When we last read Neil Greenberg's "Top 25 Players Under 25" list for ESPN.com, he had omitted New York Islanders star John Tavares from the ranking and caused announcer Howie Rose to call him a "housebound agorophobe." Which seems harsh.
Greenberg, a hockey stats analyst, has updated the list on ESPN.com (reg. required); it measures "career-to-date performance in the regular season and the playoffs" through both traditional and advanced stats. It also leaves any player turning 25 before Feb. 1 ineligible, hence no Sidney Crosby or Nicklas Backstrom or Claude Giroux; it also dismisses last year's rookies due to sample size, hence no Gabriel Landeskog, despite his being, you know, Gabriel Landeskog.
Here is Greenberg's Top 25 Under 25 (ESPN Insider), with No. 1 Mr. Toews repeating in that spot:
1. C Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks, 24
2. C Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning, 22
3. C Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks, 23
4. C Jordan Staal, Carolina Hurricanes, 24
5. C John Tavares, New York Islanders, 22
6. RW Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks, 24
7. LW Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers, 21
8. D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings,
9. D Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators, 22
10. LW Brad Marchand, Boston Bruins, 24
11. D Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues, 23
12. C Tyler Seguin, Boston Bruins, 21
13. LW Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars, 23
14. LW David Perron, St. Louis Blues, 24
15. RW Jeff Skinner, Carolina Hurricanes, 20
16. D Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning, 22
17. LW Milan Lucic, Boston Bruins, 24
18. C Sam Gagner, Edmonton Oilers, 23
19. C Evander Kane, Winnipeg Jets, 21
20. D Kevin Shattenkirk, St. Louis Blues, 24
21. C Jordan Eberle, Edmonton Oilers, 22
22. C Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues, 24
23. G Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche, 24
24. D Tyler Myers, Buffalo Sabres, 22
25. LW Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia Flyers, 24
In the article's comments, Greenberg said that both Ryan McDonough and Oliver Ekman-Larsson didn't have "a large enough track record." Take that as you will. Or, if you're like us, wonder where the [expletive] they are on this list, especially in the case of the latter.
How did Tavares get on the list? How did Marchand rank above his Bruins teammates? Good questions.
The rationale from Greenberg on Tavares:
Regarded by many as an egregious omission on last year's list, Tavares went on to score 21 points (eight goals and 13 assists) over 12 games just days after the list came out, eventually setting career bests in goals (31), assists (50) and points (81). The No. 1 pick in 2009 was always a terrific point producer, but he developed more of a two-way game last season, leading the team in driving puck possession (relative Corsi 10.6) to the point that even a "housebound agraphobe [sic]" couldn't leave him off this list twice.
If that last point was the determining factor for Tavares being either fifth overall or off the list entirely, then it's a specious bit of evidence. Lighthouse Hockey was one of the sites that took on Tavares' snub last season, and spells out the curious Relative Corsi argument:
When dealing with possession numbers like Corsi, one needs to take into account context. What this means is that you can't simply use Corsi without taking into account the situations a player is put in when he's on the ice. Corsi and possession numbers don't measure a player's performance directly - like +/-, they measure the performance of the player's team while the player is on the ice. Thus to truly figure out a player's value, one needs to account for things such as competition and TEAMMATES.
… One standard way of doing this is not to look at standard corsi, but RELATIVE corsi, which compares how a team does with that player ON the ice to how the team does with the player off the ice. And once you do, Tavares stands out as the top player on the Isles (or basically tied with Parenteau). Now this isn't as impressive as it sounds - just as with his scoring, Tavares' extra offensive zone faceoffs mean that his possession numbers by definition are going to be above the team's average or at least should be.
But Tavares' relative corsi is at WORST no less than what we'd expect from an average defender with Tavares' favorable minutes. In fact - while I'm not doing the math right now - these numbers are probably above average., In other words, while Tavares may not be extremely proficient at driving possession, he's more than solid (at worst you can go with average, and that's pushing it given the competition Tavares faces). You can give some other players bonuses for D...but you can't ding Tavares.
Sorry for the gluttonous text block from Lighthouse Hockey, but it serves to add valuable context to Greenberg's argument, which succeeds in explaining why Tavares belongs on the latest list but fails to justify his exclusion previously as anything more than an attention-grabber.
Speaking of which, here's why Brad Marchand is better than Tyler Seguin:
Marchand is a two-way player who logged 17:37 per game for Boston, including 2:09 with the man advantage and 1:23 with the penalty-killing unit, and notched his second straight 20-plus goal season. His most frequent linemates, Selke winner Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin, have been on the ice for more shots at net with Marchand than without him.
Will Seguin be a better player than Marchand in the long run? Of course, even taking into account the Nose Face Killah's intangibles as a pest.
But this ranking is meant to be a snapshot of these players at this moment. The argument here, it seems, is that Marchand's body of work, defensive credentials and (one assumes) stellar postseason in the Bruins' Cup year powers him ahead of Seguin. Along with his bar dancing.
This runs counter to the optics from last season — that Seguin became a star and Marchand regressed from the promise of his playoff run — but it's not an unsound argument given where the players are today.
Now … are either of them that much better than Lucic?
What are your thoughts on the list?
Oh now that's just mean.
This is like the punchline to a joke you'd find in, like, an "NHL For Kids" magazine. 
Here's a Minnesota Wild Foul caught by Jeremy Woods:
Via ThirdStringGoalie:
Via Travis Hughes of Broad Street Hockey, this may be our ultimate "WTF?" sweater in this edition.
Our old friend Bill Hoppe of Buffalo sends in this one from a Buffalo Bills game over the weekend: a Mike Foligno tribute on a football jersey.
From world juniors, Keith snagged this image of TrumpetGuy.
Two fouls from the New Jersey Devils. First comes this Pass Or Fail one from Ryan: That's David Clarkson's jersey, with the No. 3 signed by the Devils' retired No. 3, Ken Daneyko. Which is a little weird, potentially a Foul, but also a tacit endorsement of Clarkson's game by Mr. Devil. So we're confused.
Via Adriatik Selimaj:
An absolutely delicious Foul from the Alaska Aces, via Mathew Line:
Here's Jen with a fantastic Dallas Stars protest jersey:
This is just … here's Steve K:
It's a Mike Fisher Nashville Predators jersey that looks like with a sequel to "SE7EN" or a Prince song title. From Paul:
After that spectacular bar tab, jokes about the Boston Bruins' Stanley Cup hangover were inevitable and, turns out, applicable. The B's stumbled out to the worst opening month for a defending champ since the playoff format change in 1994, leading to speculation that GM Peter Chiarelli should have tinkered more with the roster in the summer.
"I believe the Federal government has grown out of control, threatening the Rights, Liberties, and Property of the People.
It was another summer of tantalizing talk — like a potential trade for Rick Nash — but little tweaks instead for GM Peter Chiarelli.
At forward … the big news is the return of Nathan Horton from a second concussion, after being limited to 46 games last season. He's had a healthy summer, and should be reunited with Milan Lucic (26 goals, 35 assists) and David Krejci (23 goals, 39 assists), provided the latter isn't (finally) traded.
In five seasons with the Bruins, Claude Julien has finished with over 100 points in three of them and won a Stanley Cup. Which is incredible when you consider how often his bulbous head has been on the chopping block during that tenure.
Tuukka Rask. Thomas has back-stopped the Bruins to a Stanley Cup and five straight playoff appearances, picking up two Vezinas, a Jennings and a Conn Smythe in the process. With this team in front of him, nothing short of elite numbers will suffice for Rask.
The Bruins must chuckle when Dougie Hamilton's name pops up in trade rumors, like during the Rick Nash Derby, because there was a better chance they'd throw Rene Rancourt in a deal before the rookie defenseman. He's got Brent Burns wheels and a Chris Pronger comportment.
Cruel as it sounds: Horton. You hope and pray a player of his abilities hasn't entered the Lindros/Lafontaine spiral of concussions, but you also can't help but feel the potential is there.
[Daniel Sedin stares into camera] 
First place in the Northeast Division, near the top of the conference and challenging for another Stanley Cup … assuming Rask is the real deal and if Horton can stay healthy — and if not, that Chiarelli finds a suitable replacement — the Bruins are primed for another run at the Cup. But let's face it: The magic inherent in winning all those Game 7s in 2011 and getting the performances they did out of Marchand, Thomas and others isn't easy to replicate.
Attention trendy bars in the greater Boston area: Tyler Seguin and Brad Marchand have now both signed contract extensions worth a combined $52.5 million. They will be dancing on you shortly, most likely sans shirts.
Detroit Red Wings presented by Amway: Tomas Holmstrom says he'll take his time deciding whether he'll come back to the Red Wings, but he's a UFA. If Ken Holland has any sense at all he'll say, "Thanks but no thanks." 
Pittsburgh Penguins: The Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins have a new third jersey that looks one hell of a lot like those of the Pittsburgh Hornets, an AHL team from the World War II era. And also the Red Wings' old Winter Classic jerseys.
Raffi Torres says he's going to change his style of play, presumably by getting the same Ludovico treatment the league gave Matt Cooke. "At the end of the day, the hit was a little late and it was a little high," he said, indicating that he also needs to re-learn the definition of "a little."
Bill Daly says the two sides in the labor war are "a long way apart" which I guess isn't surprising but we're under the gun here so…
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