Ovechkin - all time winger rank

Ovechkin - all time winger rank


  • Total voters
    311

ScaredStreit

Registered User
May 5, 2006
11,081
2,970
Tampa, FL
Top 3. I think you could argue a couple of guys as being #2 and OV's one of them. #1 though is a lock. Saying that Howe is easily the GOAT among wingers (and he is) isn't taking anything away from Ovechkin's career.
 

solidmotion

Registered User
Jun 5, 2012
612
295
i voted top 5 but the more i compare ovechkin's resume to others (except for howe) in the top 5 - hull, jagr, richard - the more i think he has pretty decent arguments against all of them:

- hull's goalscoring titles came against a pretty weak crop of goalscorers; incredible as he was, his margins over the competition probably overstate his case. ovechkin on the other hand has gone head to head with a number of great goalscorers - iginla, kovalchuk, stamkos, tavares, crosby - and he's been both better and more consistent than any of them. about to win his 8th goalscoring title, passing hull. (and no need to get into what-ifs re hull leaving for the wha - he played 15 years in the nhl, winning 7 "rockets"; ovechkin has played 14 years and will have won 8.) on the other hand you could argue that hull's singular ability to blow up tight 60s defence systems means he's better. anyway it's getting close and the next few years could tilt it in ovechkin's favour.

- in spite of all the art rosses, etc., jagr really only has a three-year peak, '98-'00, as the undisputed best offensive player in the world - up through '97 it was lemieux, and after jagr went to washington he wasn't the same. (in '01, sakic and lemieux were better.) that makes his peak almost exactly the same as ovechkin's ('08-'10). it also says something that jagr lost harts while winning art rosses, while the opposite is true for ovechkin. similar pros & cons re playoffs in general but ovechkin's cup + smythe might make up for some down years while jagr's decent overall stats hide some underwhelming performances in clutch situations ('93, '96, '01). overall i think ovechkin is in good shape to pass jagr if things continue as they're going.

- richard is probably the hardest player to evaluate all time - so much of his esteem depends on intangible stuff that doesn't show up in stats, and on all-time great playoff production and cup wins that no contemporary player can touch. but on the merits ovechkin should be neck and neck with him.

tldr ovechkin could be as high as #2 behind howe when all is said and done - above richard and jagr, in an argument with hull that could go either way.
 

ricky0034

Registered User
Jun 8, 2010
14,862
6,938
voted top 5 because I have him behind Hull and Jagr right now but honestly it's really close and he has plenty of time to change that
 

Fataldogg

Registered User
Mar 22, 2007
12,380
3,660
Gordie Howe?

Always thought Howe was overrated myself. I get that he played during a different era, but he did not have the talent that Jagr had. Thats just my opinion.

Jagr also proved he could be old and do well in the NHL.
 

ScaredStreit

Registered User
May 5, 2006
11,081
2,970
Tampa, FL
Always thought Howe was overrated myself. I get that he played during a different era, but he did not have the talent that Jagr had. Thats just my opinion.

Jagr also proved he could be old and do well in the NHL.

Opinions can be wrong. Also, saying that Jagr was more talented than Howe might be true, however you have to compare them to their peers. That's like saying Reilly Smith is better than anybody who played in 40's-including Richard. It might technically be true (mind you people who make this argument never factor in training/systems of the time)...but would anybody really say that Smith > Richard? They'd be laughed out of the building and rightfully so.
 

Regal

Registered User
Mar 12, 2010
24,539
13,832
Vancouver
i voted top 5 but the more i compare ovechkin's resume to others (except for howe) in the top 5 - hull, jagr, richard - the more i think he has pretty decent arguments against all of them:

- hull's goalscoring titles came against a pretty weak crop of goalscorers; incredible as he was, his margins over the competition probably overstate his case. ovechkin on the other hand has gone head to head with a number of great goalscorers - iginla, kovalchuk, stamkos, tavares, crosby - and he's been both better and more consistent than any of them. about to win his 8th goalscoring title, passing hull. (and no need to get into what-ifs re hull leaving for the wha - he played 15 years in the nhl, winning 7 "rockets"; ovechkin has played 14 years and will have won 8.) on the other hand you could argue that hull's singular ability to blow up tight 60s defence systems means he's better. anyway it's getting close and the next few years could tilt it in ovechkin's favour.

- in spite of all the art rosses, etc., jagr really only has a three-year peak, '98-'00, as the undisputed best offensive player in the world - up through '97 it was lemieux, and after jagr went to washington he wasn't the same. (in '01, sakic and lemieux were better.) that makes his peak almost exactly the same as ovechkin's ('08-'10). it also says something that jagr lost harts while winning art rosses, while the opposite is true for ovechkin. similar pros & cons re playoffs in general but ovechkin's cup + smythe might make up for some down years while jagr's decent overall stats hide some underwhelming performances in clutch situations ('93, '96, '01). overall i think ovechkin is in good shape to pass jagr if things continue as they're going.

- richard is probably the hardest player to evaluate all time - so much of his esteem depends on intangible stuff that doesn't show up in stats, and on all-time great playoff production and cup wins that no contemporary player can touch. but on the merits ovechkin should be neck and neck with him.

tldr ovechkin could be as high as #2 behind howe when all is said and done - above richard and jagr, in an argument with hull that could go either way.

I'd actually argue the goalscoring crop from the 2nd half of his career, where he's won 6 of the last 8 has been pretty weak. Stamkos got injured and regressed, Iginla got old and retired, Crosby wasn't anything special as a goalscorer outside of one year, Kovalchuk got old and retired. Tavares has never really been a threat outside of the lockout season and this year. The lockout year was good competition, but I don't know if any others have really been, and there hasn't been a goalscorer of historical significance during this period outside of Ovechkin
 

Tuna Tatarrrrrr

Here Is The Legendary Rat Of HFBoards! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Jun 13, 2012
1,978
1,987
I just simply don't understand how some people rank Richard above Ovi... I understand Montreal, great history and all, but in my mind Ovi passed him awhile ago, forget about if we are talking about right now. And regarding B.Hull, I believe there was a poll few seasons ago before Ovi won a Stanley cup, Conn Smythe and another Richard and they were neck-neck. I think he passed him too with that Stanley Cup, if not at least after this season for sure (assuming he gets another Richard)
Really? Maybe you should take a better look to their playoff numbers, especially in goal department. Maurice was not only a great regular season player but he was even better in playoffs (don't forget he played in the lowest scoring era ever). The biggest part of the legend of Maurice 'Rocket 'Richard was built in the playoffs.
 

JasonRoseEh

Registered User
Oct 23, 2018
2,933
2,346
Really? Maybe you should take a better look to their playoff numbers, especially in goal department. Maurice was not only a great regular season player but he was even better in playoffs (don't forget he played in the lowest scoring era ever). The biggest part of the legend of Maurice 'Rocket 'Richard was built in the playoffs.
There is no case for Richard above Ovechkin at this point, he's surpassed him. There's really on 3 wingers you could put over him right now and to me it's only Jagr and Howe right now. By the end he'll have a very strong case for the best.
 

Tuna Tatarrrrrr

Here Is The Legendary Rat Of HFBoards! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Jun 13, 2012
1,978
1,987
There is no case for Richard above Ovechkin at this point, he's surpassed him. There's really on 3 wingers you could put over him right now and to me it's only Jagr and Howe right now. By the end he'll have a very strong case for the best.
I didn't say that Ovie doesn't have surpassed Maurice but some here seem to underrate him when they clearly don't know the whole picture about Maurice. Jagr? Probably but Howe? I don't think so.
 

psycat

Registered User
Oct 25, 2016
3,239
1,149
i voted top 5 but the more i compare ovechkin's resume to others (except for howe) in the top 5 - hull, jagr, richard - the more i think he has pretty decent arguments against all of them:

- hull's goalscoring titles came against a pretty weak crop of goalscorers; incredible as he was, his margins over the competition probably overstate his case. ovechkin on the other hand has gone head to head with a number of great goalscorers - iginla, kovalchuk, stamkos, tavares, crosby - and he's been both better and more consistent than any of them. about to win his 8th goalscoring title, passing hull. (and no need to get into what-ifs re hull leaving for the wha - he played 15 years in the nhl, winning 7 "rockets"; ovechkin has played 14 years and will have won 8.) on the other hand you could argue that hull's singular ability to blow up tight 60s defence systems means he's better. anyway it's getting close and the next few years could tilt it in ovechkin's favour.

- in spite of all the art rosses, etc., jagr really only has a three-year peak, '98-'00, as the undisputed best offensive player in the world - up through '97 it was lemieux, and after jagr went to washington he wasn't the same. (in '01, sakic and lemieux were better.) that makes his peak almost exactly the same as ovechkin's ('08-'10). it also says something that jagr lost harts while winning art rosses, while the opposite is true for ovechkin. similar pros & cons re playoffs in general but ovechkin's cup + smythe might make up for some down years while jagr's decent overall stats hide some underwhelming performances in clutch situations ('93, '96, '01). overall i think ovechkin is in good shape to pass jagr if things continue as they're going.

- richard is probably the hardest player to evaluate all time - so much of his esteem depends on intangible stuff that doesn't show up in stats, and on all-time great playoff production and cup wins that no contemporary player can touch. but on the merits ovechkin should be neck and neck with him.

tldr ovechkin could be as high as #2 behind howe when all is said and done - above richard and jagr, in an argument with hull that could go either way.

Ovechkin wouldn't be above Lemieux either so it's a moot point really. Also not really Jagr's fault he wen't up against the greatest peak goalie of all time and the fact that he came into the league trailing Gretzky+Lemieux which made voters more inclined to vote for something different, also I suspect that without those 2 he would have a good case for greatest offensive skater of all time, simply put Gretzky+Mario make Jagr look human, imagine how he would look if they didn't exist.
 

Goodman68

Registered User
Jul 11, 2016
1,563
1,124
Jagr was much more dominant than Ovi. Ovi is a better shooter, but otherwise Jagr is above him.
 

tomi2

Registered User
Mar 1, 2007
534
218
The best winger for me is Gordie Howe. Ovechkin is imo in the same group as Bobby Hull and Jagr. And i would probably rank both of them ahead of Ovy for now.
 

IslesBro715

Registered User
May 24, 2009
993
441
Florida
Howe
Jagr
Ovy

But I think Ovy passes Jagr by the end of his career. If he finished with the most goals of all time itll by hard to say hes not the GOAT.
 

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