Players most underappreciated by their own fanbase?

[Apfel Struble]

Mike Matheson and Alex Newhook on the Habs. Most fans don't appreciate how hard Matheson's minutes are. His conditionning and athleticism are extraordinarry IMO

As for Newhook, he's seen by many as an afterthought, an undersized 3rd line winger who won't progress further

 

[SheldonJPlankton]

Samsonov and his 23 wins got the boot and was replaced by a guy who doesn't have 23 wins in his entire NHL career.

 

[OldCraig71]

I think that Lars Eller was underappreciated by a portion of the Habs fanbase and was disliked by Michel Therrien when he was our coach.(puke) He went on to become a key contributor in the Caps Cup win.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

For the Avs, Sam Girard. Sure, he's small, but his size gets overblown by a lot of his critics, and he's actually decent defensively, most of the time. He's also very affordable as a 2nd pairing D. But, he's still probably the number 2 guy most Avs fans want to trade, behind Nuke.

 

[Mogo]

Aaron Ekblad

 

[TS Quint]

Kyle Connor would be run out of town by a large group of Ehlers fans if they could.

 

[Stephen]

Toronto:
Larry Murphy
Mats Sundin
(Phil Kessel, somewhat)

Leafs' fan were kind of disgraceful in their endless booing of Hall of Famer Larry Murphy.

Murphy then went to Detroit, had back-to-back 52 point regular seasons (while going +56), scored 26 playoff points in back-to-back Cup runs, went +16 and +12 in each run (#1 NHL), and lifted the Cup twice.

When the TV reporter asked him -- minutes after winning the Cup, and three months after leaving the Leafs -- what he felt now about being booed by Leafs' fans, he said, "They don't understand hockey."

The whole Larry Murphy was mistreated in Toronto narrative always annoys the hell out of me especially when brought up by out of market fans.

In his time in Toronto, he had a big point producing year on the veteran laden 1996 Leafs but the wheels fell off everything in 1997. The Leafs famously traded their ‘97 first round pick to re-acquire Wendel Clark from the Island in 1996 and by January 1997 they were in free fall without a safety net, Island and Leafs were 25th and 26th in the league, and it looked like we were going to hand over a Thornton and Marleau combo to the Islanders.

Larry Murphy was slow, error prone and getting stripped of the puck at the blueline, regularly beat on the rush and just looking awful. Like good for him he landed somewhere where he could experience a career renaissance but he earned the ire of the crowd and Fletcher did him a kindness sending him to Detroit.

 

[The Panther]

Larry Murphy was slow, error prone and getting stripped of the puck at the blueline, regularly beat on the rush and just looking awful. Like good for him he landed somewhere where he could experience a career renaissance but he earned the ire of the crowd and Fletcher did him a kindness sending him to Detroit.

Yeah.... No.

Murphy was always slow, from his early days in L.A. to the end. Didn't stop him from playing for Team Canada or making the Hall of Fame, so that's a silly criticism.

As to him being error prone... I mean, I doubt it...? I saw Murphy play quite a bit for Washington, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, and he was anything but "error prone".

I guess it's possible that he suddenly sucked for a brief period coinciding exactly with his Toronto days, but let's be realistic here. What probably happened is that the beloved Leafs c.1992-1995 were falling apart, the fansbase needed a scapegoat for cathasis, and it decided that Murphy -- a big D who didn't throw many punishing hits -- would be it.

 

[Stephen]

Yeah.... No.

Murphy was always slow, from his early days in L.A. to the end. Didn't stop him from playing for Team Canada or making the Hall of Fame, so that's a silly criticism.

As to him being error prone... I mean, I doubt it...? I saw Murphy play quite a bit for Washington, Pittsburgh, and Detroit, and he was anything but "error prone".

I guess it's possible that he suddenly sucked for a brief period coinciding exactly with his Toronto days, but let's be realistic here. What probably happened is that the beloved Leafs c.1992-1995 were falling apart, the fansbase needed a scapegoat for cathasis, and it decided that Murphy -- a big D who didn't throw many punishing hits -- would be it.

Larry Murphy was simply an aging veteran on a veteran team who was moved out at the deadline because the team was plummeting to a 4th last finish in the standings and was at times at risk of finishing dead last in the league.

Whatever Murphy did anywhere else earlier in his career or whatever renaissance he experienced after Toronto doesn’t matter. We didn’t have a Nick Lidstrom for him in Toronto. He wasn’t going to win a cup for Toronto.

Cliff Fletcher trading him for nothing also seems to get confused with the mob running him out of town. It was simply a deadline deal that got him to somewhere better and the Leafs were let off the hook for his salary.

https://wingsnation.com/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpublish.wingsnation.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F7%2F2020%2F03%2FMurh.jpg&w=1200&q=75

 

[Snubbed4Vezina]

Jordan Kyrou. They literally made the kid cry.

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

I find Rangers fans oddly critical of Zibanejad too. I saw someone suggest taking him off the top PP in favor of Lafreniere. Wut?

Really no reason to think Lafreniere wouldn’t be better than Zib on PP1 at this point, he is better than him at 5v5 offense and it’s not even close.

It’s not enough anymore to just stand still in the 1-3-1 and hammer away at low percentage one timers from the boards. You want dynamic deceptive dual threat players on both half walls if possible AKA Lafreniere.

 

[ScottyMascotty]

Aaron Ekblad

It was Evan Rodrigues before SC Finals. People were insisting that he belongs on the 4th line just because he is not a good finisher and doesn't hit very much

 

[NyQuil]

There is a vocal cadre of Senators fans for whom Brady Tkachuk can do nothing right, despite leading the team in scoring 4 of the last 5 seasons.

It appears to be rooted in the idea that as the Captain, the overall team’s performance is reliant on him.

 

[SteelCityCannon]

For the CBJ, it's easily Gudbranson. He's been decent, one of the few who sticks up for guys. Not afraid to get in someone's face. Obviously a leader. People crapped on him when everyone was hurt and he was playing 22 minutes a night, but that was never the plan. He only had to do that because nobody else was left.

 

[Auston Marlander]

Toronto:
Larry Murphy
Mats Sundin
(Phil Kessel, somewhat)

Leafs' fan were kind of disgraceful in their endless booing of Hall of Famer Larry Murphy.

Murphy then went to Detroit, had back-to-back 52 point regular seasons (while going +56), scored 26 playoff points in back-to-back Cup runs, went +16 and +12 in each run (#1 NHL), and lifted the Cup twice.

When the TV reporter asked him -- minutes after winning the Cup, and three months after leaving the Leafs -- what he felt now about being booed by Leafs' fans, he said, "They don't understand hockey."

Those are great choices. For current players I would say Rielly and Marner. If they went somewhere else allof the white Oakley uncles woudl be livid as they torched the Leafs.

 

[Realgud]

Probably Maatta for the Wings

 

[Aladyyn]

It was Evan Rodrigues before SC Finals. People were insisting that he belongs on the 4th line just because he is not a good finisher and doesn't hit very much

Story of his career haha

 

[Reality Czech]

Brayden Schenn for the Blues. Yes he's not the player he used to be but he deserves way more respect considering what he's done for the team over the years

 

[WhatTheDuck]

I'd say Cam Fowler for Anaheim, he gets way too much crap from some Ducks fans. The problem is, for a large part of his career he's been utilized in a role (#1 D) that he's not really cut out to carry. When you're in a role that isn't a fit to your skillset, and playing the most of anyone on the team, it kind of sets you up on a tee to have your game picked apart the most. Combine that with the fact that he's been around forever (nearing 1000 regular season games) and I think one can see why a portion of the fanbase ends up having it out for him. However I do find that some of their takes end up far too hyperbolic and downright dismissive of Fowler completely. He's still a bonafide top 4 D on almost any team, and could still bring a lot of value in a less detrimental situation. Put him in more of a #2/3 role with a quality defensive partner and I have zero doubt he could really flourish in the same way Lindholm did when he first left.

 

[Evergreen]

Really no reason to think Lafreniere wouldn’t be better than Zib on PP1 at this point, he is better than him at 5v5 offense and it’s not even close.

It’s not enough anymore to just stand still in the 1-3-1 and hammer away at low percentage one timers from the boards. You want dynamic deceptive dual threat players on both half walls if possible AKA Lafreniere.

This is the kind of stuff I’m talking about. You guys had the third best PP in the league last year and Zibanejad is your biggest shooting threat. It would be stupid to take him off the top PP. You’d have to revamp the entire setup to accommodate another lefty.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Kris Letang pretty easily for the Penguins, in my opinion. I think he's just been around so long that fans are a bit spoiled on his impact.

He plays a TON of minutes and makes a lot of great plays on the ice. Sure, he makes some boneheaded decisions at times, but he's a high-risk high-reward kind of player.

His conditioning is top tier, he never backs down, sticks up for himself and his teammates. Plays a tough game despite not being a particularly big guy... 19 years in Pittsburgh he's never caused drama and has been as consistent of a scorer as you can ask for. Guys that can play 24-25 minutes a night at a high level don't just grow on trees.

 

[ScottyMascotty]

Story of his career haha

I'm glad he finally got his respect when he hit unexpected scoring heater in Finals. Analytics won with him.

 

[Strawberry Fields]

Giroux, Voracek, Ghost. But especially Giroux. Not on HF, but elsewhere online.

 

[80shockeywasbuns]

This is the kind of stuff I’m talking about. You guys had the third best PP in the league last year and Zibanejad is your biggest shooting threat. It would be stupid to take him off the top PP. You’d have to revamp the entire setup to accommodate another lefty.

Really wouldn’t be stupid at all. You have Zibanejad who was the clear weak link on a power play that struggled in the 2nd/3rd rounds of the playoffs and looked bad against the top PKs all year (CAR/PHI/FLA). You lose literally nothing other than the obsolete half wall one timer from Narnia. Also nothing has to be revamped. Fox/Trocheck/Kreider play in the same spot, and Laf replaces Mika on one of the dots. Only thing to decide is if Panarin/Laf play their strong sides or off wings. I’m not worried about handedness, just get the best players out there and go from there.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

Probably Maatta for the Wings

Very stable defensive partner down the lineup.

Historically for the Wings it is Chris Osgood by a lot here. Most fanbases would argue for their guy’s HHOF credentials, he gets more hate from Detroit fans there than other fanbases.