The Hockey News annual Top 50 Player rankings for 2023-2024

[TheOrangeDesk]

He brought enough value to win 3 major awards. Pasta got none. Both failed in Playoffs where that value would be most important for their teams.

If mattews played outside Toronto he wouldn't have won that Hart

 

[Burkeocet]

Press X to doubt

Tkachuk emerged as a dominant, clutch force in the playoffs after having two elite, 100p seasons as a power forward. You can pick numbers that push your narrative because he wasn’t always this good but that’s BS.

… plus he makes significantly less money and is locked up for a full 8. Matthews makes over 5m more and wouldn’t give any term. Tkachuk and another 5m player like Bennett would make the leafs way, way better than they are with Matthews at over 13m plus he will just do the same greedy shit when his contract is up.

There’s a difference between taking a few years to come into your prime and being a proven loser, multiple times over in humiliating fashion. Matthews may have a Hart but what did he do after that spring? Nothing like usual.

Matthews is a selfish loser who fades with extreme consistency when it matters most every damn time. It’s like clockwork. Not once has he risen to the occasion and done anything like he can do in the regular season. He’s paid to be a difference maker but he never does and his contract doesn’t allow for room for a supporting cast.

 

[jcs0218]

Half of this thread is Crosby fans vs. Ovechkin fans.

I had to check the year this thread was made to confirm that it is in fact a 2023 thread. I could have sworn this thread was from 2008-2010 after scrolling through it.

 

[Mav3rick07]

The top 5 is perfect if you ask me.

 

[The Panther]

The Canadian hockey media has a decades-long well-established pattern of nativism and anti-Russian bias. Don Cherry is not some new thing. He was/is wildly popular in Canada and it's not some leap in logic to say he was a nativist.

Cherry is an undeniable one of a many examples.

It seems to me you've been beating this to death for years now, and it's full of holes.

You're right that Don Cherry is not some new thing -- he's OLD and OUT OF DATE. Cherry's influence (an overstatement) in the Canadian popular culture peaked about 30-35 years ago, sharply declined thereafter, and is at zero today.

Cherry's viewpoint in the media was always exaggerated, an intentional self-caricature, and played for attention (i.e., ratings). It wasn't even an accurate depiction of Don Cherry's own views, let alone millions of other Canadians'.

There's video online of people like Maurice Richard in the 1960s talking about how he respects the Soviet style of hockey. In 1972, millions of Canadians were impressed by the Soviets and lauded them accordingly, including NHL players and executives. In 1981, after that piece of s*** Alan Eagleson denied the Soviets the actual Canada Cup tournament trophy, the good Canadian people of Winnipeg banded together, paid for and made their own replica trophy, and sent it to the Soviets. Excellent showcase tournaments like Rendez-vous '87 showed the mutual respect and appreciation between Soviet and Canadian hockey. The game's greatest ambassador, Wayne Gretzky, consistently praised the Soviet/Russian players in his era, visited the Soviet Union in 1983 and invited Soviet players to his Brantford family home during Canada Cup '87.

The whole idea of a Canadian media bias affecting the NHL today is a stretch, at best. For one thing, less than 22% of the NHL clubs are Canadian franchises, so if some sort of Canadian consensus were trying to twist award-voting or player-recognition, it would face a battle vs. the 78% non-Canadian majority.

A half-century ago, a Finnish defenceman almost won the NHL Norris trophy, while shortly thereafter (still in the 1970s) Swedes became the toast of a Canadian city like Winnipeg, where they were the local superstars. Swedes are so popular in Vancouver they might as well re-name the franchise after them.

Russian superstar players have perhaps been less well-represented in Canadian franchises than American ones, but that's par for the course with all superstars since 1989-90, when ex-Soviet players first arrived --- because (a) a vast majority of clubs are American, and (b) more free-agent contracts were signed in the more lucrative USA (esp. in the 1990s and early 2000s, when no players, including Canadians, wanted to sign with Canadian franchises).

I mean, almost 30 years ago an ex-Soviet won the Hart trophy and Selke trophy in the same season.

 

[wetcoast]

The most negative of nancies would say he was 42nd in scoring last year and his points aren’t as valuable as others as he floats, just looks for goals, empty netters and when you add in D and G he’s outside top 50. To me, the points thing is bogus, sure he floats occasionally and scored some empty netters, but if you are going to scrutinize every player the same way, not all of their points are going to of the spectacular variety, so I take points as points, period. He was also 12th in goals. He’s not the player he was, no one is once they get to his age, but safe to say he’s still top 50 for now

Sure there is an argument there but in ranking players I assume somewhat equal ice time and opportunities for all players in consideration.

Ovi still gets counting stats in part to his usage and deployment much more so than most players being considered here.

 

[wetcoast]

If mattews played outside Toronto he wouldn't have won that Hart

Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, NYR, Pittsburg, LA?

It seems to me you've been beating this to death for years now, and it's full of holes.

You're right that Don Cherry is not some new thing -- he's OLD and OUT OF DATE. Cherry's influence (an overstatement) in the Canadian popular culture peaked about 30-35 years ago, sharply declined thereafter, and is at zero today.

Cherry's viewpoint in the media was always exaggerated, an intentional self-caricature, and played for attention (i.e., ratings). It wasn't even an accurate depiction of Don Cherry's own views, let alone millions of other Canadians'.

There's video online of people like Maurice Richard in the 1960s talking about how he respects the Soviet style of hockey. In 1972, millions of Canadians were impressed by the Soviets and lauded them accordingly, including NHL players and executives. In 1981, after that piece of s*** Alan Eagleson denied the Soviets the actual Canada Cup tournament trophy, the good Canadian people of Winnipeg banded together, paid for and made their own replica trophy, and sent it to the Soviets. Excellent showcase tournaments like Rendez-vous '87 showed the mutual respect and appreciation between Soviet and Canadian hockey. The game's greatest ambassador, Wayne Gretzky, consistently praised the Soviet/Russian players in his era, visited the Soviet Union in 1983 and invited Soviet players to his Brantford family home during Canada Cup '87.

The whole idea of a Canadian media bias affecting the NHL today is a stretch, at best. For one thing, less than 22% of the NHL clubs are Canadian franchises, so if some sort of Canadian consensus were trying to twist award-voting or player-recognition, it would face a battle vs. the 78% non-Canadian majority.

A half-century ago, a Finnish defenceman almost won the NHL Norris trophy, while shortly thereafter (still in the 1970s) Swedes became the toast of a Canadian city like Winnipeg, where they were the local superstars. Swedes are so popular in Vancouver they might as well re-name the franchise after them.

Russian superstar players have perhaps been less well-represented in Canadian franchises than American ones, but that's par for the course with all superstars since 1989-90, when ex-Soviet players first arrived --- because (a) a vast majority of clubs are American, and (b) more free-agent contracts were signed in the more lucrative USA (esp. in the 1990s and early 2000s, when no players, including Canadians, wanted to sign with Canadian franchises).

I mean, almost 30 years ago an ex-Soviet won the Hart trophy and Selke trophy in the same season.

You are barking up the wrong tree here, Ovi won all of those awards because of Canadian bias....eh.

 

[Reality Czech]

Kucherov not in the top 15 is absolutely ridiculous. He is definitely the best winger in the game - and is in the same tier of Makar/Mack/Matthews/Drai for slots 2-6 in some order.

Hintz, Stone and Eichel are all way too high - rest looks kind of ok.

Definitely the best winger in the game? He might be but it's surely debatable at this point.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

You are barking up the wrong tree here, Ovi won all of those awards because of Canadian bias....eh.

It's weird eh? Canadian media is so biased that they'll favor Canadians in silly pre-season hockey magazine rankings, but Canadian media voted for a Russian to win all those awards when they could have just chosen the Canadian.

It's almost like it's a ridiculously stupid narrative that keeps being brought up by certain individuals who pick and choose when the "bias" results in ratings said people don't like but get ignored when the results are in their favor.

 

[TBF1972]

The amount of hate and negativity Matthews gets here I’d say he’s underrated.

underrated? i am not sure.

but definitely underpaid.

 

[bert]

Alright, since you think so, it must be right, right? Right.

No. People can value things differently and have different opinions. That’s a thing. And no, your opinion is not worth more than anyone else’s.

There you go, keyboard warrior. Have a great day!

Everyone has opinions doesn't mean they are right.

 

[Midnight Judges]

It seems to me you've been beating this to death for years now, and it's full of holes.

You're right that Don Cherry is not some new thing -- he's OLD and OUT OF DATE. Cherry's influence (an overstatement) in the Canadian popular culture peaked about 30-35 years ago, sharply declined thereafter, and is at zero today.

In 2004, Don Cherry was VOTED by millions of Canadians as the 7th greatest Canadian of all time - not just in hockey, but of ALL Canadians ever! According to you, this was AFTER his sharp decline. So what was he, #1 before that?!?

Subsequently, Cherry maintained a HUGE following - almost exclusively among Canadians. Over a million Canadians were tuning in to Cherry's nativist rants whenever he was on TV - right up until his firing a few years ago.

For decades, many Canadians simply denied that Don Cherry was nativist, or they just supported him anyway. That argument somehow became overwhelmed within public perception, but the evidence was always there. His 2019 comments finally got him fired, but they were actually quite consistent with his schtick while he was firmly Canada's #1 most popular hockey personality.

For years, Cherry had his own sticky thread at the top of this very forum - right up until his firing IIRC. That wasn't that long ago. No other Canadian hockey commentator has had that. Yet you want to pretend he wasn't recently popular in Canada?!?

You are in denial.

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, NYR, Pittsburg, LA?

I don't think so, there's no media monster or hype machine like Toronto. Do you remember the insanity this year for marners point streak ? It's all they talked about for months like he had just broke Gretzky record

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

In 2004, Don Cherry was VOTED by millions of Canadians as the 7th greatest Canadian of all time - not just in hockey, but of ALL Canadians ever! According to you, this was AFTER his sharp decline. So what was he, #1 before that?!?

Subsequently, Cherry maintained a HUGE following - almost exclusively among Canadians. Over a million Canadians were tuning in to Cherry's nativist rants whenever he was on TV - right up until his firing a few years ago.

For decades, many Canadians simply denied that Don Cherry was nativist, or they just supported him anyway. That argument somehow became overwhelmed within public perception, but the evidence was always there. His 2019 comments finally got him fired, but they were actually quite consistent with his schtick while he was firmly Canada's #1 most popular hockey personality.

For years, Cherry had his own sticky thread at the top of this very forum - right up until his firing IIRC. That wasn't that long ago. No other Canadian hockey commentator has had that. Yet you want to pretend he wasn't recently popular in Canada?!?

You are in denial.

Your referencing a television show called greatest candadian from 2004 and acting likes its the opinion of an entire nation. It's not. Holy shit dude relax. It wasn't millions of Canadians voting it was 1 million total votes cast over the entire series and that includes the same people voting multiple times on multiple competitions.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Your referencing a television show called greatest candadian from 2004 and acting likes its the opinion of an entire nation. It's not. Holy shit dude relax. It wasn't millions of Canadians voting it was 1 million total votes cast over the entire series and that includes the same people voting multiple times on multiple competitions.

That is well more than any polling standards would require to achieve an acceptable margin of error (roughly +/- 3%) which typically have roughly a thousand responses. There are other factors of course but I doubt they happened to select a wildly unrepresentative sample.

So again, it is indicative.

I understand you guys don't want to be painted with the brush of ugly things that actually happened, but the way to be better is not denialism. In fact that is the opposite of improvement. If I were Canadian I'd likely say something along the lines of "I didn't support that butthead, but yes, he was unfortunately popular." Hell, as an American I say things like that rather frequently. It doesn't necessarily reflect on each individual.

 

[TheOrangeDesk]

That is well more than any polling standards would require to achieve an acceptable margin of error (roughly +/- 3%) which typically have roughly a thousand responses. There are other factors of course but I doubt they happened to select a wildly unrepresentative sample.

So again, it is indicative.

I understand you guys don't want to be painted with the brush of ugly things that actually happened, but the way to be better is not denialism. In fact that is the opposite of improvement. If I were Canadian I'd likely say something along the lines of "I didn't support that butthead, but yes, he was unfortunately popular." Hell, as an American I say things like that rather frequently. It doesn't necessarily reflect on each individual.

This would be like saying Americans think Darcy farmer is the most talented American ever because she won America's got talent.

 

[Voight]

There is no rationale for Sidney Crosby to be ranked ahead of players who are better offensively over the past 2 seasons, and significantly younger, while also contributing more than Crosby defensively and on the PK.

But you do you Canada.

Hockey News has been holding Sids bag for 20 years now.

 

[Midnight Judges]

This would be like saying Americans think Darcy farmer is the most talented American ever because she won America's got talent.

No it isn't.

 

[Voight]

For those wondering:

22. Kucherov
23. Kaprizov
39. Panarin

Kuch finishes 2nd in assists & points yet they rank him 22nd??????????????????????????

I don't want sound like a reporter from RT but THN must have some serious Russophobia.

 

[Frobbo]

I am OK with Panarin being placed down on the list. He's been MIA in the playoffs for years.

 

[StammerHammer]

Tough to consider THN a legit source for hockey news if this is how they view Kuch.

 

[The Panther]

In 2004, Don Cherry was VOTED by millions of Canadians as the 7th greatest Canadian of all time - not just in hockey, but of ALL Canadians ever! According to you, this was AFTER his sharp decline. So what was he, #1 before that?!?

Subsequently, Cherry maintained a HUGE following - almost exclusively among Canadians. Over a million Canadians were tuning in to Cherry's nativist rants whenever he was on TV - right up until his firing a few years ago.

For decades, many Canadians simply denied that Don Cherry was nativist, or they just supported him anyway. That argument somehow became overwhelmed within public perception, but the evidence was always there. His 2019 comments finally got him fired, but they were actually quite consistent with his schtick while he was firmly Canada's #1 most popular hockey personality.

For years, Cherry had his own sticky thread at the top of this very forum - right up until his firing IIRC. That wasn't that long ago. No other Canadian hockey commentator has had that. Yet you want to pretend he wasn't recently popular in Canada?!?

You are in denial.

The fact that, 20 years ago, a minority of Canadians voted Cherry one of the greatest Canadians does not logically lead to your conclusion that, in 2023, there is a Canadian-media conspiracy against Russian hockey players.

 

[thethirdhockeyman91]

Kucherov not in the top 15 is utterly presposterous. The hockey news is an anti Russian fake news publication worth boycotting.

 

[Maplebeasts]

If mattews played outside Toronto he wouldn't have won that Hart

Can this narrative just die already? If that was the case you’d think we would have had a Hart winner in the previous 5 decades somewhere. Or some individual award.

 

[thethirdhockeyman91]

Tough to consider THN a legit source for hockey news if this is how they view Kuch.

It’s just political anti- Putin BS.