The series is based on advanced statistics measuring a player's contributions in three areas: offensive play, defensive play and transition play. According to those numbers, Aleksander Barkov is one of the league's elite pivots.

As a part of their season preview coverage, Sportsnet is ranking the top 20 players at each position on the ice, and they kicked off that series yesterday with a look at the league's premier centers.

In fact, Barkov didn't just break into the top 20 - he's a top-10 center in the league according to the numbers.

Video: MTL@FLA: Barkov scores 25th of season, game-winner

Barkov's total score of a 60.01/100 checked in as the 10th-best mark in the league, with his defense and transition standing out among his peers. His defensive score of 14.03 (out of a possible 25) was the fifth best on the list - trailing only Patrice Bergeron, Ryan O'Reilly, Ryan Getzlaf and Henrik Sedin - while his transition score (20.49 out of 30) checked in as the ninth best on the list.

Sportsnet's Andrew Berkshire praised Barkov's on-ice efficiency and said that "at just 21 years old, he is already among the league's elite defensive players, and one of its most accurate passers."

Click here to see the full star-studded list of centers, and to read in-full what Berkshire had to say about Barkov.