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

[rfournier103]

Cyclone Taylor
Howie Morenz
Maurice Richard
Gordie Howe
Bobby Hull
Bobby Orr
Wayne Gretzky
Mario Lemieux
Dominik Hasek
Sidney Crosby
Connor McDavid


A few players make me hesitate -- Eddie Shore, Doug Harvey, Jean Beliveau, Guy Lafleur, Patrick Roy, Jaromir Jagr, Alex Ovechkin. But IMO those are players who fall slightly short of being generational. They were the best players in the league, but were slightly less transcendent and in some cases their legend is as much about long careers and "pioneer" type roles, rather than straight-up dominance as in the list above.

Great list and I can’t argue with anyone on it.

A case could be made for Ovechkin and Jagr. Two all-time scoring threats who were/are dangerous every second they were/are on the ice. One could even argue that either one could be number five immediately after the Big 4.

Eddie Shore won the Hart Trophy four times - as a defenseman! Only Wayne Gretzky (9) and Gordie Howe (6) have won it more times. I don’t know if that makes him generational or not, but it’s pretty amazing.

 

[Kranix]

Remind me again about what was so special about Morenz? 3 Harts, yes, but what else

 

[tarheelhockey]

Remind me again about what was so special about Morenz? 3 Harts, yes, but what else

He was Connor McDavid, except that he used his speed just as much to chase down opponents from behind defensively.

In 1928, Morenz scored 51 points in 44 games. The next-best mark (other than Morenz' linemate) was 35 points in 44 games. Which is to say, Morenz won that scoring race by 46%. That's like scoring 150 points in today's game, just an insane level of dominance. And he's one of those cases, unlike a Phil Esposito or Guy Lafleur, where the numbers weren't juiced by a weak league or an overwhelmingly talented team. They would just give Morenz the puck in the defensive zone and let him torch the other team, very much like McDavid.

 

[King1s]

Here is a list of generational players:

Gretzky
Lemieux
McDavid

I don't know anything about players before Gretzky so I won't comment on them.

 

[gn2007]

Gretzky
Lemieux
Crosby/Ovechkin
McDavid

I wasn't alive before Gretzky days

 

[Stuzchuk]

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

I agree with this... maybe McDavid if he can keep this for another 10 years (at least) and 2 conn smythe minimum

 

[Midnight Judges]

Howe
Hull
Orr
Gretzky
Lemieux
Ovechkin
Crosby
McDavid

 

[Maplebeasts]

Only McDavid and Sid currently. Historically:

Morenz
Harvey
Maurice Richard
Howe
Orr
Gretzky
Mario
Hasek
Sid
McDavid

 

[hmc1987]

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

Who the hell us Bedard lmao?? And why is he in the same sentence as McDavid or even Matthews

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

Matthews generational? Someone has been watching too much TSN

If you look solely at goal scoring, yes. Obviously you could argue he needs to keep it up longer than a half decade but then same applies to other young talent.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Delete Kane, Matthews, Lindros, Bedard.

Malkin has as many Art Ross trophies as all those guys combined, so he stays.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Current?
McDavid
Crosby
Ovechkin

 

[Jared Dunn]

Who the hell us Bedard lmao?? And why is he in the same sentence as McDavid or even Matthews

Because he might go a point per game as a rookie in a couple years, but yeah Alexandre Daigle was getting close to considered generational at one point so let's pump the breaks

 

[MightySelanne8]

Howe, Orr, Gretzky, Mario, Hasek, Crosby, Ovechkin, McDavid. Im very, very tempted to sneak Jagr to the list, because he had a period when he absolutely domianted his peers (and a lot of all-time greats played at Jagrs peak).

 

[abo9]

Clearly, Crosby, Ovechkin and Malkin were THE defining talents of the "post lockout" era (or "Start of salary cap era" ?).
Although I'm not sure if I'd put Malkin in the "generational: category, since his career got a little derailed by frequent injuries.

So, that post-lockout era had 2 (or 3) at the same time.

And it's weird because I think that McDavid is the only generational talent since those guys. I mean, he's so clearly head and shoulders above everyone else. But, looking at his stats vs Crosby's or Ovechkin's stats at the same number of games played, they have very similar stats lines.

So what I'm trying to say I guess, is that McDavid doesn't have an elite rival like we were blessed when watching Crosby and Ovechkin's careers unfold.

 

[Karl Eriksson]

If Hasek is there, then Roy and Brodeur need to be.

 

[Empoleon8771]

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

Malkin absolutely doesn't have the resume to be considered on a tier with Crosby and Ovi.

 

[MessierII]

Malkin absolutely doesn't have the resume to be considered on a tier with Crosby and Ovi.

Why not? His trophy case is not that far off. I agree he’s behind both but it’s not by much.

 

[Doublechin]

McDavid
Crosby/Ovi
Lidstrom
Brodeur/Hasek
Lemieux
Gretzky

That's in my lifetime

Hard case for Jagr and Lindros too

 

[These Are The Days]

The only current one right now is Alexander Ovechkin.


Stop the discussion there


No one else in our lifetime is gonna come this close to doing some ridiculous shit like potentially breaking a Gretzky record and only God knows how close he'd be in goals were it not for lockouts and COVID. And he's been doing it in the most defensively-responsible era in history where any guy he sees now is 10x more athletically gifted than anything The Great One faced in his prime.


He's 170-and change away. Pray it happens.





We're gonna see other Crosby's and McDavid's before we die. No one else is gonna come close to what Ovechkin is doing/can do for another 40 years or more

 

[Captain97]

I feel like Patrick Roy had to be here, I'd think a goalie who most have in their top 3 ever would be Generational no?

Also Matthews is an elite player, similar to peak Stamkos before injuries imo. But not generational.

Also not sure about Malkin or Kane.

 

[These Are The Days]

Here is a list of generational players:

Gretzky
Lemieux
McDavid

I don't know anything about players before Gretzky so I won't comment on them.

You're allowed to say Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe. It's akin to talking about Babe Ruth in baseball

 

[RealisticLeaf55]

McDavid, Ovechkin, Crosby, Malkin of my era.

Gretzky, Orr, Lemieux.

Hasek and Roy.

 

[Dekes For Days]

If one is including Ovechkin, there's really no valid reason to exclude Malkin or Matthews.

 

[These Are The Days]

If one is including Ovechkin, there's really no valid reason to exclude Malkin or Matthews.

Are Malkin and Matthews gonna potentially break Gretzky's goal scoring record? Actually, get them to 700 goals first and we can pick up the chat from there.