Top ten players for each franchise?

[Zenos]

Sorry, but I think Connor is way too high, as is Draisaitl. Coffey/Anderson/Lowe/Esa should be ahead of McDavid right now. Draisaitl really shouldn't be in the top 10. No Ryan Smyth or Andy Moog?

Lowe definitely shouldn't be ahead of McDavid. And I say that as a big supporter of Lowe. While his contributions to the club (long time "glue guy" and Wayne and Mark's right hand man - then Captain, coach GM, and President) can't be denied, Lowe was never in the conversation as one the Leauge's best defenders. Meanwhile, McDavid has been a multiple-time Lindsay and Hart finalist (winning each trophy once). I don't think it's fair to use lack of team success against him, though I'm sure some will disagree.

Tik was probably the team's third best winger through most of his Oilers career, while Moog was a (very) good 1B goalie. Good players, but not top-10 IMO.

 

[Dennis Bonvie]

1. Wayne Gretzky
2. Mark Messier
3. Jari Kurri
4. Connor McDavid
5. Paul Coffey
6. Glenn Anderson
7. Doug Weight
8. Leon Draisaitl
9. Esa Tikkanen
10. Grant Fuhr

Doug Weight's a surprise.

Otherwise a fine list.

 

[The Panther]

I'd like to light a candle for Jimmy Carson who would have been on this list if the pressure of being traded for Gretzky hadn't crushed his career.

I've never really bought the whole "pressure of replacing Gretzky" thing, which is an excuse Carson himself rolled out a few times. There wasn't an Oiler fan in existence who expected him to replace Gretzky, and I recall Edmonton fans giving him a warm welcome. Carson himself was mostly great in his one full season in Edmonton, made the All Star team, scored 100 points (he did, however, fizzle out in the playoffs against his old team).

But, yeah, it would have been interesting to see what would have happened to him if he'd stayed in L.A.

 

[ES]

Doug Weight's a surprise.

Otherwise a fine list.

Before McDavid entered I would say it was between Smyth and Weight* being the best Oiler without Stanley Cup. The former had longer career there but Weight obviously had the better peak.

* = Cup with the Oilers, Weight won one in Canes.

 

[GMR]

1. Howe
2. Lidstrom
3. Yzerman
4. Lindsay
5. Sawchuk
6. Kelly
7. Fedorov
8. Delvecchio
9. Datsyuk
10. Zetterberg

 

[Steven Toast]

I would take any of Weight, Tikkanen, or Simpson (maybe Ranford or Cujo, too) over Smyth and Lowe.

Thats fair. For me a franchise that has very few very long term players, I like to include them. Smyth is the all time favorite oiler for most people who don't remember the dynasty. I could see taking Weight or Tik over him but none of the others.

 

[DeysArena]

Thats fair. For me a franchise that has very few very long term players, I like to include them. Smyth is the all time favorite oiler for most people who don't remember the dynasty. I could see taking Weight or Tik over him but none of the others.

Smyth's numbers are very respectable when you consider that he played at the height of the dead-puck era.

 

[ted2019]

Id put Kerr or Poulin over Desjardins

Desjardins too me, was more important to the flyers then Kerr/Poulin. Kerr/Poulin had Howe, McCrimmon, Crossman on defense. The flyers went to the finals with Kerr/Poulin injured. Without Desjardins, the flyers best defenseman during those years would've been Svoboda, Therien and that alone wouldn't get the flyers deep into the playoffs and the finals.

 

[innitfam]

1. Pavel Bure
2. Henrik Sedin
3. Daniel Sedin
4. Trevor Linden
5. Roberto Luongo
6. Stan Smyl
7. Markus Naslund
8. Thomas Gradin
9. Kirk McLean
10. Mattias Ohlund

HM: Tony Tanti, Alex Edler, Alex Mogilny (short duration but great career with Vancouver)

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Without thinking hard about it, I would have assumed that Tanti would sneak into the top 10. How far off is he from Ohlund in your book?

tanti was mostly before my time but ohlund is the best dman in canucks history. granted there haven't been a lot of great canucks dmen, maybe none until quinn hughes, but at his peak i have ohlund as a top 10-15 dman in the league.

tanti played six years and change, mostly as a bad team scorer from what i've heard. ohlund anchored our blueline for more than a decade and was a 25+ minute guy for most of it. but the thing that really raises my eyebrows about tanti is he scored 40 goals a year for five years but had exactly one playoff goal as a canuck (in 18 games). even on a bad team getting auto-swept by the albertas that's horrendous.

i don't have a list off the top of my head but imo tanti would also have to wait in line behind kesler and burrows. but i probably have him ahead of mogilny and bertuzzi.

 

[DeysArena]

1 Jarmo Myllys
2 Stefan Nilsson
3 Mikael Renberg
4 Tomas Holmström
5 Veli-Matti Ruisma
6 Jiri Kucera
7 Joel Lassinantti
8 Timo Jutila
9 Erik Gustafsson
10 Mattias Öhlund

I'd love to see the top 10 for some other European teams.

 

[The Panther]

1. Pavel Bure
2. Henrik Sedin
3. Daniel Sedin
4. Trevor Linden
5. Roberto Luongo
6. Stan Smyl
7. Markus Naslund
8. Thomas Gradin
9. Kirk McLean
10. Mattias Ohlund

HM: Tony Tanti, Alex Edler, Alex Mogilny (short duration but great career with Vancouver)

Good list, but I can't get behind Smyl over Naslund.

(I've rarely seen a good player less appreciated by his fanbase than Naslund in Vancouver... exception being Sundin in Toronto.)

 

[innitfam]

Good list, but I can't get behind Smyl over Naslund.

(I've rarely seen a good player less appreciated by his fanbase than Naslund in Vancouver... exception being Sundin in Toronto.)

They're basically equal... arguably Naslund should be higher tbh but I'm taking into account the team success (SCF) with Smyl.

 

[Revolutionary]

1. Brian Leetch
2. Mark Messier
3. Rod Gilbert
4. Mike Richter
5. Jean Ratelle
6. Adam Graves
7. Henrik Lundqvist
8. Ron Greschner
9. Brad Park
10. Eddie Giacomin

 

[tinyzombies]

Suggests you're going for "Career Value" as the criterion. But then, you hit us with this:
All right, I can understand (but not necessarily agree with) an assertion that Morenz is a better player than Harvey... but I don't know how one could say Morenz had a Better Career than Doug Harvey.
You laid down an interesting marker here, too. Suggests that your standard is contribution to the team in question. I find that pretty limiting- but hey, it's your thread...

You're right, my list is off according to my own criteria. I actually find it more interesting to see what that player did in that uniform tho. For me if a player was the best in the world for a decent stretch of time, that's worth more than longevity imo.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Leetch Number 8? Sorry but he is unquestionably Number 1 with Messier a close 2nd.

New York Rangers:

1. Brian Leetch
2. Mark Messier
3. Rod Gilbert
4. Mike Richter
5. Jean Ratelle
6. Adam Graves
7. Henrik Lundqvist
8. Ron Greschner
9. Brad Park
10. Eddie Giacomin

My list was chronological. Also, I'm baffled by your list...Greschner & Graves above Park!?!? Where is Frank Boucher, the greatest Ranger in history?

 

[Hynh]

Sorry, but I think Connor is way too high, as is Draisaitl. Coffey/Anderson/Lowe/Esa should be ahead of McDavid right now. Draisaitl really shouldn't be in the top 10. No Ryan Smyth or Andy Moog?

Not only has McDavid been more important to the team on the ice than any of those players, he's more important off the ice too. The best player in the world signed a max length contract with a last minute discount a full year before he became an RFA. Compare that to Coffey and co. chasing the money all the way to Pittsburgh/LA/New York.

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

NJ Devils

The top 5 are easy. After that, it gets tougher.

1. Martin Brodeur
2. Scott Stevens
3. Patrik Elias
4. Scott Niedermayer
5. John MacLean
6. Ken Daneyko
7. Kirk Muller
8. Bobby Holik
9. Andy Greene
10. Brian Rafalski

HM: Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Bruce Driver, Claude Lemieux, Jamie Langenbrunner, John Madden

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

Leetch Number 8? Sorry but he is unquestionably Number 1 with Messier a close 2nd.

New York Rangers:

1. Brian Leetch
2. Mark Messier
3. Rod Gilbert
4. Mike Richter
5. Jean Ratelle
6. Adam Graves
7. Henrik Lundqvist
8. Ron Greschner
9. Brad Park
10. Eddie Giacomin

You know, the franchise was around before 1970... they even won a few Cups back then.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

NJ Devils

The top 5 are easy. After that, it gets tougher.

1. Martin Brodeur
2. Scott Stevens
3. Patrik Elias
4. Scott Niedermayer
5. John MacLean
6. Ken Daneyko
7. Kirk Muller
8. Bobby Holik
9. Andy Greene
10. Brian Rafalski

HM: Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Bruce Driver, Claude Lemieux

where would madden and langs fit relative to the bottom of the list and HMs?

 

[Elvis P]

You know, the franchise was around before 1970... they even won a few Cups back then.

15 in no order:

Mark Messier
Brian Leetch
Rod Gilbert
Frank Boucher
Andy Bathgate
Bill Cook
Jean Ratelle
Brad Park
Henrik Lundqvist
Mike Richter
Ed Giacomin
Bryan Hextall
Harry Howell
Vic Hadfield
Adam Graves

 

[buffalowing88]

Leetch Number 8? Sorry but he is unquestionably Number 1 with Messier a close 2nd.

New York Rangers:

1. Brian Leetch
2. Mark Messier
3. Rod Gilbert
4. Mike Richter
5. Jean Ratelle
6. Adam Graves
7. Henrik Lundqvist
8. Ron Greschner
9. Brad Park
10. Eddie Giacomin

Missing some O6 guys and I really don't understand the inclusion of Graves at all, let alone at #6. Richter above Lundqvist is bothersome to me as well. One Cup win does not offset the linear greatness of Lundqvist imo.

 

[MaKarter]

1. Sakic
2. Forsberg
3. Roy
4. MacKinnon
5. Hejduk
6. Tanguay
7. Landeskog
8. Stastny
9. Duchene
10. Foote
11. Johnson
12. Barrie
13. Lyles
14. Rantanen
15. Ozolins

 

[Thenameless]

1. Sakic
2. Forsberg
3. Roy
4. MacKinnon
5. Hejduk
6. Tanguay
7. Landeskog
8. Stastny
9. Duchene
10. Foote
11. Johnson
12. Barrie
13. Lyles
14. Rantanen
15. Ozolins

It would be nice to have Peter Stastny and Michel Goulet on there too.

 

[Revolutionary]

My list was chronological. Also, I'm baffled by your list...Greschner & Graves above Park!?!? Where is Frank Boucher, the greatest Ranger in history?

Greschner spent 15 seasons as a Ranger (his entire career) and was one of the best Dmen in team history. Graves was crucial the entire season during the 94 cup run and had many great moments as a Ranger. His number has been retired by the organization. But if you want to switch Park with Greschner or whatever that's fine, he was a terrific player.

I'm sure Frank Boucher was a great player but that's going a little bit too far back for my liking.