We also see three first line centers were signed as unrestricted free agents and the remaining nine were obtained via trade. As I noted in 2022, getting the most minutes doesn’t necessarily make a guy a “first line center”, but that’s the context of what we’re looking for here. How do teams get a true first line center for their team. I’ll let the reader look through the list and decide for themselves who is a “true 1C” and look how teams get them.
Team | Player | Obtained | Draft Position | Draft Year | Main Trade Piece |
Chicago | Connor Bedard | Draft | 1 | 2023 | |
Colorado | Nathan MacKinnon | Draft | 1 | 2013 | |
Edmonton | Connor McDavid | Draft | 1 | 2015 | |
New Jersey | Jack Hughes | Draft | 1 | 2019 | |
Pittsburgh | Sidney Crosby | Draft | 1 | 2005 | |
Toronto | Auston Matthews | Draft | 1 | 2016 | |
Florida | Alexander Barkov | Draft | 2 | 2013 | |
Vancouver | Elias Pettersson | Draft | 5 | 2017 | |
Utah | Clayton Keller | Draft | 7 | 2016 | |
Winnipeg | Mark Scheifele | Draft | 7 | 2011 | Package of assets |
Anaheim | Trevor Zegras | Draft | 9 | 2019 | |
San Jose | Mikael Granlund | Draft | 9 | 2010 | |
LA | Anze Kopitar | Draft | 11 | 2005 | |
Carolina | Seth Jarvis | Draft | 13 | 2020 | |
Detroit | Dylan Larkin | Draft | 15 | 2014 | |
NYI | Mat Barzal | Draft | 16 | 2015 | |
St. Louis | Robert Thomas | Draft | 20 | 2017 | |
Dallas | Wyatt Johnson | Draft | 23 | 2021 | |
Calgary | Mikael Backlund | Draft | 24 | 2007 | |
Philadelphia | Travis Konechny | Draft | 24 | 2015 | |
Las Vegas | Jack Eichel | Trade | 2 | 2015 | Tuch, Krebs, picks |
Boston | Pavel Zacha | Trade | 6 | 2015 | Eric Haula |
Nashville | Filip Forsberg | Trade | 11 | 2012 | Martin Erat, Michael Latta |
Montreal | Nick Suzuki | Trade | 13 | 2017 | Max Pacioretty |
Ottawa | Joshua Norris | Trade | 19 | 2017 | Erik Karlsson |
Minnesota | Joel Eriksson Ek | Trade | 20 | 2015 | |
Buffalo | Tage Thompson | Trade | 26 | 2016 | Ryan O’Reilly |
Seattle | Chandler Stephenson | Trade | 77 | 2012 | 5th Round Pick |
Tampa Bay | Jake Guentzel | Trade | 77 | 2013 | 3rd Round Pick |
Washington | Dylan Strome | UFA Signing | 3 | 2015 | |
Columbus | Sean Monahan | UFA Signing | 6 | 2013 | |
NYR | Vincent Trochek | UFA Signing | 64 | 2011 |
(The following data was first published here in July 2022 and it out of date now. It’s being kept just for historical purposes and comparison to current data.)
Let’s look at each team’s guy, using the depth charts from CapFriendly.com. Feel free to disagree on who the 1C is on each team, but that’s the data I’m using.
Team | Player | Obtained | Draft Position | Draft Year | Main Trade Piece |
Anaheim | Trevor Zegras | Draft | 9 | 2019 | |
Arizona | Barrett Hayton | Draft | 5 | 2018 | |
Boston | Patrice Bergeron | Draft | 45 | 2003 | |
Buffalo | Tage Thompson | Trade | 26 | 2016 | Ryan O’Reilly |
Calgary | Elias Lindholm | Trade | 5 | 2013 | Dougie Hamilton |
Carolina | Sebastian Aho | Draft | 35 | 2015 | |
Chicago | Jonathan Toews | Draft | 3 | 2006 | |
Colorado | Nathan MacKinnon | Draft | 1 | 2013 | |
Columbus | Jack Roslovic | Draft | 25 | 2015 | |
Dallas | Roope Hintz | Draft | 49 | 2015 | |
Detroit | Dylan Larkin | Draft | 15 | 2014 | |
Edmonton | Connor McDavid | Draft | 1 | 2015 | |
Florida | Alexander Barkov | Draft | 2 | 2013 | |
LA | Anze Kopitar | Draft | 11 | 2005 | |
Minnesota | Ryan Hartman | Trade | 30 | 2013 | Draft picks |
Montreal | Nick Suzuki | Trade | 13 | 2017 | Max Pacioretty |
Nashville | Mikael Granlund | Trade | 9 | 2010 | Kevin Fiala |
New Jersey | Jack Hughes | Draft | 1 | 2019 | |
NYI | Brock Nelson | Draft | 20 | 2010 | |
NYR | Mika Zibanejad | Trade | 6 | 2011 | Derick Brassard |
Ottawa | Joshua Norris | Trade | 19 | 2017 | Erik Karlsson |
Philadelphia | Sean Couturier | Draft | 8 | 2011 | |
Pittsburgh | Sidney Crosby | Draft | 1 | 2005 | |
San Jose | Tomas Hertl | Draft | 17 | 2012 | |
Seattle | Matty Beniers | Draft | 2 | 2021 | |
St. Louis | Ryan O’Reilly | Trade | 33 | 2009 | Package of assets |
Tampa Bay | Steven Stamkos | Draft | 1 | 2008 | |
Toronto | Auston Matthews | Draft | 1 | 2016 | |
Vancouver | JT Miller | Trade | 15 | 2011 | Draft picks |
Las Vegas | Jack Eichel | Trade | 2 | 2015 | Tuch, Krebs, picks |
Washington | Nicklas Backstrom | Draft | 4 | 2006 | |
Winnipeg | Mark Scheifele | Draft | 7 | 2011 |
First, consider that these are just the first line center on each of the teams, then think about whether certain guys would be the 1C or even 2C on your own favorite team. Some might not.
So how do you get your first line center? It looks like for the most part, you draft him. 18 out of the 32 players are Top-10 picks and 22 out of 32 are from the top half of the draft. If you’re drafting in the bottom half, your choices become pretty slim.
10 of the players were obtained by trades, and most of those were for a big name going the other way (Karlsson, O’Reilly, Hamilton, Pacioretty).
Here’s the same table, sorted by the round the players were drafted. This view emphasizes the fact that teams generally get their top center from the first ten picks in the draft.
Team | Player | Obtained | Draft Position | Draft Year | Main Trade Piece |
Colorado | Nathan MacKinnon | Draft | 1 | 2013 | |
Edmonton | Connor McDavid | Draft | 1 | 2015 | |
New Jersey | Jack Hughes | Draft | 1 | 2019 | |
Pittsburgh | Sidney Crosby | Draft | 1 | 2005 | |
Tampa Bay | Steven Stamkos | Draft | 1 | 2008 | |
Toronto | Auston Matthews | Draft | 1 | 2016 | |
Florida | Alexander Barkov | Draft | 2 | 2013 | |
Seattle | Matty Beniers | Draft | 2 | 2021 | |
Las Vegas | Jack Eichel | Trade | 2 | 2015 | Tuch, Krebs, picks |
Chicago | Jonathan Toews | Draft | 3 | 2006 | |
Washington | Nicklas Backstrom | Draft | 4 | 2006 | |
Arizona | Barrett Hayton | Draft | 5 | 2018 | |
Calgary | Elias Lindholm | Trade | 5 | 2013 | Dougie Hamilton |
NYR | Mika Zibanejad | Trade | 6 | 2011 | Derrik Brassard |
Winnipeg | Mark Scheifele | Draft | 7 | 2011 | |
Philadelphia | Sean Couturier | Draft | 8 | 2011 | |
Anaheim | Trevor Zegras | Draft | 9 | 2019 | |
Nashville | Mikael Granlund | Trade | 9 | 2010 | Kevin Fiala |
LA | Anze Kopitar | Draft | 11 | 2005 | |
Montreal | Nick Suzuki | Trade | 13 | 2017 | Max Pacioretty |
Detroit | Dylan Larkin | Draft | 15 | 2014 | |
Vancouver | JT Miller | Trade | 15 | 2011 | Draft picks |
San Jose | Tomas Hertl | Draft | 17 | 2012 | |
Ottawa | Joshua Norris | Trade | 19 | 2017 | Erik Karlsson |
NYI | Brock Nelson | Draft | 20 | 2010 | |
Columbus | Jack Roslovic | Draft | 25 | 2015 | |
Buffalo | Tage Thompson | Trade | 26 | 2016 | Ryan O’Reilly |
Minnesota | Ryan Hartman | Trade | 30 | 2013 | Draft picks |
St. Louis | Ryan O’Reilly | Trade | 33 | 2009 | Package of assets |
Carolina | Sebastian Aho | Draft | 35 | 2015 | |
Boston | Patrice Bergeron | Draft | 45 | 2003 | |
Dallas | Roope Hintz | Draft | 49 | 2015 |
In the end, it looks like the best way to get a top center, is to miss the playoffs, endure a bad season and hope a guy is available at your spot and he develops.