Which Active Players Are Top 100 Players of All-Time?

[GlitchMarner]

There are quite a few. Some are obvious. Is it logical for ten or more of the top 100 players in NHL history to be currently active? There are more players and teams than ever, so perhaps it is.

Click to read more...

 

[CH]

You have a problem with the poll. You can only vote for one player. I am sure you intended people to pick multiple players.

 

[GlitchMarner]

You have a problem with the poll. You can only vote for one player. I am sure you intended people to pick multiple players.

Thanks. Fixed.

 

[Mrb1p]

I voted for
Sid
McD
Malkin
Ovi
Kane

Id probably vote for:
Mack
Matthews
Kuch
Drai
Doughty
Hedman

But Im not sure about the actual list. All-time is a long time.

To me, there's no way Josi and Stamkos are top 100 all-time.

 

[GlitchMarner]

For Certain:

Crosby
Ovechkin
Malkin
McDavid

The History of Hockey board voted Kane a top 100 player on the latest top 100 list the board compiled. He made the list on the low-end. For me he's debatable. He has tremendous talent and has been a prolific producer but is extremely one-dimensional. That said, he has been a good and clutch playoff performer and has proven you can win with him. I'd tentatively put him 95th to 105th.

I think Kuch makes it by now. There isn't a huge difference between him and Kane. I prefer Kucherov slightly.

Drai is probably there by now.

By the end of the season Matthews and MacKinnon will have done enough to warrant inclusion.


I have to think more about the defensemen. I think I'd include Hedman. Doughty and Karlsson are very close if they're not there. Makar will be there soon if he isn't already.

 

[jigglysquishy]

Placement in my top 100 (as of end of 22-23 season)

7. Crosby
12. Ovechkin
20. McDavid
52. Malkin
80. Kane
88. Kucherov
90. Karlsson

MacKinnon has played himself onto the list. Matthews and Draisaitl are close too.

Obviously Kucherov has moved up a lot and McDavid a bit.

Hedman and Doughty are in the 100-125 range, but I haven't gone in detail past 100.

Makar isn't top 100 yet, but he could be soon.

I won't update until after the playoffs.

 

[GlitchMarner]

But Im not sure about the actual list. All-time is a long time.

To me, there's no way Josi and Stamkos are top 100 all-time.

Not that this is the be-all, end-all, but for a decent reference, here's the HOH Board's latest Top 100 Players list:

Top-100 Hockey Players of All-Time

Top-200 Hockey Players of All-Time The following is the final list of the top hockey players of all-time as determined by 32 voting members of the History of Hockey community. Report any errors to @quoipourquoi RankPlayerPositionBornNationBirth City 1Wayne GretzkyC1961CanadaBrantford...

forums.hfboards.com

 

[Buck Naked]

When it's said and done. All of them.

 

[Hockey Outsider]

For Certain:

Crosby
Ovechkin
Malkin
McDavid

The History of Hockey board voted Kane a top 100 player on the latest top 100 list the board compiled. He made the list on the low-end. For me he's debatable. He has tremendous talent and has been a prolific producer but is extremely one-dimensional. That said, he has been a good and clutch playoff performer and has proven you can win with him. I'd tentatively put him 95th to 105th.

I think Kuch makes it by now. There isn't a huge difference between him and Kane. I prefer Kucherov slightly.

Drai is probably there by now.

By the end of the season Matthews and MacKinnon will have done enough to warrant inclusion.


I have to think more about the defensemen. I think I'd include Hedman. Doughty and Karlsson are very close if they're not there. Makar will be there soon if he isn't already.

For what it's worth - several participants in the Top 100 project felt that we were too conservative with Kane.

(Even if that's not true - the project took place in winter 2018/2019. Kane was ranked 93rd then, around five years ago. I don't think 2023 or 2024 adds much to his legacy, but he was the 7th highest scorer between 2020 and 2022, and finished 3rd, 4th and 4th in year-end all-star voting over those seasons. I haven't prepared an updated list recently but he'd have to be a lock for the Top 100 at this point, even if he was borderline back then).

 

[blundluntman]

If I had to predict based on career trajectory for some of these guys, I'd say everyone has a good chance minus Stamkos, Josi and Kopitar. Doughty's on the fringe.

 

[Xspyrit]

lol at Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin and McDavid not having 100% votes

Heck, you could even add Karlsson. 3 Norris (should be 4?) and will most likely score over 1000 pts without playing in the highest scoring era.

Patrick Kane and some other guys are/will become obvious too

 

[Hippasus]

There are quite a few. Some are obvious. Is it logical for ten or more of the top 100 players in NHL history to be currently active? There are more players and teams than ever, so perhaps it is.

Ten or a few more seems reasonable. One can still make concessions for the past and take players from the 1890s to the 1940s that way.

 

[jigglysquishy]

There are quite a few. Some are obvious. Is it logical for ten or more of the top 100 players in NHL history to be currently active? There are more players and teams than ever, so perhaps it is.

There's guys today who will be on the top 100 when retired but aren't on there today.

Makar is a great example. This is only his 5th season and he's missed time every year. Most of us expect he will be on by retirement, but he's still in the first third (quarter?) of his NHL career.

So it's not really active players. It's active players age 26+.

No one would have put Kucherov in a top 100 in 2017, but he was still active at the time.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Some of those players were already voted in top 100 by NHL I thought.

 

[Regal]

There's guys today who will be on the top 100 when retired but aren't on there today.

Makar is a great example. This is only his 5th season and he's missed time every year. Most of us expect he will be on by retirement, but he's still in the first third (quarter?) of his NHL career.

So it's not really active players. It's active players age 26+.

No one would have put Kucherov in a top 100 in 2017, but he was still active at the time.

Yea it’s like the Hall of Fame. There’s probably 50ish players active today who will make it but that’s spans all the way from a 38 yo Ovechkin to possibly an 18 yo Bedard.

 

[Crow]

Voted everyone but Malkin. Too Russian looking. Or something.

 

[amnesiac]

currently top 100? or when their careers are over?

 

[GlitchMarner]

currently top 100? or when their careers are over?

Currently.

 

[amnesiac]

Currently.

most recent Top 100 list (2018-2019) have guys like: Thornton, Kane, Keith, Lindros, Leetch, and MSL close to 100.

Top 5 choices are definitely top 100, but I dont think: Karlsson, Kuch, MacK, Drai, Matthews, Hedman are there yet until their respective careers are over.... Karlsson maybe over Keitch/Leetch after last season acutally.

 

[GlitchMarner]

most recent Top 100 list (2018-2019) have guys like: Thornton, Kane, Keith, Lindros, Leetch, and MSL close to 100.

Top 5 choices are definitely top 100, but I dont think: Karlsson, Kuch, MacK, Drai, Matthews, Hedman are there yet until their respective careers are over.... Karlsson maybe over Keitch/Leetch after last season acutally.

View attachment 845974

If Kucherov wins an Art Ross and/or Hart this season, should he really rank behind guys like Lindros and Thornton?

If picking one to build a team around, I'm sure almost everyone would take Lindros. But I think Kuch will clearly be more accomplished after this season if he isn't already.

And he is a much better playoff player than Thornton.

 

[amnesiac]

If Kucherov wins an Art Ross and/or Hart this season, should he really rank behind guys like Lindros and Thornton?

If picking one to build a team around, I'm sure almost everyone would take Lindros. But I think Kuch will clearly be more accomplished after this season if he isn't already.

And he is a much better playoff player than Thornton.

Agreed if Kuch wins another Hart/Art Ross…. Thornton just has the career numbers, 1539P can’t be ignored. Played for so long and was so consistent.

Lindros is all about his peak and prime. God knows where he’d be ranked if he played a full career.

 

[WingsFan95]

There just can't be more than 10 current guys in that echelon as a ballpark.

Ovie, Malkin, Crosby, Karlsson, Doughty, McDavid, Stamkos, Kane seem like the easy picks.

Hedman and Kucherov next men up you'd think.

But why no goaltenders? MAF? Quick, Vasilevskiy, Bobrovsky? At least two of those.

 

[Midnight Judges]

There just can't be more than 10 current guys in that echelon as a ballpark.

Why not?

The history forum has 15 players born within a 10 year span who played in the 1950s, and 17 players born within a 10 year span who played in the 1980s.

 

[jetsforever]

Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, McDavid, Kane, Matthews, Kucherov, Draisaitl, Hedman, Karlsson

 

[WingsFan95]

Why not?

The history forum has 15 players born within a 10 year span who played in the 1950s, and 17 players born within a 10 year span who played in the 1980s.

I did say ballpark. But the main reason is that there's a distinct difference between legendary players and most skilled, talented, etc.

The legacy players shaped the league and therefore cannot be easily (if ever) usurped by "better athletes" who frankly play in a diluted sports landscape despite the insane salaries.

Easiest reference for other sports:

Any boxer being as legendary as Marciano, Louis, Ali, Foreman, Tyson, Jack Freaking Johnson, Dempsey, etc.
Any NFL player being as legendary as Rice, Sanders, Payton, Butkus, Lott, Green, Montana, etc.

Yeah SOME guys like McDavid right now can absolute lay claim, but when you go down the list it becomes asinine to just move too many legacy players based on essentially stats.