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

[CaptTennille]

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone manipulate the players in front of them with misdirection and false information like Adam Fox.

He has opponents seeing ghosts with his head fakes and fake passes.

 

[Killswitch]

Gretzky is at the top, but I always felt Larmer and Mats Naslund were high IQ players. Lehtinen from Dallas also

 

[bleedgreen]

Gretzky
Mario
Datsyuk
Sedins
Francis
Bergeron
Fox
Sakic
Zetterberg
Larionov
Lidstrom
Fedorov
P Kane (only when playing hockey)
I don’t know about Syd as a youngster but I think he’s very much there now.

Dahlin could be in here in time, his level of deception is off the charts.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

Andrei Markov and Sergei Gonchar. Two Russian defensemen.

Both absolute generals from the backend who controlled the game with their mind more so than their physical talents.

Their eloquent manipulation of the opposition was always a treat to watch.

It's a joy to see players dissect and make plays from nothing. Those two were top 10 defenseman of their era.

Hockey at its best is not speed of feet or speed of hands, it is the speed of the mind that shines brightest.

 

[RedWingzz]

Red Wings: Datsyuk, Lidstrom

non-Wings: Crosby, Kucherov

 

[AvroArrow]

Lidstrom, Datsyuk, Crosby, Bergeron, Kucherov, Brodeur (before the trapezoid), McDavid

 

[Terry Yake]

scott niedermayer

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Kucherov and his timing. He brings NHL pace down to beer league level

Adam Fox shoutout as well. In the most unspectacular way yet at an elite level, he can direct play based on his vision, patience, head fakes and feet deception

Crosby in current time does tons of little things that eliminate the "grinding" aspect for him and his linemates

In the past, I can't not mention the Sedins. Never the skated fastest and never shot the hardest. Man they could stir up the drink in the offensive zone. They'll make it look like they run out of space but in doing so they've just opened up a massive unmanned portion of ice where they would send no-look, tape-to-tape back door saucer passes to

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Jack Hughes has an insane talent for reading offensive plays. I think back to a game in Vancouver when he approached Myers in the corner, then purposely backed off into the wall and just waited for Myers to blindly throw the puck onto his stick

 

[Hale The Villain]

Stone is probably the smartest forward I've watched.

Leading the league in takeaways for years despite not being able to skate says it all really.

 

[I am Canadian]

Mitch Marner has unreal vision on the ice. He doesn't have a great shot, he's not big but he can find guys with a pass that not many players can do.

He struggles in the playoffs to do this consistently and get's memed, but there's a reason he puts up 90 points+ yearly.

 

[bleachdrinker]

Couturier at his peak had outstanding IQ. Think it’s still there but his body cannot keep up

 

[authentic]

Forsberg, Sakic, Yzerman, Zetterberg, Marc Savard, Kopitar, Larry Robinson, Hasek, Pronger

 

[wired14]

I’ll throw out a bit of an odd one but I’ll say Jason Allison. Watching him handle the puck and skate was horrifying. Especially near the end of his career, he looked like he had no knees left. He still managed a point per game and I always attributed that to being able to make the right plays at the right time despite a lack of elite, or even good, basic skills.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Stone is probably the smartest forward I've watched.

Leading the league in takeaways for years despite not being able to skate says it all really.

Yeah, I'd definitely put Mark Stone on this list. He's a slow skater and he really doesn't have much of an outside shot, but he consistently makes a high percentage of smart plays. One of those "always in the right place at the right time doing the right thing" sort of guys despite his other serious limitations.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Fox

Michkov

 

[NyQuil]

Id argue this was a low IQ play lol.

He’s his own man.

 

[Ratsreign]

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.

Maurice has commented many times about rhino’s incredible hockey sense.
(approximately 4 minutes in)

 

[Based Anime Fan]

John Madden was a damn smart player in his day.

 

[ItWasJustified]

Peter Forsberg and Mario Lemieux.

 

[b in vancouver]

Brett Hull and Marc Savard. How they accomplished what they did is still a mystery to me as neither was fast, tough, able to deke... just on ice intelligence to create space.
I don't know if I ever saw Bergeron out of position. Guy could read the game.
Gretzky is GOAT for on ice intelligence.

Defensively - Bourque and Lidstrom stick out. - perfect angles.

Goaltending - Turco and Brodeur. Those two created rule changes.