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Who is the best skater (technique and ability wise) in the NHL?

Somewhat shocked Gaudreau hasn't been mentioned, his edgework is crazy, I remember Pat Kane glowing about his skating skills.

"He does some things better than me, for sure," Kane said after the Blackhawks morning skate on Tuesday. "He's unbelievable on his edges. He's one of those guys that you never really see get hit or get taken advantage of because of his size. I think that's a credit to him, that he's never really had to worry about that so far in his career.
"He's so good on his edges, he can turn on a dime, spin away from checks.

-Patrick Kane
 
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Yeah McDavid and Makar are the first two guys I think of, which looks like the most popular answer here.

The thread would probably be more interesting if every fan said the best skater on the team they root for. On the Bruins, the best technical skater may be Matt Grzelcyk. Brad Marchand a close second.
 
ElysiumAB said:
Did you know Jeff Skinner was a figure skater in his youth?
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Bruv Skinner was a figure skater in whichever game he most recently played. It is cool to see, he uses it effectively sometimes, but other times it’s 1-on-2 and you just want the dude to skate in a straight line. Instead he’s like “nah ima turn my hips, skate sideways, get the puck poked away, fooled him for sure!” That’s my boy, love watching him play, but he’s determined to elicit a “former figure skater” comment from the announcers at least once a game.
 
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We can bring up all these great skaters as much as we like and it's all good. We can talk about skating and different aspects of it and who's good at what and shit.

Still the greatest skater ever in hockey is McDavid and it's not particularly close.
 
hirawl said:
We can bring up all these great skaters as much as we like and it's all good. We can talk about skating and different aspects of it and who's good at what and shit.

Still the greatest skater ever in hockey is McDavid and it's not particularly close.
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Speed and acceleration alone does not make you the greatest FYI.

There are several skaters that are better what McDavid when it comes to
mentioned aspects in OP.
 
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hirawl said:
We can bring up all these great skaters as much as we like and it's all good. We can talk about skating and different aspects of it and who's good at what and shit.

Still the greatest skater ever in hockey is McDavid and it's not particularly close.
Click to expand...
These phrases should be banned when comparing world's best skaters (or best players in general). McDavid might be the best, but it's close. When someone has ability to literally fly (skates not touching ice at any point), then we can use this.
 
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Johnnybegood13 said:
Somewhat shocked Gaudreau hasn't been mentioned, his edgework is crazy, I remember Pat Kane glowing about his skating skills.

"He does some things better than me, for sure," Kane said after the Blackhawks morning skate on Tuesday. "He's unbelievable on his edges. He's one of those guys that you never really see get hit or get taken advantage of because of his size. I think that's a credit to him, that he's never really had to worry about that so far in his career.
"He's so good on his edges, he can turn on a dime, spin away from checks.

-Patrick Kane
Click to expand...

That's high praise since Kane is a pretty agile, nifty skater himself.
 
McDavid

Then guys like Barzal and Makar.

I think Kylington has a chance at being one of the best too. Give it a couple more years and I think his skating will be recognized. Reminds a bit of Coffey.

Johnny Gaudreau I think has deceptive speed. Always seems to break away from whosever after him. Super shifty too.
 
Probably Barzal, or at least his skating stands out in a positive way to me more than anyone else's skating does.
 
Makar and Hughes Bros for sure. I’m also going to go a bit out there and add a dark horse:

Igor Shesterkin. His edges and lateral movement without opening up from the butterfly are wizard like. It’s admittedly a homer nomination, but just watch him move out there. It’s a dream.
 
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From a technique perspective, probably Chabot who often plays 30+ minutes per game and looks like he always has more juice in the tank. Has had multiple shifts this year of over 3.5 minutes and at least one game where he played the entire OT. His skating is so efficient and such a mastery of technique I'd say him on the basis of technique alone.

But the question is kinda tough to answer because skating has so many different aspects whether edge work, acceleration, top speed, stride, backwards skating, lateral movement, strength and power, ability to log minutes effectively, etc.

It's like asking who has the best shot? Does that mean most accurate or most powerful or the best blend of both? The answers for all 3 will probably be different so how do you then choose who's #1? Same deal for this question.
 
karhukissa said:
These phrases should be banned when comparing world's best skaters (or best players in general). McDavid might be the best, but it's close. When someone has ability to literally fly (skates not touching ice at any point), then we can use this.
Click to expand...

With regards to skating with the puck, there isn’t anybody really that close to his abilities. This thread is overall skating and edge work though.
 
Something that hasn’t been explicitly stated is just how well Quinn Hughes can walk the blue line, and his edge work is sublime.

To say someone new, the way Tanev can transition from skating backwards to forwards is simply something else.
 
sebsisles said:
He's mentioned 8 times on the first page
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thatsthejoke.jpg
 
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McDavid and Makar in a league of their own with all around unspeakable skating skill, but throwing some Mackinnon love out there just for those first 3 strides and the way he gets faster/stronger with the puck on his stick
 
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Chandler Stephenson is one of the most technically gifted skaters that flies (literally) under the radar. Shea Theodore should be mentioned as well.
 
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