Players most underappreciated by their own fanbase?

[Frank Drebin]

I feel carey price was both overrated and under appreciated by habs fans during his career

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Marcus Pettersson. He barely gets mentioned by the fanbase despite absolutely slaying it last year, and being really solid the year before.
The amount of 2 on 1's he broke up is staggering.
Even chipped in 30 points as a D-man without any PP time.

Just to give you an idea...Erik Karlsson had 30 5v5 points. MP had 28.

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

Trent Frederic for a time until last season.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Big Cock Brock & The Chaos Giraffe

hard to pick which nickname is cringier

 

[sabremike]

Girgs is/was the single best example of this. Our fans constantly shit on the guy despite the fact he was one of the few players who performed effectively in his role for no other reason than he has been here through the entire Pegula Error.

 

[DaveG]

When he was with the Canes that guy was 100% Joni Pitkanen. Not so much on HF at the time, but when he was active with the Canes the guy took at lot of shit in other online spaces and even in the stands to the point that I used to say that he was a great litmus test for the intelligence of fans of the team. Very cerebral player, solid all-around defender, and his skating was absolutely elite. But because he didn't use his size to be overly physical and his skating stride made it look like he wasn't even trying that hard he got a ton of unwarranted shit heading his direction. Especially because he was often paired with old fan favorites from the 06 team that were well past their "best by" date.

 

[Evergreen]

Not so much anymore on HFNYR but if you go on Social Media fans still think that Chris Kreider is an underachieving bum because he never became Lindros and because he scores a lot of goals around the net.

Meanwhile he's one of the most productive home grown Rangers ever in the regular season and playoffs and for years Rangers fans were begging for a guy that scores around the net.

I've come to the conclusion most fans are dumb as rocks.

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

 

[Machinehead]

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

That take is absolutely wild and it is something you will see on here.

The criticism of Zibanejad at even strength is valid. He's a glorified 3C at 5v5.

He cleans up on the powerplay, like, objectively. Wanting to take him off the PP is just misguided blowback against his 5v5 game.

 

[banks]

Leafs fans do not appreciate Tavares. You'd think he's a bum based on the average HF Leafs discussion.

But he's still playing solid minutes, he plays well with skilled players, and even on a down year he scored 29 goals and .8 points-per-game. Toronto is lucky to have the guy as a #2 C.

 

[pi314]

Marcus Pettersson. He barely gets mentioned by the fanbase despite absolutely slaying it last year, and being really solid the year before.
The amount of 2 on 1's he broke up is staggering.
Even chipped in 30 points as a D-man without any PP time.

Just to give you an idea...Erik Karlsson had 30 5v5 points. MP had 28.

Kris Letang even more so.

Yes he has brain fart giveaways.

But he makes a lot happen on the ice too.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

That take is absolutely wild and it is something you will see on here.

The criticism of Zibanejad at even strength is valid. He's a glorified 3C at 5v5.

He cleans up on the powerplay, like, objectively. Wanting to take him off the PP is just misguided blowback against his 5v5 game.

Using your own logic, you think we should stop having good goalies because they are a crutch for the team but we shouldn’t force our 1C who keeps getting dominated at 5 on 5 when we lose in the playoffs to lose his PP crutch to hopefully improve his 5 on 5 play?

Until Zibanejad is challenged, we’ll be in the same spot we are every year with him. The team needs to try something different with him to unlock his potential. I refuse to believe he’s not talented enough anymore to be good at 5 on 5.

 

[Machinehead]

Using your own logic, you think we should stop having good goalies because they are a crutch for the team but we shouldn’t force our 1C who keeps getting dominated at 5 on 5 when we lose in the playoffs to lose his PP crutch to hopefully improve his 5 on 5 play?

Until Zibanejad is challenged, we’ll be in the same spot we are every year with him. The team needs to try something different with him to unlock his potential. I refuse to believe he’s not talented enough anymore to be good at 5 on 5.

It's not a matter of leaning on a crutch. If Zibanejad were capable of being better, he would be.

He's had one calendar year in his entire time in the NHL where he was really a good player at 5v5.

He has a good shot and he can facilitate off the rush, and those abilities are amplified with the man advantage, but he's never been a play-driver. You're asking him to "unlock his potential" at 31 and do something that he's pretty much never done.

He's talented at certain things but he's really, really bad at all of the things centers need to be good at to drive play. He doesn't handle the puck well in tight spaces, his zone entries are bad, he couldn't find the boards on a map, and his 5v5 defense is overrated. He's a rush winger who takes faceoffs.

We're paying him $8.5m a year and it would asinine to remove him from part of the game where he actually provides value.

All to give PP1 time to Lafreniere who has 5 career powerplay goals and isn't a fit on the first unit.

 

[Torontonian]

Add one Mitchell Marner to this list. Toronto fans seem to forgotten what it was like watching non talented bums play nightly for 8 years.

Marner has his faults, but is a great player and helped make Toronto relevant again.

 

[WhataKnight]

I know the guy’s a 4th liner, but the first Knight that came to mind, easily……

 

[TomBlizzy12]

I know the guy’s a 4th liner, but the first Knight that came to mind, easily……

View attachment 906032

I can see him leading the league in hits soon

 

[WhataKnight]

I can see him leading the league in hits soon

If he stays healthy, so can I.

Maybe even 15 goal potential if both he & Nic Roy have solid injury-free streaks. Doesn’t have Cal Clutterbuck’s hands, but he’s of that mold, for sure.

 

[Canadienna]

For most Habs fans on the Habs you're either 25 and under or you're bad.

I'll say Gallagher. He's not what he was, but people conflate the fact he's not worth his contract with he's no longer an NHLer.

 

[Minnesota Knudsens]

Mikael Backlund comes to mind, because exceptional possession numbers and decent defensive play just isn’t sexy. Would’ve been the ideal 3C but due to lack of team talent, he’s often had to be in a role he’s not suited for playing up the lineup.

He is kind of infuriatingly inconsistent in the o-zone. One minute he’s scoring as nice a goal as you’ve ever seen, the next he’s absolutely blowing a perfect chance to score. At least in the games I’ve watched.

I recall a fan calling him “Buck-land” after he signed his last contract.

 

[Leonardo87]

Easily Chris Kreider for the Rangers. Fans don’t appreciate what they got . A drafted, home grown 30+ goal scorer who can kill penalties and is clutch.

 

[Warden of the North]

William Nylander on the Leafs.

 

[SnowblindNYR]

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

Well, that's probably because people think Lafreniere is the future and also want to see him get the point totals he should be able to and deserves. Zibanejad is not as bad of a take because he's just a horrible 5 on 5 player.

 

[GOilers88]

Shout out to every player who isn't a U23 stud or superstar player on a sweetheart contract.

 

[BagHead]

Jared Spurgeon went from being an underrated player leaguewide that only Wild fans knew the true value of, to being underappreciated by Wild fans and accepted as a top 20 or so defenseman by other fans around the league.

No, he's not a defenseman who will carry your team on his back to playoff victory. Yes, he still outperforms most of the rest of the Wild in the playoffs. That's not saying much, but it is saying something.

 

[Sniper99]

Big Cock Brock & The Chaos Giraffe

God I hope these are not their real nicknames and just your personal cringe nicknames. Ooof

 

[SUX2BU]

Dylan DeMelo or Dylan Samberg