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Friday, January 27, 2012

ESPN shows Isles respect: Tavares and Moulson both ranked in Top 50

The latest installment of the Top 100 from ESPN's John Buccigross was published today and both John Tavares and Matt Moulson are rated in the Top 50 players in the NHL.

Moulson was #49:

"49. Matt Moulson: You want 30 goals? Here you go. This guy is going to get 30 for the third year in a row. Some people know just where to go and what to do to be successful. "

He's rated just behind stars such as Danny Briere, Patrick Sharp and David Krejci and ahead of several all-stars, including Jason Spezza (51) and his brother-in-law, Jonathan Quick (53).

Tavares was #29, which seems about right to me:

"29. John Tavares: He is in the Jason Spezza category. Stupid-great hockey sense and velvety mittens that are among the NHL's best. I'm told he is a hard and creative worker, which bodes well for longevity and consistency. His skating isn't elite, but he is so smart that I could see him winning a scoring title. "

Buccigross hits the nail on the head with "Stupid-great hockey sense".  As long as the Isles are here, we're all in for a treat for years to come.

Tavares is grouped with fellow All-Stars Marian Gaborik (26), Henrik Lundqvist (who I think should be higher than 27) and ahead of fellow Stars  Ryan Suter, Tyler Seguin and Logan Couture.

The top 25 should be published on Saturday.

Link to the list: http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/7502429/john-buccigross-ranks-top-100-current-players

Forever1940 is the nom de plume of Eric Hornick, statistician on Islander home telecasts since January 21, 1982. Visit my blog: NYISkinny.com and follow me on Twitter @ehornick

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