Who are some of the smartest hockey players you have ever watched

[Coffee]

In any area of the game, really, offensively, defensively. Anything either it's a defender , or a sniper who finds spots or a two way player who's always a step ahead of the play

Click to read more...

 

[CanadienShark]

Just to name a few:

McDavid, Kucherov, Lidstrom

And of course, one can't forget Lane Hutson.

 

[Mantis]

@John Price

 

[Agent Zuuuub]

Alfredsson.

Shooter, passer, grinder, pker, pp quarterback. There was nothing he didn't do well, also worked harder shift to shift than 4th liners.

Karlsson

Played like chess, saw the game from above , would find guys open that didn't know they were open.

Stone

Hockey IQ poster boy but lesser than previous two. Would always make the right decision.

 

[BB79]

Randy Gregg....he won 5 cups with Edmonton then went on to become a family doctor

 

[crazychimp]

The Sedins, they wouldn’t be the fastest but they’d make you play at their pace. The plays they would make on the power play the slap passes, spin passes, short passes they would make in tight spaces, the accurate saucer passes, dumping the puck in having it bouncing off the boards on to the others tape all while being onside and the cycle game they’d play down low. I know Canucks got a lot of hate during those prime seasons but man that was some of the best and skilled hockey I think I will ever see.

 

[ozzie]

The Professor, Igor Larionov and Nick Lidstrom. Both controlled the game with their brains, smarter than most players. Nick especially, some of the best defesnisve stick work.

Larionov, amazing passing and spacing against bigger opponents in his prime.

 

[RRhoads]

No one has mentioned Gretzky yet?

Well, him and Lidstrom.

 

[Bounces R Way]

Johnny Gaudreau was built like a highschool freshman his entire amateur and pro hockey career. Very little chance he would have been as successful as he was without being able to think the game at an incredibly high level. There is plenty of players that excel based on their physical gifts, not nearly as many that excel despite the lack of them. He was a very unique talent in this game and we're all a little poorer for having lost him to that senseless drunk driving tragedy.

Adam Fox is another that succeeds despite his lack of athleticism, almost entirely due to his incredibly high hockey IQ. The NHL is fast, much faster than it looks on television. To be able to make the correct decision and have the inherent skill to execute that decision is what separates the wheat from the chaff. I'm really just naming Calgary Flames late round draft picks at this point but I like how Dustin Wolf anticipates the game. He's where he should be before he should really be there.

 

[RoadWarrior]

Adam Oates, Wayne Gretzky, Igor Larionov, Pavel Datsyuk, Niklas Lidstrom, Mario Lemieux.

 

[mphmiles]

If I had to pick one guy currently in the league with the highest on-ice IQ, I think it would be Adam Fox.

He's not that big, fast, or physical. Doesn't have an amazing shot or hands. He's got good edges, but he's not Makar or Hughes. There's not really one tangible trait that you can point to and say he's one of the best in the league at. And yet he goes out and dominates in both ends.

 

[jetsforever]

Bergeron's up there

 

[eviohh26]

Datsyuk, Sedins.

 

[Bombshell11]

Datsyuk

Joe Thorton

Ron Francis

Messier

 

[GigaChad]

Barkov, Lidstrom, Sedins, Crosby, Bergeron, Jumbo Joe, Datsyuk, Hasek

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Wasn't Joe Juneau a literal rocket scientist?

 

[Zwui21]

This might be recency bias, but I have been an addicted hockey fan for almost 20 years and nobody ever stood out to me as much as Kucherov does.
His game is effortless poetry in motion, his hockey IQ is off the charts.
I'm forever grateful to be able to see him play night in and night out.

 

[adsfan]

Roman Josi.

He is deadly on defense and offense.

I admit that he isn't Bobby Orr, but he would have more hardware playing in another city.

 

[TageGod]

This typically implies high-end two-way players. I would say Bergeron maybe? As a Sabres fan, Samson is someone with no high-end traits but is always in the right spot, and obviously knows how to finish.

I have high hopes for Jack Quinn, he is cerebral. His start this season is concerning though.

 

[Acallabeth]

Michkov is the smartest prospect I've seen in recent years.

 

[NyQuil]

Claude Giroux is getting up there but you still see the hockey IQ shine through.

He’s a guy who doesn’t just throw the puck away needlessly, but will use a bouncy wrist shot to generate an offensive zone faceoff rather than simply dumping and changing lines.

There’s a play where he faked moving one way only to dive back across the other to intercept a pass in the offensive zone with their net empty. Led to an ENG.

Sometimes it’s the little plays where you can really appreciate a different level of hockey thinking.

 

[Randy Butternubs]

Wasn't Joe Juneau a literal rocket scientist?

Went to a great engineering school for aeronautical engineering. Earned a 4 year degree in just 3 years. Graduated with a 4.0 GPA. Learned English while he was there (the school is in NY state).

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Adam Fox

He went Harvard he’s wicked smaht

Also dude has the worst physical tools of any elite defenseman ever , so he must be a genius to perform how he does

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Gaudreau, Crosby, Fox

 

[Bradely]

Bergeron. His best and elite asset was his game analysis, IQ, game comprehension and position. He was simply at another level.