World class SPEED, EDGEWORK, SHOT, STICKHANDLING and HOCKEY SENSE

[JT AM da real deal]

Interesting debate with my boys last night about pro players who have above 5 TOOLS at a WORLD CLASS level

Guys this had nothing to do with POINTS, COMPETE, HITTING or DEFENSE

Just guys who can flat out FLY, can pivot in a phone booth, can shoot a rocket, can dangle anyone and guys who know where to go on ice who have hockey sense

We could only get 5 who qualified Mc JESUS, MAC, MAKAR, KUCH and MARCHAND

We debated Matty (lacks world class speed) , Crosby (current version lacks speed), Pasta (lacks world class speed), Rantanen (hockey sense) , Willy (hockey sense) , Zibanajed (edgework), OV (lacking world class stickhandling) and Kaprizov (we almost had 6 guys with Kaprizov as he was closest to make our list)

Avs have 2 guys who have unreal capabilities on same team .. hard to think of any time in NHL history where you have 5 guys in league who have world class SKILL like these guys do AND 4 of these guys are CANUCKS .. very impressive

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[Bluelines]

c'mon now... Mitch "The Magician" Marner...

 

[ToneDog]

c'mon now... Willie "Styles" Nylander...

 

[ACC1224]

Marchand?

 

[justashadowof]

Quinn Hughes has a fantastic skillset (minus shot).
Which skill is Patrick Kane missing?
I'm not so sure Willie Nylander is missing hockey sense. He just uses it too often for self-perservation.

The most 5 tool Leaf (from the title) I can recall is Alex Mogilny. He was also a great forechecker for his size.

 

[weems]

Kyle Connor

 

[notbias]

Interesting debate with my boys last night about pro players who have above 5 TOOLS at a WORLD CLASS level

Guys this had nothing to do with POINTS, COMPETE, HITTING or DEFENSE

Just guys who can flat out FLY, can pivot in a phone booth, can shoot a rocket, can dangle anyone and guys who know where to go on ice who have hockey sense

We could only get 5 who qualified Mc JESUS, MAC, MAKAR, KUCH and MARCHAND

We debated Matty (lacks world class speed) , Crosby (current version lacks speed), Pasta (lacks world class speed), Rantanen (hockey sense) , Willy (hockey sense) , Zibanajed (edgework), OV (lacking world class stickhandling) and Kaprizov (we almost had 6 guys with Kaprizov as he was closest to make our list)

Avs have 2 guys who have unreal capabilities on same team .. hard to think of any time in NHL history where you have 5 guys in league who have world class SKILL like these guys do AND 4 of these guys are CANUCKS .. very impressive

the only person you posted who might hit all 5 is McDavid, but even then, is his shot world-class? How many better shots need to exist for his shot to no longer be world-class?

Do Kucherov, Marchand, and Makar have world-class speed?

Does MacKinnon have world-class hands?

I am not sure there is a single player that has all 5 of the qualities you listed.

 

[Smirnov2Chistov]

Didn't Rantanen nearly have 100 pts? no hockey sense?

 

[Racer88]

I see that this is a comedy thread so I will put out Tavares as my choice………he is blazing fast

 

[67leafs]

Makar and McKinnon

 

[Eternal Leaf]

None of those players are 5/5.

McDavid is the closest but his shot is not a "rocket". He's not overpowering anyone with it.

 

[RaFe]

Marchand?

Must be the world class speed…

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Must be the world class speed…

He was our 5th guy .. does not use his speed as much but he still can blow bye D men as shown in this years playoff games .. just goes to show you there really are not many guys who have da complete package .. Kuch MAC Makar and McJesus are completely above everyone else and it really is not even close

c'mon now... Mitch "The Magician" Marner...

Sure once he lengthens his stride and adds blow bye speed and God gives him some innate strength for a shot then he becomes a maybe

 

[Bluelines]

He was our 5th guy .. does not use his speed as much but he still can blow bye D men as shown in this years playoff games .. just goes to show you there really are not many guys who have da complete package .. Kuch MAC Makar and McJesus are completely above everyone else and it really is not even close


Sure once he lengthens his stride and adds blow bye speed and God gives him some innate strength for a shot then he becomes a maybe

Goal scorers don't always need strength, heavy shooters and deceptive shooters can be on par. World class speed is not always a game changer, the ability to change your speed and be deceptive is more important. McJesus is quick but he is not always quick, he varies his speed to trick defenders.

There was a guy back many years called Rico Fata, 6th over all pick , 1st round, one of the fastest skaters to ever play the pro game, the problem with Rico he had one gear... hyper fast ... defenders adjusted by giving him space then they closed on him when he had no choice but slow down ...

For me deception is as important as speed or strength, I would add deception as one of the 5 tools you listed.

Yes McJesus is fast but he is deceptive.
Yes Matthews is strong but he is deceptively strong (deceptive shot).
Yes Mitch is not quick or strong, he is deceptively quick with his decision making and deceptive with the accuracy of his shot.

 

[kevsh]

We could only get 5 who qualified Mc JESUS, MAC, MAKAR, KUCH and MARCHAND

You spelled Matthews wrong.
Auston deserves to be in that list more than Brad, though the super pest is pretty close. The only question is Matthews' speed, which I'd argue is just fine for a 210 pounder. Not blazing fast, but he can motor. And by far quicker pound for pound than Kuch.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Goal scorers don't always need strength, heavy shooters and deceptive shooters can be on par. World class speed is not always a game changer, the ability to change your speed and be deceptive is more important. McJesus is quick but he is not always quick, he varies his speed to trick defenders.

There was a guy back many years called Rico Fata, 6th over all pick , 1st round, one of the fastest skaters to ever play the pro game, the problem with Rico he had one gear... hyper fast ... defenders adjusted by giving him space then they closed on him when he had no choice but slow down ...

For me deception is as important as speed or strength, I would add deception as one of the 5 tools you listed.

Yes McJesus is fast but he is deceptive.
Yes Matthews is strong but he is deceptively strong (deceptive shot).
Yes Mitch is not quick or strong, he is deceptively quick with his decision making and deceptive with the accuracy of his shot.

Your points are all valid .. again we were talking about God given speed, god given edgework, god given strength in shot, god given dangling ability .. all those 4 guys can slow down or speed up their play which goes to their hockey sense or lack thereof .. but only a very very limited few have da capability to blow by a Dman at will, use edges to cut to net and then dangle tender at will and strength to go roof daddy on either side .. in other words they can do it all by themselves with no help from any other linemates and decide games completely on their own .. it would be nice if we had a guy like that .. last one I can remember was Keon in his prime who truly could decide a game all by himself .. I know Mitch pretty well as one of his hockey coaches for a few years and he never had that ability