NHL Network unveil players ranked 21-30 on their top-50 list

On Sunday, the NHL Network unveiled more of their top 50 players list ahead of the 2021-22 season. Today's portion of the list focused on players ranked 21-30. Several of the players on today's list made a jump from their previous ranking, while a handful dropped.

30. Mathew Barzal (2020-21 rank: 42).

"The thing that really astounds me where Barzal is concerned is that ability to escape laterally," NHL Network analyst Stu Grimson said. "Side to side he's among the best players in the game today. Top-end speed, top-end puck handling, he's got a great shot. But that ability to change direction laterally, to throw off false information...when you get this player underneath the face-off dots, underneath the hash marks in the offensive zone, I think he's as hard to contain, as hard to defend against, as there is in this game today."

29. Connor Hellebuyck (2020-21 rank: 35).

"He checks all the boxes where elite-level goaltenders are concerned," Grimson said. "He's big, he's rangy, very flexible, very determined. Really a remarkable collection of attributes in Connor Hellebuyck."

28. Alex Pietrangelo (2020-21 rank: 26).

"A general manager's dream," Grimson said. "Comfortable playing every part of the game. He's a great leader, brings all kinds of leadership experience from a [Stanley] Cup-winning team in St. Louis. But he's very skilled in terms of how he defends from the blue line."

27. Jack Eichel (2020-21 rank: 15).

"He tends to be one of the more cerebral players in our game," Grimson said. "For the most part forwards, even the high-level guys, the high-talent guys, they tend to play on a lot of emotion, a lot of adrenaline. Eichel is different in that respect. Yes, there is pace to his game, but he tends to be a little bit more cerebral. Kind of out-smarting his opponent and using that top-end skill set whether passing, the great [shot] release and firing one to the back of the net."

26. Ryan O'Reilly (2020-21 rank: 31).

"It starts with the determination, and he is infuriating in terms of the opposition forwards he plays against," Grimson said. "He's great with that stick, really strong on the puck, really doggedly determined just in terms of winning those puck battles. And there is the offensive upside that comes along with all that."

25. Roman Josi (2020-21 rank: 13).

"He's a great defender, very capable in the defensive zone," Grimson said. "But just weighing the two aspects of his game, he is incredibly talented on the offensive side [and] it starts with the skating. We play in a game today where we look to our [defensemen] to provide more offense for us. We like to have somebody that behaves more like a fourth forward out there from time to time. Roman Josi can be that guy."

24. Mark Scheifele (2020-21 rank: 27).

"A great big, rangy guy, plays with a lot of pace, he's got top-end speed and he's a really great distributor," Grimson said. "Sees the game exceptionally well, processes it at a higher level. The kind of guy you want to have out there each and every night at the center position because he's a bear inside the face-off circle but also very capable of shutting down top-six offensive players from the other side."

23. Jonathan Huberdeau (2020-21 rank: 25).

"He is dynamic, he is a game breaker and has great offensive instincts, great offensive flair, finding the back of the net with regularity," Grimson said. "This guy is just really hard to defend against. Never mind the great shot, he's a really gifted playmaker and has found some fabulous chemistry in the top-six with the Florida Panthers."

22. Adam Fox (2020-21 ranking: NR).

"From the moment he has stepped onto NHL ice, and it goes to the confidence that he has in his game and the skill set, but the way he processes the game, it allows him to do the things that he does on the offensive side of the game," Grimson said.

21. Sebastian Aho (2020-21 ranking: 29).

"He checks each and every box," Grimson said. "He's a tremendous disher, he's got a great shot, has a real knack for the net, a real know-how around the net. And he has top-end speed, and it's really the ability to shift gears on the fly. He kicks in an afterburner, and for a lot of NHL defenders, especially ones that don't see Aho a lot, he can get you back on your heels and you're losing him in time and space."

Click the following links to check out the other players ranked in the past couple weeks: 50-41 and 40-31

Source: NHL Network

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