The Hockey News recently published its annual NHL yearbook
and as usual one of the notable features is its Top Fifty NHL Players listing for the upcoming season.
Although I’m now a free-lance contributor to THN.com that
won’t prevent me from critiquing this list, and no, this isn’t a free plug for
The Hockey News on my part as I reviewed their rankings last summer prior to
contributing to their site.
Anyway, here’s how THN ranked their top fifty players for
the upcoming season:
1. Sidney
Crosby
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Henrik Zetterburg
4. Pavel Datsyuk
5. Vincent Lecavalier
6. Niklas Lidstrom
7. Roberto Luongo
8. Jarome Iginla
9. Evgeni Malkin
10. Dany Heatley
11. Chris Pronger
12. Daniel Alfredsson
13. Marian Gaborik
14. Henrik Lundqvist
15. Brendan Morrow
16. Evgeni Nabokov
17. Marian Hossa
18. Ilya Kovalchuk
19. Eric Staal
20. Zdeno Chara
21. Joe Thornton
22. Dion Phaneuf
23. Martin Brodeur
24. J-S Giguere
25. Martin St-Louis
26. Scott Niedermayer
27. Brian Rafalski
28. Sergei Gonchar
29. Marty Turco
30. Ryan Getzlaf
31. Andrei Markov
32. Zach Parise
33. Ales Hemsky
34. Jason Spezza
35. Vesa Toskola
36. Rick Nash
37. Joe Sakic
38. Scott Gomez
39. Ryan Miller
40. Jonathan Toews
41. Daniel Sedin
42. Daniel Briere
43. Anze Kopitar
44. Miika Kiprusoff
45. Paul Statsny
46. Shane Doan
47. Derek Roy
48. Mark Savard
49. Mike Richards
50. Patrick Kane
If we’re going by last season’s
performance I’d rank Ovechkin over Crosby but they’re definitely 1-2 in my
estimation and the case can be made for either to be ranked as the league’s top player.
Lidstrom should’ve been ranked higher, perhaps
3rd or 4th, but he’s definitely the league’s best
defenseman.
As for Luongo, he’s a great
goaltender and perhaps will justify that higher ranking this season but I’d swap Brodeur
for Luongo if we’re basing this on last season’s performance. I know Brodeur’s
getting older and he’s fast approaching his best before date but until he does in
my opinion he’s still the league’s best goaltender. Nabokov, Luongo and Lundqvist are nipping at
his heels though.
I would also rank Malkin higher
than Iglinla and Lecavalier, ranking him no lower than 6th.
Pronger’s ranking will likely draw
some criticism given his penchant for dirty play but he’s still among the game’s
elite defensemen and every team (yes, even
the Oilers) would love to have him on their roster.
Morrow deserves to be on this
list but I wouldn’t rank him above Kovalchuk, Staal, Thornton, Brodeur and Nash
and consider him ranked far too high.
Speaking of Kovalchuk, it’s good
to see him finally getting his due from THN as his ranking last season (48th)
was in my opinion an insult.
And why is Thornton, who was
again among the league’s leading scorers, not in the top ten? Or even the top
15? Sorry, but this is far too low for a player of his caliber. Sure, the case
can be made that he struggles in the playoffs, but there’s no denying his
obvious talent and skills. I certainly wouldn’t rate Alfredsson, Heatley,
Kovalchuk, Morrow, Gaborik, Hossa, Staal and Chara above Thornton.
Lundqvist is a terrific goalie
but I don’t believe he ranks higher than Nabokov. If it were up to me, I’d rank
Brodeur, Nabokov and Luongo over Lundqvist.
I also disagree with Phaneuf
dropping in the rankings compared to last season and I’d give him a slight edge
over Chara in ranking defensemen.
Niedermayer missed most of the
first half of last season before deciding to return to action and that cost him
in the rankings. Had he played a full season his ranking likely would’ve been
higher.
And Toskala ranked higher than
Nash, Sakic, Gomez, Toews, Kopitar, Richards and Kane? Gimme a break! In fact, why is Toskala even on this list? Mats
Sundin or Tomas Kaberle would’ve been better choices if one is seeking decent
Leafs (or former Leafs) to be on this list.
I would also rank Richards higher
than where he placed (probably about ten spots higher), but there’s no question
he deserves to be on this list and his stock will continue to rise.
As for the rest of this listing, I really don't have much of a quibble over where most were ranked. Some could probably be moved up or down a spot or two but for the most part I have no real argument over the rest of these rankings.
That’s my two cents, folks. Let me hear yours in the comments, and
remember, this is THN’s listing, not mine, so don’t complain to me about where
they placed these players as I had no input in this.
1) The first thing that we noticed was the Toskola listing. To even have him in the top 50 taints the entire list. Come on, we know THN has a leafs bias, but they should try to hide it a tad better!
Last edited by fauxrumors5 on August 19th at 12:31 PM.
Iagree with most of you're comments other then the Toskala remark, yes he was over-rated and placed to high but he is probably 3rd or 4th best goalie in the league, he took a while to settle in with the Leafs but once Maurice FINALLY gave him the starting job full time he put up impressive numbers on a horrible team with no defensive structure whatsoever.Toskla deserves to be in the top 50
Must have been drunk on the job not to include Mike Richards on that list.Sorry didn't see him there,maybe I should put my own bottle down,still though he should be higher.
Last edited by FlyersStyle on August 19th at 3:24 PM.
As a Rangers fan forced to watch the Bruins all season courtesy of Comcast, this post is painful to make ...
Savard was one of the best players on the Bruins last season, possibly in the league. He's proven he doesn't need to be on a line with Hossa and Kovalchuk to put up a ton of points. I'd say he's about equal to both. He's been near the top in assists two seasons in a row on a Bruins team that's just getting by.
While we're on the matter of the Bruins, I'm not happy about Chara's placement being lower than Pronger. He did not impress me last season, whereas Chara had one of the best seasons of his career. And apparently I can't read, I thought Chara was placed behind Neidermayer.
Last Bruin comment then I'll be quiet. Why is Tim Thomas not on the list, yet 35. Vesa Toskola happened? Too much kool-aid in that office.
One thing I like about this is they seem to have a good split between East and West. Just a few more from the West, even.
I think your comments complement this list quite good. As a Blackhawk fan I'm also happy about Kane & Toews making the list although they both should be around place 50.
Biggest surprises/disapointments
-Where is: Campbell (top 40), Sundin (top 30), Ribiero, Kovalev, Boyes
-Why is they on the list: Toskala, Miller, Hemsky, Sedin, Parise
-Take em down: Gaborik (15 places), Pronger, Morrow, Luongo, Lundqvist, Staal, Markov, Lecavalier, St-Louis, Hossa
-Take em up: Thornton, Briere (top 25), Richards (top 40), Nash, Spezza (top 20, had better Point/Game then Iggy, Dats, Big Joe and Vinny)
As for the goalies I think it's incredible hard to rank goalies among skaters. In one way they're the most important players. In another way they can make a good living on good defenders.
1) @Edeefan20 ...."he(Toskolo) is probably 3rd or 4th best goalie in the league,..."
Are you kidding???
2) We wouldn't put him in the top 15. What 12 of these 15 do you feel he's better than?:
Nabokov
Brodeur
Luongo
Lundqvist
Turco
Giguere
Kiprusoff
DiPietro
Fleury
Bryzgolov
Vokoun
Miller
Huet
Price
Lecalire
Last edited by fauxrumors5 on August 20th at 7:15 AM.
Lists with all positions combined like this are hard to judge. I LOVE that they have Morrow that high, I don't know if he deserves it per se, but I love his game and I'm glad to see him get some recognition.
I agree Chaas ... Savard is perennially overlooked and underrated. I would easily slide him up at least 10 spots. How he's ranked behind Zach Parise and Daniel Sedin is beyond me.
I think Malkin is about where he should be, let him duplicate that magic again this year before you boost him into the top 5. He's a tremendous talent but he still has to perform at that top level for an entire season IMHO.
Glad to see Chara get some props, but (pains me to say it) JT should definitely be higher than him.
I'm a little surprised Giguere is ranked that high, but he has quietly been among the leagues best for the past few seasons so maybe its not that out of line.
Maybe I'm among the minority but I don't find Ryan Miller to live up to the hype all that well. I'm not entirely convinced he should be in the top 50, but that's just me
I completely agree with Spector on a couple things. I think Ovechkin should be #1 and Thornton should be in the top ten for sure. He is one of the top point getters in the league and who wouldn't pick him over the likes of Chara, Morrow or Gaborik.
This isn't related to the list, but have you heard anything on this story about Columbus pick Stefan Legein retiring? Seems to have come out of the blue; lots of denials, etc. He had a great season with the OHL's Niagara IceDogs and Team Canada, and some good NHL potential, so it's kind of a shock.
FAUX: It's hard to really judge a goalie and compare Toskala to these other goalies, because almost all of those goalies are on teams that are better than Toronto. Can you say that Toskala wouldn't do as well as a lot of those in the lower part of your top 15 if he were on a better team or playing in front of a better defense? I wouldn't put him in the top 3 or 4 goalies, but I wouldn't be so quick to say he's not worthy of being on your list.
I have to agree with a couple things already stated. Ovechkin over Crosby. Thornton WAY higher. Luongo not quite as high. Mike Richards should be in the top 40. What about Kimmo Timonen? He should be up there too. I don't see Chara as high anymore, maybe top 50, but not top 20. I think that Olli Jokinen could be a top 50 player too.
Last edited by CheeseheadFlyer on August 20th at 12:15 PM.
I'm far from being a Habs fan, but it is strange (or funny, or weird) that THN think they will end at the top of the eastern conference and that they do not include any of their players in the Top 50. Kovalev, last season of his contract... should be better than some of those 50.
The challenge with these types of lists rests upon how we are rating these players: is it by their raw talent, their past accomplishments or our future expectations? Let me add a fourth way to the mix, that encompasses all three methods.
The rule of thumb is that in any given season of the NHL you will have between 40 to 50 Hockey Hall of Famers in uniform. (How? If you assume that 3.75 players are selected to the HHOF each season (the historical average) and that a HHOF worthy career lasts between 10 to 15 years, you've got between 37.5 to 56.25 future HHOFs in uniform each season.) In that respect, a list like this could be considered a snapshot of those active NHLers who are on the HHOF path.
Certainly, there are a few active HHOF-bound players who aren't on this list as they are in the sunset of there careers. Likewise, there are some young players overlooked as haven't broken out yet.
But those exceptions aside, look at this list anew with a HHOF mindset. What names now seem out-of-place?
In the top 40 the three that immediately leap out at me as out-of-place are Brendan Morrow at 15, Ales Hemsky at 33, Vesa Toskola at 35. I couldn't put any of those players ahead of Briere, Kopitar and Kiprusoff.
Just to flesh out my comment above, I've got 40 currently active NHL players presently rated on a Hockey Hall of Fame path.
I consider the following 12 active NHLers pegged as "Certain" Hockey Hall of Famers (meaning anything more they do in their careers is just icing on the cake): Forwards Peter Forsberg, Mike Modano, Joe Sakic, Teemu Selanne, Brendan Shanahan and Mats Sundin; Defensemen Rob Blake, Chris Chelios, Nicklas Lidstrom, Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger; and Goaltender Martin Brodeur.
The following five players I've rated as "Cusp" Hockey Hall of Famers (meaning thus far they are strong contenders, but not yet sure-fire locks): Forwards Sergei Fedorov, Mark Recchi and Jeremy Roenick; Defenseman Sergei Zubov; and Goaltender Ed Belfour.
Finally, I rate the following 23 players as "On-Track" for the Hockey Hall of Fame (meaning I do not believe their accomplishments merit induction to the HHOF if they retired tomorrow, but they should become viable candidates if their careers continue to progress as expected): Forwards Daniel Alfredsson, Sidney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk, Dany Heatley, Jarome Iginla, Paul Kariya, Vincent Lecavalier, Evgeni Malkin, Markus Naslund, Alexander Ovechkin, Martin St. Louis, Joe Thornton, Keith Tkachuk and Henrik Zetterberg; Defensemen Zdeno Chara, Sergei Gonchar, Dion Phaneuf and Mathieu Schneider; and Goaltenders J.S. Giguere, Miikka Kiprusoff, Roberto Luongo, Evgeni Nabokov and Chris Osgood.
There are a number of other players who are not quite yet on a Hall of Fame path but could quickly move into solid contention.
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on August 20th at 2:19 PM.
Interesting take Matt, although I don't think based on being in the latter stages of their career and accomplishments to date that Kariya, Naslund, Tkachuk or Schneider will make it to the hall. Osgood's an iffy one too, he's never dominated the game, but based on sheer cups alone he should get consideration.
I agree with your "certain" and "cusp" picks though for sure.
To Nordiques27, the Canadiens do have a player on the list : Andrei Markov. Though Kovalev is a key player for the Habs, I don't think he belongs in a top 50 list. The again, if you are going to put Hemsky, Sedin, Doan and Toskola on the list, maybe Kovalev deserves to be there, especially if raw skills was part of their ranking process.
I agree with you 100 percent; you nailed the five players on that list I expect will fall by the wayside.
It seems with every shift Paul Kariya skates further away from the HHOF, despite a handful of years where he was among the best (if not the best) left winger in the game. That assessment may change if Paul starts to play some meaningful post-season games again, but right now he's looking more like John LeClair with every shift.
Tkachuk is another guy playing himself out of contention (to my mind) almost purely because he's currently on a playoff also-ran.
Conversely, I think the HHOF stock of Naslund and Schneider is rising with them on Stanley Cup contenders NYR and Anaheim respectively, although they're still both HHOF bubble boys. They need to finish strong to make the grade.
Osgood is a special case. I've examined him in detail on my own FoxSports blog (please forgive the shameless plug, Lyle) and he's a vexing challenge. In my gut, Osgood is not a Hall of Famer. BUT... with three Cups under his belt so far (two earned while in the driver's seat) and the prospect of a couple more seasons in Detroit which should push him well past 400 wins, he becomes hard to ignore. That said, Osgood may wind up becoming the goaltending equivalent of Dino Ciccarelli -- the stats are there, but he just doesn't have that HHOF swagger.
Jose Theodore (not on my list) is another interesting case. To date, only two Hart Trophy winners eligible for the HHOF have failed to make the grade. Unless something dramatic happens during his tenure in Washington...
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on August 20th at 8:39 PM.
First off Sid the Kid does not belong on top. Or second. He didn't play a whole season. He is good but last year not good enough to be number one or 10. (Remember Forseberg is good too) I agree with others comments on the tainting of the list even though a list of the top 50 should not be that hard and the order not that important considering the "brave?" attempt of this sports caster.
Here is the challange On top of the TWO shutouts in the Stanley Cup FINALS Chris Osgood leads the league in GAA. This sports caster misses out on putting him anywhere on the list. He does not even have the hockey knowlege to explain away his ommission. An absolute ommission and embarrasement to hockey talking heads. Like other talking heads, he is talking out his illustrious But t
1. C. Osgood DET 2.09
2. J. Giguere ANH 2.12
3. E. Nabokov SJ 2.14
4. D. Hasek DET 2.14
5. M. Brodeur NJ 2.17
To shut out the opponent twice ( in the first two games) in the Stanley Cup Finals is just not given enough credit by any of the sports caster.
Osgood really cant be put in the company of Top 10 netminders of the NHL. First of all, he basically split time with Hasek. And second of all, its hard for goalies to get credit on this Red Wing team. How many shots do they face in a game? I saw multiple games where Hasek/Osgood faced 9,10,11, and 12 shotes in an ENTIRE game. Not hard to put up good numbers when you're doing that.
I like the top 10 for the most part. I would put Thornton up in the top 10. I am not so sure about Luongo...top 20. As for "offthedasker" I agree Ozzie should at least be in the top 50. 3 Stanley Cups and came in cold in the playoffs. Being a Wings homer...I do like the aknowledgement of the top 10 with 3 Wings and Lidstrom is one of the best defensemen in the game. GO WINGS.
I think Ovechkin only does two things better then Crosby(hot and goal scoring), but the rest of the facets of the game Crosby is better and deserves to be #1. People hate on Crosby for such irrational reasons, its a joke. Yes I know its easy to depise the face of the game, but Crosby is a first rate player, a hell of a competitor, and a great leader. Plus in head to head matchups between the teams, the Pens still own the Caps. Its Crosby all the way.
OK Osgood is number one in GAA which you can if you want to give credit to the defense. He is No.6 in Save percentage (.916) ....and he shut out Crosby, Maklin, and Hossa TWICE IN A ROW. He didn't win...HE SHUT THEM OUT111 Playing HUGE in premier games is the mark of a premier goal....to not put him in the top 50 players or the top 10 goalies makes no hockey sense.
To the logic that because Osgood shared duties with Hasek and therefore is not very good, that makes less sense. So let me ask if Luongo and Brodeure played on the same team would both of them fall out ot the top 10, top 50 or Hall of Fame? That is just ####!!!. All you can really do with that argument is complement Ken Holland.
The top 50 for 2009 should include Osgood the Wings are as good (as any team is in the NHL is) as there goalie and the Wings won the CUP with the help of Osgood in games 1, 2, and game 6.
Why? How you might ask does Ozzie get a spot I would debate for a rank in the top 20, he can stop Crosby, Malkin point blank.
The highlight reel stops I cite are available at Youtube.
Anyhow I gotta add my two cents.
Alex over Crosby, he got the Caps to the playoffs with far less around him than Crosby did.
Argue with that and you argue with the turnaround of the CAPS with one star, the PENS 3 now 2 because HOSSA is RED WINGS player.
dash you make the logic of the hockey gods, the WINGS defense can have off days just like any player in the NHL and when they do OZZIE is there proof-- game 1 and 2 shutouts of the PENS in the CUP finals and some highlight reel stops of Malken and Crozby point blank.
GO WINGS!!!!
two out of three years, Ovechkin has had more points & more awards, but since the league sucks on the w@ng of Crosby, THN must follow their lead and name him #1.
To those of you Sidney Crosby haterz out there, this just in.....he is as good as advertised. I would definitely hear and consider arguments for Ovechkin over Crosby, but in my estimation, they are 1A and 1B.
And also, Osgood is a good goalie on a team that has great players, coaches, and system. To say that he is among the 50 elite players in the NHL is preposterous
its ridiculous that THN decided that golden boy Crosby is the #1 player after last year. Im not taking anything away from the guy. Hes an amazing player, but he was also hurt for however many games last year. How in the world can he be #1.
Put simply, Ovechkin won the Art Ross, Hart and Lester Pearson award last year - that pretty much solidifies his status as #1 last year.
as a Pens fan , I will say A.O. should be ahead of Sid just form his season. But for that matter, Malkin should also if that's how you rank them..by points or award nominations from the previous season.
someone with more time and patience than me.. do me a favor.. compare Crosby and Vechie on a games-played basis last year. Sid was out what, 1/3 of the season? I really don't know, was he on pace to finish ahead of the Russian Duo that was #1 and #2 in the points race? Just splitting hairs, and don't care. Sid and Alex were gonna be 1&2 no matter what. The order doesnt bother me.
Last edited by DeathByEmu on August 30th at 10:01 AM.
i think one on one, datsyuk and zetterburg are both better players than crosby and ovechkin. better skilled, better hockey sense, and better teamates (better defense). just fortunate to be in a system that doesnt depend on them to carry the team day in and day out.
if this list of top fifty players is so i dont seem to see sundin on it i just wonder who is responsible for paying him so much never came close to the scoreing champion at any time in his career if i was the coach he would never wear our sweater again ever watch the game rarely in the corners and put the puck on his tape or you will be sent to the minors or traded he just cant do wrong oh yea he has to have good players to play with right and toronto wants to make him the highest or one of the highest players in the league
As a life long Habs fan I fail to see the benefit of signing Lang given his age and 4 mil. yearly salary, and declining numbers. As well, they are giving up a 2nd round draft choice, again a bit pricey. If Lang were a difference maker fine, but as he is not I would prefer to keep the cap space for a late pitch at Sundin, or a trade before the deadline.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
