The NHL’s off-season continues to unfold, and by mid-July, most teams made their key roster moves. That brings us to the question of what teams are best at each position – forward, defense and goal.
We began the process by breaking down the five best teams on defense. Now, we’re switching focus to analyze the five best teams at forward. The criteria for this list include top-level primary scoring, impressive secondary scoring, a dose of defense-minded and role forwards, and overall cohesion.
With that said, here are our choices with new roster additions in italics.
1. Florida Panthers
Forwards: Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, Carter Verhaeghe, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Evan Rodrigues, Anton Lundell, Brad Marchand, Eetu Luostarinen, A.J. Greer, Tomas Nosek, Jonah Gadjovich
When you’re back-to-back Stanley Cup champions, and you manage to retain all your important forwards, you deserve to be at the top of this list. The Panthers did exactly that, re-signing veteran center Sam Bennett and left winger Brad Marchand to team-friendly deals this summer.
The Panthers have elite two-way skill in the form of Barkov and Reinhart, grit and clutch play from Tkachuk, Bennett and Marchand, and speed and tenacity with the rest of their group of forwards. Florida has repeatedly demonstrated that, when the games matter most, their forwards will be hard on the forecheck, determined in front of their opponent’s net and successful at undermining the other team’s defense. Nine of their forwards had at least 15 points in the 23 games it took them to win the Cup. For reference, the Oilers had three with at least 15 and seven with at least 10 in 22 games.
They’ve won two straight Cups for good reason, and they’re the cream of the crop when it comes to the league’s best collection of forwards.
2. Tampa Bay Lightning
Forwards: Brayden Point, Jake Guentzel, Nikita Kucherov, Brandon Hagel, Anthony Cirelli, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde, Nick Paul, Zemgus Girgensons, Cage Goncalves, Pontus Holmberg, Conor Geekie
The Lightning were dumped by the Panthers in the first round of last year’s playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have an embarrassment of riches up front. To the contrary, they led the NHL in scoring, scored the most goals by a forward, had the sixth-best penalty-kill percentage, had four forwards average at least a point per game and have Kucherov as a bona fide superstar.
The Bolts had depth issues last season before they brought back (and re-signed) Gourde and acquired Bjorkstrand from the Seattle Kraken at the trade deadline. Those additions really put Tampa Bay over the top.
It’s easy to see why Lightning GM Julien BriseBois doubled down on his forwards, and Tampa Bay will once again be dominant in their opponent’s zone because they have so much skill and balance up front.
3. Colorado Avalanche
Forwards: Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog, Artturi Lehkonen, Valeri Nichushkin, Brock Nelson, Martin Necas, Ross Colton, Jack Drury, Parker Kelly, Ivan Ivan, T.J. Tynan, Nikita Prishchepov
Like the Lightning, the Avalanche have a legitimate top-five player in the world in MacKinnon, a top-six group of forwards that’s as skilled and proven as any team in the NHL and a swift and resolute bottom six. It’s a measure of their depth that Colorado lost veterans Jonathan Drouin and Charlie Coyle, and they’re still tremendously talented up front.
Getting Nelson to sign a contract extension was huge for the Avs, as it firmed up their second-line center position. Like Tampa Bay, Colorado lost in the opening round last year, but if we had to choose between the Avalanche’s forwards and Dallas’ forwards, we’d pick the Avs in a narrow decision. Colorado GM Chris MacFarland has constructed an elite group, and the Avs are going to excel once again next year.
4. Dallas Stars
Forwards: Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson, Mikko Rantanen, Matt Duchene, Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston, Mavrik Bourque, Oskar Back, Radek Faksa, Sam Steel, Colin Blackwell
The Stars have consistently been a terrific team, in no small part due to their incredible depth on offense. Despite Dallas losing in the Western Conference final for the third straight season, Stars GM Jim Nill brought just about everyone back, and he re-acquired longtime Stars center Faksa for a second tour of duty with the organization. Losing Mikael Granlund hurts a bit, but it won’t be devastating.
With fantastic two-way forwards Hintz and Rantanen setting the tone for the rest of the group, the Stars have demonstrated they can be successful at both ends of the ice. And although the future of Robertson, who is entering the final year of his contract, is somewhat in doubt, what isn’t in doubt is that Dallas’ balance of youth (Robertson, Bourque, Johnston) and experience (Benn, Seguin, Duchene) gives them an elite collection of forwards.
The Stars can run-and-gun with the best of them or play a hard-nosed defensive game. That’s why they had the most points by a forward, the third-most goals-for, the sixth-fewest goals against and the fourth-best penalty-kill rate this past season. More often than not, they’re going to be on the winning side of the ledger in large part due to their forward depth.
5. Vegas Golden Knights
Forwards: Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Mark Stone, Ivan Barbashev, William Karlsson, Tomas Hertl, Pavel Dorofeyev, Reilly Smith, Brett Howden, Brandon Saad, Colton Sissons, Keegan Kolesar
Adding former Toronto Maple Leafs superstar winger Marner made an already-dynamic Golden Knights group of forwards all the more impressive. Trading for former Nashville Predators center Sissons firmed up Vegas’ fourth line. Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon has been ruthless in pursuit of the franchise’s second Cup, and once again, he’s done his utmost to create a lineup that can create offense with the best of them, while giving up little in their own zone.
Marner’s impact in terms of offense creation as well as strong defensive play gives Vegas a balance that compares well to any NHL team, and proven veterans including Stone, Eichel, Karlsson and Hertl give the Golden Knights the kind of depth any team would kill for. Vegas is well out of cap space, but does anyone really believe McCrimmon is done improving his team? We sure don’t. As the season unfolds, we fully expect the Golden Knights to continue getting better, and by the time the next post-season rolls around, Vegas could be even higher on this list.
Honorable Mentions: Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets
The Maple Leafs, Oilers and Jets all have high-level forward groups, even if they’re not in the top five.
The Leafs have Grade-A top-six forwards in Auston Matthews, William Nylander, John Tavares and Matthew Knies. The departure of Marner has a trickle-down effect that ultimately hurts Toronto’s case.
Similarly, the Oilers have two world-class superstars in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, as well as elite forwards in Zach Hyman and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. They are a massive part of why the Oilers got to two straight Stanley Cup finals, and in the playoffs, they got some nice secondary scoring at times. However, trading away Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson while losing Connor Brown and Corey Perry put a dent in Edmonton’s forward group. It’s up to Andrew Mangiapane, Isaac Howard and Matt Savoie to make the Oilers better than they were.
Finally, the Jets still have top talents in center Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Cole Perfetti, as well as above-average forwards in Gabriel Vilardi and newcomer Jonathan Toews. But the loss of winger Nikolaj Ehlers affects their bottom line, and their fourth line isn’t as solid now that last season’s trade acquisition Brandon Tanev has moved on to the Utah Mammoth. If Toews excels this upcoming season, it would be worth re-evaluating their spot on this list.
The Oilers, Jets and Leafs still have lots to like. They could prove to have a top-five forward group during the season, but at the moment, they just missed the cut.
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