HFAvs Ranks: The 50 Greatest Avalanche Players - #6

[Ceremony]

#1 - Joe Sakic (88.9%)
#2 - Peter Forsberg (55.7%)
#3 - Patrick Roy (89.6%)
#4 - Nathan MacKinnon (71.4%)
#5 - Cale Makar (70.5%)

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I've had an idea. Let's decide who the greatest players in Avalanche history are.

• You decide what "greatest" means.
• Only judge players based on their Avalanche careers. This means no extra points for Sakic's time with the Nordiques, or Ray Bourque's time with the Bruins.
• Poll will be open for a few days.
• Each time you vote, suggest a player who should be added for the next round.
• If there's no consensus on who should be added I'll just pick the next player who's played the most games.
• Here's a list of everyone: Colorado Avalanche all-time player list at hockeydb.com

Milan Hejduk (1998-2013)	Adam Foote (1995-04, 2008-11)	Gabriel Landeskog (2011-present)	Alex Tanguay (1999-06, 2014-16)	Mikko Rantanen (2016-present)	Rob Blake (2000-2006)	Sandis Ozolinsh (1995-2000)
Games Played: 1020	Games played: 760	Games played: 738	Games played: 598	Games played: 490	Games played: 322	Games played: 333
Goals: 375	Goals: 48	Goals: 248	Goals: 167	Goals: 220	Goals: 62	Goals: 72
Assists: 430	Assists: 173	Assists: 323	Assists: 321	Assists: 293	Assists: 146	Assists: 181
Points: 805	Points: 221	Points: 571	Points: 488	Points: 513	Points: 208	Points: 253
Awards: Stanley Cup (2001), Rocket Richard Trophy (2003)	Awards: Stanley Cup (1996, 2001)	Awards: Stanley Cup (2022), Calder Trophy (2012)	Awards: Stanley Cup (2001), Stanley Cup Game Winning Goal (2001)	Awards: Stanley Cup (2022)	Awards: Stanley Cup (2001)	Awards: Stanley Cup (1996)

Click to read more...

 

[UncleRisto]

Add Deader.

 

[Ceremony]

Ozo, come on down. It'll be interesting (to me) to see where the players I think should be getting added now eventually end up.

 

[henchman21]

Gotta go Hejduk here. Has hardware, Cup champ, and captain... If Landy had been healthy last season, he might have made this closer.

 

[UncleRisto]

Crazy that Landy already has over 700 Avs games. But also a shame to think about how much he's about to lose of his career stats right now.

 

[henchman21]

Crazy that Landy already has over 700 Avs games. But also a shame to think about how much he's about to lose of his career stats right now.

Or hit that special 1000 game mark. Say he comes back in 24-25 and plays 75 games a season... we're talking the 27-28 season where it happens. If he only plays 60 games, it won't happen until the final year of his contract. I'm a believer he will come back, but that 1000 game mark is looking pretty sketchy.

 

[Grackle Party]

I considered the moose but went duke

 

[Ceremony]

Alternatively, if you redo this poll in five years and Landeskog has never played again you can definitively say he sacrificed a leg to win a cup and bump him up.

 

[Bonzai12]

tough call on this one between Hejduk and Foote

add Lemieux

 

[Mighty Makar]

Foote

 

[RoyIsALegend]

Adam Foote - the best leader in the history of our franchise.

 

[Vaslof]

Alternatively, if you redo this poll in five years and Landeskog has never played again you can definitively say he sacrificed a leg to win a cup and bump him up.

And bump him down if he does play again.

Add Duchene.

 

[GeoRox89]

Duke on this one. I want to just homer vote Landy over and over until he finally gets in since he’s my all time favourite but the stats back Duke.

Bonus points for Duke taking that rocket away from Naslund. While Sakic only ever played for one organization, Duke is the only one of the old core to only ever play for the Avs and is the Avs only leader in games played

Add Kamensky

 

[Bender]

add Bourque - even though he wasn't on the team super long, he was an integral part of the 2001 Cup.

 

[bromando]

Hejduk. Quiet but so consistently good. Under appreciated for taking the captaincy when he didn’t want it (at least that’s how it seemed) to allow for transition of leadership.

Struggling on who to add. Second tier guys from the cup runs or top guys from the dark years. Greatness comes in the playoffs I spose. Add Kamensky.

 

[HockeyFan100]

Duke

Add Lemieux

 

[Bonzai12]

Mikko vs Milan is a lot closer than I thought it would be

 

[henchman21]

View attachment 718071
Mikko vs Milan is a lot closer than I thought it would be

I actually feel the opposite… Mikko has to play ~7 seasons to match in games. In those game he has to get about 140 goals and assists per to match. Which I think Mikko will do (probably more of a 4 season thing). More than those raw numbers the GWG and point shares are a long ways to go 5-6 years probably.

Looks to me that Mikko needs 4-5 seasons to get to Hejduk’s career… possibly 6 if regression sets in. That’s quite a bit IMO.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Hejduk because of longevity. Rantanen is the better hockey player though.

 

[henchman21]

Hejduk because of longevity. Rantanen is the better hockey player though.

Oh definitely… just was shocking to me how much of a difference there still was. Rants needs to re-sign and be here 2-3 seasons beyond the current contract to match the career. If Rants walked (which likely won’t happen) then he probably wouldn’t surpass Hejduk.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Oh definitely… just was shocking to me how much of a difference there still was. Rants needs to re-sign and be here 2-3 seasons beyond the current contract to match the career. If Rants walked (which likely won’t happen) then he probably wouldn’t surpass Hejduk.

I probably would place Mikko above Hejduk even if he walked after the current contract is done, assuming he continues being one the best wingers in the game.

Mikko being the better player and his tremendous playoff production is enough for me even if there is quite a gap in games played.

Totally understandable if others had Hejduk higher in that scenario.

 

[henchman21]

I probably would place Mikko above Hejduk even if he walked after the current contract is done, assuming he continues being one the best wingers in the game.

Mikko being the better player and his tremendous playoff production is enough for me even if there is quite a gap in games played.

Totally understandable if others had Hejduk higher in that scenario.

I think part of this is people forget how insane Hejduk was in his prime. Yeah the numbers are not high historically, but that was peak dead puck era. From 99 to the lockout, Hejduk was in the same realm as Rants. From 99-00 to 03-04 Hejduk was 8th in the NHL in points. 3 wingers were ahead of him and their names... Iginla, Naslund and Jagr. Hejduk was ahead of Elias, Hossa, Alfy, Shanahan, Hull, etc. He was also 4th in goals in the entire NHL during that period... behind those same 3 wingers. This includes one year where he was injured and had a bad season. If you extend to 06-07 (so 7 seasons) Hejduk is still top 10 in points and top 5 in goals. Hejduk was better defensively too and played a role in all situations.

Hejduk's peak is absolutely on par with where Mikko is today. You could argue higher since Rants is below Hejduk in the league wide comparison and Hejduk got an individual award (Richard).

 

[TruePowerSlave]

I think part of this is people forget how insane Hejduk was in his prime. Yeah the numbers are not high historically, but that was peak dead puck era. From 99 to the lockout, Hejduk was in the same realm as Rants. From 99-00 to 03-04 Hejduk was 8th in the NHL in points. 3 wingers were ahead of him and their names... Iginla, Naslund and Jagr. Hejduk was ahead of Elias, Hossa, Alfy, Shanahan, Hull, etc. He was also 4th in goals in the entire NHL during that period... behind those same 3 wingers. This includes one year where he was injured and had a bad season. If you extend to 06-07 (so 7 seasons) Hejduk is still top 10 in points and top 5 in goals. Hejduk was better defensively too and played a role in all situations.

Hejduk's peak is absolutely on par with where Mikko is today. You could argue higher since Rants is below Hejduk in the league wide comparison and Hejduk got an individual award (Richard).

Certainly possible there is recency bias going on with Rantanen. However, I do value playoff production quite a bit and Hejduk had his share of somewhat quiet playoff runs while Mikko is absolutely ripping it up.

 

[henchman21]

Certainly possible there is recency bias going on with Rantanen. However, I do value playoff production quite a bit and Hejduk had his share of somewhat quiet playoff runs while Mikko is absolutely ripping it up.

Yeah Hejduk had some quiet runs and that runs against him... I'm just saying that Hejduk was absolutely on the same tier of winger in his prime.

 

[Duchene2MacKinnon]

Duke then Foote