Is MacKinnon now the best player in the NHL?

[Slurpeelover27]

IMHO after seeing Mackinnon play recently I believe he has developed into the best player in the NHL. He is an absolute beast of a player who looks unstoppable if on top of his game. His speed and stick handling is comparable to McDavid's and he has a much better shot and is also stronger. He also seems to be more mature and a better leader at this point in time.

I guess to me the only question is consistency. If he can play like he did in game 3 consistently then for me I would take him first if I was starting a new team.

Thoughts?

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[Mr Tadakichi]

Jesus, being the best player changes so much these days/

 

[notsocommonsense]

I can’t imagine you have any bias. . .

 

[Marner]

I think I would still take Mcdavid

 

[NOTENOUGHJTCGOALS]

So you're saying you would want a player who projects for 164G 82A 246P over a season on your team?

 

[TheGoldenGod]

Consistency is what separates good/great players from the best players.

 

[filinski77]

Still McDavid. Puts up better numbers with lesser teammates. Mackinnon having a 3 point game in game three does not magically make him the best player in the NHL.

Using your logic, I'd say Mark Stone is the best player in the NHL then. Great regular season with great 2-way play, and putting up godly playoff numbers right now. Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

 

[Todd from Leduc]

No McDavid is generational.

 

[NyQuil]

No.

 

[Hank Plank]

Is this currently the best overreaction thread title?

 

[Mitts]

Yeah he's looked like the best against us, but we've only played about a period and a half of good hockey over 10 periods, our defensive play has been atrocious, thankfully the Tampa choke is distracting away from ours. We better turn it around tonight or MacKinnon will light the lamp a bunch more.

 

[tmg]

I expected the OP to elaborate "Now that Crosby, Kucherov, and Malkin are eliminated and McDavid never made the playoffs, is MacKinnon the best player still playing NHL hockey right now?" - which could be some level of debate.

But lol, OP actually meant outright best?

 

[Hockeyholic]

Lol no.

 

[holy]

Nah it's Max Pacioretty.

 

[Salva Mea]

today YES..

 

[PuckInTheNards]

I thought it was Kucherov?

 

[Drumman44]

He’s got a pretty great contract that’s for sure

 

[TomasHertlsRooster]

Crosby, Kucherov, and McDavid are all eliminated so there really is no doubt in my mind that he is the best player playing right now.

Going forward, I might still take him over Kucherov and Crosby, but McDavid is still ahead of him.

Also, it’s hard for me to say that MacKinnon is more mature and a better leader than McDavid when he is on tape telling his coach to do his f***ing job and doesn’t even wear the C. McDavid I don’t really think we ever have enough information to seriously look at leadership and what it means in a discussion but that’s definitely not a good reason to take Mac over Mc.

 

[TB12]

Whyyyyyy must this be done EVERY time a great player plays great in the playoffs?

 

[debil]

still better than eight hundred Barkov is the best in the world threads

 

[Slurpeelover27]

Still McDavid. Puts up better numbers with lesser teammates. Mackinnon having a 3 point game in game three does not magically make him the best player in the NHL.

Using your logic, I'd say Mark Stone is the best player in the NHL then. Great regular season with great 2-way play, and putting up godly playoff numbers right now. Unfortunately, that's not how it works.

No, I am not just going by the numbers. It is by the eye test. His skill set is what I am talking about as indicated by what I wrote originally.

Using your 'logic' I would have asked if Stone was the best and obviously I did not.

LOL is right. McDavid has incredible skills no doubt, but Mackinnon's are comparable and Nate seems like a better leader.

It is about making your team better too. That is why Gretzky was the greatest, not just because of his skills and points. Gretzky also probably had the best supporting cast ever to play with. He elevated his whole team. That is also why Crosby was considered the best for so long not just because of his point totals. And that is why almost no one would say Kucherov is the best.

 

[wayninja]

Why are we limiting it to just the NHL? Or even this planet or galaxy for that matter?

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

I don't know and really all I do know is he is one hell of a player. He is certainly in the top five players in the game and on any given night he could play like he is the best player in the game, but so could McDavid, Kucherov, Crosby,and Ovechkin. His name should easily be in the mix though.

 

[filinski77]

No, I am not just going by the numbers. It is by the eye test. His skill set is what I am talking about as indicated by what I wrote originally.

Using your 'logic' I would have asked if Stone was the best and obviously I did not.

LOL is right. McDavid has incredible skills no doubt, but Mackinnon's are comparable and Nate seems like a better leader.

It is about making your team better too. That is why Gretzky was the greatest, not just because of his skills and points. Gretzky also probably had the best supporting cast ever to play with. He elevated his whole team. That is also why Crosby was considered the best for so long not just because of his point totals. And that is why almost no one would say Kucherov is the best.

I get what you are saying, but look at the Oilers and then look at the Avalanche. McDavid can only do so much with a bad team. Crosby is a great leaders and the pens got destroyed in the first round. Just like I would say McDavid is a good leader too.

Not too sure how you can determine who is the better leader, when Nate and Connor are in quite different situations

 

[Tage2Tuch]

This is how players become hated on message boards and it’s really no fault of their own....Lol

He’s one of the fastest, explosive centres in the league and has developed into a top five center. I’d say that’s good enough.

Kucherov was better then mcdavid last week now he’s a choker bum, Mackinnon scores three goals in two games against the flames and is now the best in the game.

He’s a top cenrer in the game but having four fifty pt years and one thirty pt season brings down his value a little. Especially since his point percentage doubled when a certain player joined his line and that player has never had less then 80 pts. They both help each other sure, but there are younger centres in the league who are beating mAckinnons point totals in comparisons to Nate’s first years (it’s not close either) with way, way less help.


People are “passing” on mcdavid because he’s not on the grand stage, which again is no fault of his own.

I’d like to see if Mackinnon was ever going to be more then a fifty five pt player if that guy never joined his line. I mean four to five seasons isn’t coincidence. That’s a long time of the same average result. Oh yeah save the he played on a “historically bad team” that was in ONE of those seasons and by that time I’m pretty sure the guy in my av produced almost twice as much pts as Mackinnon in similar circumstances at a younger age. And no one even universally recognizes him as top ten because no one watches him play.

This is why guys like Laine and whoever else who play on good teams get the biggest advantage ever. They can coast literally all season doing nothing but if there team is good enough to get in the playoffs he can have a good game a couple times and suddenly his season is redeemed as he gets the chance to shine on the biggest stage. But mcdavid who is golfing is getting paSsed by others because he is not? Makes no senses and isn’t fair.