Markus Näslund

[Eye of Ra]

I only saw him play with Rangers and his last season with MoDo.

How good was he when playing for this team?

Is he considered the best Canuck ever?

What style did he have on the ice?

If Markus was in his prime today what kind of points would he put up?

Just asking out of curiosity.

Click to read more...

 

[Dr Always Right]

Naslund had one of the best wrist shots in the game. If he was steaming down the wing you knew that puck was going top corner. Iirc wasn't he one of the last few players to use a wooden stick?
It's hard for me to say how he would do now in his prime as who knows who he would be playing with. In his prime Bertuzzi, Morrison, Ohlund, jovo/sali and Naslund were a completely dominate line top to bottom.

 

[ItalianCanuck1]

I started to follow Canucks' hockey in 2007 so, basically, I saw only a year of Naslund.
I remember an hattrick game against the Wild on november 2007. What a shot he had.

EDIT: found the video



That November we were unbeatable thanks to Lu.

 

[DL44]

Smooth skating, slick, subtle, winger with a very accurate quick release wrist shot.

I know he was pretty beloved here... but my favorite player on that line was 44.

Watch any Naslund highlight video and it doubles as one for Bertuzzi.

 

[Melvin]

Quick wrister that he would shoot through traffic. He was deadly coming off the half wall on the PP.

 

[Askel]

I started to follow Canucks' hockey in 2007 so, basically, I saw only a year of Naslund.
I remember an hattrick game against the Wild on november 2007. What a shot he had.

EDIT: found the video



That November we were unbeatable thanks to Lu.

You really missed the good Naslund.

At his prime he was a fifty goalscorer (almost) in the dead puck era. He would challenge Ovechkin for rockets if he played today (and was in his prime)

 

[DL44]

Should also state that like most elite level players, Naslund in his prime, prior to the Sedins, game to game was perhaps the most consistent player you'd seen in Canuck colors..


Too bad 44 wasnt.

 

[DL44]

 

[ziploc]

Certainly in the top 5 greatest Canucks, but I don't know if anyone would have him at number 1. An absolute treat to watch, one of the greatest shots in the game, and one of the greatest people in the game. Wasn't the same after his wrist injury, because his shot was weakened.

 

[Scott Stevens]

Naslund had one of the best wrist shots in the game. If he was steaming down the wing you knew that puck was going top corner. Iirc wasn't he one of the last few players to use a wooden stick?
It's hard for me to say how he would do now in his prime as who knows who he would be playing with. In his prime Bertuzzi, Morrison, Ohlund, jovo/sali and Naslund were a completely dominate line top to bottom.

Dominant

 

[Hit the post]

Legit elite winger for a number of years. So-so Captain.

 

[Love]

At his peak he was unbelievable. A true superstar at the time.

Again like other have said, known for his wrist shot. But he was a great passer and just a really smart player in general. Wasn’t even a great skater (not a bad skater either) just supremely talented.

Ironically, I think Brock Boeser plays a bit like Naslund. Not exactly, they certainly have differences, and Naslund at his peak was way better than current Boeser, but they both have great hands, amazing shot, not stand out skaters. Boeser has a more diverse shot but maybe if Naslund played in a different era without a wood stick he would have a better one timer or slapper.

 

[Nuckles]

How many players do you think are skilled enough to pull this off in a game?

 

[HSD19]

He has an amazing wrist shot and was a good pick distributer as well. He had some great indivisual efforts that you don't see often. One was against the senators where he went end to end and roofed it and another was game 7 against flames where he drove it to the net and Cooke scored the tying goal.

Probably one of the best shooters we've ever had and was a super classy player.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

He wasn't the best Captain we've ever had ("we choked") but in terms of pure skill, his peak is right up there with Bure's.

Great person as well, really classy.

 

[MS]

Naslund had a 4-year stretch from 2000-2004 where he was a top-5 forward in the sport. Lethal wristshot.

After 2004, he fell off a cliff. Made several comments during the lockout year that left you questioning his passion for the sport and whether he wanted to continue ... and then found $18 million reasons to come back for another 3 years. And completely mailed it in as a soft, lazy perimeter player for those 3 years which completely tainted my memories of him. Body language as team captain was horrible - looked like someone whose dog had just died for pretty much that entire time.

I completely disagree with any perception that the Sedins weren't warriors or guys you could win with in the playoffs. Naslund ... I don't think the guy was a winner. And I don't like that he has his number retired here, however great his 4 peak seasons were statistically. I know others will disagree.

 

[DL44]

I felt the decision Nonis made out of the lockout was the incorrect one when we only cap to commit to only one of Naslund or Jovo.

We lost our heart and soul after letting Jovo go.

But pre-lockout... Naslund - elite.

 

[Hit the post]

But pre-lockout... Naslund - elite.

More accurate to say, pre-Moore hit, Naslund - elite.

 

[PhilMick]

He wasn't the best Captain we've ever had ("we choked") but in terms of pure skill, his peak is right up there with Bure's.

Great person as well, really classy.

Yeah I couldn't past that, he never had the fire I wanted to see.

That being said, his wrist shot, omg. I was at a game where he wired one from the slot (I think it was in OT?) it was just breathtaking.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

2004 ruined Naslund. He never recovered.

Bertuzzi was already going downhill by that point.

 

[Canucks1096]

Naslund was the 3rd leading scorer in the nhl when he was in his Prime from 1998 to 2006 behind only Jagr and Sakic.

No surprise Canucks made the playoffs and then back to back 100 points season when Naslund took his game to another level. From 2002 to 2004 Naslund was the leading scorer in the nhl. At that time frame he was top 3 to top 5 player in the nhl. He was on the first team all star 3 times. He had a great wrist shot and his playmaking underrated as well.

In my opinion Naslund was just one Forsberg injury season of making it to the hhof. What I mean by that is Forsberg got hurt in 2003. Naslund would of won the Ross Hart and Rocket as well. No way Hedjuk get 50 goals without Forsberg. To go long with his Lindsay and three first team all Stars. That probably would of been enough to get Naslund to the hhof.

Naslund playoffs was underrated as well. Canucks down 3-1 in the Blue series. Naslund score game 5 6 and 7. In the Cal series Naslund did have 9 points in 7 games. Ten seconds left, Naslund skate the puck up ice and went around a few Flames, put puck on net and Cooke scored on the rebound. That was My design. When the Canucks were down in the playoffs, Naslund did whatever he can to carry the Canucks on his back

If you compare the Naslund team to the Bure Linden era or the Sedins era. Naslund team has less depth. Naslund need it to carry the team more than those guys.

 

[ultra7k]

As others have mentioned, a real superstar for the Canucks in the early 2000s, though there are a few things to note. Pre-Moore and Post-Moore Naslund seemed like different players to me. No doubt the hit changed him (IIRC Naslund had a concussion and came back pretty quickly), and his shot was never the same. But, coupled with the effect of the Bertuzzi-Moore incident, it seemed to me, like he lost a good chunk of his passion for the game.

From what I rememeber, he really slowed down after his groin injury in the 05-06 season in which he decided to sit out the Olympics (where Sweden won gold, no less) to heal, and I do wonder if he has some lasting resentment or feels as if there was a missed opportunity from that. (Injured Naslund to miss Olympics | CBC News) . After the Moore hit, we begin to see him take slap shots, (I think he scored on 2 of those?) and his patented wrist/snap shot wasn't there anymore.

Due to injuries, he really slowed down, lost his shot, and we have to wonder how he was affected psychologically after the hit, and after the Bertuzzi trade. From what I remember during Naslund's time here during the first part of the Keenan-Messier era, he really lacked any confidence (Confidence the Key for Naslund | HockeyAdventure.com) and wasn't really a stand-out player at the time until he got control over his game. It seems he kinda fell back into that rut, or his talent wasn't able to keep up with what he wanted to do on the ice. Towards the end of Naslund's tenure here, he just wasn't the same player that used to put fans in the stands at G.M Place.

That being said, as another poster said, Boeser does remind me in someways of a prime Naslund, in the way he is a lethal shooter. It's been a while since we've had a pure shooter in the vein of Naslund (Kesler showed a brief flash of brilliance for a bit, but still took long to load and shoot), but Boeser does seem to have a better arsenal of shots than Naslund did, though his skating isn't nearly as good. Naslund was also an underrated playmaker and as other posters have mentioned, deadly from the top of the slot, though a lot of that went away as they began cracking down on Bertuzzi's push off in front of the net.

Overall, he's still my favourite Canuck for those few amazing seasons after the debacle that was the Messier/Keenan years. He just didn't age well.

 

[Zanon]

Snipers matter.

 

[DFAC]

Man reminiscing back on those Canuck teams of the early 2000.... they were fun to watch. They had a sort of swagger and cockiness to them too that I miss

 

[DL44]

Naslund was the 3rd leading scorer in the nhl when he was in his Prime from 1998 to 2006 behind only Jagr and Sakic.

No surprise Canucks made the playoffs and then back to back 100 points season when Naslund took his game to another level. From 2002 to 2004 Naslund was the leading scorer in the nhl. At that time frame he was top 3 to top 5 player in the nhl. He was on the first team all star 3 times. He had a great wrist shot and his playmaking underrated as well.

In my opinion Naslund was just one Forsberg injury season of making it to the hhof. What I mean by that is Forsberg got hurt in 2003. Naslund would of won the Ross Hart and Rocket as well. No way Hedjuk get 50 goals without Forsberg. To go long with his Lindsay and three first team all Stars. That probably would of been enough to get Naslund to the hhof.

Naslund playoffs was underrated as well. Canucks down 3-1 in the Blue series. Naslund score game 5 6 and 7. In the Cal series Naslund did have 9 points in 7 games. Ten seconds left, Naslund skate the puck up ice and went around a few Flames, put puck on net and Cooke scored on the rebound. That was My design. When the Canucks were down in the playoffs, Naslund did whatever he can to carry the Canucks on his back

If you compare the Naslund team to the Bure Linden era or the Sedins era. Naslund team has less depth. Naslund need it to carry the team more than those guys.

Don't think he had the longevity. Total numbers were pretty low relatively speaking.

But yeah... so close to some serious hardware.