If you could start over any player’s career..

McJedi

Registered User
Apr 21, 2020
10,799
7,707
Florida
Get the insanely good Peter Forsberg on the ice today without all the clutch and grab BS of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He'd have been such a legend in a league that didn't allow all those stick and grabbing infractions from the lousy dead puck era.
 

GRob83

Registered User
Feb 3, 2010
612
477
Pavel Bure definitely, he would excel tremendously with these post-lockout new rules and changes. No
Bure had a HOF career. I'd pick Bondra, he'd be in the HOF if he didn't spend all those years as the only goal scorer Washington had while being centered by Pivonka and Nikolishin.
 
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Strangle

Leafs Smol PP
May 4, 2009
9,794
7,052
I am trying to decide between Eric lindros and wendel Clark.

Both players never got to reach their potential, had relatively short careers with later years ruined by injuries

And I think both players would absolutely terrorize the current NHL

Would love them both to be reincarnated as 18 year olds and have a career do-over
 
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Borlag

Registered User
Jan 27, 2006
1,112
68
Helsinki, Funland
My pick would be the player who got me watching hockey in the first place. Steve Yzerman. Sure he had a great career that ended rather naturally, but at the same time I feel that if he were to play in todays game, we would get to witness just how good he truly was. I mean the guy hit levels that only Lemieux and Gretzky surpassed and for the beginning of his career, it was all him. Slot him in current Red Wings, which while a flawed team with glaring holes and not too impressive record, I have full belief that it'd be a start of a brand new dynasty and that he would run head to head with anyone in the league including McDavid.
 
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coolboarder

Registered User
Mar 4, 2010
1,475
339
Maryland
The better question, those type of players if they were to be played in original 6 without any expansion, trying to image how Lemieux, Gretzky , Orr, Bossy, and majority of 90's star in the original 6 would have played in this Original Six era. Those type of offensive records might never be broken or going even higher because they'd be getting a top notch defense and goaltending every night and incredible difficult to make the team if 6 teams were the only option to continue in hockey career.

Also they'd be getting top notch coaching with longevity with limited 6 spots available. In my opinion, those 40's to 60's era in today's game would be breaking those type of records if they were given an opportunity to play in current era. Maurice Rocket Richard would be getting higher number of goals with 32 team league. I think that he would be way better than Gretzky and I do not think Gretzky would finish higher career goals if he were to play in original 6 era. So my choice is Maurice Rocket Richard as he was the best player ever in that era. Not even Howe could do it since Gretzky could only score less than 100 goals than Howe or even Ovechkin.. Howe and Richard played in the same era and in Howe's testimony, he couldn't do what Richard did for the game of hockey.
 

Brookbank

Registered User
Nov 15, 2022
2,388
2,255
Micheal Grabner.

And he doesn't get traded. And stays a Canuck. And learns from the Sedins. He would have been a quality versatile scoring Canuck for over a decade.
 

Lafleurs Guy

Guuuuuuuy!
Jul 20, 2007
80,355
52,752
Mario Lemieux would be simply unstoppable in this era. He'd put up more points now than he did back then and break every record in the book.

I'd love to have seen what Eric Lindros, Paul Kariya and Carey Price could've done with healthy careers.
 

centipede2233

Registered User
Sep 13, 2010
4,883
5,465
Jonathan Drouin. He was so dominant in youth hockey and junior. Should have been a star in the NHL
I used to chat online with a guy from a fantasy hockey league back in the day and he had season tickets to the Halifax moose heads. And he routinely told me game after game how drouin was the best player on the ice, and that was with mackinnon on his team…
 

Lunatik

HFBoards Sponsor
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Oct 12, 2012
58,355
10,289
Bobby Orr

Dude was a 2x Art Ross winner from the blueline... during his career he outscored the second highest scoring defenseman by 299 points, and that is with Orr only playing 36 games in the final 4 years. He essentially only played 9 seasons out of 13 and still won 7 Norris Trophies, 2 Art Ross Trophies, 3 Hart Trophies, a Pearson, a Calder and a Conn Smythe.

Through years 4-9 he averaged an insane 86.67 assists per season.

I really think if he played today, more people would say he was better than Gretzky.
 

miscs75

Registered User
Jul 2, 2014
6,762
6,371
Rick D came the forefront of my mind. Great attitude, great work ethic, great talent. Less than zero f***ing luck. Plus I love southpaw tendies.
He’s an absolute class act of a guy if you’ve ever met him. He got injured at the absolute worst time in his career and they kept pouring in after. Without the injuries who knows what would have happened (outside of making $4.5m as a starter for years).
 

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