Best playmakers of all time?

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Chili

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Some other great ones...Howe, Lemieux, Mikita, Beliveau, Park, Clarke, Perreault, Stastny, Ratelle...
 

trahans99

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Boucicaut said:
Top 10 playmakers of all time, or top 10 Canadian playmakers of all time?


Top 10 playmakers of all time. I'm just throwing out names, if theres no Europeans or Americans then oh well.

If I were to add more to my list, i'd put Modano in there maybe. Maybe Jagr although he is a goal scorer not really considered a playmaker.
 

(lone)Yashinfan#79

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the ones that i have seen [in my lifetime]:

Wayne
Lemieux
Kharlamov
Forsberg
Hawerchuk
Perrault
Oates
Larionov
Sakic
Modano
Thornton
Morrison
Gomez
Zhamnov
 

Ajacied

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trahans99 said:
Top 10 playmakers of all time. I'm just throwing out names, if theres no Europeans or Americans then oh well.

If I were to add more to my list, i'd put Modano in there maybe. Maybe Jagr although he is a goal scorer not really considered a playmaker.

Modano? All-time? Never..

Pierre Turgeon however, should.
 

#66

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Gretzky
Lemieux
Orr
Beliveau
Oates
Federko
Trottier
Brad Park
Francis
Savard
Stastny
IMO Most under-rated: Zubov
 

Hockey Outsider

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Hey everyone, I'm new here. This seems like a fun topic to get started in.

I'm going to list which players average the most (adjusted) assists during their best three years. So this shows who the best playmakers were in their prime (only):

1 Wayne Gretzky 116.8
2 Frank Boucher 96.4
3 Cy Denneny 94
4 Bobby Orr 92
5 Joe Primeau 90.9
6 Mario Lemieux 89.1
7 Jaromir Jagr 85.7
8 Peter Forsberg 82.1
9 Ron Francis 81.8
10 Howie Morenz 79.5
11 Adam Oates 78.3
12 Aurel Joliat 76.4
13 Phil Esposito 73.6
14 Paul Coffey 72.6
15 Doug Gilmour 72.5
16 Bill Boucher 71.6
17 Bobby Clarke 71.5
18 Doug Weight 70.3
19 Joe Sakic 70.3
20 Hooley Smith 70

Shouldn't come as a surprise, but Gretzky blows the competition away. It's nice to see older stars like Boucher and Morenz alongside Jagr and Forsberg.

Here are the top ten defensemen:

1 Bobby Orr 92.0
2 Paul Coffey 72.6
3 King Clancy 69.3
4 Brian Leetch 68.1
5 Ray Bourque 64.3
6 Phil Housley 60.5
7 Sergei Zubov 59.4
8 Al MacInnis 59.3
9 Nicklas Lidstrom 58.6
10 Denis Potvin 58.2

Gotta love Bobby Orr!
 

KOVALEV10*

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Yeah but that doesnt really mean a lot. Pete Mahovlich when he was with the habs in the 70-s was said to be sellfish a lot of times yet he lead the league in assists because he was playing with great players especially Lafleur.

Speaking of which I would rank Guy in the top 5.

1- Wayne Gretzky: Even though I'm not his best fan I cant deny he was the greatest playmaker of all time. 163 assists in a single season will never be broken IMO.

2- Bobby Orr: Greatest player of all time IMO and second best playmaker of all time.

3- Guy Lafleur: Yeah even though his assists mark isnt the best in the 6 years that he dominated he never got less then 69 assists. (well he got 66 but that was only in 70 games) Even the TSN crew said a few weaks earlier that Lafleur was an awesome passer and probably the best passing forward before Gretzky came along.

4- Mario Lemieux: The guy could've had a lot more assists had he played with better linemates most of his career.

5- Paul Coffee: This guy really helped Gretzky and vice versa. Both were dinamite when it came to passing!
 

Hockey Outsider

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KOVALEV10 said:
Yeah but that doesnt really mean a lot. Pete Mahovlich when he was with the habs in the 70-s was said to be sellfish a lot of times yet he lead the league in assists because he was playing with great players especially Lafleur.

Kovalev10-- I agree with you that numbers aren't everything. But I also think it's important to use facts and data when discussing a topic like this. The number I showed were merely intended to spark debate. :)

Pete Mahovlich was very lucky to play with LaFleur in '75 and '76. He recorded 70 and 61 (adjusted) assists that year; he never got more than 45 in any other season.
 

KOVALEV10*

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Hockey Outsider said:
Kovalev10-- I agree with you that numbers aren't everything. But I also think it's important to use facts and data when discussing a topic like this. The number I showed were merely intended to spark debate. :)

Pete Mahovlich was very lucky to play with LaFleur in '75 and '76. He recorded 70 and 61 (adjusted) assists that year; he never got more than 45 in any other season.

Not to sound stupid or anything but what do you mean by adjusted assists? Cuz if I'm correct Mahovlich got 81 assists in 76 not 70 or 61... :dunno:
 

c-carp

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Fan.At said:
Oates should be top 5, imo.
Oates and Hull were just magical together. If the Blues would have kept Oates I think Hull would be the Single season goals record holder. Expansion was coming and If he and Oates would have gotten to play against some of those teams Hull might have gotten 100 in a season
 

tom_servo

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trahans99 said:
Top 10 playmakers of all time. I'm just throwing out names, if theres no Europeans or Americans then oh well.

If I were to add more to my list, i'd put Modano in there maybe. Maybe Jagr although he is a goal scorer not really considered a playmaker.

Jagr considers himself a playmaker first, for what it's worth.
 

#66

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c-carp said:
Not that he would be top 10 but it is good to see someone mention Bernie Federko.
Yeah I was just wanted to list some of the top playmakers that I could think of. How I forgot Paul Coffey is beyond me. As far as Federko, IMO if he's not on a top ten list he should be no lower than 13. He might not of had the mind blowing assist through 2 players but he didn't need to do that. His game was more about sense kind of like Beliveau.
Joe Sakic is another guy who is very under rated as one of the all time great passers. While he is more of a shooter today, Joe Sakic pre 1993 eye injury was every bit as good as Gretzky, Lemieux and Oates at that time. He was so great at holding the puck and drawing players to him while his linemates got open. He has changed his game since then but I'll never forget him as one of the elite passers that I've ever seen.
 

Hockey Outsider

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KOVALEV10 said:
Not to sound stupid or anything but what do you mean by adjusted assists? Cuz if I'm correct Mahovlich got 81 assists in 76 not 70 or 61... :dunno:

"Adjusted" means I take into account a bunch of factors, such as how high-scoring the league is, how many games were on the schedule, and other minor factors. In 1975, scoring was higher than normal, so once we take that into account, his 82 assists are equivalent to 70 in a "normal" year.

By no means is the process perfect, but it helps remove some of the statistical illusions that you get when you just look at unadjusted statistics.
 
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