Biggest legacy jump?

[Jared Dunn]

I think of these players Matthews is the one who still kind of holds the rep of not being able to get it done, even if he has played well in playoffs, and this would effectively shake that

 

[Victorias]

1. Matthews by far. Simply put - he's lacking the most out of this group for playoffs, so this helps him the most. Easy logic.

2. McDavid. Without a cup, he's easily the greatest player of all-time not to win one. huge negative impact. Without a conn smythe - he's also the greatest player of all-time without one. Also big negative impact. So - it's a necessary checkbox

All 3 of the others are in similar'ish positions. Great playoff performers - great overall careers/primes - a smythe helps any of them, but isn't absolutely necessary.

Kucherov may be last - simply because he has the best playoff resume of the 5, and arguably already lost ~2 smythes he deserved.

He already checked it

 

[daver]

Kucherov may be last - simply because he has the best playoff resume of the 5, and arguably already lost ~2 smythes he deserved.

Point was the clear 2nd pick for the Smythe in 2020. Not sure that one was particularly controversial.

 

[bobholly39]

He already checked it

Yeah of course. not sure what I was thinking when I wrote that about the smythe...point still stands for the cup though, and he still ranks #2.

 

[Lafleurs Guy]

I put in McDavid but Matthews is probably a better choice here. McDavid's already been a force in the playoffs to the point where he won the Smythe last year in a losing cause.

Matthews has never done much in the postseason and for him to win the Smythe would be a massive boost to his reputation.

 

[The Nuge]

Unquestionably Matthews, because he’s the only one who doesn’t show up in the playoffs. The other 4 are all in the top 13 all time in playoff PPG. Matthews is a 0.87 PPG producer in the playoffs, which is behind “notorious playoff choker” Marner in points and PPG

 

[the_fan]

Makar

 

[Ghetty Green]

Just wanna say how awesome this era is for top end players. I've been watching since the 80s and this is the most skilled and exciting era ever. Not to sidetrack the thread, but I want to show my top 10 list of current NHLers, as an older fan I'm interested If people agreed

1. McDavid
2. Makar
3. Barkov
4. Kucherov
5. MacKinnon
6. Draisaital
7. Heiskanen
8. Q. Hughes
9. Matthews
10. Pastrnak

 

[Nathaniel]

If makar can win the smythe again this year he will have 2 smythe, 2 norris. Top 10 d men cemented

 

[solidmotion]

the answer is definitely matthews but for the sake of argument it's interesting to consider where the others currently rank.

i've got mcdavid at 5 already. the first among equals in a group including beliveau, hull, a few others. i can see him solidifying that position to separate himself from that group. don't see him rising though unless he can get back to the 21 and 23 level. so another smythe wouldn't make a lot of difference.

i've got mackinnon, kucherov and draisaitl somewhere in the 20-50 range, not sure where exactly. looking at the guys around 20 on the HoH list like messier, lafleur, ovechkin—i can see arguments for all of mack, kuch and drai joining that group with a dominant playoff run/smythe. the tier above that—jagr, crosby, lidstrom—might be out of reach.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Just wanna say how awesome this era is for top end players. I've been watching since the 80s and this is the most skilled and exciting era ever. Not to sidetrack the thread, but I want to show my top 10 list of current NHLers, as an older fan I'm interested If people agreed

1. McDavid
2. Makar
3. Barkov
4. Kucherov
5. MacKinnon
6. Draisaital
7. Heiskanen
8. Q. Hughes
9. Matthews
10. Pastrnak

Barkov over Mac, Draisaitl and Kuch is indefensible