Best player from 2006 draft?

[Alex K]

Knowing how these players panned out, who would you pick?

Click to read more...

 

[The don godfather]

Marchy all the way.

 

[BringTheReign]

Great poll. I went with Giroux because I think he has the best balance between arguably the highest 2-3 season peak and longevity. Backstrom never reached that "threat to win a Hart Trophy" level, IMO.

It's hard comparing centers to wingers, and as such I'm inclined to go Giroux - Backstrom/Toews - Marchand - Kessel. Marchand became elite later on, and Kessel could rarely be trusted consistently in all situations. The three centers you could throw over the boards in any situation during the majority of their careers as no doubt first-liners.

 

[TMLegend]

Toews
Giroux
Backstrom
Marchand
Kessel

 

[McPoyle]

Toews. He's received backlash for being overrated in the early-mid 2010's and now I feel many unnderrate him.

 

[Empoleon8771]

Toews. He's received backlash for being overrated in the early-mid 2010's and now I feel many unnderrate him.

I was about to post the same exact thing. He was so comically overrated at his best that people forget he was still a top-5 or top-10 player at his best. I don’t think anyone else on this list hit that level.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I don’t think having Giroux or Backstrom in Toews place on the Hawks gives us 3 Cups. Probably even 0 Cups.

It’s as simple as that. Toews is the clear winner here

 

[FrozenJagrt]

I was about to post the same exact thing. He was so comically overrated at his best that people forget he was still a top-5 or top-10 player at his best. I don’t think anyone else on this list hit that level.

To be honest I never had him as a top 5 player. Borderline top 10. Absolutely overrated.

With that being said, I do think he had the most impressive career. He just won too much as a key member of his club and international teams for me to consider any of the other guys

 

[Alex K]

Toews. He's received backlash for being overrated in the early-mid 2010's and now I feel many unnderrate him.

Toews was terrific in his prime, I guess the main argument against him is not that he was overrated/underrated but that he fell off a cliff too early. I'm wondering how people balance peak/longevity in their evaluation of players careers.

 

[x Tame Impala]

To be honest I never had him as a top 5 player. Borderline top 10. Absolutely overrated.

With that being said, I do think he had the most impressive career. He just won too much as a key member of his club and international teams for me to consider any of the other guys

Name 10 better players from 2010-2015

 

[hamzarocks]

I was about to post the same exact thing. He was so comically overrated at his best that people forget he was still a top-5 or top-10 player at his best. I don’t think anyone else on this list hit that level.

Giroux was top 5 player a few times (2011, 2014, 2018) coming 4th, 3rd, and 4th in hart voting

Cant say Toews was top 5 often, top 10ish at best

 

[tarheelhockey]

Giroux
1189gp 353-720-1073 (.902)
Peaked as a top-3 assist and point scorer
One Finals run, no Cup
1x 2nd all star team, 1x Hart finalist

Giroux had the worst team situation by a significant margin, but hit the highest offensive peak in this group while also playing a solid 200 foot game, and having the versatility to move effectively from C to W. Swap his team context with one of the other players and this is probably not a thread.

Toews
1067gp, 372-511-883 (.828)
One-season peak at 5th in goals, otherwise not top 10
Three Finals runs, three Cups
1x 2nd all star team, Selke Trophy, Smythe Trophy

Lowest offensive caliber of the group, but he’s the clear-cut best 200 foot player and you can’t just brush off his performances at the highest stage. Gets a boost for his outstanding international career.

Marchand
1038gp 402-533-935 (.901)
Peaked as a top 4-6 goal, 5-10 assist, 3-5 point scorer
Three Finals runs, one Cup
2x 1st all star team, 2x 2nd all star team

Crazy to be rating him third, because he has been an elite player for a long time. He would have ranked higher if he weren’t such a late bloomer, which hurts his overall career value. He brought an edge that gives him value beyond his numbers.

Backstrom
1105gp 271-762-1033 (.935)
Peaked as a top-3 assist scorer, 4-10 range in points
One Finals run, one Cup
No significant personal hardware

Ranked him over Kessel because at the end of the day, points are points and he plays the more valuable position. But his numbers are obviously inflated by playing with the GOAT goal scorer.

Kessel
1286gp 413-579-992 (.771)
Peaked in the 5th-10th range in goals and points
Two Finals runs, two Cups (plus the Vegas Cup)
No significant personal hardware

Kessel as the 5th best player in a draft means it was a really good draft. A borderline HOF’er, decent two-way player while also a high-end offensive threat. On the down side, a soft winger with “character concerns” related to the NHL’s culture of shunning introverts. Bit of a compiler to get the regular season numbers he did, but also had a couple of very strong playoffs leading to Cups. Strong international career.

 

[keglu]

I was about to post the same exact thing. He was so comically overrated at his best that people forget he was still a top-5 or top-10 player at his best. I don’t think anyone else on this list hit that level.

Between 16/17 and 19-20 Marchand was 3th in PPG while probably better than anyone in top 10 defensively.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Toews is one of the top 100 players of all time. The others are not.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Peak? Toews.
Prime? Probably also Toews.

 

[Regal]

I think Toews has the best prime but his shortened career opens the door for best career. I think it’s still probably Toews though

 

[DitchMarner]

This is a great poll. I'm really having difficulty separating and ranking Toews, Backstrom, Giroux and Marchand. I think Kessel is clearly last (I was a big fan when he was a Leaf, but I don't think there's any objective basis for having him ahead of any of the others).

Marchand and Giroux had very high peaks.

I'll go:

1. Giroux has more top five Hart voting finishes than a number of legendary players including Yzerman and Forsberg. I'm not saying he's close to those guys all-time, but at his best he was a star, and he has a lengthy prime and has been a versatile player and solid all-around player.

2. Toews' impact definitely went beyond his offensive numbers. For a few years, he was among the best at positively driving goal differential, which is one of the most important things a player can do. But he fell off hard and at a fairly young age for a star player and was never the most gifted offensive player even though his ES scoring was very good at times.

3. Marchand was an elite player for a few years. It did take him some time to enter his prime.

4. Backstrom had a long, very solid career as a top six centre. He had kind of a quiet career for an elite player. I do think he benefitted from playing with Ovechkin, but he would have been a very competent and capable first line centre on a number of teams. He did lack somewhat in terms of goal scoring ability and creativity for a premiere player.

5. Kessel was a great scoring winger who could carry a line offensively. He was no Jere Lehtinen, but he proved a team could win with him as a key cog. It took him a while to really come into his own and he wasn't very good toward the end of his career and was the worst defensive player out of the five, which are the reasons he ranks last.

 

[wetcoast]

Giroux
1189gp 353-720-1073 (.902)
Peaked as a top-3 assist and point scorer
One Finals run, no Cup
1x 2nd all star team, 1x Hart finalist

Giroux had the worst team situation by a significant margin, but hit the highest offensive peak in this group while also playing a solid 200 foot game, and having the versatility to move effectively from C to W. Swap his team context with one of the other players and this is probably not a thread.

Toews
1067gp, 372-511-883 (.828)
One-season peak at 5th in goals, otherwise not top 10
Three Finals runs, three Cups
1x 2nd all star team, Selke Trophy, Smythe Trophy

Lowest offensive caliber of the group, but he’s the clear-cut best 200 foot player and you can’t just brush off his performances at the highest stage. Gets a boost for his outstanding international career.

Marchand
1038gp 402-533-935 (.901)
Peaked as a top 4-6 goal, 5-10 assist, 3-5 point scorer
Three Finals runs, one Cup
2x 1st all star team, 2x 2nd all star team

Crazy to be rating him third, because he has been an elite player for a long time. He would have ranked higher if he weren’t such a late bloomer, which hurts his overall career value. He brought an edge that gives him value beyond his numbers.

Backstrom
1105gp 271-762-1033 (.935)
Peaked as a top-3 assist scorer, 4-10 range in points
One Finals run, one Cup
No significant personal hardware

Ranked him over Kessel because at the end of the day, points are points and he plays the more valuable position. But his numbers are obviously inflated by playing with the GOAT goal scorer.

Kessel
1286gp 413-579-992 (.771)
Peaked in the 5th-10th range in goals and points
Two Finals runs, two Cups (plus the Vegas Cup)
No significant personal hardware

Kessel as the 5th best player in a draft means it was a really good draft. A borderline HOF’er, decent two-way player while also a high-end offensive threat. On the down side, a soft winger with “character concerns” related to the NHL’s culture of shunning introverts. Bit of a compiler to get the regular season numbers he did, but also had a couple of very strong playoffs leading to Cups. Strong international career.

Great analysis but I still think that I'd take Toews first year as he was such a winner but injuries made him drop off really fast but even though giroux is aging way better he didn't hot the ground running like Twoes did and seems like the kind of guy that has excellent numbers but......is it all on poor team construction really?

 

[tarheelhockey]

Great analysis but I still think that I'd take Toews first year as he was such a winner but injuries made him drop off really fast but even though giroux is aging way better he didn't hot the ground running like Twoes did and seems like the kind of guy that has excellent numbers but......is it all on poor team construction really?

I don’t know if it’s all on team construction, but Giroux probably doesn’t cost that Blackhawks dynasty any Cups, and he definitely has better individual career numbers in that organization.

I don’t think there’s any major distance between them, as this whole group is clustered pretty close to each other. To me if you reverse Toews and Giroux’s draft teams, it hugely benefits Giroux and hurts Toews in perception at the very least. Same could be said of Marchand, who landed in a perfect environment for who he is as a player.

 

[x Tame Impala]

I don’t know if it’s all on team construction, but Giroux probably doesn’t cost that Blackhawks dynasty any Cups, and he definitely has better individual career numbers in that organization.

I don’t think there’s any major distance between them, as this whole group is clustered pretty close to each other. To me if you reverse Toews and Giroux’s draft teams, it hugely benefits Giroux and hurts Toews in perception at the very least. Same could be said of Marchand, who landed in a perfect environment for who he is as a player.

Toews was also a great big-game player which needs some recognition here. 11 GWG in the playoffs to Giroux's 2. Toews was better at faceoffs, better at takeaways, and was a CF% machine in his prime. He was like waves eroding the shore against other team's top lines and I don't think you can make that argument for Giroux.

I'd take Toews possession playstyle, shutting down the top line of the other team, and being a consistent Selke threat (6 top 5 finishes) over Giroux's better offensive numbers where Giroux played in the wheeling and dealing eastern conference. Toews won a Smythe and was the best player on Canada's Olympic roster in 2010. Giroux didn't make either of those Olympic squads by the way.

Toews was the 1C on a 3x Cup winning Dynasty. Giroux was a 1C on the Flyers good for people's fantasty teams

 

[Bouboumaster]

I went with Giroux

To me, in his prime, he was in the same tier as Datsyuk - one tier under Crosby and Ovechkin
He was a solid, solid player, and he's still going

Tough poll, it was a close one with Marchand and Toews