Rank these players' peaks

[blundluntman]

Which of these players had the best peak?

Eric Lindros
Jaromir Jagr
Peter Forsberg
Evgeni Malkin
Alexander Ovechkin

Click to read more...

 

[Mrb1p]

Ovechkin.

In a vacuum they all peaked similarly, best player in the league.
Relatively, Forsberg is the weakest because he had the easiest competition.
If you were to drop all of them in 2050 and let them have their single best season, Ovechkin would come out on top.
Jagr 2nd
Lindros 3rd
Malkin 4th
Forsberg 5th

 

[Haatley]

Lindros.

 

[tabness]

Lindros, brings a physical element the others simply cannot.

After that it's probably close, Jagr did it year in and year out of course, but just for a single year, I can see Forsberg, Malkin, Ovechkin right up there

 

[Mrb1p]

Lindros, brings a physical element the others simply cannot.

After that it's probably close, Jagr did it year in and year out of course, but just for a single year, I can see Forsberg, Malkin, Ovechkin right up there

All these guys have dominated games with their physical presence

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Best season: OV 07/08 or Jagr 98/99 (Malkin 11/12 very close)

Best sustained peak: OV 07/08-09/10 (or 05/06-09/10) or Jagr 97/98-99/00 (or 95/96-00/01 but I wanted to exclude Lemieux seasons).

It's OV or Jagr. Only 2 listed who had multiple PPG wins and won multiple hart/lindsay trophies to go along with rosses/rockets. Were the best player year after year. Voted OV as he was the 1st player since Lemieux to win the hart, Lindsay, Ross and rocket in the same season, while finishing 1st in GPG and PPG and threw out 200+ hits on top. Followed it up with a rocket, hart and lindsay with 200 hits and top 10 in assists while leading in PPG and GPG.

Lindros: only hart, PPG win and 1st AST came in a lockout season. Was never the best player in a full season. Never won a ross.

Forsberg: lags way behind the rest as a goal scorer (0 top 10 goal finishes), never won the lindsay, only 1 career hart nomination.

Malkin: 07/08 and 08/09 are 2 of his 3 best seasons and OV was clearly better than him in both. Again only 1 PPG win, only 1 hart, 1 lindsay.

 

[SniperHF]

Jagr's peak was like 4 years long, I'd probably go with him.
If we're calling peak best single season I'm taking Ovi probably.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

Lindros, brings a physical element the others simply cannot.

After that it's probably close, Jagr did it year in and year out of course, but just for a single year, I can see Forsberg, Malkin, Ovechkin right up there

Violence. The element is violence. The rest are plenty physical. Ovie hits were brutal.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Single game in playoffs: Malkin 2009 or Forsberg 2002

Single game in regular season: Malkin 2012 or Lindros any time 1994-1997 or Ovechkin pre Olympics 2010

Best half year: Ovechkin 2009-10 pre Olympics

Best single year: Jagr 1999 (Ovechkin 08 is close, Malkin 12 isn't far behind)

Best 2 year stretch: Ovechkin 2008 and 2009 or 2009 and 2010

Best 3 year stretch: Ovechkin 2008-2010

Best 4 year stretch: Jagr 1996-1999

Best 5 year stretch: Jagr 1996-2000

Depends on what length you define peak

 

[wetcoast]

Single game in playoffs: Malkin 2009 or Forsberg 2002

Single game in regular season: Malkin 2012 or Lindros any time 1994-1997 or Ovechkin pre Olympics 2010

Best half year: Ovechkin 2009-10 pre Olympics

Best single year: Jagr 1999 (Ovechkin 08 is close, Malkin 12 isn't far behind)

Best 2 year stretch: Ovechkin 2008 and 2009 or 2009 and 2010

Best 3 year stretch: Ovechkin 2008-2010

Best 4 year stretch: Jagr 1996-1999

Best 5 year stretch: Jagr 1996-2000

Depends on what length you define peak

Came here to say peak player or career value at peak which is 2 slightly different things but for career value it's hard to go against Ovi here but in the playoffs I'd easily take Forsberg as he is a center and was IMO an all time great and a guy who both gets over rated and under rated around these boards.

 

[Boreal01]

Ovechkin

 

[Took a pill in Sbisa]

I rank it,

1. Lindros
2. Jagr
3. Forsberg
4. Ovechkin
5. Malkin

Might be controversial having Ovie that far low but having seen all their peaks for myself I have to put the other 3 ahead of them as I rate them higher dynamically. Ovie was the best pure scorer and great hitter, but the other 3 beat him out when it comes to puck possession and playmaking ability while still being impossibly physical on the puck.

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

Malkin 08-09

 

[JackSlater]

Jagr over Ovechkin but same ballpark, then the others close together below that.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Those first 7 years of Lindros were prettty beastly.

Imagine him not missing 10-20 games a season.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I voted for Ovechkin, but it really depends on how you define the question.

Best talent & ability (regardless of health and consistency)? Eric Lindros.

Best single season? Jaromir Jagr (in 1999, when he scored almost 130 points during the heart of the Dead Puck Era, on a terrible team). Ovechkin's 2008 is close. (But Jagr is also the best pick if we're looking at, say, best five or best seven consecutive seasons).

Played at the highest level for the longest time (ignoring injuries)? Peter Forsberg.

Best combined regular season and playoffs? Evgeni Malkin in 2009.

Best three consecutive regular seasons? Alex Ovechkin.

 

[93gilmour93]

All great players obviously and it’s a fair argument with other players on the list but there’s just something about those few years with peak Lindros I’ve never seen before or after he played. Went with 88

 

[dirtydanglez]

jagr
ovie
forsberg
lindros
malkin

 

[LightningStorm]

Lindros
Jagr
Ovechkin
Forsberg
Malkin

I could see 2-4 being ranked in any order though.

 

[bobholly39]

The truth is at that their very best, all these players were absolutely fantastic, and quite close. So for peak "level of play", personal preference, and no answer is completely wrong.

If you were guaranteed to get the player at their very best for a ~10 game stretch, there's very little separation.

I voted Jagr. His peak lasted the longest, and he put together the most full peak-worthy seasons, which I think is important. Ovechkin is #2, with his 3 year stretch.

Malkin was intermittent, Lindros even moreso due to injuries, and Forsberg worst of all (doesn't even have a perfect storm of a season, 2003 was fine, but weakest "best" season among these players).

 

[wetcoast]

I voted for Ovechkin, but it really depends on how you define the question.

Best talent & ability (regardless of health and consistency)? Eric Lindros.

Best single season? Jaromir Jagr (in 1999, when he scored almost 130 points during the heart of the Dead Puck Era, on a terrible team). Ovechkin's 2008 is close. (But Jagr is also the best pick if we're looking at, say, best five or best seven consecutive seasons).

Played at the highest level for the longest time (ignoring injuries)? Peter Forsberg.

Best combined regular season and playoffs? Evgeni Malkin in 2009.

Best three consecutive regular seasons? Alex Ovechkin.

It really does depend doesn't it?

Great post as per usual sir.

 

[Sasha Orlov]

OV and I don’t think it’s that close honestly

 

[GoldenKnight]

Malkin, Jagr, and Ovechkin each have an argument for best peak, depending on how one defines peak.

Lindros and Forsberg are 4th and 5th in this discussion.