League rankings right now

[Eye of Ra]

Yeah but they got their training in Latvian league so therefore it's a better league.

they did not, most latvians moves at early age to foreign junior leagues

 

[vorky]

.......

 

[ViD]

NHL no doubt nr 1. But i do remember many rusians argued that KHL is better than NHL or just as good, couple of years back, lmao.

I don’t think any Russian ever said KHL was just as good as the NHL.
There was an argument that the best KHL teams could beat bottom NHL teams which was a valid argument

 

[tobu]

1 NHL
2 KHL
3 AHL
4 SHL
5 NLA
6 Liiga
7 Extraliga Cz
8 DEL
9 ECHL
10 Allsvenkan
11 ICEHL
12 Extraliga Sv

I think you hit it very well, though I'd put Slovak league above ICEHL and it's probably interchangeable with Allsvenskan too.

 

[Fjorden]

With NA leagues and second tier leagues, junior leagues and college leagues counted in:


1: NHL
2: KHL
3: NLA
4: Liiga
5: DEL
6: AHL
7: Czech League
8: SHL
9: Slovak League
10: Ebel

NHL no doubt nr 1. But i do remember many rusians argued that KHL is better than NHL or just as good, couple of years back, lmao.

Even with all players leaving KHL, i still think its second best leauge in the world.

Would be interesting to hear the arguments why SHL is a "top" league. People keep saying it, but offer no facts. Look at U20 and WC, Sweden is doing worse there than USA, Finland, Germany, Switzerland and Czechia....and this tournaments have many players from the domestic leagues.

Tier 0
NHL

Tier 1:
KHL

Tier 2
SHL
AHL

Tier 3.
Liiga
NLA
Czech Extraliga
DEL

Tier 4:
ICEHL(austria)
Hockeyallsvenskan
Slovak Extraliga

Tier 5
Norway League
ECHL
Danish metalliga

Tier 6.
Ligue Magnus (France)
British league (EIHL)
PHL polish hockey league

 

[Fjorden]

The worst team in Switzerland can afford AHL's perennial best defenseman candidate whereas the worst Liiga teams can't afford even local Finnish pros for a full season.

As long as swiss league have import restrictions. Swiss teams have to spend lots of money on mediocre local players. The worst teams in liiga can have decent local players for free because of great depth in finnish hockey.

The worst local finnish pros in liiga, are better than the worst swiss pros in nla.

 

[Albatros]

As long as swiss league have import restrictions. Swiss teams have to spend lots of money on mediocre local players. The worst teams in liiga can have decent local players for free because of great depth in finnish hockey.

The worst local finnish pros in liiga, are better than the worst swiss pros in nla.

Though you still need to mind that there are quite a bit more Finnish players in Liiga than Swiss in their league.

 

[Fjorden]

Though you still need to mind that there are quite a bit more Finnish players in Liiga than Swiss in their league.

But still.

It's like saying Norway's NT in soccer is better than the Swiss NT in soccer. Even though Norway have two better top-end players in Haaland and Ødegaard. The swiss NT in soccer have better depth than Norway NT, and they're a better NT.

Also in this WC that Canada won. many teams had better top end players than Canada. Rantanen for Finland, Ehlers for Denmark e.g. Still Canada won because of their depth,

Depth matters in team sports.

 

[Albatros]

But still.

It's like saying Norway's NT in soccer is better than the Swiss NT in soccer. Even though Norway have two better top-end players in Haaland and Ødegaard. The swiss NT in soccer have better depth than Norway NT, and they're a better NT.

Also in this WC that Canada won. many teams had better top end players than Canada. Rantanen for Finland, Ehlers for Denmark e.g. Still Canada won because of their depth,

Depth matters in team sports.

That's something different still, national teams have access to more or less all players from that country whereas 200 or so high-end Finnish players don't play in Liiga. In Switzerland that number is more like a dozen.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Heard a lot of players / media say AHL is next best league. Including players that have played on both sides of the pond.

 

[Czechboy]

Heard a lot of players / media say AHL is next best league. Including players that have played on both sides of the pond.

The number of 25 year old tweeners that just couldn't get a full time NHL gig that went on to Europe and dominated is staggering.

Just looking at former oilers... Hartikainen, Omark, lander, Shlepyshev, Musil and rattie.

AHL Czechs like chlapik and Spacek doing very well in Europe now.

 

[Albatros]

Heard a lot of players / media say AHL is next best league. Including players that have played on both sides of the pond.

I wonder why hardly anyone wants to stay in the AHL as a second choice after the NHL then.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I wonder why hardly anyone wants to stay in the AHL as a second choice after the NHL then.

Dollars

 

[WarriorofTime]

The number of 25 year old tweeners that just couldn't get a full time NHL gig that went on to Europe and dominated is staggering.

Just looking at former oilers... Hartikainen, Omark, lander, Shlepyshev, Musil and rattie.

AHL Czechs like chlapik and Spacek doing very well in Europe now.

But the 25+ year olds that get one of the coveted Veteran Player slots and dominate in the AHL is "staggering" as well. 7th year AHL pro with only 30 NHL games under his belt, Michael Carcone, had a pretty great season with 85 points in 65 games.

 

[WarriorofTime]

I wonder why hardly anyone wants to stay in the AHL as a second choice after the NHL then.

AHL teams can only ice 4 players in any given game that have played over 320 NHL, AHL or "European Elite" League games prior to the start of the season, with one additional player that has played between 261-320 games. This is done to keep the AHL as primarily a developmental league. So 13/18 skaters in a given game will have played 260 or less games in those leagues coming into the season.

The reality is once you've surpassed that threshold, you probably won't have a spot in the League available to you anymore unless you've proven yourself to a strong extent. So often it is not really the player's choice to head over to Europe or drop down to the ECHL.

AHL money is not so bad. Many veteran players make into six figures. Somehow TJ Tynan managed to get paid $500,000 for his minor league salary this year. That's gotta be more than he'd get in Europe.

 

[member 305909]

Is the worst team of the NHL better than the best team of the KHL?

 

[Albatros]

Is the worst team of the NHL better than the best team of the KHL?

Was there a point in time when the best team in the KHL was better than the worst NHL team? Probably.

Is that point in time now? No.

 

[Zine]

Heard a lot of players / media say AHL is next best league. Including players that have played on both sides of the pond.

I have yet to hear any player say that.

Quite a few of the Russian dudes have said the AHL is a super physical league, maybe more than the NHL… but the skill level isnt the greatest.

 

[Lambo]

But still.

It's like saying Norway's NT in soccer is better than the Swiss NT in soccer. Even though Norway have two better top-end players in Haaland and Ødegaard. The swiss NT in soccer have better depth than Norway NT, and they're a better NT.

Also in this WC that Canada won. many teams had better top end players than Canada. Rantanen for Finland, Ehlers for Denmark e.g. Still Canada won because of their depth,

Depth matters in team sports.

Well Finland won gold in 2019 with 14 players from the Liiga. I doubt if an average Canadian tam could beat a near Russian best on best selection. And anyway, the gold medals have been won with many players from Europe.

 

[Goptor]

Based off the recent Worlds, I'd say:

#1 CHL
#2 DEL
#3 Latvian league
#4 NHL
#5 Liiga
#6 NLA
#7 SHL
#8 Czech League
Fantasy league that doesn't exist: KHL

 

[vorky]

Latest playoffs attendance in Europe


Remaining leagues in total PO attendance

TELH 400 000
NL 370 000
SHL 327 000
DEL 325 000
Liiga 309 000

 

[Poro24]

People actually still follow khl?

For Europe I would say SHL is miles ahead of the other leagues. Liiga vs NLA is close. NLA clearly has better foreign players, but average Finnish player is still better than average Swiss player, so I would give a small edge to Liiga

However Liiga is going a fast downhill. Too many teams and too many totally meaningless games.

In every season couple of teams will sell all their good players when they miss their change to playoffs. Then they will play about 20 games with just juniors in the lineup. Serie has no relegation and it's ruining Finnish hockey.

 

[Lartsaman]

Tier 0
NHL

Tier 1:
KHL

Tier 2
SHL
AHL

Tier 3.
Liiga
NLA
Czech Extraliga
DEL

Tier 4:
ICEHL(austria)
Hockeyallsvenskan
Slovak Extraliga

Tier 5
Norway League
ECHL
Danish metalliga

Tier 6.
Ligue Magnus (France)
British league (EIHL)
PHL polish hockey league

Thats by far the best ranking here but I would count SHL and KHL pretty even. NLA is a bit stronger than Liiga, at least the top teams.

 

[HuGo Sham]

I maintain the Czechs in the AHL are miles ahead of the ones in the Extraliga. I'd love to see a 'not so' super series between AHL Czechs against Extraliga Czechs. I think the Extraliga guys would be demolished.

I maintain that 90% of goalies in the NHL played in the AHL before coming to NHL.

I maintain about 70% of the Defence in the NHL played in the AHL before coming to the NHL

So if we are talking about 'best' as the league with the best players:

NHL
AHL
KHL
NLA
SHL
LIIIGA
Extraliga
DEL

If we are talking about 'best' as the league I would want to play in if I were a tweener that couldn't crack the NHL (Frk, Perlini)

NLA
SHL
LIIGA
DEL
Extraliga
AHL

I agree with this; I think the AHL is much better than any league in Europe, except maybe the KHL

 

[Albatros]

Regarding the argument that most defensemen play 100 or so games in the AHL before moving to the NHL, that's broadly speaking true especially if they come from junior hockey, but that's because they're still raw youngsters, especially but by no means only physically.

Of the current cup finalists and dare I say champions Alec Martinez went from US junior hockey to college, from college to the AHL, and then still to Finland during the lockout after already making it in the NHL. Despite by all accounts good work ethic he was nothing special by Liiga standards and soon moved on to the Central Hockey League, albeit excused by a minor injury. It was only several seasons after leaving the AHL (and Finland) in his late 20s that he really became a top-tier defenseman, as is often the case. In other words saying that the AHL is the next best league because young Alec Martinez and others like him once played there makes only limited sense.