Speculation: Most Underrated Assets

[themelkman]

Thomas Hertl apparently. I remember after the all star game all the edmonton fans were like wow, finally realized how much of a beast he is

 

[Toronto makebeleifs]

I think this is a really good addition.

Do you think there is a role he is best at filling? Are there any parts of his game you think are most underrated? What contract do you think he gets? Any teams you think he would be a good fit on?

Best comparison I can draw him to is Zack Hyman of my leafs. So he's a high energy addition to a skill line. Above average forchecker that will help the skill players find space. His value is difficult to gauge as if you just run comps to his on ice delivery he would come in probably at 3m. It could be argued though that his play helped panarin record arguably his best season. So he could ask for 4m (hence why the rangers may have to let him go). The only thing is, if he's going to be used to maximize return then you'd want him as a glue player to compliment highly skilled players, as opposed to a third line checking role. I could see him being a fit in Winnipeg or Carolina tbh. Based on his play in NY, he'd be an excellent compliment to a svech-aho line, or a wheeler-laine line (if Maurice decides to play them together).

 

[pth2]

I agree with you regarding Lehkonen. His analytics are extremely good.

I'm a huge Lehkonen fan.

I could see him scoring 30 under the right circumstances.

 

[nickdawg95]

Jonah larson is the perfect 3c. extremely underrated

 

[McJedi]

Jeff Petry and Arturri Lehkonen. Petry plays a complete game and is an under the radar top pairing dman.

Lehkonen is relatively unknown on HFBoards and is a very good defensive forward. He creates a lot of offensive chances but has had trouble cashing in on his chances. He is an excellent 3rd line winger that excels on the pk.

As an Avs fan watching from afar, Petry is one of your very best players. dude makes a lot of plays. He’d be a priority resign for MB. He’s really undervalued.

 

[McJedi]

I was not one of those in cloud 9. I love Kadri

So did I until Kadri hemorrhaged the 4th and 5th Dallas goals in game 7. He was still a value accretive addition but he finished the season as poorly as anyone could have imagined.

 

[780il]

Thomas Hertl apparently. I remember after the all star game all the edmonton fans were like wow, finally realized how much of a beast he is

Yes, give us pls.

 

[Bigshow747]

Petry is one of the best defensemen in the game. Klingberg might be one of the best contracts in the game too. Cirelli. Pesce. Hampus Lindholm.

 

[Benedict Kovalchuk]

Whoever ends up signing Greiss will be real pleased. A solid goalie that has performed in big moments multiple times. If we didn't have Sorokin coming, I'd be pretty pissed we went with Varlamov over Greiss.


Josh Bailey remains mega underrated. Can play with anybody, very sound defensively, good offensive instincts, and a decent contract.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

IMO, and this thread is only solidifying this opinion for me...


Evgeny Dadonov is one of the most underrated assets in the league right now especially in terms of guys that are available this summer. Consistent 25-30 goal, 55-65 Point produce in Florida. And even though he is 31 already, he came into the league much later, I still think he has 2-3 years of play at that 55-65 level and maybe 3-4 years where he can be a solid Top 6 option.


He would be on my very, very short list of UFAs to target in October when Free Agency opens up. In fact, behind Taylor Hall I think he is the #2 Forward available, and behind Pietrangelo and Hall he is the #3 Free Agent available period.


Whatever team gets him is going to be very happy to get a real solid Top 6 winger and likely at a fairly reasonable cost as well(I'm thinking he signs in the neighborhood of 6-7M for 4-5 years.

 

[Flyer lurker]

So for the ufa's under the radar i.e. not naming top 10 guys (no Toffoli's or Holtby's etc)and in covid world who get potentially under priced and slip.

Crawford- Some goalie will slip through the cracks will multiple goalies being available. Say VAN want to save 3m at goalie and go with Demko 45 games and Crawford 35 until Dipietro is ready. Maybe Crawford's best shot to win. He could play good soldier and stay with Chicago of course as well.

Namestnikov one of those 3rd line swiss army players than can fill any spot when you get injuries during the year. Never does well on non playoff teams but better appreciated on a title potential team.

J. Fast =solid 2 way player. Most coaches want him and would love him. You can question some rangers willingness to play defense. Not Fast.

 

[Flyer lurker]

Yanni Gourde had a quietly effective regular season and is having himself an extremely good postseason, and it'll be interesting to see what happens with him this offseason.

I'd imagine that a lot of teams will be interested in him, but he holds all the cards though with a full NTC. It's possible that someone gets an absolute steal via trade if Gourde refuses to waive for all but 1 or 2 teams.


View attachment 366258

But didn't you hear all 30 teams will only ask for Cirelli. Cernak, and Sergachev in trades and force TBL into a move .

If Gourde made 3.75m instead of 5.1 he would (or at least should) get so much more respect.

 

[zar]

Tyler Bertuzzi. I see some HF posters still think he's a 3rd liner or 3rd/2nd tweener. He's now a 1st/2nd line F tweener with a unique skill set of: IQ, vision, grit, pest, mobile, net front/boardwork presence, heart & soul character. Works his arse off every night. Both he & Mantha have elevated themselves over the last ~1.5 seasons. Expect 55-60+ points from both next season (what they paced for this season) based on 82gp.

I like Bertuzzi and agree he is underrated and agree with your assessment. It will be interesting to see his next contract.

 

[Ghost of Ethan Hunt]

I like Bertuzzi and agree he is underrated and agree with your assessment. It will be interesting to see his next contract.

I just edited it & added more...

Re: contract, I'm thinking b/w 5-7 yrs @ $4.75M-$5.5ish.

 

[Siludin]

From Canucks:
Tyler Motte
Troy Stecher

 

[zar]

For the Oilers, Josh Archibald and RNH.

Josh Archibald... he should never play on your top 2 lines but he is a 3rd line guy. Skates well, play good positional hockey, is great on the PK, is decent enough offensively, skates his ass off every shift, and hits like a 200+ lb. guy (he’s 5’10” 176 lb.).

RNH... he is smart, excellent 200 ft. game, plays hard every game, can be a 1st line winger or a high end 2C (even a low end 1C in a pinch), is great on the PP and PK and he is a great team guy. I know that he was a former 1OA... but I think that so many write him off as a disappointment because he is not a superstar but he is a great hockey player.

 

[Forge]

Lol devils sorry hahaha

I have yet to see a devils fan have any real interest in him at all. Every time he's been brought in the forum, the reaction is tepid at best.

I would assume that is reason

 

[Burnt Biscuits]

This website comically undervalues goalies and pretends you can replace a legitimate starter with a 1B.

Cause it happens all the god damn time, being a starting goalie is a tight rope walk one slip and someone's ready to steal your job. What separates an also ran from a starter is 1 extra save per 100, a 1B gets that one extra save per 100 and he could be starting and a starter slips and starts saving 1 less puck per 100 shots and he could become the back-up.

Look at the Pens MAF was the man for a while, then this hotshot Murray kid comes in steals the job is considered a legitimate starter with great upside, fast forward a little further now it's Jarry taking his job.

Now in the SC Semi Finals 2 of the 4 goalies in Khudobin and Lehner have fit the description of 1B's pretty accurately for the majority of their respective careers, yet here they are playing over well established starters and one of those 2 will be in the SC Finals.

Generally low end starting goalie money starts around $4M and the general bench mark starters should be above atleast a 0.910 SV%, I count 14 goalies who are making $4M or greater and are giving their teams back-up level numbers or in more extreme cases AHL quality goaltending.

I'm guessing you're just upset cause you think people should be offering more in trade offers for Murray.

 

[Mac Attack]

You know, I've never seen or heard a Leafs fan mention the Norris in relation to Barrie. But I've seen and heard Avs fans claim that we did countless times.

I hadn't heard either of those things. Until now.

 

[LePenseur]

I'll add Nichuskin into the mix here.

Whilst he doesn't produce a tonne offensively, his analytics are off the charts in many categories.

For example, his 5v5 xGF v xGA is easily among the best in the league, let alone on the team:

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As shown below he makes everyone he plays with significantly better:

View attachment 366261


With him on the ice the team concedes 23% less chances per 60 relative to league average, which is quite frankly ridiculous. Elite shutdown C's are typically around -15%, but Nichuskin is beyond that by a good margin.

The only other player at around -23% that comes to mind is Cizikas (who incidentally is another player I'd say is quite underrated but I think most hockey fans are already quite aware of his defensive proficiency).


View attachment 366262

Is there a post of the week award, lots of data, from an unexpected view. All good stuff to educate people.

I got educated!

 

[Roof Daddy]

Bozak is definitely a guy I'd be targeting if I was another team's GM. He's been a great 3C and can step into a 2nd line role when needed. Was also very good on the PK this year. Hope we can find a way to retain him, but that might be impossible if we're looking to re-sign Petro. Not really sure what his value would be in a trade.

He’s the perfect target for the Oilers this off-season. We need a RH center who’s good on the dot who can play all situations and put up 30-40 points as a 3C. Checks every box. With that said, we’re also cap strapped and he is definitely overpaid. I also assume if the Blues are moving him it’s in the pursuit of re-signing Petro and they don’t want money going the other way. So what is his trade value if nothing goes the other way? I’m thinking a 5th at absolute most.

 

[Jerkbait]

I wanted to make a thread hearing everyone's opinions about which player who could potentially be had via trade or in UFA is currently not being talked about NEARLY enough for how good they are or are in general being strongly underrated by the general hockey fan base.

It seems like every year its the players who fly under the radar who make the biggest impact.

What about them don't they get credit for? Why might they be underrated? Why might they be available? What do you think the team would look to get in return/what contract could they get? Etc.

Finally, in order to keep the initial responses unbiased I won't put my personal list in the OP but I will be happy to discuss it down in the comments.

Thanks to everyone who takes time to contribute, and while I am sure there may be some disagreements on this thread, where possible try to lean more into hyping players up than tearing other suggestions down. The goal is to bring some attention to guys, not see who's analysis is the 'most correct'.

Enjoy <3

Brian dumo..

 

[57special]

Every time I watch him, I am impressed with Dickinson from DAL. Just seems to be a PITA to play against.
Agree with the Petry love, but is he really that underrated?
Tatar looks better to me than a lot of the other MTL forwards.
Beauvillier.
Pulock? Pelech? Mike Pelyk?
From my team, the Wild, I can't think of anyone. Everyone knows about Spurgeon by this time, right?

 

[Meeqs]

Also I am surprised so far at some of the names on here that I would not have assumed would be available for trade

 

[Papi 4 Hart]

Anyone else really like Chandler Stephenson's game? Guy can motor.