NHL Power Rankings: Malkin, Stamkos, Gaborik and the Each Team's No. 1 Scorer

The NHL may have been lacking superstar Sidney Crosby for most of the season, due to injury, and Alex Ovechkin’s production has dropped dramatically in the past few years.

Although the league’s two poster boys are struggling, there are still plenty of exciting players to watch on hockey’s biggest stage.

Evgeni Malkin did a spectacular job of replacing Crosby’s production.

New York’s Marian Gaborik remained healthy and netted 41 goals this season (think he’s happy about the Brad Richards pickup?).

When Philadelphia overhauled their team in the offseason, they were asking Claude Giroux to step up and be the man.

He’s been just that.

Two players who signed controversial contracts, Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa, led star-studded teams in scoring.

Youngsters like John Tavares (Islanders) and Jordan Eberle (Oilers) are doing all they can do to turn around historically significant, moribund franchises.

Tyler Seguin and Phil Kessel performed well in high-stress positions, even if their teams did not advance as far as their respective fanbases may have wanted them to.

And let’s not forget the oldies.

Teemu Selanne and Ray Whitney may have been around when the old Winnipeg Jets, Hartford Whalers and Minnesota North Stars were still playing, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t adapted to the new-era game.

Remove the red line, add in a trapezoid and inflate the size of goalie pads…it doesn’t matter. These aged gems still will lead their team in points.

Hockey is a crazy sport.

30. Minnesota Wild: Dany Heatley

Totals: 24 G, 53 PTS (82 GP)

Scoring goals has never really been Minnesota’s thing.

Having a washed-up Dany Heatley lead the team in scoring sounds about right.

29. Colorado Avalanche: Ryan O’Reilly

Totals: 18 G, 55 PTS (81 GP)

Colorado underachieved this season.

Just about everyone on the Avalanche roster is capable of putting up better numbers than they did.

Ryan O’Reilly kinda won the team’s scoring crown by default.

28. Nashville Predators: Martin Erat

Totals: 19 G, 58 PTS (71 GP)

Shea Weber scored as many goals as Nashville’s leading point-getter.

Sounds about right.

Patric Hornqvist (27) and Mike Underwood Fisher (24) were the only two players to score more goals than Weber last season.

27. Winnipeg Jets: Blake Wheeler

Totals: 17 G, 64 PTS (80 GP)

While Evander Kane was busy dining and dashing, Blake Wheeler was busy dishing out meatballs for his teammates to bury behind opposing goaltenders.

Teammates Kane (30), Andrew Ladd (28) and Bryan Little (24) may have found the twine more often this season, but it was Wheeler’s play that created opportunities for all three players.

26. Detroit Red Wings: Henrik Zetterberg

Totals: 22 G, 69 PTS (82 GP)

Fans in Detroit have become accustomed to seeing Pavel Datsyuk here, but he missed 12 games this season.

And like the rest of his team, he’s aging.

Johan Franzen, 32, led the team with 29 goals this season and is considered a young buck by this franchise’s standards.

25. St. Louis Blues: David Backes

Totals: 24 G, 54 PTS (82 GP)

David Backes and T.J. Oshie both had 54 points.

Backes gets the nod because he had more goals and is the captain.

Oh, and by the way, there’s some guy named Alex Pietrangelo who had a solid season for the Baby Blues as well.

This team may not have superstars, but they’re looking like a formidable opponent for years to come.

24. Florida Panthers: Tomas Fleischmann

Totals: 27 G, 61 PTS (82 GP)

Nobody in Florida really bothered to score this season, but Tomas Fleischmann was the leading point-getter on a Panthers squad that made the postseason for the first time since 1999-2000.

That’s worth something.

23. Carolina Hurricanes: Eric Staal

Totals: 24 G, 70 PTS (82 GP)

One day this will be Jeff Skinner, but for the time being, Eric Staal is still the man in Carolina.

22. Anaheim Ducks: Teemu Selanne

Totals: 26 G, 66 PTS (82 GP)

Teemu Selanne is so old that he entered the league with the first Winnipeg Jets.

In his first season, the Dallas Stars were the Minnesota North Stars; the Colorado Avalanche were the Quebec Nordiques; the Phoenix Coyotes were the Winnipeg Jets; the Carolina Hurricanes were the Hartford Whalers.

The Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning began playing that season.

His former teammate, Randy Carlyle, coached him at the beginning of the year.

He’s older than the Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers (Winnipeg Jets 2.0), Columbus Blue Jackets and his current team, the Anaheim Ducks.

And he led his team in scoring.

That’s pretty sweet.

21. Phoenix Coyotes: Ray Whitney

Totals: 24 G, 77 PTS (82 GP)

Another old dude who can put up numbers, Ray Whitney gets the nod here because he’s leading his mediocre team on a deep playoff run.

20. Dallas Stars: Loui Eriksson

Totals: 26 G, 71 PTS (82 GP)

Loui Eriksson, a player so good that a whole bunch of drunken frat boys dedicated a song to his name.

Too bad he couldn’t get his team into the postseason.

They were so close…

19. Los Angeles Kings: Anze Kopitar

Totals: 25 G, 74 PTS (82 GP)

Anze Kopitar may have lower numbers than the average hockey fan expected, but he’s still spectacular to watch on the ice, and his team is in position to reach the Stanley Cup finals for the first time since the Gretzky era.

I think Kopitar will take a shot at the Stanley Cup over gaudy goal totals any day.

18. Boston Bruins: Tyler Seguin

Totals: 29 G, 67 PTS (81 GP)

The Boston faithful would have liked to have seen a 30-goal scorer from the defending champs this season.

Tyler Seguin got closest.

Brad Marchand (28) Milan Lucic (26) gave him a run for his money.

Better luck next year, boys.

17. Chicago Blackhawks: Marian Hossa

Totals: 29 G, 77 PTS (81 GP)

Fans in Chicago would probably like to see Patrick Kane’s name here, but there is a reason why the Blackhawks signed Marian Hossa to his controversial front-loaded contract in 2009.

The guy can score.

At least Kane is doing the right things in the offseason to get in shape for another season after everyone in Chicago called for his head following the playoffs.

Oh wait, no he isn’t. He’s getting sloppy drunk in Madison.

16. Buffalo Sabres: Jason Pominville

Totals: 30 G, 73 PTS (82 GP)

Fans in Buffalo would probably like to see Thomas Vanek’s name here, but then again, Jason Pominville is a good player in his own right.

The problem in Buffalo isn’t Pominville or Vanek. It’s the team they have around them.

15. Columbus Blue Jackets: Rick Nash

Totals: 30 G, 59 PTS (82 GP)

The good news is that the Blue Jackets have a 30-goal scorer.

The bad news is that they probably won’t next season.

14. Calgary Flames: Jarome Iginla

Totals: 32 G, 67 PTS (82 GP)

This is what we’ve come to expect from Jarome Iginla.

Despite playing on an aging, unproductive team, Iginla was able to muster a 30-goal season and shows no signs of slowing down in the near future.

13. Montreal Canadiens: Max Pacioretty

Totals: 33 G, 65 PTS (79 GP)

Erik Cole may have led the Habs in goal scoring this year with 35, but it was Max Pacioretty, a fourth-year player, who had a breakout season and became Montreal’s go-to guy.

Pacioretty created a bright spot in an otherwise bleak season for the Canadiens.

12. Washington Capitals: Alex Ovechkin

Totals: 38 G, 65 PTS (78 GP)

There was a time where 65 represented Alex the Great’s goal, not point, total.

Times are a changin’, though, and Ovechkin’s production has dropped due to his own slumps, a new defensive philosophy in Washington and interim coach Dale Hunter reducing his ice time.

Hunter has recently resigned, and time will tell if this means more production for Ovechkin next season.

11. San Jose Sharks: Joe Thornton

Totals: 18 G, 77 PTS (82 GP)

Jumbo Joe has made a career for himself by dishing the puck.

While he and the rest of the Sharks felt a lot of scrutiny from the hometown fans this year, Thornton is the lynchpin that allowed three players—Logan Couture, Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski—to hit the 30-goal mark this season.

10. Vancouver Canucks: Henrik Sedin

Totals: 14 G, 81 PTS (82 GP)

Erik Karlsson, Shea Weber, Jason Garrison and Niklas Kronwall may have had more goals than Henrik Sedin this season, but it is his ability to earn almost a point per game by dishing the puck rather than putting it in himself that made him the leading point-getter for the Canucks.

9. New York Islanders: John Tavares

Totals: 31 G, 81 PTS (82 GP)

Matt Moulson actually led the Islanders in goals, with 36, but it was John Tavares’ ability to dish the puck that made him the team’s leading scorer.

Tavares is doing his part, but if the Islanders are to become winners and keep the franchise on the Island, he needs to have more scoring around him.

8. Edmonton Oilers: Jordan Eberle

Totals: 34 G, 76 PTS (78 GP)

Jordan Eberle’s 34 goals and Taylor Hall’s 27 should be a good sign for the Oilers.

Certainly 2006’s miracle Stanley Cup run feels like ages ago, but Edmonton certainly appears to have the young talent necessary to turn the team around.

Eberle, Hall and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins were the team’s top three scorers.

Oh yeah, and they have the No. 1 overall pick this season.

7. Ottawa Senators: Jason Spezza

Totals: 34 G, 84 PTS (80 GP)

Senators fans may be disgruntled over Jason Spezza’s placement.

After all, he put up numbers, or at least a goal total, reminiscent of the CASH line era.

Gone is Dany Heatley, of course, and Daniel Alfredsson is an old man, but Spezza showed flashes of his old self this season.

That’s a good thing for a franchise on the rise.

6. Toronto Maple Leafs: Phil Kessel

Totals: 37 G, 82 PTS (82 GP)

It was expected that Phil Kessel would face controversy as soon as he put on a Maple Leafs sweater.

He was a part of a blockbuster deal and was expected to carry a passionately loved franchise that has yet to reach the postseason since the lockout.

The Leafs can’t pin this one on Kessel, though.

He produced this season. He just needs a better team around him.

5. New Jersey Devils: Ilya Kovalchuk

Totals: 37 G, 83 PTS (77 GP)

Once the franchise player for the erstwhile Atlanta Thrashers, Ilya Kovalchuk received much criticism for his controversial contract and lack of production last season.

He appears to have silenced his critics this year.

Kovalchuk still scored goals last year, he had 30, but that appeared impeccably low for a player who scored 40-plus goals five times in Atlanta and totaled 41 in the year he was dealt from the Thrashers to the Devils.

Although he was unable to reach the 40-goal plateau this season, Kovalchuk raised his point total from 60 to 83 this season.

4. Philadelphia Flyers: Claude Giroux

Totals: 28 G, 93 PTS (77 GP)

I know I’m going to hear it from Flyers fans for putting Claude Giroux behind (spoiler alert) Ranger Marian Gaborik.

When Philly disposed of Mike Richards and Jeff Carter in the offseason, they turned the team over to Giroux and James Van Riemsdyk.

Giroux took over. He was one of only three players with 90-plus points in the NHL this season, while JVR battled injury and only produced 24 points in 43 games.

This placement is not meant to be a slight to Giroux or the Flyer faithful.

Had he netted a couple more goals and broke the 100-point barrier, he would probably be at No. 3.

3. New York Rangers: Marian Gaborik

Totals: 41 G, 76 PTS (82 GP)

Marian Gaborik is placed at No. 3 spot because of his goal total.

Breaking the 40-goal mark is impressive, even on a team as stacked as the Rangers.

Gaborik has thrived with the addition of Brad Richards and is a major reason why the Blueshirts are in position to reach the Stanley Cup finals.

2. Tampa Bay Lightning: Steven Stamkos

Totals: 60 G, 97 PTS (82 GP)

The Lightning were not able to capitalize on last season’s success, and Steven Stamkos found himself out of the playoff picture for the third time in his four-year career.

The man is an elite scorer and is only in the No. 2 spot because he did not break the 100-point plateau.

Tampa Bay needs to do better than this.

They are a talented team with Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier and should dominate an otherwise weak division. It’s tough to see such a talented player outside the playoff picture.

1. Pittsburgh Penguins: Evgeni Malkin

Totals: 50 G, 109 PTS (75 GP)

In the absence of Sidney Crosby (22 GP), Evgeni Malkin emerged as Pittsburgh’s go-to scorer.

He was a major reason why the Penguins were Stanley Cup favorites entering the postseason.

Unfortunately for him and the great people of Pittsburgh, the crosstown rival Flyers eliminated them in the first round, sending the NHL’s leading scorer to the golf course earlier than expected.

Tom Schreier is a Featured Columnist at Bleacher Report. He covers hockey and baseball.

 Follow him @tschreier3.