1992-1993..Professional scouts rate the NHL players

Habsfan18

The Hockey Library
May 13, 2003
30,614
8,625
Ontario
It's the January 15th, 1993 issue of The Hockey News and the cover story (along with Canada's WJC gold) is of THN polling 5 professional scouts to rate every single player in the NHL.

Each player's total rating is based on the 1-6 rating he received from each of the 5 pro scouts.

28-30 = Superstar
23-27 = Star
18-22 = NHL Regular-Plus
13-17 = NHL Regular
8-12 = Role Player
5-7 = Depth Player

In all, 48 players were considered "superstars & stars." Here they are:

Mario Lemieux - 30
Mark Messier - 30
Pat LaFontaine - 30
Steve Yzerman - 30
Wayne Gretzky - 30

Pavel Bure - 29
Brian Leetch - 29
Joe Sakic - 29
Jeremy Roenick - 29
Ray Bourque - 29

Kevin Stevens - 28
Patrick Roy - 28
Al MacInnis - 28
Brett Hull - 28

Jaromir Jagr - 27
Eric Lindros - 27
Teemu Selanne - 27
Chris Chelios - 27
Doug Gilmour - 27
Mark Recchi - 27
Luc Robitaille - 27
Pierre Turgeon - 27
Paul Coffey - 27
Cam Neely - 27

Mats Sundin - 26
Gary Roberts - 26
Sergei Fedorov - 26
Bill Ranford - 26
Scott Stevens - 26
Phil Housley - 26

Mike Modano - 25
Adam Oates - 25
Alex Mogilny - 25
Mark Tinordi - 25
Kevin Hatcher - 25
Jari Kurri - 25

Kirk Muller - 24
Rick Tocchet - 24
Steve Smith - 24
Theo Fleury - 24
Tom Barrasso - 24
Steve Larmer - 24
Vincent Damphousse - 24

Brendan Shanahan - 23
Kirk McLean - 23
Mike Gartner - 23
Joe Nieuwendyk - 23
Andy Moog - 23

If you're curious about a specific player, just ask and I can get the rating.
 
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MXD

Original #4
Oct 27, 2005
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It's the January 15th, 1993 issue of The Hockey News and the cover story (along with Canada's WJC gold) is of THN polling 5 professional scouts to rate every single player in the NHL.

Each player's total rating is based on the 1-6 rating he received from each of the 5 pro scouts.

28-30 = Superstar
23-27 = Star
18-22 = NHL Regular-Plus
13-17 = NHL Regular
8-12 = Role Player
5-7 = Depth Player

In all, 47 players were considered "superstars & stars." Here they are:

Mario Lemieux - 30
Mark Messier - 30
Pat LaFontaine - 30
Steve Yzerman - 30
Wayne Gretzky - 30

Pavel Bure - 29
Brian Leetch - 29
Joe Sakic - 29
Jeremy Roenick - 29
Ray Bourque - 29

Kevin Stevens - 28
Patrick Roy - 28
Al MacInnis - 28
Brett Hull - 28

Jaromir Jagr - 27
Eric Lindros - 27
Teemu Selanne - 27
Chris Chelios - 27
Doug Gilmour - 27
Mark Recchi - 27
Luc Robitaille - 27
Pierre Turgeon - 27
Paul Coffey - 27

Mats Sundin - 26
Gary Roberts - 26
Sergei Fedorov - 26
Bill Ranford - 26
Scott Stevens - 26
Phil Housley - 26

Mike Modano - 25
Adam Oates - 25
Alex Mogilny - 25
Mark Tinordi - 25
Kevin Hatcher - 25
Jari Kurri - 25

Kirk Muller - 24
Rick Tocchet - 24
Steve Smith - 24
Theo Fleury - 24
Tom Barrasso - 24
Steve Larmer - 24
Vincent Damphousse - 24

Brendan Shanahan - 23
Kirk McLean - 23
Mike Gartner - 23
Joe Nieuwendyk - 23
Andy Moog - 23

If you're curious about a specific player, just ask and I can get the rating.

Kurri ahead of Damphousse and Tinordi seems wrong to me.
 

mco543

Registered User
Aug 14, 2006
284
4
I guess this settles the Turgeon/Oates debate :laugh:

It's bizarre to see Housley rated the same as Scott Stevens...

But then again Stevens wasn't quite Stevens at that point.
 

Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
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Mogilny was in the midst of his 76 goal season and was ranked much lower than Lafontaine. I guess everyone figured he was riding on his coattails? Or had he not gotten hot yet?
 

Stephen

Moderator
Feb 28, 2002
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51,520
I'm also surprised Eddie Belfour was ranked outside of the stars category. For a guy who won the Jennings, Calder and Vezina in 1991, went to the finals in 1992 and was in the midst of another Vezina in 1993, you'd think he would have been higher up on the list of superstars.

Why guys like Moog, McLean, and Ranford are ahead of him is a mystery. Ranford had his 1990 run and was still thought of as a great goalie, but Belfour was putting together something special. Moog wasn't that relevant, and McLean hadn't been on his 1994 run yet.

Belfour should have been up there with Roenick and Chelios. He was every bit as important to Chicago then.
 

Canadiens1958

Registered User
Nov 30, 2007
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Mike Keenan Factor

I'm also surprised Eddie Belfour was ranked outside of the stars category. For a guy who won the Jennings, Calder and Vezina in 1991, went to the finals in 1992 and was in the midst of another Vezina in 1993, you'd think he would have been higher up on the list of superstars.

Why guys like Moog, McLean, and Ranford are ahead of him is a mystery. Ranford had his 1990 run and was still thought of as a great goalie, but Belfour was putting together something special. Moog wasn't that relevant, and McLean hadn't been on his 1994 run yet.

Belfour should have been up there with Roenick and Chelios. He was every bit as important to Chicago then.

Belfour was not consistent and Mike Keenan had a very quick hook which explains the rating differential Roenick and Chelios were consistent.
 

seventieslord

Student Of The Game
Mar 16, 2006
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Biggest surprise is probably Steve Smith, alone in 10th among defensemen. Not tied for 10th, either. And no one within a point.
 

Ziggy Stardust

Master Debater
Jul 25, 2002
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Curious to see where they had Marty McSorley and Wendel Clark ranked, they both had stellar seasons in 92-93. I'd also be interested to know what score they gave Kelly Hrudey, one of the worst starting goalies of the early 90s.
 

Stray Wasp

Registered User
May 5, 2009
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Mogilny was in the midst of his 76 goal season and was ranked much lower than Lafontaine. I guess everyone figured he was riding on his coattails? Or had he not gotten hot yet?

As of 15th January 1993, Mogilny was scoring at roughly a goal per game.

However, bear in mind that the poll may have been conducted weeks or even months prior to this date. (Although Selanne's presence suggests that the scouts must have been polled at some point during the season).

Prior to that season, Mogilny had never played more than 67 games in any of his regular seasons. So his highest goal tally was 39. His playoff record read games 12, goals 0. Since Lafontaine was established and concerns about Russians being able to perform in the playoffs were quite prevalent, I'd guess voters erred on the side of caution when rating Mogilny.

As ever with these kinds of polls, we don't know who was voting on actual achievements, who was making projections based on a hunch (see Lindros' ranking in THN top 100 of 97) and who was adding extra weight for playoff performances.

I remember Tinordi being touted as a potential star after the 91 playoffs. Smith's part in helping the Blackhawks reach the 92 finals-added to his successes with the Oilers-maybe garnered him a lot of credit. As for Hatcher, he was featuring in Norris and all-star votes around this time and he'd finish fifth in all-star voting for 92-93.

Furthermore, as has been noted, five voters makes for a small sample.
 

tony d

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
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Yeah, I remember that edition of "The Hockey News", to answer the Kevin Hatcher question he probably got a high rating because he was one of the best offensive defenseman in the league at that time.
 

seventieslord

Student Of The Game
Mar 16, 2006
36,080
7,132
Regina, SK
Curious to see where they had Marty McSorley and Wendel Clark ranked, they both had stellar seasons in 92-93. I'd also be interested to know what score they gave Kelly Hrudey, one of the worst starting goalies of the early 90s.

Clark, for some reason, had a relatively awful regular season... I think you are thinking 1994.
 

Loto68

Registered User
Aug 12, 2006
861
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Boston
I was wondering how Adam Graves was rated. Obviously he was not a star player but he was on his way up and next year he would have a massive breakout.
 

seekritdude

Registered User
May 3, 2009
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What was makarov and irbe? Intrested in irbe simply because in 92-93 around a third way into the year he was actaully leading the league in save percentage that I recall before he got injured lol.
 

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