He has a case, anyone who says yes or no definitively is a fool. He's top-5 without a doubt. The other top-5 players for sure are Mcdavid, Draisaitl, Kucherov and Hedman. Any list where somebody out of these guys is #2 is legit. Mackinnon can scare you all you want but the guy never, for any significant period of time, has been the best player in the league or the best player at his position. Never won the Hart or Richard or Pearson or...really anything. He's flashy, he produces, he's a an exciting skater with powerful stride...but these all are traits. What about an actual substance? Is he ahead of the aforementioned players in terms the actual results? The answer is no. One could argue he's not even the best player from his draft but that is for another thread.
Case closed.
He was never drafted. I guess you have missed his entire dandelion story? I assume you mean his rookie season, but there's a difference. It's goddamn movie material. Otherwise, sure, I agree with you, it's all debatable, but he's up there in the tumble dryer of opinions.
Marchand plays with Bergeron and Pasta
Panarin plays with Strome and Blackwell
Panarin >> Marchand
Yup, who've had chemistry for ages. But the licking maniac is better. Meanwhile Panarin carries his entire line - and a significant extent of the team. It's him, Zibanejad, Fox and Shesterkin, but Panarin is the star star.
I would never pick Marchand ahead of Panarin. Panarin is way more talented, worse defensively but is actually likeable. And that's not out of the pest role issue, Marchand goes beyond that like worse than Sean Avery kind of moves. Marchand can stay in Boston.
Which is exactly why Marchand has no chance to end up in the HHOF. He's too much of a dumbass to not even respect the sport and his opponents enough to hold some kind of standard that even 4 year olds know is absolutely disgusting and forbidden.
Don't eat dog shit. Don't eat sand. Don't lick people in the face. The simple stuff that Marchand was never raised to understand. And even detracting this, I don't hold Marchand's hockey skills that highly. If he would've played on a worse team, he would've been held in much less regard. He wouldn't shine as much as on a well oiled Boston 1st line.