Is Peter Forsberg underrated?

[Voight]

People just look at Numbers and say he was overrated.

Forsberg like Datsyuk were pretty much always the best player on the ice. A healthy prime Forsberg was a force.

It's going to get worse as we are further removed from the DPE. Kids born post lockout or even in the 2010's will simply look at numbers and not have the context nor explore why numbers were low then. They'll simply go "oh Forsberg wasn't that good, he only hit 100 points twice" not realizing how low scoring that era was.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Kariya would destroy the league today, but I don't think he has any serious argument in his own days.

So your opinion is that there was far more talent...back when the talent pool was smaller?

 

[Albatros]

So your opinion is that there was far more talent...back when the talent pool was smaller?

The talent pool peaked in the 90s.

 

[Midnight Judges]

The talent pool peaked in the 90s.

No it didn't.

Estimating the size of the NHL's talent pool (1950-2023)

There have been hundreds (and probably thousands) of posts on HOH that discuss the size of the NHL's talent pool. The data that's needed to determine the talent pool (youths actively involved in organized hockey) has never been maintained with any rigour or consistency, across countries and...

forums.hfboards.com

 

[Machinehead]

I don't know how you can listen to hockey fans talk about Forsberg and ever think he's underrated.

That's not a knock on him.

 

[Albatros]

No it didn't.

Estimating the size of the NHL's talent pool (1950-2023)

There have been hundreds (and probably thousands) of posts on HOH that discuss the size of the NHL's talent pool. The data that's needed to determine the talent pool (youths actively involved in organized hockey) has never been maintained with any rigour or consistency, across countries and...

forums.hfboards.com

The number of kids playing hockey has been in a state of collapse in the 2000s, and besides raw numbers those still playing are rather the ones that can afford it than the most talented.

 

[Midnight Judges]

The number of kids playing hockey has been in a state of collapse in the 2000s,

Even if that were true in Canada, it's more than made up for by internationalization of the sport.

 

[Regal]

Even if that were true in Canada, it's more than made up for by internationalization of the sport.

The league isn’t really any more international than it was in the 90s other than down the lineup. It used to be that mostly stars from other countries would make it, but more and more depth players are doing so now, particularly in the US. Of the top 100 scorers between 97-98 and 99-00, 47 were Canadian. Of the top 100 between 21-22 and today, 38 are Canadian. And Canada is in a lull for talent recently. The difference is pretty minimal

 

[Cup or Bust]

He was an awesome hockey player that could do almost anything. When fully healthy and at his best he was as good as anyone in his era. One of the best all-around hockey players I have ever seen. Tough to play against, physical, great defensively, amazing offensive skill and talent, one of the best playmakers ever in my opinion. He was one of the more dominant on ice players when at his best.

I understand he did have injury issues so career wise his ranking would not be very high but as a hockey player, what unique player he was. He played in a really tough era offensively and physically as well. He is top 5 in assists per game and top 10 in points per game all time as well. As a player he is probably underrated by people that never watched him but career wise being able to perform long term at a high level will always impact your all-time ranking, so he can only be judged as a great hockey player that we just never got to see enough of, unfortunately.