ESPN’s Top 25 NHLers of the 21st Century

[Aladyyn]

How do you not have the 2nd best defenseman in NHL history not above Malkin? Lol

Ray Bourque only played 1.5 season in the 21st century, don't think that's enough to land him on the list

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

Ray Bourque only played 1.5 season in the 21st century, don't think that's enough to land him on the list

Lidstrom's top similarity score is to Bourque at over 95% and he was a better defender than Bourque was. Also won more Norris trophies.

Understandable to think Bourque was the better player though. It's a matter of opinion. I personally have Lidstrom as the better player but I also am biased towards the defensive side of the game when it comes to defenders (and yes, Bourque was good there as well, I just don't think anybody has been better defensively in my opinion than Lidstrom). I never feared my team playing Bourque, always feared playing Lidstrom.

I will concede however it's very rational to choose Bourque over Lidstrom though. Personally I have them neck and neck and that might even be crazy to a lot of people.

 

[Voight]

Not sure how much this should factor in to the debate….but fwiw Kucherov, despite being an incredible hockey player, just seems to come off as a rather unlikeable person/personality outside of hockey itself.

That shouldn't factor at all into the debate.....

 

[Hasbro]

I'd put Makar in above Quick and MAF.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

MacKinnon too high, Malkin too low

 

[John Mandalorian]

Drew Dowdy? Doubtful anyone would have him in the top 25.

Drew Doughty on the other hand, maybe he gets a vote or two

Spelling his name correctly on his paycheck and bank account is what's more important, no?

 

[bambamcam4ever]

How do you not have the 2nd best defenseman in NHL history not above Malkin? Lol

1) He's not the second best defenseman in history, there's more to analyzing a player than counting trophies. Bourque was clearly better, for instance.

2) He played close to half his career in the 90s, this list is for the 2000s.

3) Like I said earlier, even when Lidstrom was winning Norrises, Malkin was near-unanimously considered the better and more impactful player.

 

[Esq]

Quick? Really?

1) He's not the second best defenseman in history, there's more to analyzing a player than counting trophies. Bourque was clearly better, for instance.

2) He played close to half his career in the 90s, this list is for the 2000s.

3) Like I said earlier, even when Lidstrom was winning Norrises, Malkin was near-unanimously considered the better and more impactful player.

I think you'd find a majority of folks disagree with you on this one.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

Lidstrom under Kane is rancid, and that's no disrespect to Kane.

Honestly, Lidstrom should probably be over McDavid too, at this stage in his career. End of his career, McDavid is on top of this list by a wide margin, but if we're saying he's too early in his career to be over Crosby/Ovechkin, he shouldn't be over Lidstrom either.

7 Norris trophies and a Conn Smythe in the 21st Century. Kane is great. He's not better than that. McDavid will be, but it hasn't played out yet.

There are great players and then there are "All time" players. Kane is a great player. Crosby/Ovechkin/McDavid/Lidstrom are "All Time" players.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

1) He's not the second best defenseman in history, there's more to analyzing a player than counting trophies. Bourque was clearly better, for instance.

2 He played close to half his career in the 90s, this list is for the 2000s.

3) Like I said earlier, even when Lidstrom was winning Norrises, Malkin was near-unanimously considered the better and more impactful player.

1) Bourque wasn't clearly better. There's a lot of debate to be had, but you won't find a lot of people saying one of them was clearly better.

2) Lidstrom won his 7 Norris trophies, 2 of his Stanley Cups, and a Conn Smythe all in the 2000s.

3) Where exactly was all this near unanimous discussion taking place about Lidstrom vs Malkin, who was better and more impactful? Because it sounds very made up.

It's hard to rate the impact of Dman versus a center. But these three reasons you listed don't justify that placement. I do think Malkin should at least swap places with MacKinnon.

 

[x Tame Impala]

• Lidstrom should be at #3
• Malkin is better than MacKinnon and Patrick Kane so I'd have him at 5, Kane at 6
• Bergeron is WAY too high, he should be swapped with Datsyuk for sure
• I don't see any reason to not have Kucherov higher than Stamkos, Draisaitl, and Thornton
• Kieth and Karlsson should be swapped
• Including goalies is rough, I'm not sure if they should be on their own separate list or not
• Where the hell is Chris Pronger?
• I'm not sure Quick belongs, huge fan of his but still
• MAF has no business being on this list, Marian Hossa should be there instead
• Stamkos is too high, I think Toews should be ranked higher than him
• McDavid very well becomes #1 on this list if/when the Oilers win a Cup this upcoming season

1) McDavid
2) Crosby
3) Ovechkin
4) Lidstrom
5) Malkin
6) Kane
7) Pronger
8) Brodeur
9) MacKinnon
10) Kieth
11) Chara
12) Datsyuk
13) Kucherov
14) Draisaitl
15) Lundqvist
16) Toews
17) Karlsson
18) Matthews
19) Vasilevskiy
20) Kopitar
21) Iginla
22) Bergeron
23) Hedman
24) Stamkos
25) Hossa

 

[John Mandalorian]

7 Norris Trophies don’t matter to some people? Tough crowd!

You take issue with him winning over Chara. Others might take issue with him winning over someone else.

 

[SimpleJack]

Lidstrom under Kane is rancid, and that's no disrespect to Kane.

Honestly, Lidstrom should probably be over McDavid too, at this stage in his career. End of his career, McDavid is on top of this list by a wide margin, but if we're saying he's too early in his career to be over Crosby/Ovechkin, he shouldn't be over Lidstrom either.

7 Norris trophies and a Conn Smythe in the 21st Century. Kane is great. He's not better than that. McDavid will be, but it hasn't played out yet.

There are great players and then there are "All time" players. Kane is a great player. Crosby/Ovechkin/McDavid/Lidstrom are "All Time" players.

The Greatest American born player in the history of the NHL isn’t an “all-time” great player?

Wtf?

Kane, during his prime, led the entire NHL in points from 2010-2020. Add in the post season resume and idk how there are so many people complaining about his place on this list. I think it’s a coin flip between himself, Malkin, and Lidstrom as it pertains to greatness during the period of time in question here.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

The Greatest American born player in the history of the NHL isn’t an “all-time” great player?

Wtf?

Kane, during his prime, led the entire NHL in points from 2010-2020. Add in the post season resume and idk how there are so many people complaining about his place on this list. I think it’s a coin flip between himself, Malkin, and Lidstrom as it pertains to greatness during the period of time in question here.

Is Kane a Top 5 forward all time?

Nope. Sure isn't.

 

[Aladyyn]

The Greatest American born player in the history of the NHL isn’t an “all-time” great player?

Wtf?

Kane, during his prime, led the entire NHL in points from 2010-2020. Add in the post season resume and idk how there are so many people complaining about his place on this list. I think it’s a coin flip between himself, Malkin, and Lidstrom as it pertains to greatness during the period of time in question here.

Kucherov has Kane beat in both regular season and post-season

 

[nowhereman]

Lost all its credibility without Plekanec on the list. Not a SINGLE player on that list could sport a turtleneck like he could.

I mean, he was good and all but he could never touch Yashin's turtleneck game.

 

[Imgoingtowork]

• Peter Forsberg should be at 8
• Malkin is better than Datsyuk, I have him at 6
• Datsyuk are at 10
• I don't see any reason to have Draisaitl higher than Kucherov and Stamkos
• Including goalies is easy, Brodeur is highest value
• Chris Pronger wrong
• Two Finns
• Two Swedes
• McDavid very well becomes #1 on this list if at 2000+ career score

1) Jagr
2) Brodeur
3) Ovechkin
4) Crosby
5) Lidström
6) Malkin
7) McDavid
8) P.Forsberg
9) Iginla
10) Datsyuk
11) Kucherov
12) Stamkos
13) S.Koivu
14) Selänne
15) Kopitar

The most skilled.

 

[Randyne]

top 5:
Ovechkin: hardware 18; 3x top PPG; 8x top GPG
McDavid: hardware 14; 5x top PPG; 1x top GPG
Crosby: hardware 11; 5x top PPG; 2x top GPG
Malkin: hardware 6; 1x top PPG; 0x top GPG
Kane: hardware 5; 1x top PPG; 0x top GPG

 

[thekernel]

Leaving Luongo off in favor of Fleury....yeah I'm calling the cops on whoever made this list

Don't click the link, y'all. They don't deserve the attention

 

[Realgud]

I didn't think it was that bad but Bergeron at 10 with Zetterberg being completely off the list invalidates the whole thing.

 

[12ozPapa]

I’m kind of shocked this thread is still open. We all know as hockey fans, ESPN sucks.

 

[Terry Yake]

mackinnon and draisaitl are too high

kucherov is too low

MAF on the list is comical

where's niedermayer?

 

[GoldenKnight]

Damn, even as an Avs fan Mack>Malkin is insane. Might catch some heat, but Bergeron at 10 is pretty wild as well.

True. So is Kane over Malkin, who once again is getting underrated heavily in these types of rankings.

 

[FriendlyGhost92]

I dunno if Zetterberg is Top 25, but I know he sure as hell was better than Jonathan Quick...

 

[rojac]

Do posters on here really respect the hockey folks at ESPN so much that they put actual value on this list?