Hockey’s Equivalent of Shohei Ohtani

[qwerty]

Baseball’s Shohei Otani looks to be the most sought after man this offseason because of his unique prowess at both the plate and as a pitcher and has even been compared to Babe Ruth. This got me thinking, is there a hockey equivalent to Shohei Ohtani or does a comparable even exist?

What would a hockey player have to do today to earn similar hype? Would they have to be a #1 goaltender who can also substitute as a forward when backing up and score 20 goals or something?

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[SladeWilson23]

Sergei Fedorov

 

[ottawa]

Maybe a better version of Erik Karlsson, i.e. instead of a 4th line winger/#1 defenseman, someone who can sub in the top 6 and be a top pairing defenseman.

 

[pckstpr31]

I'd probably lean more towards agreeing with you and saying it would need to be a goalie/skater combination. I think playing forward/defense is a lot more similar than hitting/pitching. Tough comparison though. I guess someone that could be a top pairing defender and a top 6 forward would work.

 

[Brian McDavid]

Yohann Auvitu... more like Yohann OVIEtu

 

[PWJunior]

Sergei Fedorov

Exactly who I thought of as well.

 

[Whaleafs]

Lester Patrick

 

[jetsforever]

A better Burns or Byfuglien

 

[Filthy Dangles]

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

Jorge Campos (Mexican soccer goalie) is always the big transformative sports figure that comes to my mind when I read about Otani. He started out his career as a striker and he'd come forward to join the attack a lot. Goalie in hockey is even more specialized, I'd guess that maybe that kind of stuff happens at kids' levels when a team has one star player. Has anyone in the NHL ever done a Campos or Rick Ankiel-style "switch" between goalie and skater - it wouldn't happen when you're a pro, but even if the guy was like 13 I'd consider it super impressive.

 

[Ainec]

none atm, still awaiting

 

[Filthy Dangles]

A better Burns or Byfuglien

So, Karlsson...?

 

[puckpilot]

Red Kelly

Kelly, Red -- Biography -- Honoured Player -- Legends of Hockey



Norris winning defensman, as well as All-star scoring center.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The only thing that would compare would be a player who could play both goalie and skater.

No, there has not been a relevant case of this in the NHL.

 

[SladeWilson23]

The only thing that would compare would be a player who could play both goalie and skater.

No, there has not been a relevant case of this in the NHL.

 

[Kane One]

Brodeur wouldn't even come close to being good as a skater in the NHL. He was very impressive with his stick as a goalie, however.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Neither of these are NHL games. Anyone can switch positions on a lark.

 

[SladeWilson23]

Damn. Tough crowd.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Damn. Tough crowd.

 

[Plural]

Damn. Tough crowd.

I appreciate the effort. Tarheel just likes to be the hockey nerd.

 

[Canada4Gold]

I don't think there could be one. Baseball is played in 2 separate stages. 1 team hits, and then the other does. You can be a pitcher in 1 stage, and then a hitter in the other. As well as there are numerous pitchers a team used compared to 2 goalies and 1 gets the bulk of the time. In hockey everything is happening at once. You can't be a starting goalie and play forward like you can be a starting pitcher and then play outfield, because a starting goalie plays ~75% of his teams games, so you're only getting maybe 20 games of value out of your forward skills while Ohtani could get 50% of the games or more out of his hitting skills depending on how much the team that gets him wants to play him. You can't really be a forward and a defenseman unless you can play 45 minutes a game and if you can do that might as well do it as whichever one you're of the most value to the team as all the time and not splitting them.

I guess starting goalie and forward would be the best example you could come up with, but it doesn't really work for hockey, like it doesn't really work for a lot of spots given the separate nature of the 2 facets of baseball and the fact that the starting pitcher only pitches once every 5 games.

 

[qwerty]

I think I saw a video of Tuuka Rask and Pekka Rinne in the summer firing slapshots at close to 100MPH. I don’t think it’s crazy to think that some better skating and puck handling goaltenders could make good defensemen. Mike Smith for example has impressive poise with the puck and makes better quality outlets than some of our defensemen. He’s even scored a goal before.

I think it’d be awesome to see a quality back up one day jump into the line up as a skater as well. He’d play 2 positions and only take up one spot on a 23 man roster. That coupd be valuable to teams that are tight against the cap and can’t afford to carry extra skaters.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Mike Smith. Guy is like a 3rd defencemen.

 

[Dylonus]

Datsyuk

If you want to be technical, Brent Burns; depending on how you look at this.

He's switched between RW and D his entire career and excelled at both spots.