Top ten players for each franchise?

[Hawkey Town 18]

You missed Olaf Kolzig.

Yep, comes down to Stevens vs. Johansson then

 

[edinson]

How many examples are there of players who could be on the top ten list for two different franchises?

Gretzky and Messier are the obvious choices. King Clancy, Brad Park and Ron Francis are other possibilities. Bobby Hull if you include the WHA.

Who else?

Pavel Bure, Al MacInnis, Ryan Suter.
Maybe Niedermayer and Pronger if they would make the Anaheim list.
Patrick Roy if he cracks the Montreal list.
Probably some other modern player that have played for younger franchises like Suter. Don't think anyone is top ten for two different O6-franchises. Brad Park may be closest but I wouldn't have him on for Boston I think.

 

[buffalowing88]

Kariya made Nashville a contender on the ice and in the NHL Free Agent market. (It is similar to Reggie White signing with the Packers in 1993. That led to the 1996 Super Bowl XXXI win because other free agents wanted to go to Green Bay after the Minister of Defense signed for 4 years and $17M. Reggie played two more years beyond that contract in Green Bay.)

When I told my daughter that Kariya had signed with Nashville for 2005-06, she thought that I was making it up. Does that tell you something about me or her when she was a teenager? It was big news and we were and are residents of Wisconsin.

Hey, I asked and you guys really came back with a resounding answer haha. I think it's awesome that he's highly regarded in Nashville. Looking back, he definitely was still an elite player during that tenure.

 

[adsfan]

Ryan Suter: Nashville and Minnesota Wild

Booooo! I don't think that many Nashville fans would put Ryan Suter on anything but the 10 most hated list.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Pavel Bure, Al MacInnis, Ryan Suter.
Maybe Niedermayer and Pronger if they would make the Anaheim list.
Patrick Roy if he cracks the Montreal list.
Probably some other modern player that have played for younger franchises like Suter. Don't think anyone is top ten for two different O6-franchises. Brad Park may be closest but I wouldn't have him on for Boston I think.

It's not inconceivable that Dany Heatley would crack the top ten for the Thrashers/Jets & the (modern) Senators. Maybe Belfour for the Blackhawks and Stars?

I think you're right about two different O6 franchises. Park might be the closest. I can't imagine Red Kelly comes close to being top 10 for the Leafs. Chelios likely makes it for Chicago but doesn't come close for Montreal or Detroit despite being excellent in both spots.

 

[DeysArena]

Probably some other modern player that have played for younger franchises like Suter. Don't think anyone is top ten for two different O6-franchises. Brad Park may be closest but I wouldn't have him on for Boston I think.

King Clancy could make the top ten for two of the original 4 NHL franchises, but he's a borderline candidate for both teams.

 

[Soundgarden]

Booooo! I don't think that many Nashville fans would put Ryan Suter on anything but the 10 most hated list.

I think we can hate him and also realize how important and talented he was for us. I think he's still top 3 defenseman we've ever had and a top 5 player even after leaving on bad terms.

 

[Hatfield]

If Scott Stevens can make Washington's top 10, he would be one. Didn't see anyone do one for Washington yet, off the top of my head these guys would be ahead of him:
Ovechkin, Backstrom, Carlson, Holtby, Langway, Gonchar, Gartner

That's only 7, but I'm sure I'm forgetting some, still seems like he has a good chance...
8 seasons with a Norris record of 2, 5, 6, 6

EDIT: Bondra for sure and maybe Calle Johansson also, depends on how much you value peak vs. longevity, that would still leave one spot for Stevens

I wouldn’t have Carlson or Gonchar on my list.

Ovechkin
Langway
Backstrom
Gartner
Kolzig
Bondra
Stevens
Holtby
Oates
Hunter

 

[Gordon Lightfoot]

Pavel Bure, Al MacInnis, Ryan Suter.
Maybe Niedermayer and Pronger if they would make the Anaheim list.
Patrick Roy if he cracks the Montreal list.
Probably some other modern player that have played for younger franchises like Suter. Don't think anyone is top ten for two different O6-franchises. Brad Park may be closest but I wouldn't have him on for Boston I think.

Bonkers that a guy can have two Conn Smythes, two unexpected Cup victories, and still arguably not be a top 10 player for a franchise.

 

[Hatfield]

It's not inconceivable that Dany Heatley would crack the top ten for the Thrashers/Jets & the (modern) Senators. Maybe Belfour for the Blackhawks and Stars?

I think you're right about two different O6 franchises. Park might be the closest. I can't imagine Red Kelly comes close to being top 10 for the Leafs. Chelios likely makes it for Chicago but doesn't come close for Montreal or Detroit despite being excellent in both spots.

What about...

Selanne (Winnipeg/Anaheim)
Blake (LA/Colorado)
Hawerchuk (Winnipeg/Buffalo)
Nieuwendyk (Calgary/Dallas)
Francis (Hartford/Pittsburgh)

Admittedly a few are borderline.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Chelios likely makes it for Chicago but doesn't come close for Montreal or Detroit despite being excellent in both spots.

I had Chelios off my Hawks list. He may be the best all-time player to not make any franchises list. A rare combo of getting traded/singing with another team in your prime twice and playing for 3 O6 franchises.

Maybe someone from Montreal gives him a run?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Selanne (Winnipeg/Anaheim)
Blake (LA/Colorado)
Hawerchuk (Winnipeg/Buffalo)
Nieuwendyk (Calgary/Dallas)
Francis (Hartford/Pittsburgh)

All interesting entries to consider!

With Selänne, I didn’t expect he’d crack the Jets top ten unless you exclude the Coyotes, but actually, I think maybe you can include them! Hawerchuk, Doan, Numminen, Steen, Tkachuk should definitely be ahead of him. I’d argue, probably OEL at this point, and then what about Mike Smith, Khabibulin, Essensa, even Bryzgalov? Not sure. He actually missed a bunch of games during parts of five seasons there, but he had that awesome rookie season, and is still their all time leader in points per game. If you include the WHA, I doubt Selänne cuts it. Hull, Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson should edge him out.

Rob Blake, I doubt it as well. Not a chance if you include the Nordiques, but even if we’re only talking Avalanche players, Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Foote, Hejduk, Tanguay, Mackinnon, Landeskog, should definitely be ahead of Blake, then I guess he falls into a tier with the likes of Ozolinsh, Paul Stastny, Deadmarsh, Rantanen, perhaps a couple more.

Nieuwendyk also seems borderline at best for the Stars. Modano, Belfour, Lehtinen, Zubov, Hatcher, Turco, Benn, I guess are ahead? Not sure about the North Stars.

Francis, yeah, probably still top 10 for thr Pens, I think so.

 

[mrhockey193195]

I had Chelios off my Hawks list. He may be the best all-time player to not make any franchises list. A rare combo of getting traded/singing with another team in your prime twice and playing for 3 O6 franchises.

Maybe someone from Montreal gives him a run?

I don't see a chance he makes the Montreal team. Just off the top of my head: Morenz, Harvey, Plante, Beliveau, Richard, Lafleur, Robinson, Dryden, Roy are easily ahead of him. Then throw in Vezina, Joliat, Hainsworth, Geoffrion, Lemaire, Lapointe, Savard, etc. I'm probably missing about half a dozen others that are at least on par with Chelios, if not clearly ahead of him.

You're absolutely right, he's in that weird spot of possibly not make any team's list.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I don't see a chance he makes the Montreal team. Just off the top of my head: Morenz, Harvey, Plante, Beliveau, Richard, Lafleur, Robinson, Dryden, Roy are easily ahead of him. Then throw in Vezina, Joliat, Hainsworth, Geoffrion, Lemaire, Lapointe, Savard, etc. I'm probably missing about half a dozen others that are at least on par with Chelios, if not clearly ahead of him.

You're absolutely right, he's in that weird spot of possibly not make any team's list.

Oh yeah for sure Chelios doesn’t make the Montreal top 10, not even close, they’re just so deep I was thinking that would be the best chance at finding a better player than Chelios who did not make a franchise top 10, but after seeing your above, it doesn’t look like it. I think Chelios wins the award for best player not on a list for any team.

 

[VanIslander]

You can't tell Caps history without...

1. Langway
2. Ovechkin
3. Kolzig
.
.
.
Hunter, Miller, Johansson, Bondra(-Pivonka), Gartner, Backstrom, Carlson.

 

[Hatfield]

All interesting entries to consider!

With Selänne, I didn’t expect he’d crack the Jets top ten unless you exclude the Coyotes, but actually, I think maybe you can include them! Hawerchuk, Doan, Numminen, Steen, Tkachuk should definitely be ahead of him. I’d argue, probably OEL at this point, and then what about Mike Smith, Khabibulin, Essensa, even Bryzgalov? Not sure. He actually missed a bunch of games during parts of five seasons there, but he had that awesome rookie season, and is still their all time leader in points per game. If you include the WHA, I doubt Selänne cuts it. Hull, Hedberg, Ulf Nilsson should edge him out.

Rob Blake, I doubt it as well. Not a chance if you include the Nordiques, but even if we’re only talking Avalanche players, Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Foote, Hejduk, Tanguay, Mackinnon, Landeskog, should definitely be ahead of Blake, then I guess he falls into a tier with the likes of Ozolinsh, Paul Stastny, Deadmarsh, Rantanen, perhaps a couple more.

Nieuwendyk also seems borderline at best for the Stars. Modano, Belfour, Lehtinen, Zubov, Hatcher, Turco, Benn, I guess are ahead? Not sure about the North Stars.

Francis, yeah, probably still top 10 for thr Pens, I think so.

I actually wasn’t thinking of North Stars/Nordiques/Coyotes. I still think Selanne belongs in the top 10 for Jets 1.0/Coyotes. Possibly the best player to ever appear on their NHL roster, with unquestionably the greatest season. Only knock against him is that he didn’t play there long enough.

 

[DeysArena]

What about...

Selanne (Winnipeg/Anaheim)
Blake (LA/Colorado)
Hawerchuk (Winnipeg/Buffalo)
Nieuwendyk (Calgary/Dallas)
Francis (Hartford/Pittsburgh)

Admittedly a few are borderline.

I agree with Francis and Nieuwendyk.

 

[mrhockey193195]

Oh yeah for sure Chelios doesn’t make the Montreal top 10, not even close, they’re just so deep I was thinking that would be the best chance at finding a better player than Chelios who did not make a franchise top 10, but after seeing your above, it doesn’t look like it. I think Chelios wins the award for best player not on a list for any team.

Oh! Sorry I misunderstood, but great point to look at the laundry list of MTL players to see if someone surpasses Chelios in that regard.

Gump Worsley is a big name that doesn't make the top ten for either the Habs or the Rangers, but is obviously not as high as Chelios on an all-time list.

 

[tarheelhockey]

You can't tell Caps history without...

1. Langway
2. Ovechkin
3. Kolzig
.
.
.
Hunter, Miller, Johansson, Bondra(-Pivonka), Gartner, Backstrom, Carlson.

Langway over Ovechkin? How?

 

[BiggE]

Flyers:
1. Bobby Clarke
2. Bernie Parent
3. Eric Lindros
4. Mark Howe
5. John LeClair
6. Bill Barber
7. Brian Propp
8. Claude Giroux
9. Eric Desjardins
10. Rick MacLeish

Not too far off of mine

1. Bobby Clarke
2. Bernie Parent
3. Eric Lindros
4. Mark Howe
5. Bill Barber
6. Tim Kerr
7. Claude Giroux
8. Rick Macleish
9. John Leclair
10. Brian Propp

 

[tarheelhockey]

This sounds like you just like Neely more. I really don't see any argument for him actually being a better player than Clapper.

And as far as importance as a Bruin, Clapper was team Captain for 14 seasons, that's longer than Neely even played for Boston.

In terms of contributions to the Bruins organization, I think you could make a good case for Clapper as top-5 or maybe 6.

Orr, Shore, Bourque are an obvious top-3. Milt Schmidt and Phil Esposito are in there with Clapper for the next 3 spots.

So yes... top 10 player for sure. The question is whether he’s top 5.

 

[LightningStorm]

Tampa Bay Lightning

1. Martin St. Louis
2. Steven Stamkos
3. Victor Hedman
4. Nikita Kucherov
5. Vincent Lecavalier
6. Andrei Vasilevskiy
7. Brayden Point
8. Brad Richards
9. Dan Boyle
10. Ben Bishop

HM: Ondrej Palat, Vinny Prospal and Nikolai Khabibulin

I already know my biggest controversy is ranking Point ahead of Richards. Hedman and Kucherov are basically interchangeable at 3 and 4.

 

[jimmysheva]

Joe Sakic
Patrick Roy
Peter Forsberg
Nathan MacKinnon
Peter Stastny
Adam Foote
Milan Hejduk
Michel Goulet
Anton Stastny
Alex Tanguay

 

[tarheelhockey]

1. Ron Francis
2. Rod Brind'Amour
3. Eric Staal
4. Glen Wesley
5. Mike Liut
6. Sean Burke
7. Kevin Dineen
8. Justin Williams
9. Pat Verbeek
10. Mark Howe

I’d have the same top 3:

1. Ron Francis
2. Rod Brind’Amour
3. Eric Staal

But a bit different after that:

4. Cam Ward
5. Kevin Dineen
6. Mark Howe (influenced by the WHA years)
7. Glen Wesley
8. Justin Williams
9. Arturs Irbe
10. Pat Verbeek

What’s crazy is how many current players could very easily end up on this list, considering the age of the franchise. It’s not hard at all to see Aho/Svechnikov/Slavin on there in a few years, and even a guy like Jordan Staal is kind of creeping up on it.

Insane as it sounds, the Justin Faulk trade helped avoid an awkward situation in a couple of years when he would have caught RBA and Dineen in tenure, while also holding all the significant records for a D-man.

 

[DeysArena]

Joe Sakic
Patrick Roy
Peter Forsberg
Nathan MacKinnon
Peter Stastny
Adam Foote
Milan Hejduk
Michel Goulet
Anton Stastny
Alex Tanguay

Did you look at any WHA players?