Ranking the Best First Overall Picks of the 21st Century

[Cotton]

Where's Laine?

On some list ranking 2nd overall picks I assume?

 

[dd91]

Crosby
Ovechkin
McDavid

Kane
Stamkos
Tavares

Kovalchuk
Matthews
MacKinnon
Ekblad

Hall
Nash
RNH

Fleury
Johnson
DiPietro
Yakupov

 

[Nathaniel Skywalker]

How is mcdavid going before a 3 time mvp and 3 time Lindsay winner? Will mcdavid even win 3 Lindsay's? Who knows

 

[MLSE]

ovechkin underrated now or something?

If he's not the undisputed #2, I totally agree.

You can't slide a guy with 90 career points over a guy with 550 goals in 900 games. He has more goals in the playoffs than Mcdavid has ever in the NHL. At this point its clear cut.

 

[Cotton]

1. Crosby

2. Ovechkin
3. McDavid

4. Matthews
5. Kane
6. Kovalchuk
7. Stamkos
8. Tavares

9. Hall
10. MacKinnon
11. Fleury
12. Nash
13. RNH
14. Ekblad
15. Johnson
16. DiPietro
17. Yakupov

 

[Sam Spade]

My personal list is

I have McDavid over Ovechkin because if he moderately lives up to the hype, he will definitely be higher than Ovi, he may very well pass Crosby but he will definitely have some work to do for that.

Sure he will.

My god the disrespect is insane.

*mostly for your use of the word "moderately".

 

[MR4]

Tier 1: Generational
Crosby
Ovechkin
McDavid

Tier 2: Franchise
Kane
Kovalchuk
Stamkos
Tavares
Matthews

Tier 3: Elite
Hall
Ekblad
Nash
Mackinnon

Tier 4: Underwhelming
Johnson
RNH
Fleury

Tier 5: Busts
Dipietro
Yakupov

Mackinnon, Matthews, and Ekblad need more time to evaluate

This is what I agree with, unsure how Ekblad will turn out now though after the injury.

Where's Laine?

Surprised it took until page 3 for a Finn/Jets fan to mention Laine. The thread title is oh so clear.

 

[Lainehasaweirdface]

Tier 1: Generational
Crosby
Ovechkin
McDavid

Tier 2: Franchise
Kane
Kovalchuk
Stamkos
Tavares
Matthews

Tier 3: Elite
Hall
Ekblad
Nash
Mackinnon

Tier 4: Underwhelming
Johnson
RNH
Fleury

Tier 5: Busts
Dipietro
Yakupov

Mackinnon, Matthews, and Ekblad need more time to evaluate

This is 100% the best list posted so far

Anyone with Mackinnon over Matthews is out to lunch and anyone with Matthews over Kane is a Leafs homer unless they specify that their list is "When it's all said and done"

 

[Devil Dancer]

As of right now?

Crosby
Ovechkin
McDavid

Kane
Stamkos
Tavares
Kovalchuk
Matthews

Ekblad
Hall
MacKinnon
Nash

Fleury
Johnson
RNH

DiPietro
Yakupov

This is probably the best list so far, but it highlights the difficulty with Kane. I think he's a clear step above the Stamps tier but a step behind the generational tier, for now. That could change depending on how the back half of his career goes.

 

[bunjay]

I think people are underrating Kovalchuk because he played most of his career for a team that, collectively, went nowhere. He was a pretty powerful one-man show, kind of the prototype for the forward playing the point on the powerplay because of such a great shot. Not as good as Ovechkin but maybe as close as anybody comes in terms of individual offensive prowess.

 

[HabsQC]

Crosby


Other humans


Yakupov-DiPietro

 

[Holymakinaw]

1. Crosby
2. Ovechkin
3. McDavid
4. Kane
5. Matthews
6. Kovalchuk
7. Stamkos
8. Tavares
9. MacKinnon
10. Nash
11. Fleury
12. Hall
13. RNH
14. Ekblad
15. Johnson
16. DiPietro
17. Yakupov

 

[ChiefWiggum]

Sure he will.

My god the disrespect is insane.

*mostly for your use of the word "moderately".

It's not disrepsect. Its just that McDavid is a better prospect than Ovi was. That's no disrespect. Ovechkin is quite possibly the greatest goal scorer of the past 20 years and has the numbers to rival anybody, especially doint it in the modern era with the extremely tight checking and the size of goalies. But MccDavid makes the players around him better while Ovechkin was mostly a one dimensional player in his best years. I personally thinks you can win more cups with a McDavid than an Ovechkin

 

[Iceman]

McDavid ahead of Ovechkin makes me vomit.

Do people honestly believe McDavid will sure fire have a better career than Ovechkin?

The safe bet is to bet against that.

Otherwise you might as well put him ahead of Gretzky already.

 

[Sam Spade]

It's not disrepsect. Its just that McDavid is a better prospect than Ovi was. That's no disrespect. Ovechkin is quite possibly the greatest goal scorer of the past 20 years and has the numbers to rival anybody, especially doint it in the modern era with the extremely tight checking and the size of goalies. But MccDavid makes the players around him better while Ovechkin was mostly a one dimensional player in his best years. I personally thinks you can win more cups with a McDavid than an Ovechkin

We are not talking about team stuff.

McDavid will be lucky to hit 40 goals in his career never mind hitting 50 seven times.

Not being a smart ass here but putting 550 pucks in the net is making your team and teammates better.

If anything I think McDavid will have to rely more on his teammates for individual success than a player like Ovechkin has had to.

 

[Seanaconda]

McDavid ahead of Ovechkin makes me vomit.

Do people honestly believe McDavid will sure fire have a better career than Ovechkin?

The safe bet is to bet against that.

Otherwise you might as well put him ahead of Gretzky already.

Do you rank ovechkin that close to Gretzky?

 

[NORiculous]

Why would you put yak lower than dipietro. When you factor in contracts dipietro is last by far.

I would rank Rick in front of Yak too. Rick was good before the injury. Yak is just yuk.

 

[one77]

Crosby
Ovechkin
McDavid

Matthews (still to be seen how good he really can be. But looks very special)
Kane
Kovalchuk
Stamkos
Tavares

Hall
Nash
Ekblad
MacKinnon (needs more time to assess but I'd rank him around here somewhere)
Johnson
RNH
Fleury

 

[Iceman]

Do you rank ovechkin that close to Gretzky?

As goalscorers sure.

 

[Crabapple]

As of right now?

Crosby
Ovechkin
McDavid

Kane
Stamkos
Tavares
Kovalchuk
Matthews

Ekblad
Hall
MacKinnon
Nash

Fleury
Johnson
RNH

DiPietro
Yakupov

I'd switch RNH and Johnson and Yak and DiPietro but this list is pretty close IMO. It's hard to say on Matthews right now but if he improves on this season I think that's a pretty fair spot for him. I think Matthews/Ekblad/Hall are all super close first overalls and they'll change spots a few times on any given year.

 

[Reversi]

It's not disrepsect. Its just that McDavid is a better prospect than Ovi was. That's no disrespect. Ovechkin is quite possibly the greatest goal scorer of the past 20 years and has the numbers to rival anybody, especially doint it in the modern era with the extremely tight checking and the size of goalies. But MccDavid makes the players around him better while Ovechkin was mostly a one dimensional player in his best years. I personally thinks you can win more cups with a McDavid than an Ovechkin

McDavid isn't even a better prospect than Malkin, let alone Ovi.

And can we please stop saying that player X makes the team better while the other doesn't? That argument is so overrated and has been for so many years. And I really question whether you saw Ovi back then because during his best years, Ovi was a physical goal scoring machine that was hitting everything in sight while also playing good defense. Not to mention that he is just as good of a playmaker as he is a scorer. If that's not helping the team then what is? So I'm not sure how you can sit there and say that "he was a one dimensional player in his best years."

 

[Seanaconda]

I would rank Rick in front of Yak too. Rick was good before the injury. Yak is just yuk.

When was he really good tho I only see one half decent season?

Good puck handler but If he was good it wasn't long

 

[Seanaconda]

Not to mention that he is just as good of a playmaker as he is a scorer. "

What? No if he was as good of a playmaker as a scorer he would have the assist lead every year as well as the rocket and art Ross.

 

[Brock Radunske]

1. Crosby
2. Ovechkin
3. McDavid
4. Kane
5. Kovalchuk
6. Stamkos
7. Tavares
8. Hall
9. Matthews
10. Nash
11. Ekblad
12. McKinnon
13. Fleury
14. Nugent-Hopkins
15. Johnson
16. Dipietro
27. Yakupov

This is a good list but I think Hall will be passed by 2 or three of the younger guys

 

[BrannigansLaw]

Now now let's calm down here...

Here's how many 50 goal scorers there has been per season since 2010:

2015-16: 1 (Ovechkin - 50)
2014-15: 1 (Ovechkin - 53)
2013-14: 1 (Ovechkin - 51)
2012-13: 2 (Ovechkin - 55, Stamkos - 50)***
2011-12: 2 (Stamkos - 60, Malkin - 50)
2010-11: 1 (Perry - 50)

*** = pro-rated to 82 games

If you seriously expect Matthews to be a 50 goal scorer, prepare to be disappointed.

What part of the could do you not understand?