There's still a little time left, but here's a look at the top 10 NHL leaders in 10 statistical categories since Jan. 1, 2018.
There's still a little time left, but here's a look at the top 10 NHL leaders in 10 statistical categories since Jan. 1, 2018.
There's no way to avoid it: we've entered that time in late December when top-10 lists run amok, covering off every highlight and happenstance from the past year. So, in the spirit of top-10 lists -- and running amok -- here's a look at the NHL leaders in the calendar year of 2018.
Granted, there's a few games left before 2019 arrives, but these quick-hit stat packs give you a good idea of who's in the running for player-of-the-year kudos. We've spotlighted the top 10 (and ties) for both forwards and defensemen in goals, assists, points and shots, as well as the top 10 goalies in wins and save percentage.
Top 10 NHL Forwards (and ties): Goals
Alex Ovechkin 54
Patrik Laine 49
Connor McDavid 46
Nathan MacKinnon 44
David Pastrnak 42
Evgeni Malkin 39
Eric Staal 39
John Tavares 39
Cam Atkinson 38
Evgenii Dadonov 37
William Karlsson 37
Brayden Point 37
Jeff Skinner 37
Quick hit: Auston Matthews, in case you're wondering, has 36 goals in the calendar year of 2018. But he did so in just 53 games, compared to 75-80 games for most of the top-10 leaders.
Top 10 NHL Defensemen (and ties): Goals
Matt Dumba 19
Thomas Chabot 17
Aaron Ekblad 17
Victor Hedman 17
John Carlson 16
Dougie Hamilton 16
Seth Jones 15
Jeff Petry 15
Ivan Provorov 15
Tyson Barrie 14
Roman Josi 14
Kris Letang 14
Quick hit: Brent Burns, who posted 27- and 29-goal seasons in 2015-16 and '16-17, sits in an eight-way tie for 22nd place among NHL defensemen with 10 goals in the calendar year of 2018.
Top 10 NHL Forwards (and ties): Assists
Mikko Rantanen 76
Blake Wheeler 76
Nikita Kucherov 67
Connor McDavid 66
Claude Giroux 64
Mathew Barzal 63
Nathan MacKinnon 62
Sidney Crosby 61
Johnny Gaudreau 61
Evgeni Malkin 60
Mitch Marner 60
Quick hit: Wheeler, with 76 helpers in 76 games since Jan. 1, is the only player who has averaged an assist per game. Rantanen is close, with 76 in 78 games.
Top 10 NHL Defensemen: Assists
Brent Burns 66
John Carlson 56
Keith Yandle 55
Erik Karlsson 53
Morgan Rielly 51
Jake Gardiner 50
Ryan Suter 48
Tory Krug 46
Dustin Byfuglien 45
Drew Doughty 45
Quick hit: Ahh, now we see where Burns' points are coming from -- perhaps opponents are taking away his shooting lanes, so he's dishing off more often and collecting assists instead.
Top 10 NHL Forwards: Points
Connor McDavid 112
Mikko Rantanen 109
Nathan MacKinnon 106
Evgeni Malkin 99
Claude Giroux 97
Nikita Kucherov 96
Blake Wheeler 93
Sidney Crosby 92
Taylor Hall 90
David Pastrnak 90
Quick hit: McDavid is in his rightful spot, with two members of the Avs' top line as the only other players to surpass 100 points so far in the calendar year of 2018. Gabriel Landeskog, the third member of Colorado's high-flying unit, is tied for 30th among NHL forwards with 73 points.
Top 10 NHL Defensemen: Points
Brent Burns 76
John Carlson 72
Keith Yandle 65
Morgan Rielly 64
Erik Karlsson 61
Torey Krug 58
Dustin Byfuglien 57
Mark Giordano 56
Roman Josi 56
Jeff Petry 55
Quick hits: The power play has been a major source of offense for the likes of Carlson (35 PP points), Yandle (32 PP points), Krug (32 PP points), Burns (28 PP points), Byfuglien (28 PP points) and Rielly (28 PP points).
Top 10 NHL Forwards: Shots
Nathan MacKinnon 317
Alex Ovechkin 310
Tyler Seguin 310
Patrick Kane 295
Brendan Gallagher 288
Jonathan Marchessault 283
David Pastrnak 282
Evander Kane 279
Connor McDavid 279
Jack Eichel 272
Quick hits: Columbus' Cam Atkinson ranks 11th with 269 shots, but he racked up that total in just 66 games. Most of the players ahead of him have played 10-15 more games since Jan. 1.
Top 10 NHL Defensemen: Shots
Brent Burns 302
Dougie Hamilton 266
Roman Josi 264
Erik Karlsson 228
Kris Letang 221
Mark Giordano 209
Dustin Byfuglien 208
Seth Jones 207
John Carlson 204
Matt Dumba 204
Quick hit: Maybe Burns isn't dishing off so much after all. He's still shooting a lot, but the puck isn't going in for him. Burns' 3.3-percent shooting percentage in the calendar year of 2018 is the lowest of any defenseman in the top 10 in shots.
Top 10 NHL Goalies: Wins
Marc-Andre Fleury 42
Connor Hellebuyck 39
Frederik Andersen 37
Pekka Rinne 37
Devan Dubnyk 34
Sergei Bobrovsky 33
John Gibson 33
Keith Kinkaid 32
Martin Jones 31
Andrei Vasilevskiy 30
Quick hit: One more time -- boy, they really, really exceeded expectations in Vegas.
Top 10 NHL Goalies: Save percentage (40+ GP)
Pekka Rinne .929
John Gibson .928
Semyon Varlamov .922
Ben Bishop .921
Frederik Andersen .919
Carter Hutton .919
Connor Hellebuyck .918
Sergei Bobrovsky .917
Marc-Andre Fleury .917
Jaroslav Halak .917
Quick hit: From a save-percentage perspective, it's Rinne and Gibson and then it's everybody else.