ESPN Top 25 NHL Players of the 21st Century

[Habsfan18]

Ranking the top 25 NHL players of the 21st century

From Crosby to Thornton, Ovechkin to Chara, here are hockey's best from the past 25 years.

www.espn.com

ESPN's Top 25 NHLers of the 21st Century:

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Alex Ovechkin
3. Connor McDavid
4. Patrick Kane
5. Nicklas Lidstrom
6. Nathan MacKinnon
7. Martin Brodeur
8. Henrik Lundqvist
9. Evgeni Malkin
10. Patrice Bergeron
11. Zdeno Chara
12. Steven Stamkos
13. Leon Draisaitl
14. Joe Thornton
15. Auston Matthews
16. Erik Karlsson
17. Nikita Kucherov
18. Marc-Andre Fleury
19. Andrei Vasilevskiy
20. Jarome Iginla
21. Anze Kopitar
22. Pavel Datsyuk
23. Duncan Keith
24. Victor Hedman
25. Jonathan Quick

Click to read more...

 

[Habsfan18]

Fleury over Vasilevskiy is…umm, interesting..

As a Habs fan, I’ll die on the hill that Price was the superior goaltender to Quick but had MUCH less support and had to play behind some really bad defensive groups. Bergevin wasting this man’s prime is something I don’t think I’ll ever get over. But still, Quick has two Cups and played a huge role in those runs, so he’s not exactly out of place here.

Stamkos at 12 seems a bit high at first glance, but I haven’t fully analyzed everything yet so maybe that’s right.

 

[MadLuke]

To note january 1, 2001 to december 31, 2100...

Notable absent, for the big point getter:

Giroux (top 10 in points in the 21th century)
H. Sedin
Backstrom
Getzlaf
Tavares
St-Louis

All around:
Hossa
Marchand
Zetterberg
Toews !

goalscorer:
Kovalchuck, but he went in the KHL, Perry has not place... Pavelski has the most playoff goals of the 21th century

Stamkos above Kopitar was the first things catching my eye, than saw that he was above a lot of people.

 

[MadLuke]

Ds notable miss:
Doughty ((with where Hedman end up being, not easy to make the list)
Makar (still quite early for him, obviously the Fox-Hughes as well)
Josi-Pronger-Weber

It is a near impossible list to please, specially when you mix all position and role together, Kucherov can feel low vs say a Matthews considering their relative playoff success), Toews seem at some point would have pop in, Fleury seem high I am guessing just so much volume with some interesting peak that end up adding up but who do not take Vasilevskiy for a run,

 

[Neutrinos]

I can't believe that a list with Fleury ahead of Iginla was not only made, but then proofread by the editor and allowed to be posted online for all to see

Iginla's resume is on-par with Patrick Kane's

 

[MadLuke]

Playoff wins

Fleury...: 92
Vasi.....: 66
Brodeur..: 63
Lundqvist: 61

RS wins
Fleury...: 561
Luongo...: 480
Lundqvist: 459
Brodeur..: 429
---------
They must value playing a lot of game and having good record has the team goaltender.........

 

[Michael Farkas]

I can't believe that a list with Fleury ahead of Iginla was not only made, but then proofread by his editor and allowed to be posted online for all to see

*nods slowly in agreement*

Iginla's resume is on-par with Patrick Kane's

*nodding abruptly ends, face scrunches*

 

[jigglysquishy]

I've seen a few media things now with Kane above Malkin.

Am I alone in thinking not only is Malkin still ahead, but it's a fairly significant gap?

 

[The Panther]

List is clearly skewed toward longevity and Cup-rewarding, but, as such it's not terrible.

Surprised no Toews.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Malkin at 9 is something....

 

[bobholly39]

One of the worst rankings I've seen

 

[The Panther]

Malkin at 9 is something....

Lundqvist and Brodeur ahead of him seems rather wrong. But I don't know who else I would move aside...

 

[Matsun]

Kane 13 spots ahead of Kucherov?

 

[alko]

Chara as best D:

 

[daver]

One of the worst rankings I've seen

Starting with #4, yes, it gets really bad. Really cannot be taken very seriously.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Lundqvist and Brodeur ahead of him seems rather wrong. But I don't know who else I would move aside...

MacKinnon and Kane for sure

 

[JackSlater]

I heard about this yesterday because a friend was shocked by Kane ahead of Lidstrom. Even disregarding Lidstrom's strong 90s career.... yeah. Kane is quite overrated. In a few years the brilliant minds still screaming that Toews is overrated will even catch on to that I imagine. He's still not as overrated as Fleury is of course.

I will stay tuned to see if the typical cries about the Canadian media get thrown at ESPN.

I've seen a few media things now with Kane above Malkin.

Am I alone in thinking not only is Malkin still ahead, but it's a fairly significant gap?

Malkin should easily be ahead of Kane. Malkin has gotten underrated over the years and Kane gets a lot out of that hot stretch the propelled him to the Hart/Ross.

It's not a good list but that isn't shocking. Fleury should be dropped, Price and Makar should be there, Toews should be there, Datsyuk should be higher, Zetterberg should be on the list, Bergeron should be a bit lower, Malkin should be a lock for 3, St. Louis should probably be there, Doughty should be there even if it comes at Keith's expense, Kucherov should be higher.

I'm also amused that there are only four players generally classified as wingers, and the article managed to get three of those players (Ovechkin, Kane, Kucherov) wrong in terms of which wing they play.

 

[DitchMarner]

It's not a good list but that isn't shocking. Fleury should be dropped, Price and Makar should be there, Toews should be there, Datsyuk should be higher, Zetterberg should be on the list, Bergeron should be a bit lower, Malkin should be a lock for 3, St. Louis should probably be there, Doughty should be there even if it comes at Keith's expense, Kucherov should be higher.

I'm also amused that there are only four players generally classified as wingers, and the article managed to get three of those players (Ovechkin, Kane, Kucherov) wrong in terms of which wing they play.

Would you have him ahead of Ovechkin or McDavid?

 

[JackSlater]

Would you have him ahead of Ovechkin or McDavid?

That gave me a laugh, I forgot about McDavid. Malkin should be a lock for four. Malkin was clearly the number three of the post-lockout period for me, but yeah McDavid is the strong number one for the subsequent generation.

I also just realized that Pronger isn't there. Even disregarding his 2000 season that seems wrong.

 

[Michael Farkas]

This thread seems particularly down on Kane...like, a little more than the necessary for the #4 over-ration...maybe...

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

Playoff wins

Fleury...: 92
Vasi.....: 66
Brodeur..: 63
Lundqvist: 61

RS wins
Fleury...: 561
Luongo...: 480
Lundqvist: 459
Brodeur..: 429
---------
They must value playing a lot of game and having good record has the team goaltender.........

They value views.

Controversy over accuracy.

 

[norrisnick]

Would you have him ahead of Ovechkin or McDavid?

I wouldn't have him ahead of Lidstrom. Nor would I have Kane ahead.

 

[MadLuke]

Kane 13 spots ahead of Kucherov?

Starting with #4, yes, it gets really bad. Really cannot be taken very seriously.

MacKinnon and Kane for sure

Kane won 3 cups, has the most points in the 2010s in the regular seasons, second in the playoff, post operation 17th season in a career that started with the Calder he is still able to score, great on a stacked team with a Panarin, great once the Hawks were an offensive hole, if something like clutch exist he had it.

No problem with Malkin (if he does not miss that many game he would be there) or old Lidstrom > Kane, but acting like it is scandalous to have him really high seem a stretch, until recently he felt like a clear top 4 of the 21th century, Kucherov-Mack and specially McDavid throwing wrench at it now.

 

[VanIslander]

13. Leon Draisaitl
14. Joe Thornton
15. Auston Matthews
...

19. Andrei Vasilevskiy
20. Jarome Iginla

...... absurd.

The clear leader in assists (by far) in the first decade of this century, and who had impact as an add-on layer later in the 2010's; and the '02 Olympic hero, clear NHL goal-scoring leader of the first decade of this century...

And my HOSSA... 4th in NHL PLAYOFF POINTS THIS CENTURY, is nowhere on the list.

No, these aren't stat picks. I'm just trying to appeal to analytic youngums who weren't there or are eating up the recency bias.

 

[dr robbie]

Toews was the one that really caught me off-guard. His entire career would be encapsulated in this ranking and he went from one of the top 100 players ever on the NHL list to not even making the top 25 of this century on this list.