A lot of discussions happen off the record, you have to clear it with the player if you want to attribute a quote to them and maybe he didn't want to turn a laid back discussion into a serious one by acting like a journalist.
If you want to play the role of detective there are enough clues there that you can have an educated guess at who it might be.
- It's rare to hear a young player speak about versatility or PK ability when evaluating the best player in the league so it's likely a vet in their late 20's or 30's
- The skill of making plays on your forehand or backhand, is generally most appreciated by d-men and centers.
- Strong faceoff ability is generally most appreciated by other centers.
- Stauffer also emphasized it was after the game making it seem likely it was a player who played in the game and not someone sitting in the pressbox all night like Brad Hunt
- Stauffer talks to a lot of people, but certainly seems biased to chatting up local products and former Oilers more frequently.
- National biases are a thing and a European would likely be slightly more inclined to say Draisaitl is the best.
Even with all those potential hints the only players I'd eliminate from potentially saying that is the guys who are 28 and under. If I had a gun to my head and was forced to guess I'd pick either Eric Staal or Mikko Koivu, but I could see it being any one of 10 guys.
