Players you thought were overrated. But aren't

[Canucks LB]

Jason spezza comes to mind for me. But this recent year his point totals at his age even had me surprised.

Click to read more...

 

[SLAPSHOT723]

I never thought he was overrated but I never thougth much of him. I saw Mattias Ekholm's stats and I thought WOWZERS he's good!

I didn't realize how awesome Reilly Smith was until I saw him against the Islanders in the playoffs. I knew he was good, but not that good.

 

[illpucks]

Kessel? At least lately...

 

[TB1299]

Jason Spezza is one of the most underrated players I'm the last 15 years.

If it wasn't for the lockout in 2005 or some injuries he'd be close to 1000 points now. He still has a decent shot at it.

His vision is godly and what pisses me off is that people keep saying "if only he shot more."

Umm.. Jason has hit 30+ goals like 5 or 6 times in his career including last season and over his career he has averaged over 29 goals per 82 games.

Stud.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

2 guys for me... I honestly thought stephen johns and TVR were just gonna be blah type guys for whatever reason... but I LOVE their game and what they bring to the table

 

[strictlyrandy]

Corey Crawford.

I always viewed him as a passenger. He's legitimately good.

 

[HarryLime]

Jeff Carter until a few years ago. I was against him being on the Canadian olympics team. He was amazing in the tourney and dominant in the 2nd cup run. Every time I watch him, I'm thinking of how wrong I was. He is one of my favorite players now.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Jeff Carter until a few years ago. I was against him being on the Canadian olympics team. He was amazing in the tourney and dominant in the 2nd cup run. Every time I watch him, I'm thinking of how wrong I was. He is one of my favorite players now.

It always bummed me out that he missed the 2010 games. He was arguably at his peak then. Philadelphia struck gold with Richards and Carter.

I'll say Shea Weber. People consistently said he was the best d-man in the NHL. I didn't believe he was ever, and still don't, but he was definitely better than I gave him credit for. I always thought that people only talked him up because of size and mean streak, but he is definitely a monster all over the rink. Weber is absolutely a top d-man.

 

[SaintMorose]

Andrei Vasilevskiy didn't see him on the same tier as Gibson and Mrazek after watching the latter 2 play quite a bit more and not being impressed the few times I saw Andrei. But I've been able to see a lot more starter potential during the regular season and better still in the Tampa Pens series.

 

[Hasa92]

A couple of years ago i used to think that Carey Price was overrated especially by Habs fans, i still had him in the top10 maybe top5 spot but then he went full beast mode that one season and now i also think he is the best goalie in the world atm.

 

[EXTRAS]

I used to think kane was overrated. He was usually a 60ish point wingers. I thought "so what?" Then he went balls to the wall.

 

[deckercky]

A couple of years ago i used to think that Carey Price was overrated especially by Habs fans, i still had him in the top10 maybe top5 spot but then he went full beast mode that one season and now i also think he is the best goalie in the world atm.

He was overrated at that point IMO, then he stepped up the game and his performance exceeded his previous hype.

 

[DL44]

Logan Couture..

Never thought highly of the ratlike slug... but his effectiveness due to his high level vision and passing ability creating offense has been undeniable this spring.

Props! Still can't stand the idea of him lifting the cup.. but i kinda hope he does.

 

[Crede777]

Definitely Johnny Gaudreau.

I wrote Johnny Hockey off as being an overhyped, undersized NCAA All-Star who would struggle mightily at the pro level due to his size and what i thought would be an inability to create space for himself.

In hindsight, I thought he would have the same fate as Johnny Football. I was wrong, though.

 

[Seedling]

McDavid for me. I knew he was really terrific but I was very skeptical of all the comparisons of previous great players I've seen. This kid blew the doors off of what I was expecting.

 

[ColeJ]

Patrick Sharp

 

[Frelimo]

Jeff Carter until a few years ago. I was against him being on the Canadian olympics team. He was amazing in the tourney and dominant in the 2nd cup run. Every time I watch him, I'm thinking of how wrong I was. He is one of my favorite players now.

Me too. For some reason I used to think.he was one dimensional. He was an alternate for the 2010 team, no? Even that I was against at the time.

 

[TOGuy14]

Kessel? At least lately...

And to think, all he had to do to get so good was swap jerseys

 

[Ol' Jase]

Vlasic. Easily.

 

[lifeisruff]

I've gone from "Erik Karlsson is a 4th forward" guy to "Erik Karlsson is really good" guy.

 

[LeHab]

Karlsson
Price - as a Habs fan, he was always good but to a degree I credited a tight "Da System"(TM) defensive play for his success. After last season, he is definitely better than I expected.

 

[DraberlyakMcHallkins*]

I thought Gaudreau had too much hype, seems he didn't have enough

in 2012 I didn't think Crawford could be a good starting goalie.... and then he won 2 cups

Did not think Ekblad would live up to his expectations and seems like he stepped in and immediately did

 

[snipes]

Logan Couture..

Never thought highly of the ratlike slug... but his effectiveness due to his high level vision and passing ability creating offense has been undeniable this spring.

Props! Still can't stand the idea of him lifting the cup.. but i kinda hope he does.

This

 

[GoJackets1]

Corey Crawford.

I always viewed him as a passenger. He's legitimately good.

This is the correct answer.

 

[6 Karlsson 5]

ryan o'reilly