ESPN’s Top 25 NHLers of the 21st Century

[Love]

MAF is the worst ranking by far

 

[Ace Card Bedard]

The list goes off the rails immediately with Kane at #4

The NHL's leading scorer of the 2010's?

2010s NHL Scoring Leaders

NHL scoring leaders during the 2010s. NHL stats leaders in the decade spanning from 2010 to 2019.

www.quanthockey.com

Who also won 3 cups, Art Ross, Lindsay, Conn Smythe, etc?
Tied for 3rd all-time in playoff OT goals? Showtime?

I realize a lot of people don't want to acknowledge Kane's greatness but what else does he need to prove? He's done it all while being one of those most exciting players in the league to watch when the puck is on his stick.

 

[Midnight Judges]

He won 7 Norris Trophy’s in 11 years (course the final one was stolen from Chara but still). How’s that not better than Kane?

It's an arbitrarily unrepresentative comparison because it's 17 seasons of Kane vs 11.5 seasons of Lidstrom.

For Lidstrom to lose those first 8.5 seasons is enormous IMO.

 

[BTO]

Stop with this. Half his career was in the 90s. If people continue with this nonsense, ESPN will probably put Mia Hamm at #5 just to make a point.

Really? He won 7 Norris Trophies from 2001-2011. How does that not make him, by definition, the best defenseman of the 21st Century and, as such, better than Patrick Kane? And I’m a Bruins fan - I don’t even like Lidstrom (ok I do, but grudgingly), I like Orr and Bourque (and Chara). Course I hate Kane so there’s that

 

[Rebels57]

Kane over Lidstrom stands out as very wrong

 

[Midnight Judges]

I'd take MacKinnon over Malkin too, I don't think it's that controversial.

Bergeron over Draisaitl, Thornton and Matthews seems wrong to me (although Drai and Matthews have only played about half of their careers thus far).
And Datsyuk at 22, 12 spots below Bergeron? Wild

That's the thing - people are always talking past each other in these conversations because half of us value peak play and practically nothing else, and half of us are looking at total career value.

These two sets of criteria can lead to wildly different results - even among people who are reasonably accurate in their assessments.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Really? He won 7 Norris Trophies from 2001-2011. How does that not make him, by definition, the best defenseman of the 21st Century and, as such, better than Patrick Kane? And I’m a Bruins fan - I don’t even like Lidstrom (ok I do, but grudgingly), I like Orr and Bourque (and Chara). Course I hate Kane so there’s that

Not saying Listrom didn’t deserve the Norris those times but sometimes individual awards are erroneous in that they’re some times based on reputation.

Derek Jeter was never the best defensive SS in the AL. He should have 0 gold gloves. Instead, he has 5.

Michael Jordan should have been the MVP every year from 1987 to 1998 (minus the baseball years). Was he?

Taylor Hall has as many Hart Trophies as Nathan MacKinnon. Should he be one spot behind MacKinnon?

 

[BTO]

Not saying Listrom didn’t deserve the Norris those times but sometimes individual awards are erroneous in that they’re some times based on reputation.

Derek Jeter was never the best defensive SS in the AL. He should have 0 gold gloves. Instead, he has 5.

Michael Jordan should have been the MVP every year from 1987 to 1998 (minus the baseball years). Was he?

Taylor Hall has as many Hart Trophies as Nathan MacKinnon. Should he be one spot behind MacKinnon?

Yeah, his last one was a “lifetime achievement award” because he was retiring. And then he didn’t even retire! Chara should definitely have won that one.

Well if Hall had 7 and MacKinnon 1 then he should be ahead, right?

 

[tarheelhockey]

As always, there’s a notable difference between “top athlete” and “best player”. Some guys can be better players, but leave less of a mark on the game.

 

[Aladyyn]

The NHL's leading scorer of the 2010's?

2010s NHL Scoring Leaders

NHL scoring leaders during the 2010s. NHL stats leaders in the decade spanning from 2010 to 2019.

www.quanthockey.com

Who also won 3 cups, Art Ross, Lindsay, Conn Smythe, etc?
Tied for 3rd all-time in playoff OT goals? Showtime?

I realize a lot of people don't want to acknowledge Kane's greatness but what else does he need to prove? He's done it all while being one of those most exciting players in the league to watch when the puck is on his stick.

Win a playoff round when he's not the 3rd or 4th best player on the team would be a start.

 

[Ford Prefect]

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

 

[T REX]

Kuch completely disrespected.

Wow. What a crazy list.

 

[ToDavid]

Kucherov is way, way too low.

 

[sensfan4lifee]

I wanted to put him 8th ir 9th but then those two goalies are legends and Brodeur is 3rd best goalie ever so he comes ahead of Kane

King henrick when healthy was a top 3 goalie for a decade, again a goalie like that deserves a spot in the top 10

Really Kane should be ahead of Chara and Draisaitl for sure

I think 8th to 10th where he should be and I rated him a bit to low.

For anyone who has Kane > Kucherov or Mack that is a bad take

Kucherov is the Mcdavid to Kanes Crosby so to speak. Just a lot better player in reg and playoffs. Hes not far away from Malkin and Lidstrom tier

Mackinnon has been a top 3 player now from 2018. Hes also ahead of Kane and doesnt look likely to fall of next 2-3 tears

Mackinnon is not ahead of Kane

 

[CupofOil]

That's the thing - people are always talking past each other in these conversations because half of us value peak play and practically nothing else, and half of us are looking at total career value.

These two sets of criteria can lead to wildly different results - even among people who are reasonably accurate in their assessments.

That's true, it's a vague definition. At peak, Draisaitl and Matthews are better than Bergeron but careerwise it's a different story because Bergeron played a full career while the other two have a lot of years left.

In any event, I can't behind Bergeron being 12 spots higher than Datsyuk. I just don't see the rationale for that. One can argue Datsyuk over him straight up, I would take Datsyuk over him.

 

[DuklaNation]

Kucherov made conference finals 6 times out of last 10 seasons, he should be a lot higher.

 

[Eegs]

Chris Pronger?

Good call. In all my years of watching hockey, I'm not sure i saw a more dominant D-man at his peak. Certainly should be above Keith imo.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Yeah, his last one was a “lifetime achievement award” because he was retiring. And then he didn’t even retire! Chara should definitely have won that one.

Well if Hall had 7 and MacKinnon 1 then he should be ahead, right?

Once again, this is not necessarily something that matters to many people.

 

[Soundwave]

There's definitely a bias against Russian players in these lists, Malkin and Kucherov are very low.

Chris Pronger not being on that list is ridiculous too.

 

[Cursed Lemon]

Lidstrom won all seven of his Norris trophies after the turn of the millennium, how in the world would he be below Patrick Kane

 

[John Mandalorian]

Nevermind the rankings. Who should be on the list that’s not and who do you replace?

Would Drew Dowdy be someone?

 

[Three On Zero]

Nevermind the rankings. Who should be on the list that’s not and who do you replace?

Would Drew Dowdy be someone?

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

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

 

[BTO]

Once again, this is not necessarily something that matters to many people.

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

 

[admiralcadillac]

Nevermind the rankings. Who should be on the list that’s not and who do you replace?

Would Drew Dowdy be someone?

Pronger is just better than Doughty, no offense to Doughty

Scott Niedermayer is also better

 

[TheUnusedCrayon]

How are there people saying Lidstrom is too low? He's at 5 and I can't see any argument for him being higher. When he was winning Norrises no one thought he was better than Crosby, Malkin, or Ovechkin.

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