Is John Leclair a different player in Today's NHL

TheAngryHank

Expert
May 28, 2008
18,011
6,666
Dustin Penner with slightly better goal scoring ability. a big soft floater that can bury a few pucks. Without Lindros he's pretty forgetable.

You don't get to be on the LEGION OF DOOM line by being a soft floater :laugh:

29mopid.jpg
 

Mikeshane

Registered User
Jan 15, 2013
6,175
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LeClair wasn't just "left there." He wasn't some forgotten member of the line riding Lindros' coattails.


You should check out LeClair's performance without Lindros.

Ya I saw him on Montreal floating around scoring much less. He's not remembered for riding Lindros' coattails but he should be.
 

CarpeNoctem

Chilling w The Chief
Oct 29, 2013
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In The Night
He'd basically be now what he was then... a top 10 scoring forward for a few years who was very strong near the net and had great hands.
 

AwaKe

Registered User
Jul 22, 2006
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Max Pacioretty... big fast with a great release. Not always looking for physical play like Lucic but can easily defend himself and deliver a big hit from time to time.
 

mja

Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt
Jan 7, 2005
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Lucy the Elephant's Belly
LeClair was physical. He wasn't physical like Lindros was physical, but he was physical. He always used his size to his advantage along the walls and in front of the net. He also absorbed ridiculous amounts of punishment. His back gave out on him at the end of his career because of all the cross-checks he took while planted in front of the net.

Also, he could skate and just blow slapshots past people on the rush. He used an unusual blade that twisted almost like a cork-screw that allowed him to do that. I don't know if I've ever seen another player use that blade.

He scored pretty goals and power goals and garbage goals. He was a monster below the circles but was just as dangerous with the puck on his stick and a step on the defender.

Lindros and LeClair, if healthy and in their primes, would have been scary to watch after the lockout when any and all obstruction was called.
 

pm88

Registered User
Mar 19, 2014
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everywhere
This guy was the definition of "power forward". he wasn't like Bertuzzi or Lucic now but he was a big guy who could get those garbage goals or absolutely rip it as well. I was a little young when the legion of doom was at its peak but I always remembered enjoying watching Leclair play.. would always wait for him to wind up and just rip a goal home with that wicked slapshot. He was a great, under-rated player for the Flyers
 

GIN ANTONIC

Registered User
Aug 19, 2007
18,786
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Toronto, ON
Leclair, Hull, Modano, Amonte, Weight, Tkachuk, Leetch, Guerin, Chelios, Roenick, Rolston, Suter, etc... I loved that late 90s early 2000s USA mens hockey team. Those guys were nasty SOBs that would beat the hell out of you.
 

eXile59

Shirts on.
Jan 2, 2009
18,221
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PA
His skating didn't start going until the latter part of his career so I think he would produce at a good rate. He wouldn't be getting 50 goal seasons but in the current NHL few are.
 

Beef Invictus

Revolutionary Positivity
Dec 21, 2009
127,494
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Armored Train
Ya I saw him on Montreal floating around scoring much less. He's not remembered for riding Lindros' coattails but he should be.

Yeah, he wasn't riding Lindros' coattails on the Flyers though. You keep saying that, and you keep being wrong about it. When Lindros missed time, LeClair stepped up and didn't miss a beat.

How can it be that he was riding Lindros' coattails if his production wasn't diminished without Lindros? Riddle me that.
 

TheAngryHank

Expert
May 28, 2008
18,011
6,666
I have a few players jerseys ,
Mess
Gretz
Vladdy
Chelli
Leclair

One of these things is not like the others.
 

capebretoncanadien

Registered User
Nov 29, 2008
3,946
0
He would be as good as ever.

He was big, protected the puck well, good skater, good to great shot, good skater...very strong, nose for the net.

Corey Perry is a bit of an imperfect comparison as every player is unique....but pretty damn close.
 

CupInSIX

My cap runneth over
Jul 1, 2012
26,283
18,254
Alphaville
I actually think he would dominate moreso in today's NHL. The Habs wasted a few years of his development trying to make him into their coveted big 2nd line center every chance they got IIRC.
 

YEM

Registered User
Mar 7, 2010
5,718
2,697
Ya I saw him on Montreal floating around scoring much less.

LeClair: only habs player not named Maurice Richard to score playoff ot goals in consecutive games and he did it in The Finals.
 

Cyborg LeClair

Thank You Mr. Snider
Nov 18, 2011
3,935
113
Jurassic Park
I have a few players jerseys ,
Mess
Gretz
Vladdy
Chelli
Leclair

One of these things is not like the others.
One is Russian and the others are North American superstars.

Who does John LeClair compare to in today's NHL? I see elements of his game in a lot of players; Jamie Benn, Corey Perry, Steven Stamkos, Wayne Simmonds, and Ryan Johansen exhibit certain qualities of what made #10 effective. LeClair was fast, he was big and powerful, and he was always one of the most competitive players on the ice. He would do anything possible to put the puck into the net whether he had to dive head first into a pile of skates and sticks to do it or not. He had a great sense for where the puck would end up or where the play was going and was just as good of a set up man as he was a finisher. His great hockey sense also lent a hand to the defensive side of his game. He could take players off the puck or take their stick off the puck as well as he could guard it from them.

Some may read this and think hyperbole, but that's only because LeClair doesn't have the hype that many other great wingers of hockey's history have.
Over a six season prime with the Flyers, LeClair scored 497 points in 441 games for a 1.13 ppg avg and scored 260 goals over that span at .59 gpg avg. He was also a +160 during that span and led the league in +/- in 1997. Here's the scoring list from that year:

Mario Lemieux- 122
Teemu Selanne- 109
Paul Kariya- 99
John Leclair- 97
Wayne Gretzky- 97
Jaromir Jagr- 95
Mats Sundin- 94
Zigmund Palffy- 90
Ron Francis- 90
Brendan Shanahan- 88

I have no doubt LeClair would still be a top 5 scorer in today's NHL. I'd say he's still a 50 goal scorer and 90+ points player during his prime. The type of player he was and the ways he scored goals would be effective in any era of hockey. All the way from the 20's thru the 50's, 70's, 80's, and today.
 

Cyborg LeClair

Thank You Mr. Snider
Nov 18, 2011
3,935
113
Jurassic Park
Ya I saw him on Montreal floating around scoring much less. He's not remembered for riding Lindros' coattails but he should be.
This is akin to judging Voracek on his Columbus years and then saying that he's only playing so well right now because he's riding Giroux's coattails.
 

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