Agree or Disagree: Kovalchuk, Ovechkin, Stamkos, Draisaitl, and Matthews are the 5 best goal scorers of the 21st century

  • Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates

What do yuo think?

  • Agree

    Votes: 29 30.9%
  • Disagree

    Votes: 65 69.1%

  • Total voters
    94
I could see Matthews finishing with like 250-300 less career goals than Ovechkin and some Leaf fan in 20 years still arguing Matthews was better but blaming injuries or whatever.
This was a cute unprompted shot at Leaf fans for no reason. Care to explain why you’re salty? It’s not like Matthews has done anything to keep him out of this conversation.
 
  • Like
Reactions: authentic
Best or greatest?

If it's best:

1. Ovechkin
2. Matthews
3. Stamkos
4. Kovalchuk

I feel really good about the top 4. #5 I have no idea, any of Draisaitl, Crosby, McDavid, Iginila (is it players who debuted past 2000 only?) could be in contention.

If it's greatest instead of best - I still have Ovechkin + Matthews as the clear top 2. Beyond that, it's a bit harder. Top 4 might still say the same.
 
Disagree. Idk how this is measured and it's super subjective but some names like Datsyuk/Jagr aren't being considered and should be. Idk if they got the Goals per game rate or whatever to match those guys but it's tough to say either isn't a great goal scorer. Datsyuk specifically, has some real highlights. Jagr might have just played way too long screwing the numbers and idk Danny Heatly/Hossa were great. Idk.

Also, goalie pads, etc, got smaller to promote scoring.

Lots of names I'm also not going to disagree with like Matthews, Ovie, etc.
 
Last edited:
Over kovalchuk? Lol were talking strictly goal scoring...

Even if you hack off Iggy's seasons prior to 00-01, he still has 91 more goals in his career lmao.

Nevermind that I said Include Iggy until some of these guys have finished their careers... Which kinda indicates Kovalchuk, who has been out of the NHL for 5 years now, isn't who I was challenging in the first place. :help:
 
Last edited:
Even if you hack off Iggy's seasons prior to 00-01, he still has 91 more goals in his career lmao.

Ilya is another good mention, though.
Iggy has 2 40 goal seasons and 2 50 goal seasons in his career.
Kovalchuk had a span of 7 straight 40 goal seasons with 2 50 goal seasons in aswell,
If it wasn't for ovechkin , kovalchuk would've been arguably the best goalscorer of the 2000's
Ovy, Stamkos, or Matthew's don't have 7 straight 40 goal seasons...
 
Iggy has 2 40 goal seasons and 2 50 goal seasons in his career.
Kovalchuk had a span of 7 straight 40 goal seasons with 2 50 goal seasons in aswell,
If it wasn't for ovechkin , kovalchuk would've been arguably the best goalscorer of the 2000's
Ovy, Stamkos, or Matthew's don't have 7 straight 40 goal seasons...

If it wasn't for Kovalchuk running to the KHL he'd probably have a lot more of a legacy than he does, but he did.

And again, weird of you to pick out Kovalchuk as the name to challenge, considering I said I'd take Iggy over some of these guys until they play out their careers.

... You picked the one guy whose career is finished lmao.
 
If it wasn't for Kovalchuk running to the KHL he'd probably have a lot more of a legacy than he does, but he did.

And again, weird of you to pick out Kovalchuk as the name to challenge, considering I said I'd take Iggy over some of these guys until they play out their careers.

... You picked the one guy whose career is finished lmao.

I just compared them cause there both in their primes together give or take,
And I see kovalchuk as more of a pure goal scorer, complete player I take iggy all day,
 
Career GPG is always a poor measure imo. Goalscorers should be judged on primes and Draisaitl took longer to reach his goal scoring prime, as he didn’t become an elite goalscorer until 18-19. Since then he’s put up 307 in 499, which is a 50 goal pace per 82, and will have 6 top 5 goal finishes by the end of this year.

McDavid in that same time period has 268 in 479 or a 46 goal pace, and while he does have that dominant 64 goal Richard season, he only has one other top 5 scoring finish, a 2nd in the Covid shortened season. He does have a couple 6ths though. Even if we take last season out of the equation and add 17-18, so McDavid has his best 7 goal scoring years like Dreisaitl, that would put him at 277 in 485 or a 47 goal pace.

Draisaitl has a slightly higher goals per game in their prime goal scoring years, has more goals in 5 of the last 7 years (and 6 of their 10 years together), and better league wide goal finishes. McDavid has the best peak season, and it’s close enough that I wouldn’t make a cutoff of the top 5 like this, but I’d put Draisaitl slightly ahead as a goal scorer right now.

To me this answers who is the best goalscorer right now or over the past 7 years between the two. But for the 21st century thusfar? McDavid deserves credit for not being a slow starter in the league. Its not his fault Draisaitl took a few years and that he didnt right? Its just a notch in McDavid's column.
 
To me this answers who is the best goalscorer right now or over the past 7 years between the two. But for the 21st century thusfar? McDavid deserves credit for not being a slow starter in the league. Its not his fault Draisaitl took a few years and that he didnt right? Its just a notch in McDavid's column.

To me I just don’t see the point in putting a lot of stock in games where players weren’t in their primes on a discussion of “best”. The second set of 7 years in question were the best 7 for each of them, and in McDavid’s other years, he’s averaged 31 goals per 82. Good, but not particularly relevant in a best goal scorer comparison.

The difference in career GPG numbers is almost entirely due to Draisaitl being out of his depth in the NHL as a rookie, before McDavid even entered the league. Just taking out Draisaitl’s rookie year and comparing them in the seasons McDavid’s been in the league puts them on equal footing with Draisaitl slightly ahead (380 total goals and 42.6 Goals per 82 for Drai, 355 total goals and 42.3 goals per 82 for McDavid). So the argument for McDavid based on career numbers becomes entirely about an extra season Draisaitl has where he was poor rather than anything McDavid did.
 
Last edited:
My list of tiers based off of top-10 goal finishes.

Don't like using goal/gp because:
a) It props up guys who are young (and haven't had the age curve that lowers career g/gp)
b) Does not consider the differences in scoring environment (can be up to 10-15% difference from the last 8 or so years)

Don't like career goals because:
a) Props up career compilers (Marleau)

My cutoff was FOUR top-10 finishes minimum. If you haven't been able to finish top-10 in goals more than 3 times, you do not belong in a top goal scorers list that covers 25 years.

Some guys that I omitted that I saw listed here include: Kaprizov (5/8/8), Malkin (2/4/4), and Marleau (4/6).


1aOvechkin1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/1/3/3/4/4/5/9
2aStamkos1/1/2/2/2/4/7/9
2bMatthews1/1/1/2/3
2cKovalchuk1/2/3/4/6/6/7/8
3aIginla1/1/3/3
3bDraisaitl2/2/4/4/4 (+ currently 1st this season)
3bMcDavid1/2/6/6/7/10
3cHeatley2/5/6/8/8/9
3cCrosby1/1/7/7
3dPastrnak1/2/7/10 (+ currently 10th this season)
3dPerry1/2/6/9/10
3dNash1/3/5/10
4aKane2/5/5/10
4aTavares3/3/4/10
4aKucherov2/6/9/10
4bHossa4/5/5/6
4bMackinnon4/6/9/9/9
4bSeguin5/5/7/10
 
Ovechkin, Stamkos, Matthews top the list for me quite easily.

Kovalchuk is probably next and will fall behind Draisaitl if he wins this season’s Rocket.

McDavid is the first runner up and will likely knock Kovalchuk out of the list with a few more higher finishes.
 
  • Like
Reactions: DownIsTheNewUp
McDavid can create more goals than Drai but he doesn't have one dominant goalscoring trait that can consistently give him 50+ every year like Drai does with his shot. Drai's one timer is as close to a guarantee as almost anybody outside of Ovi, AM and prime Stamkos. I'd give Drai the slight edge as a goalscorer over McDavid.
 
Ovy had Backstrom,
Stamkos had Kuch,
Matthews has Marner,
Leon has mcdavid
Kovalchuk had Antropov, Savard, and Todd White lollll
Kovalchuk deserves more credit imo.
 
Ovy had Backstrom,
Stamkos had Kuch,
Matthews has Marner,
Leon has mcdavid
Kovalchuk had Antropov, Savard, and Todd White lollll
Kovalchuk deserves more credit imo.

Marc Savard was a better playmaker than Marner at his peak. At the very least his assist totals were higher playing on a worse team, with a worse goal scorer and in a lower scoring era. Quite simply Kovalchuk is not as good a goal scorer as Matthews or Ovechkin, and I actually tend to think he is underrated by his actual totals and could’ve done better in certain situations as well. The other ones you could argue he is as good or better than in the case of Draisaitl.
 
Pastrnak has 371 goals over 724 games. Draisaitl has 382 goals over 767 games.

McDavid has 355 goals over 688 games.

By what logic and measure, exactly, is McDavid a worse goal-scorer? His peak of 64 goals is also higher than anyone's except Matthews's.
Imo McDavid gets the Gretzky treatment for goalscoring. Gretzky scored 90+ goals one year, and McDavid had 60+, but some fans struggle seeing both guys’ greatness as goal-scorers because of their superior play making skills.
 
Marc Savard was a better playmaker than Marner at his peak. At the very least his assist totals were higher playing on a worse team, with a worse goal scorer and in a lower scoring era. Quite simply Kovalchuk is not as good a goal scorer as Matthews or Ovechkin, and I actually tend to think he is underrated by his actual totals and could’ve done better in certain situations as well. The other ones you could argue he is as good or better than in the case of Draisaitl.

Kovalchuk only played 2 seasons with savard, and marner is on pace for 85 assists this year besting savard assists total in a season by 10.
Not saying Kovalchuk is better then Matthew's or Ovy, just saying his stats are more impressive considering who he played with, opposed to all the HOFers everyone else played with.
Prime Kovalchuk is cash money for 40 plus playing with scrubs, imagine he has a top caliber center for a prolonged portion of his career.
 
Career GPG is always a poor measure imo. Goalscorers should be judged on primes and Draisaitl took longer to reach his goal scoring prime, as he didn’t become an elite goalscorer until 18-19. Since then he’s put up 307 in 499, which is a 50 goal pace per 82, and will have 6 top 5 goal finishes by the end of this year.

McDavid in that same time period has 268 in 479 or a 46 goal pace, and while he does have that dominant 64 goal Richard season, he only has one other top 5 scoring finish, a 2nd in the Covid shortened season. He does have a couple 6ths though. Even if we take last season out of the equation and add 17-18, so McDavid has his best 7 goal scoring years like Dreisaitl, that would put him at 277 in 485 or a 47 goal pace.

Draisaitl has a slightly higher goals per game in their prime goal scoring years, has more goals in 5 of the last 7 years (and 6 of their 10 years together), and better league wide goal finishes. McDavid has the best peak season, and it’s close enough that I wouldn’t make a cutoff of the top 5 like this, but I’d put Draisaitl slightly ahead as a goal scorer right now.
Why does it feel like you're twisting the statistics in a way that makes them favor Draisaitl as much as possible for this comparison?

Do you, perchance, also think we should remove Ovechkin's rookie season and make it not count, because he was too good during it? And Kovalchuk's?

Goalscorers should be judged on primes
So we should cut 75% of Ovechkin's career? Or should we consider his prime to be 20 years while the prime of another player is 5 years?

Are you serious?
 
Last edited:
  • Haha
Reactions: Regal
Kovalchuk only played 2 seasons with savard, and marner is on pace for 85 assists this year besting savard assists total in a season by 10.
Not saying Kovalchuk is better then Matthew's or Ovy, just saying his stats are more impressive considering who he played with, opposed to all the HOFers everyone else played with.
Prime Kovalchuk is cash money for 40 plus playing with scrubs, imagine he has a top caliber center for a prolonged portion of his career.

Yeah and he scored 52 goals with peak Savard, also at his peak, in a lower scoring era than today. Marner is on pace, but keep in mind this is with a few players topping 100 assists now. What Savard posted back then was the best assist total post lockout besides Crosby and Thornton until the Sedin’s has their peak seasons. All I’m saying really is that he is not as good a goal scorer as Matthews, and also not as good as peak Stamkos, but he’s the best after that I believe.
 
Why does it feel like you're twisting the statistics in a way that makes them favor Draisaitl as much as possible for this comparison?

Do you, perchance, also think we should remove Ovechkin's rookie season and make it not count, because he was too good during it? And Kovalchuk's?


So we should cut 75% of Ovechkin's career? Or should we consider his prime to be 20 years while the prime of another player is 5 years?

Are you serious?

Are you? There’s a clear difference between focusing on two players’ best years and removing a players’ best years, and McDavid’s accomplishments outside of the years I used are minimal. Goal scoring primes are usually short and being among the best is a lot more important in evaluating players than their lesser years. Otherwise players like Bure and Bossy wouldn’t be rated as highly as they are. If Bure finished his career with a bunch of years as a 20 goal scorer tacked on instead of retiring early, would he be any worse of a goal scorer? Of course not. Same with Draisaitl’s start to his career.

Ovechkin is a rare player who has a long goalscoring prime, which makes your comparison to him here ridiculous. Draisaitl’s literally outscored and outpaced McDavid in the years McDavid’s been in the league, so it’s not in any way like comparing 20 years of Ovechkin to 5 years of another player. Oh no, I removed 203 games of 31 goal pace from McDavid’s career. Definitely fudging those numbers!

Career numbers suggest McDavid is better solely due to games Draisaitl played as a rookie when McDavid wasn’t even in the league, so arguing for McDavid based on career GPG isn’t even based on something McDavid did. Now that’s twisting the numbers.
 
Last edited:
Marc Savard was a better playmaker than Marner at his peak. At the very least his assist totals were higher playing on a worse team, with a worse goal scorer and in a lower scoring era. Quite simply Kovalchuk is not as good a goal scorer as Matthews or Ovechkin, and I actually tend to think he is underrated by his actual totals and could’ve done better in certain situations as well. The other ones you could argue he is as good or better than in the case of Draisaitl.

I do think he’s a bit better playmaker but he also only played with Kovalchuk for 3 seasons and 2 of those were under 60 games.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad