So who *are* the NHL's generational players?

[kerrabria]

Help me out because I don't know my hockey history that well.

Lost Generation (1885 - 1910)

• Georges Vezina

Greatest Generation (1911 - 1924)

• Maurice Richard

Silent Generation (1925 - 1945)

• Gordie Howe

Baby Boomers (1946 - 1962)

• Mike Bossy
• Ken Dryden
• Wayne Gretzky
• Bobby Orr
• Denis Potvin

Gen X (1963 - 1979)

• Dominik Hasek
• Jaromir Jagr
• Mario Lemieux
• Nik Lidstrom
• Eric Lindros

Millennials (1980 - 1996)

• Sidney Crosby
• Patrik Kane
• Evgeni Malkin
• Alex Ovechkin

Zoomers (1997 - 2012)

• Connor McDavid
• Auston Matthews
• Connor Bedard

Gen α (2013 - Present)

Click to read more...

 

[Saltcreek]

Only generational player from the "Zoomers" is McDavid at the moment. Matthews may work his way into that tier but he is not there yet. I am not sure how you can say Bedard is generational when he is not even in the NHL

 

[63 others]

Matthews is not. Malkin is neither. Kane aswell.
Lindros generational talent maybe

 

[Brent Burns]

Who the f*** is Connor Bedard

edit
Delete Malkin, Matthews, Kane, Lindros, and Potvin

edit2
This whole list is f***ed up

 

[MessierII]

I wouldn’t consider Potvin, Kane or Matthew’s generational.

 

[illpucks]

Only generational player from the "Zoomers" is McDavid at the moment. Matthews may work his way into that tier but he is not there yet. I am not sure how you can say Bedard is generational when he is not even in the NHL

Dude is 15 in the WHL already at 2 PPG. McDavid was barely PPG at same age.

 

[illpucks]

Who the f*** is Connor Bedard

A 15 year old at 2.0 ppg in WHL
McDavid was at 1.0 ppg at same age

 

[Jets]

Like half of these are just wrong.

 

[nowhereman]

Dude is 15 in the WHL already at 2 PPG. McDavid was barely PPG at same age.

Bolded.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Who the f*** is Connor Bedard

He’s a ridiculously talented elite prospect. Just won a gold medal at a really young age as well. Unless he falls off a cliff he’s looking like good bet for a franchise player.

 

[MadLuke]

This is quite the charged debate, mostly how long is a generation of player if we say that it is around 10 year's (i.e. how long a very high prime tend to be that a player challenge the best players in the league position) and we start with somewhat modern hockey in the 20's, that would give us 10-11 generational talent (once in a generation level of players)

By when they enter the nhl:

early 20's: Morenz
later 20,s: Shore
early 40's: Richard
Late 40's: Howe
late 50's: Hull
late 60's: Orr
early 70's: Lafleur
early 80s: Gretzky
mid 80's: Lemieux
early 90s: Jagr-Lindros-Hasek
mid 2000s: Crosby-Ovechkin
2010s: McDavid

That around 15 names with many discutable (creating a list of arguable name that would compete with them, Beliveau, Roy, Bourque, etc...), some did not pan out like Lindros or where not once in a generation prospect coming to their draft but developed into something special.

You can have talent so rare they happen once in a generation close to each other like Lemieux-Gretzky, specially during baby boom and drought, but in total you want it to average to one every 7-10-12-15-20 year's depending of what you define has a generation of nhler and would exclude the Mike Bossy, Dryden type of candidate.

 

[MXD]

First missing player that came to mind is Howie Morenz (Lost Generation), and if it's between him and Vezina, he should be the one getting the nod.

 

[MessierII]

A 15 year old at 2.0 ppg in WHL
McDavid was at 1.0 ppg at same age

It’s also a 15 game sample size

 

[The Nightman]

Matthews generational? Someone has been watching too much TSN

 

[Llamamoto]

Draisaitl has played at a 125 point pace over the past 2 years. If Matthews is generational Draisaitl absolutely is.

 

[DonM]

Kane isn't even the best Patrick in my lifetime. You left the better one off your list though.

 

[Eisen]

Gretzky, Howe, Orr, Lemieux. That's it.

 

[Absolut]

Millennials - Ovechkin / Crosby
Zoomers - McDavid

It's too easy.

 

[Saltcreek]

Dude is 15 in the WHL already at 2 PPG. McDavid was barely PPG at same age.

Irrelevant. You cannot be a generational talent if you have never set foot in the NHL.

 

[Confucius]

Moving the years around too much in these lists. A generational player should be one per 20 years at minimum and 30 years at maximum that's a generation, So hockey should not have more than 5 generational players. Seems people are picking players of the decade type players, when in fact that just barely qualifies as half a generation.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

Vezina, Richard, Bossy, Dryden, Potvin, Lidstrom, Lindros, Malkin, Kane, Matthews and Bedard were/are not generational. Some of them were generational talents (Malkin and Lindros especially) but injuries stopped them. Some of them just don't belong. I mean if Richard is generational, then what about Bobby Hull and Beliveau who were both better than him? If Bossy is generational then what about his own team mate Trottier who was better than him? If you're including Lidstrom and Potvin, you have to include Bourque. Now you're at way too many players.

Generational:
Bobby Hull
OV
Crosby
Jagr
Hasek
(Bourque and Roy are fine too)

Tier above generational:
Orr/Howe/Lemieux

In his own tier:
Gretzky

 

[MadLuke]

Irrelevant. You cannot be a generational talent if you have never set foot in the NHL.

You can be a generational talent, you just didn't prove it yet.

Orr, Gretzky, Lemieux where generational talent before setting a foot in the nhl, if the WHA never collapse, maybe Gretzky play all is career outside the nhl, he would still have been a generational talent.

 

[Seanaconda]

Matthews is not. Malkin is neither. Kane aswell.
Lindros generational talent maybe

Malkin is so close to as good as Crosby and ovie that idk how separate them you either include him or take out all three

 

[SwedishFire]

Generational, rhat dpesnt meannonce every ten years. It means talent that defined the game, head and shoulders above.

Like Gretzky, Howe,
then if you will Orr, Lemieux, Hasek.

And tier III - talents once every twenty years:
Forsberg, Crosby, Jagr, Ovechkin, McDavid, richard.

Then cl es the elite talents like Yzerman, Selänne etc. players you love to put there

 

[chauron]

A 15 year old at 2.0 ppg in WHL
McDavid was at 1.0 ppg at same age

Wrong league, doesn’t count.