I'll pick
Flash Hollett, D to QB the Swamp Devils' powerplay
Hollett was known primarily for his shot, his speed, and his "versatility." He really could be listed as "D/utility player."
Hollett's lack of defense all-star votes in his high scoring years from 1938-39 to 1940-41 seems to be because he was used as a utility player, playing about half the games at D and half the games at forward. Source via
@Sprague Cleghorn =
Multi positional player research).
I believe he was mainly a defenseman in the 1939 and 1941 playoffs, when he led all dmen in scoring and won 2 Cups.
Prior to the 1941-42 season, Hollett asked to be made a full-time defenseman (I found a source for this but don't have it on hand, I'll put it in an updated bio). Hollett played the first 3/4 of the season as a defenseman before being moved up front when the Bruins lost the Kraut Line to WW2 and Bill Cowley to injury. He appears to have finished top 8 in Hart voting that year, but we don't have complete voting totals beyond the top 3 (Source -
Award & All-Star Voting (1912-present)). So Hollett could have finished anywhere from 4th - 8th in Hart voting.
He was finally a fulltime defenseman in 1942-43, leading the league in scoring by a defenseman legitimately, and being voted as a 2nd Team All-Star.
Midway through 1943-44, he was traded for the much younger Pat Egan. He ended up barely missing out on another 2nd Team All-Star nod.
He led all defensemen in scoring in 1944-45, was voted 1st Team All-Star and finished 4th in Hart voting.
After an injury-ridden 1945-46, a contract dispute with Detroit's GM ended his career, with the Detroit GM telling Hollett he'd make sure he never ended up in the HHOF.
Hollett regularly played the point on the PP and forward on the PK, regardless of where he lined up at even strength.
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Short version - finding out Hollett played about half the games as a forward from 1938-39 to 1940-41 shows why he got almost no recognition as an all-star defenseman over this period. He's not as good offensively as "1st in scoring among defensemen 4 times, 2nd in scoring among defensemen 3 times" would look.
But there's no longer reason to think he was significantly worse in his own end than other offense-first defensemen. Multiple quotes in his old profile -
ATD 2014 - the Bios Thread - and elsewhere paint him as at least showing up in his own end. And we have a pretty good alternate explanation for his complete lack of defenseman all-star votes in the first half of his offensive prime.