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Who will be the next "Best Player in the World"?

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Regal said:
It’s kind of crazy how we’ve had a bit of a lull for guys who looked primed for best in the league status. Someone mentioned in a Boldy thread recently that he might be the best winger under 25, with Raymond and Marchenko his best current competition. Which, as good as they are, is a far cry from a Kucherov.

Makar and Hughes are obviously awesome as defensemen and maybe Makar takes the mantle from the forwards, but the young forward crop doesn’t seem like it’s full of potential 120-130 point players. Jack Hughes is great, and I could see him maybe winning an Art Ross one day, but I don’t think he reaches the level of the top guys today. Celebrini and Bedard have that potential but as still a ways off. I don’t think there’s any answer that isn’t just taking a stab in the dark at this point
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You don't always see guys coming though.

MacKinnon had a lot of hype as a prospect, and a good rookie season, but was mostly "meh" overall his first 4 seasons. Good - but not necessarily "projected best in the world" good. And in year 5 - he took off and never looked back, hitting a much higher level of top ~2-5 player in the world.

Draisaitl. He was a talented player, but with even less hyp than MacKinnon...had a strong 5th season (2018-2019) with 50 goals/105 points, but most saw him as a product of McDavid, and nowhere near best in the world. Then - in year 6 at age 24, in 2019-2020, he exploded, swept the awards and outdid McDavid all season long. Been a consistent top ~2-5 player in the world since.

Kucherov was a very low draft pick so a much bigger surprise - but also, unlike Drai and Mack he had a very upwards trajectory since his debut. By his 3rd season (2016-2017) it was obvious he was among league leaders, and just kept improving and hasn't looked back. So, also surprising, but maybe a bit earlier than the other 2.

My point is - it's hard to predict these things sometimes.

Any of Hughes, Bedard, Celebrini or many others may end up taking a big leap like that.
 
bobholly39 said:
You don't always see guys coming though.

MacKinnon had a lot of hype as a prospect, and a good rookie season, but was mostly "meh" overall his first 4 seasons. Good - but not necessarily "projected best in the world" good. And in year 5 - he took off and never looked back, hitting a much higher level of top ~2-5 player in the world.

Draisaitl. He was a talented player, but with even less hyp than MacKinnon...had a strong 5th season (2018-2019) with 50 goals/105 points, but most saw him as a product of McDavid, and nowhere near best in the world. Then - in year 6 at age 24, in 2019-2020, he exploded, swept the awards and outdid McDavid all season long. Been a consistent top ~2-5 player in the world since.

Kucherov was a very low draft pick so a much bigger surprise - but also, unlike Drai and Mack he had a very upwards trajectory since his debut. By his 3rd season (2016-2017) it was obvious he was among league leaders, and just kept improving and hasn't looked back. So, also surprising, but maybe a bit earlier than the other 2.

My point is - it's hard to predict these things sometimes.

Any of Hughes, Bedard, Celebrini or many others may end up taking a big leap like that.
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Your 3 examples Kuch, Nate, Draisaitl were never thee very best player innthe game.
 
PaulD said:
Your 3 examples Kuch, Nate, Draisaitl were never thee very best player innthe game.
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The poster I was responding to was implying guys like Hughes, Bedard or Celebrini may never reach the level of top guys today (ie Kuch/Dra/MacK). And i'm saying - they might, as sometimes players take unexpected jumps, so that could still happen for someone like Jack Hughes, and a few others.

I think it's obvious to me there's no McDavid level player on the horizon for the next few years. Could Bedard, McKenna or other reach that leve? I suppose, but we're still far away from seeing that. So with no McDavid/Crosby caliber player - the next "best player in the world" is likely to be in the mold of a Kuch, Drai or MacKinnon level player, so I think they're good comparables.
 
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bobholly39 said:
The poster I was responding to was implying guys like Hughes, Bedard or Celebrini may never reach the level of top guys today (ie Kuch/Dra/MacK). And i'm saying - they might, as sometimes players take unexpected jumps, so that could still happen for someone like Jack Hughes, and a few others.

I think it's obvious to me there's no McDavid level player on the horizon for the next few years. Could Bedard, McKenna or other reach that leve? I suppose, but we're still far away from seeing that. So with no McDavid/Crosby caliber player - the next "best player in the world" is likely to be in the mold of a Kuch, Drai or MacKinnon level player, so I think they're good comparables.
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what level the next best player will be ? Sure.
Who it will be was the question.
But I get ya.
Cheers
 
Sasha Orlov said:
Ivan Demidov with Landon Dupont a distant 2nd
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I really like Demidov but he is already a bit behind Celebrini but I'm wondering how slaty some Hab fans will become in this comparison if Celebrini wins the Calder this year eh?

And yes I'm posting this in part to the Landon dupont distant second stuff which probably won't age well and I think Demidov is going to be really good.
 
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wetcoast said:
I really like Demidov but he is already a bit behind Celebrini but I'm wondering how slaty some Hab fans will become in this comparison if Celebrini wins the Calder this year eh?

And yes I'm posting this in part to the Landon dupont distant second stuff which probably won't age well and I think Demidov is going to be really good.
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I was joking I think DuPont will be the best

I do think Demidov will be a top 5 player in his prime though
 
bobholly39 said:
You don't always see guys coming though.

MacKinnon had a lot of hype as a prospect, and a good rookie season, but was mostly "meh" overall his first 4 seasons. Good - but not necessarily "projected best in the world" good. And in year 5 - he took off and never looked back, hitting a much higher level of top ~2-5 player in the world.

Draisaitl. He was a talented player, but with even less hyp than MacKinnon...had a strong 5th season (2018-2019) with 50 goals/105 points, but most saw him as a product of McDavid, and nowhere near best in the world. Then - in year 6 at age 24, in 2019-2020, he exploded, swept the awards and outdid McDavid all season long. Been a consistent top ~2-5 player in the world since.

Kucherov was a very low draft pick so a much bigger surprise - but also, unlike Drai and Mack he had a very upwards trajectory since his debut. By his 3rd season (2016-2017) it was obvious he was among league leaders, and just kept improving and hasn't looked back. So, also surprising, but maybe a bit earlier than the other 2.

My point is - it's hard to predict these things sometimes.

Any of Hughes, Bedard, Celebrini or many others may end up taking a big leap like that.
Click to expand...

For sure, but that’s why I said at the end of my post that it feels like any answer is a stab in the dark at this point. Sometimes there’s a few obvious choices, but this feels very wide open. But even with your examples, they broke out to elite levels at 22 (MacKinnon was 2nd in PPG and Hart runner up at 22), or 23 (Kucherov and Draisaitl were both 2nd in goals and top 5 in points at 23). Currently the only player under 25 who is in the top 20 in points is Jack Hughes
 
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