So if McDavid got a case for 1st of all time where does that place someone like Kucherov, top 10? 3? Because he is not that far off in regular season peak and got 2 Smythe worthy runs.
Why is it just McDavid that gets this treatment of how improved the league is and blabla and how his achievements should hold so much more weight than say Gretzky's?
Is Lidström nr1 defenceman of all time because Orr played in way weaker era than Gretzky for example? And the gap in time is somewhat the same as the one between Gretzky and McDavid. Or are Makar/Hedman in the top 5 all time defencemen because they played in the modern superhuman NHL?
Is Karlsson the best offensive defenceman of all time? Is Draisail at top 10 player of all time considering he can somewhat keep up with McDavid, especially come playoffs?
And so on.
First things first, calm down with the theatrics.
When I talk about McDavid being in the process of remolding the discussion into a new Big Five, that’s all it is. For me at least, this means his place can be argued. I think he can have the type of career where only Gretzky can be easily slotted above him. Perhaps he still won’t. But I’ll understand the argument of those who favor dominance, skill, and longevity when they’re comparing these players against each other.
A few people are saying McDavid is the best ever or could be. The premise of this thread is second. Many are saying top 5. I don’t really know why you quoted me in particular, beyond the obvious that half my posts concern McDavid. Most are not opened minded enough yet to even consider the direction we’re heading, so I don’t get why you’re pretending the thread is full of people saying he is the greatest.
Kucherov is a terrific player and one I’ve defended and highlighted greatness of many times on here. I don’t need a lesson on how good he is. When the dust settles on his career and people look back on this Lightning team, he is going to rank really high all-time.
But in terms of individual hardware and accomplishments:
McDavid through 8 seasons:
3 Harts, 2 additional finalist nominations, 7 consecutive top 5 placements
4 Lindsays
5 Art Rosses, 3 in a row, top 2 in both raw points and PPG 7 seasons in a row
Led league in assists three times, once in goals, both in the same season, dropped 153 points etc
Kucherov though 10 seasons
1 Hart, no additional nominations, no other top 5 placements
1 Art Ross, 2 additional top 3 finishes, a 5th and a 7th, PPG finishes of 1, 2 (missed 35 games), 4, 5, 8
Led league in assists once. Dropped 128 points during that year.
It’s not close and while being a huge part of a Tampa Bay team that has been wildly successful, Kucherov doesn’t have enough individual accolades to outweigh what McDavid has done.
In fact, there’s few remaining players in history who have.
