Playmaking Wingers

[JFedol]

One player I've never heard about playing C is Gordie Howe. Which is a little strange when you think about him being such a complete player. I guess you don't fix what isn't broken. He was a rare forward who could fill in for a shift on defence when needed.

Wasn't it mentioned in his biography that he played every position at some point? I vividly remember reading a comment posted by a user on a previous thread on "Why Howe was a Winger?"

 

[JFedol]

Last comment, but It won't really dawn on a lot of people's minds the particular level of skillset needed to be THAT productive as a playmaker especially from the wing LOL. What the greatest wingers in this league throughout history have accomplished production wise while there backs are against the wall 99% of the time is insane. I'm not even joking when I say that the 100 assist season by Kucherov could possibly be never be eclipsed again by any other winger

I think it's underrated to be an elite playmaking winger and I'll always cherish those players who are just as dominant if not more than elite centres.

 

[JFedol]

Some of them are extremely underrated. Arguably the greatest highest IQ moments, with thee greatest board play and God tier Passing only with a feet of space.

Marchands game today was NUTS

 

[JFedol]

There better than centres and I'll die on that hill IMO

 

[Davenport]

Andy Bathgate certainly fits that description. While he is remembered for his shooting ability - leading to 349 goals in 1069 regular season games - his forte was setting up his teammates. Bathgate had 624 assists: he led the league in assists twice, and was second four times. This was no small feat when he was playing with guys who did well scoring 20 goals.

 

[LightningStorm]

With Kucherov possibly on track to become the greatest playmaking winger ever and the Lightning having previously had Martin St. Louis, I would put Tampa as the #1 franchise for playmaking wingers. They are also high for sniping centers.

 

[rmartin65]

It was pretty common for wingers to be playmakers in the earliest days of hockey. Assists are pretty hard to nail down, especially pre-1893, but looking at the AHAC/CAHL/ECAHA-

Year	Goal Leader (Position)	Assist Leader (Position)
1893	Haviland Routh (Center)	Allan Cameron (Cover)
1894	Dolly Swift (Rover)	Herbert Russell (LW)
1895	Haviland Routh (Center)	Archie Hodgson (RW)
1896	Bob MacDougall (Rover)	Shirley Davidson (RW)
1897	Bob MacDougall (Rover)	Shirley Davidson (RW)
1898	Bob MacDougall (Rover)	Cam Davidson (Center)
1899	Harry Trihey (Center)	Art Farrell (RW) ; Cam Davidson (Center)
1900	Harry Trihey (Center)	Jack Brannen (Rover)
1901	Russell Bowie (Rover)	Charlie Liffiton (RW)
1902	Archie Hooper (Rover)	Montgomery (Rover)
1903	Russell Bowie (Rover)	Frank McGee (Center)
1904	Russell Bowie (Rover)	Joe Power (LW)
1905	Russell Bowie (Rover)	Lester Patrick (Cover)
1906	Harry Smith (LW)	Alf Smith (RW)
1907	Ernie Russell (Center)	Alf Smith (RW)
1908	Russell Bowie (Rover)	Tommy Phillips (LW)
1909	Marty Walsh (Center)	Bruce Stuart (Rover)

Mid-ice players fairly dominate the goals column (all but 1906 I believe, and even then, Harry Smith spent some time at center), but wingers are more prevalent in the assists column (10 wingers, 2 covers, 7 rovers/centers).

 

[Hippasus]

One name I haven't seen mentioned is Hemsky, from the Oilers. He was often looking to pass the puck, with foot speed.

 

[Staniowski]

Makarov, Kucherov, Jagr are probably the three best playmaking wingers ever.

 

[wetcoast]

Ovechkin has done the same. Yet some people are convinced he can't pass a puck.

Everything is relative and needs context.

Came here to say Marner is moving up on the playmaking winger lists.

He was a couple assists aways in 21-22 when he missed 10 games from 6 straight seasons top 10 in assists.

 

[MadLuke]

also mogilny played more than 70 games 5 times and had seven 40 assists seasons, Ovechkin did it 16 times.

 

[tarheelhockey]

One player I've never heard about playing C is Gordie Howe. Which is a little strange when you think about him being such a complete player. I guess you don't fix what isn't broken. He was a rare forward who could fill in for a shift on defence when needed.

There’s a good thread on this topic here:

Thread 'Why Howe was a winger?'

Nov 28, 2019

By all accounts Gordie Howe was a complete player who excelled also on the defensive side of the play. Why did he made his career as a winger?

Has the junior ranks changed since or could it be imaginable that a player with Howe’s skill set would be kept on the wing or would he be converted to center early in his career?

• Noldo
• Replies: 20
• Forum: The History of Hockey

• 

The prevailing thought seems to be that Howe got to the NHL so quickly that he was too raw to compete for a C spot against the likes of Billy Taylor (who led the league in assists that year) and Sid Abel, both in their late 20s with hundreds of NHL games under their belts. By the time Howe emerged as a star, he was firmly entrenched on the wing of the Production Line so changing his position would have been a non-starter.

I wonder if that same dynamic may have been a factor for a number of other guys who seemed capable of playing C but never did.