What is a Top 6 forward?

Hagman – 11 goals. How many teams have 6 Forwards scoring like Hagman?

Direct and to the point and using numbers to make reporters look ridiculous.

When they argue about “Top Six” they are always talking in a subjective manner.

We do lack true top 6 forwards. Remember when Burke and Wilson called out the players on that in Burke’s first year? His reasoning was that to be considered a top-6 forward, you need to be someone that would be on the top 2 lines of the better teams. Would Kessel be on another team’s top 2 lines? Yes. Hagman? Most likely. How about anyone after that? Don’t think so (at least not as of today – yes Stalberg and Kadri look like they can, but they are not there as of today). So the Leafs do lack top-6 forwards.

The stat of Points or PPG can be misleading when you are comparing players in different situations. Let me put it to you this way, would you rather have Jason Blake or Jiri Hudler? Personally, I’d take Hudler. Blake had 63 points last year to Hudler’s 57. The difference, Hudler played for Detroit, and they have a few players that would be on anybody’s top-6 forwards. There are many more players who tallied less points than Stajan or Blake last year, that I bet most of you would take in a heartbeat over them: Ryder, Lupul, Stillman, Malone, Horton, O’Sullivan, Cole, Lucic, Cleary, Filuplla, Plekanec, Bergeron, etc…

The Leafs are a much different team than most contenders. Instead of having 1 or 2 lines relied on to score the bulk of goals, we have 3. Last season we finished 10th in team scoring, but our leading goal scorer had 25 goals (Blake) and our leading point getter had 63 points (also Blake).

Now getting 63 points is a fairly decent season. One that many second liners would be proud of. Would you play Jason Blake on Pittsburgh’s top-6 last season? Probably not.

While the Leafs aren’t some black hole of talent, we aren’t exactly up to the League average either. The future looks decent, but there are some players who are going to have to step up their development if the team is to succeed in the future (I’m looking right at you Mitchell and Grabovski).

I think there should be a sticky for this as it’s been posted so many times:

Ron Wilson on Cliff Fletcher’s pronouncement re. top-six

"You take the top four teams in the league and you take the top two lines on each team, and … you probably can’t see your guys (Leafs) playing on any of those lines," Wilson said.
"So what Cliff said is accurate. And we have to get to that point where we can (play with those lines)."

How could I have thought a guy like Hagman is a Top 6 forward (i.e. possesses above average offensive skill).

Oh wait a minute. Check that—I’m pretty sure it’s Blair who’s the moron.

The fact of the matter is the Leafs are more than 1 or 2 forwards away. The problem with using stats in this argument is these guys are getting a lot of ice time out of necessity. Stajan and company would not get nearly the ice time they’re getting with a top 6 team .. let alone the power play time. I’m not willing to say our forwards are terrible, but with the exception of Kessel and Hagman, no one else has shown any consistency or willingness to put the team on his shoulders and carry it. All have shown sparks but never sustain it. If the Leafs are to be competitive, and buy that I mean a real Cup threat, they need more than 1 or 2 better forwards … stats or no stats … we’ve all seen them play and can plainly see they’re just not good enough. Hopefully the likes of Kadri and Stalberg will become the type of forwards we need, but other than that I really don’t see much else in the near future coming out of the system capable of making the kind of impact we need. Hopefully trades and free agency will strengthen this team, it’s still going to be a while before we can talk Stanley Cup again. Luckily the current team is capable of providing entertaining hockey, I’m OK with that as long as we get better every year.

TC
http://leafsandstuff.blogspot.com/

D-Cox definte top-6 forward in the mailbag today:

Q: Hey Damien, Many analysts are saying Kessel is the only top 6 forward the Leafs have. What exactly is a top 6, and where is the line drawn a Top 6 and other leaf players… Hagman perhaps?

Johnny Thunder, Toronto

A: I would say a top-six forward is generally in the eye of a beholder, and it changes from team-to-team. Most wouldn’t say Matt Moulson of the Islanders is a bona fide top-six forward, but he sure is on that club and is one of the better NHL stories this season. In my mind, a top-six forward is a player who is capable of playing on the power play and of scoring at least 20 goals a season. In a 30-team league, let’s face it, the criteria isn’t that demanding. For the Leafs, that would probably make Stajan, Hagman, Blake, Stempniak and Ponikarovsky all theoretical top-six forwards, but all have been too inconsistent to firmly establish themselves as such.