Who's The Fifth Greatest Player Ever (As of Summer of 2024)?

[DitchMarner]

The consensus top four are Gretzky, Howe, Orr and Lemieux and that hasn't changed in years. But after those four, who is the greatest of all-time?


Candidates:

Howie Morenz: Terrific scorer in the pre Original Six era. I believe he holds the era-adjusted record for most points in a season.

Maurice Richard: Iconic goal scorer and hockey legend. Great playoff performer.

Jean Beliveau: Multiple time Cup winner. Classy individual and great player.

Bobby Hull: Exciting offensive player. In the conversation for greatest goal scorer ever.

Jaromir Jagr: Five-time Art Ross winner. Second-leading point scorer in NHL history.

Sidney Crosby: Three-time Stanley Cup winner. One of thee most consistent high-end players of all-time.

Alex Ovechkin: Nine-time Rocket Richard winner. Arguably the greatest goal scorer in NHL history.

Connor McDavid: Five-time Art Ross winner. Still in his prime. Considered by some to be the greatest offensive player since Lemieux.

Ray Bourque: Five-time Norris Trophy winner. One of the best two-way defensemen ever.

Nicklas Lidstrom: Seven-time Norris winner. Very complete and accomplished player.

Dominik Hasek: Six-time Vezina Trophy winner. Exciting. Unorthodox but effective.

Patrick Roy: Three-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner. Considered a winner and clutch performer.

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[Steven Toast]

McDavid.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Jean Beliveau

 

[DitchMarner]

Jean Beliveau

Added as an option. You can change your vote and select him.

 

[CanadienShark]

McDavid

 

[bobholly39]

Sidney Crosby.

McDavid will likely get there in time, but not yet, not after just 9 seasons.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

Crosby, McDavid is 4th

 

[Felidae]

Bourque or Hasek.

Also, no one will vote for him but Plante should be an option. There is not much separating him and Patrick Roy, if at all

 

[pegcity]

Crosby, because of Selke votes. McDavid's better offensively though.

 

[Voight]

I never saw the hype around Believe for 5th best. Great player, but not the 5th best.

Give me Bourque or McDavid. With Bourque you have 22 years of sustained excellence, that's rivalled by only Howe.

McDavid so far has 8 seasons of dominance, this season he was 3rd in points which was his worst finish aside from his rookie year. 3rd place in points would be a career year for many, not a career worst finish.

 

[TheGuiminator]

McDavid but it’s not set in stone yet, cause he didn’t win the cup

 

[blundluntman]

It's between Hull, Roy, Crosby, and McDavid for me personally.

Bobby Hull - 10x 1AST, 7x Richard Winner, 3 Rosses and a bunch of top 3 Hart finishes, Top 5 Goalscorer of all time

Patrick Roy - 3 Smythes (2, if not 3, top 5 smythe performances of all time), 3 vezinas (7 top 3 finishes), a comparable peak to Hasek, Incredible longevity (finished 3rd in hart voting at 36 and top 5 in vezina voting at 37 in his final season), 2nd most clutch player of all time

Sidney Crosby - 8 top 2 AST finishes, Incredibly high floor/consistency (100 points in rookie year at 18, 90+ points at 36 with no dropoff in between), tier 3 peak (arguably tier 2 if not for injuries), versatile/adaptable (a few decent selke finishes, 1 top 5 finish),

Connor McDavid - 5 Rosses, 3 Harts, 4 Lindsays, 7 Top 2 AST finishes, 1 Conn Smythe, Top 5 peak (if not 4th) of all time, tier 1/2 playoff performer, only thing stopping him from being decisively top 5 is a few more top tier seasons and a little more hardware

Crosby has the most well rounded argument which makes him an easy choice for many.
McDavid has the most convincing argument based on the eye test/accomplishments.
Roy's argument is very dependent on his playoff resume, but if you value that most, his argument may be the strongest.
Hull was extremely dominant and consistent like Crosby, but leaving to the WHA hurt his claim a good bit.

Going to be a bit biased and take Roy. He may be the only one out of these 4 with no Hart trophies, but I don't think any of these 4 would've won a Hart if their peaks overlapped with the competition he had. McDavid's all but guaranteed to take the #5 spot very soon though.

 

[AvroArrow]

Crosby

 

[wetcoast]

Sidney Crosby.

McDavid will likely get there in time, but not yet, not after just 9 seasons.

Came here to say this.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

McDavid the true next one

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Crosby

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Think it's too early for McDavid at this point, some more seasons needed even if I think he is the best player on the list.

Went with Crosby. Hasek is a solid option, best goalie the game has ever seen.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Crosby

 

[bobholly39]

It's between Hull, Roy, Crosby, and McDavid for me personally.

Bobby Hull - 10x 1AST, 7x Richard Winner, 3 Rosses and a bunch of top 3 Hart finishes, Top 5 Goalscorer of all time

Patrick Roy - 3 Smythes (2, if not 3, top 5 smythe performances of all time), 3 vezinas (7 top 3 finishes), a comparable peak to Hasek, Incredible longevity (finished 3rd in hart voting at 36 and top 5 in vezina voting at 37 in his final season), 2nd most clutch player of all time

Sidney Crosby - 8 top 2 AST finishes, Incredibly high floor/consistency (100 points in rookie year at 18, 90+ points at 36 with no dropoff in between), tier 3 peak (arguably tier 2 if not for injuries), versatile/adaptable (a few decent selke finishes, 1 top 5 finish),

Connor McDavid - 5 Rosses, 3 Harts, 4 Lindsays, 7 Top 2 AST finishes, 1 Conn Smythe, Top 5 peak (if not 4th) of all time, tier 1/2 playoff performer, only thing stopping him from being decisively top 5 is a few more top tier seasons and a little more hardware

Crosby has the most well rounded argument which makes him an easy choice for many.
McDavid has the most convincing argument based on the eye test/accomplishments.
Roy's argument is very dependent on his playoff resume, but if you value that most, his argument may be the strongest.
Hull was extremely dominant and consistent like Crosby, but leaving to the WHA hurt his claim a good bit.

Going to be a bit biased and take Roy. He may be the only one out of these 4 with no Hart trophies, but I don't think any of these 4 would've won a Hart if their peaks overlapped with the competition he had. McDavid's all but guaranteed to take the #5 spot very soon though.

I'm not quite as high on Hull, but Roy would be my #6. Playoffs are also very important to me.

I have my top 10 like this usually:

Gretzky
Orr
Lemieux
Howe
Crosby
Roy
Beliveau
Jagr
Bourque/Hasek/Ovechkin in some order
Hull at 12

I'm not sure exactly where McDavid is today. He's definitely top 20 for me, maybe even top 15 or close to 10...and this isn't meant as a disrespect to him, it's more about how it's hard for me to rank a player mid-careeer above one with full career/longevity. I have no doubt McDavid is heading towards #5 to displace Crosby - and potentially even higher.

 

[Video Nasty]

McDavid.

Some need to see him compile for another 10 years to see the counting stats go higher, but all that is going to do is strengthen his case for the best player ever outside of Gretzky.

Flip the result of the one goal loss in Game 7 of the Finals and he would have double the votes. When it’s that wild of a swing, over so little, that tells me pure emotion and attachment to prior favorites are all that’s keeping people from overwhelmingly voting him as #5.

 

[blundluntman]

I'm not quite as high on Hull, but Roy would be my #6. Playoffs are also very important to me.

I have my top 10 like this usually:

Gretzky
Orr
Lemieux
Howe
Crosby
Roy
Beliveau
Jagr
Bourque/Hasek/Ovechkin in some order
Hull at 12

I'm not sure exactly where McDavid is today. He's definitely top 20 for me, maybe even top 15 or close to 10...and this isn't meant as a disrespect to him, it's more about how it's hard for me to rank a player mid-careeer above one with full career/longevity. I have no doubt McDavid is heading towards #5 to displace Crosby - and potentially even higher.

My top 4 is the same and I’d have 7 or 8 of the guys you mentioned in my top 10 as well. I’m torn between Bourque or Harvey but it’d be one of them along with Richard personally. I’m probably bigger on Hull’s peak than most, he was scoring 50 when others were barely cracking 30 which is pretty insane. After the big 4, I’m not sure anyone else decisively has a better prime than him outside McDavid, Hasek and Jagr

Mcdavid is tough to rank right now honestly. If I went solely off who I’d draft, he’d be 5th or 4th, but when it comes to legacy/greatness, it gets a bit tricky to argue his case on a narrative level (maybe that shouldn’t matter but it usually plays a role). But yeah he’s basically a lock for 5th and has a shot to finish higher than that

 

[EdJovanovski]

McDavid isn’t top 10.

 

[Skolman]

Heavy majority of Crosby's votes are Leafs, Canucks, or Flames fans... of course

 

[wetcoast]

McDavid.

Some need to see him compile for another 10 years to see the counting stats go higher, but all that is going to do is strengthen his case for the best player ever outside of Gretzky.

Well the people needing to see another 10 years are out to lunch IMO but he is still a bit behind Crosby, who I have in 5th, but I also think barring an injury that McDavid will pass him and we can quibble over when that happen but at some point its almost certainly going to happen.

Flip the result of the one goal loss in Game 7 of the Finals and he would have double the votes. When it’s that wild of a swing, over so little, that tells me pure emotion and attachment to prior favorites are all that’s keeping people from overwhelmingly voting him as #5.

I'm not sure about double the votes but sadly some people would do this.

Heavy majority of Crosby's votes are Leafs, Canucks, or Flames fans... of course

Rent free buddy we are talking 19 seasons to 9 seasons.

Patience grasshopper.

 

[Skolman]

Rent free buddy we are talking 19 seasons to 9 seasons.

Patience grasshopper.

Rent free? I just named 3 fanbases, genius.

Your history speaks for itself though.

McDavid.

Some need to see him compile for another 10 years to see the counting stats go higher, but all that is going to do is strengthen his case for the best player ever outside of Gretzky.

Flip the result of the one goal loss in Game 7 of the Finals and he would have double the votes. When it’s that wild of a swing, over so little, that tells me pure emotion and attachment to prior favorites are all that’s keeping people from overwhelmingly voting him as #5.

That's not true.. Leafs, Canucks, and Flames fans would hate him even more