Which career has been the biggest "what if" in NHL History?

[ijuka]

Kind of surprised by all the Orr stuff. He still managed to have a dominant peak, does it really matter how he'd have done during the rest of his years? Of course, him doing great for a sustained period of time would have been cool, but that's in my opinion quite easy to project and imagine, whereas we never really got to see what Lindros even is capable of.

 

[Trap Jesus]

Thing with Orr that he dealt with those knee issues his whole career and is still regarded as one of if not the best ever.

Lemieux missed those seasons in his early 30s and still came back very strong.

With Lindros, those concussions started to affect his play drastically in his mid-20s. Just drastically affected his career path in both the games he did play, and didn't play when he had the ability to be an all-time great.

 

[elmaco]

Lindros, Jagr, Crosby

 

[Sun God Nika]

What I'd Ovechkin didnt have 1.5 lockouts where would his totals be ? Would he have 10 50 goal seasons?

 

[Ryan Pat80]

Lindros for me. Doubt that's the best answer, but that's what resonated.

First one that came to mind for me also, even before I saw the actual poll.

 

[Varan]

sid "im an adult" the kid

 

[Maestro84]

All of these scenarios cost each player a lot if you look at what they could've accomplished.

Orr and Mario both could've became the undisputed GOAT had their bodies held up

Crosby and Lindros would likely be right up there with the Mount Rushmore of hockey if not for their concussions

Bossy could've became the greatest pure scorer of all time

Forsberg could've become a top 5-10 player of all time if not for his ailments

Jagr would've held more records had he not left to the KHL

And Hull left the league right in the middle of his prime when he was still putting up dominant numbers. He could've went down as a top 5 player as well had he stayed in the NHL during his 30s

Another one would be Malkin. I can't remember the last time he actually played a full season but whenever he has, man has he been dominant. Geno's all time ranking surely would've been much higher had he had more healthy seasons

It probably won't be Hull or Jagr since they voluntarily left the league whereas everyone else on this poll did not voluntarily get hurt during their physical primes

 

[Slapshot Sultan]

Between Orr, Lindros and Lemieux for me. Can't decide. Gun to my head and I will go with Lindros as the Lindros must see highlights are still fresh in my memory from not so long ago..

EDIT: Just looked at the results and others seem to agree with me

 

[KevinRedkey]

Lindros lost the most, so I'll go with him.

 

[Hostile Offer]

Bryan Fogarty without alcoholism.

 

[ESH]

The Jagr one is clearly last, I can tell you that much.

 

[Brucelenok]

Can't believe Bure isn't one of the options... His injuries with knees affected him more than Orr IMO. If he'd play more games and seasons, we would compare him with Ovi right now as who is the greatest sniper of all time

 

[Mulletman]

Should've had Selanne as an option too. Waited until he was 22 to enter the NHL. Plus sat out almost a full season of hockey in 2007-08. And played several seasons in the middle of his career on bad knees.

 

[tony d]

Option 2. Without the concussions it might have become big 5 instead of big 4 with Lindros being #5 on the all time list.

 

[TheGuiminator]

Crosby

Him playing full seasons in 2010-11 & 2011-12 completely change his legacy IMO

 

[JasonRoseEh]

And Orr didn't?

Did I mention Orr?

 

[Sweetpotato]

Orr.

It didn't cross my mind that Orr would've lined up against Gretzky had he been healthy, that would've been something...

 

[amnesiac]

its Orr... but Hull would have 800+ goals if he didnt go to the WHA

 

[NORiculous]

What if Bettman didn’t get the job.

 

[780il]

It's either Orr or Lindros easily

Voted Orr

 

[Mickey Marner]

Orr suffered a knee injury as a rookie, Lindros didn't suffer a documented NHL concussion untill 1997. Brain injuries are obviously more serious, but Lindros' brain had arguably fully developed -from a NHL'er's standpoint- before it debilitated.

 

[Krewe]

Stamkos isn’t the biggest. But post lockout he has to be up there. The man scored 60 in his third year in the NHL

 

[illpucks]

Orr.Top 3 (some say #1) alltime with only 12 seasons, and HHOF at 31. Sid and Ovi have played 2 more seasons than Orr and are still young and have 90+ points.

 

[RSPens]

Lemieux if it included back injuries, Orr if it doesn't

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

Orr's knees, pretty easily.

1. He played his last meaningful season at age 26. For reference, Karlsson is about to turn 29
2. He almost never played healthy. He dealt with ongoing knee issues starting in his rookie season.
3. If he plays to 34. That puts his final season in 84. So imagine Orr and Bourque together in the high flying 80s

by age 26, he had 8x Norris, 3x Hart, 2x Ross, 2x Cup, 2x Smythe, 8x AS-1.

8 more healthy seasons and he's looking at:

12-15x Norris
3-6x Hart
2-5x Ross
at least 4 Cups (Bruins beat Montreal in 78 and 79 with Orr)
1,600+ points