FLAMES RETOOL TRACKER: Under-25 power rankings at centre position
Power rankings are always great for debate.
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In this case, it's not just the pecking order that should spark conversation.
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As part of our Flames Retool Tracker, we'll be examining their current stockpile of under-25 talent at each position. What you'll notice on this list of centres is that several of these guys come with the same asterisk — does he more likely project as a winger at the NHL level?
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We are not breaking news when we tell you the Flames are short on future faceoff men. This rundown will only reinforce that, although it's worth noting that a couple of candidates just aged out in Morgan Frost (26) and Sam Morton (25).
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1. CONNOR ZARY
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Age: 23
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Still working on it: Could he become a better distributor? He collected just six even-strength assists in 54 games with the Flames this season.
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Big-league potential: He's already a fixture and will feature in the top-six for a long time, but is that at centre or on left wing?
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Earlier this week, we made the case the Flames must continue to invest in determining if Zary can be a difference-maker up the middle. That's why he lands in the top spot on this list. If not for injuries, Zary likely would have potted 20 goals this season and that's certainly a realistic target for 2025-26. As the Flames move across the street to Scotia Place, he will be both a fan fave and one of their most dangerous offensive weapons.
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Still working on it: Kerins has put in a lot of hours with Flames skating coach Danielle Fujita and, while he has made major gains, he is still striving to push his pace.
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Kerins worked the wing during his five-game call-up in January, but he was primarily a centre during a breakthrough campaign with the Wranglers. While he doesn't do anything that is going to drop your jaw, Kerins just finds a way to produce offence, plain and simple. With 33 goals and 61 points, he was the youngest dude to finish inside the Top 10 in the AHL's scoring race. He already has four assists on his NHL stat sheet.
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That's the reason Marchand has never represented Canada at an Olympics. He is the player teams like the Leafs kid themselves can be made, but are only born – those who will themselves to greatness. Initially, Marchand's role on the Bruins was disruption. Anywhere else, that tendency to lose the plot might have set the tone for the club. In Boston, Marchand was the exception that proved the rule. It was Zdeno Chara's and Patrice Bergeron's team – which is to say, a place for adults. Marchand played the toddler who sometimes had to be taken outside to cool down. He never chafed in the role, and they never tried to fix him. So, eventually, Marchand fixed himself. He's just as nasty, but in a more coherent way. Can you imagine Marchand licking someone in a playoff game today? Okay, yes, but only in a fun way. I'm still sure he would do just about anything to win, including some pretty awful things. That's the difference between him and a William Nylander. It's this duality in Marchand – a mean-spirited bully on the ice; an easygoing charmer off it – that attracts people. Most top NHLers are one thing or the other. Bennett is Marchand without the wit. Crosby is Marchand without the ugliness. Only Marchand has real depth of character. The other secret to Marchand? He wins. Nobody likes a cheap-shot artist who loses, and nobody rates a scorer who's never mattered in a big game. You like anybody who gets results. While Crosby and Ovechkin's teams have fallen off near the end, Marchand is still manufacturing success. He isn't the best player on an already great Florida team, but he is the most present. He gets off the best lines and draws the camera to him, regardless of what he's doing. He's the only real star on a team that's theoretically full of them. Contrast that to the other side. Would you rather have Connor McDavid or Leon Draisaitl on your team? Probably. Would you rather be stuck in an elevator with them? Probably not. Marchand is bursting with life whenever he speaks, while the Oilers big pair act like they're being told to bend over and cough. Two things matter in sports – win, and be entertaining while you do it. Has anyone in recent NHL memory fulfilled that brief better than Marchand? Is it even close? Let's imagine everything goes as well as it can in the final act of Marchand's career. He wins this Cup, re-signs with Florida, and maybe wins another. He gets a key role on Canada's team in Milan, and wins there, too. He has the sense to leave when he is still in fighting trim, so no one has to watch him fall apart. Then he moves into commentary, where he could be the new Don Cherry that Canadian media needs, but is too afraid to build. Even if all that happens, no one will ever say that Marchand was the best. That would be too injurious to hockey's self-image. Every generation needs a Crosby – a player beyond reproach, who upset no one and said nothing. McDavid is already being groomed for the role. His successor has yet to make himself obvious, but he's active now. That sort of player would have no purpose without a Marchand to be compared to. Not quite a bad guy, but definitely not the hero of the story. The joker, maybe, or an agent of chaos. Crosby et al may be the heart of hockey's mythos. They're the ones they write books about. But, for me, the Marchands are the soul of the game. They give it moral complexity. Which is the more valuable commodity is an aesthetic question, rather than a statistical one.
