Which is the most IMPORTANT player to his team?

[Gubbhornet]

I don't see a difference between this question and question about the best player.

Simple: If you have alot of good players, the team will win even without that player.

 

[bobholly39]

Carey Price.

 

[TBF1972]

Ok, so this is not a discussion on who is the best player, but a player who is most important to his team. Basically, I he would be removed/injured, his team would lose a lot more games.

by this definition it won't be a player from a bottom feeder team.

 

[Gubbhornet]

by this definition it won't be a player from a bottom feeder team.

No, because if they still don't win with him he is not good enough.

 

[TBF1972]

No, because if they still don't win with him he is not good enough.

by this definition ian cole is more important than chychrun

 

[Necrobutcher]

best for draiseitl would be to sign on another team and become the captain/franchise guy... he is in danger to get the same path as malkin in pit. he is simply to good to be viewed as #2

The path to a Hart trophy and three cups? That's a decent path to be on. He already has the Hart.

 

[LionsHeart]

Shesterkin. The Rangers are finally putting it together, but they’re where they’re at because Shesty stood on his head as long as he did. Fox is a close second.

 

[Gubbhornet]

by this definition ian cole is more important than chychrun

If you believe the canes would lose if they needed to replacr Ian then yes.

 

[tsujimoto74]

The problem in choosing McDavid is that it diminishes Draisaitl's play which is equally impressive.

How much does being Captain and the face of the franchise separate the two?

Nah.

 

[notDatsyuk]

The generic answer is: the goalie.

Which is funny, because a lot pf people seem to treat the position as "not really part of the team".

You see a lot of comments like "the team played well, but the goalie lost it for us", as though the goalie was an outsider like the refs.

 

[Pataatti]

I think Carey Price might be a good option here. There's some other changes too, but a Stanley Cup Finalist went to bottom-4 team without Price. Yeah sure they were 18th overall last season in regular season. Still more than a bit better than this current .300.

Maybe they dropped because they don't have Kotkaniemi anymore

 

[EdJovanovski]

Shesterkin

 

[jonlin]

Most obvious:

Edmonton - McDavid
Toronto - Matthews
Boston - Bergeron
Dallas - Heiskanen
Capitals - Ovechkin
Winnipeg - Helleybuck
Nashville - Saros
Rangers - Fox


Theese are players that are extremely important to their teams and could be the factor beeing a playoff-team or not.Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Colorado have enough depth so 1 players doesnt keep them outta playoffs.

 

[Julien LG]

it's not just about the saves. Montreal defense is / was build to be effective with Price in net. Chariot, Edmunston, Weber and now Savard all have qualities but neither have good puck retriving speed. They are effective in front of Price because he's a 3rd defenseman back there.

Allen could have the same save % as Price, he would still lose more game than Price behind that Montreal team.

In fact Allen was .907 last year with a 11-12-0-5.
Price was .901 with a 12-7-0-5.

That is how important he is, even putting a better save % is not enough to replace him.

 

[abo9]

I feel like McDavid/Drai share the title of "most important player". If either one of them falls, the Oilers might be in deep troubles. But, they have better depth than before so maybe the Oilers could survive like the Pens when one of Crosby/Malkin falls.

Amongst goalie, I believe it's clearly Carey Price. Not just for stopping pucks, but he's montreal's best puck moving defenseman (and I'm dead serious). He's the one through which zone exits are the best executed on the team.

Amongst defensemen, I'd pick Josi; if he falls, the Preds are probably in deep trouble.

Caps are probably last in their division without Ovechkin.

Right now I agree because of injuries, Ovechkin is probably the most important to his team.

Though I doubt it once the roster if fully healthy, Backstrom/Oshie/Mantha/Kuzny/Wilson are an excellent top 6 to begin with.

 

[abo9]

the answer is the primary goalie for each team. the next answer if you were hoping for something more specific is whoever has the highest ATOI

Thats absolutely not true.
Dallas most valuable player is not their goalie, so is the Isles or Colorado or Edmonton's goalies. Heck, even on Tampa I doubt that Vasilevskyi is the most important to his team, if they were healthy.

 

[jonlin]

Thats absolutely not true.
Dallas most valuable player is not their goalie, so is the Isles or Colorado or Edmonton's goalies. Heck, even on Tampa I doubt that Vasilevskyi is the most important to his team, if they were healthy.

Only teams where the goalies are super important are Jets, Canadiens and Predators. Rangers debatable. Tampa is so deep that one player doesnt ring the bell, so is Hurricanes, Avalanche and Panthers. I feel the most important player on ANY team, would be Carey Price.

 

[RxPens]

Letang

 

[T REX]

Vasy

 

[Eggtimer]

Not my team but the Rangers would be totally screwed if Shesterkin was gone.

 

[34]

Interesting how bad Draisaitl is. That is, people here are clearly saying that you remove McDavid and Draisaitl gets absolutely nothing done.

He is the most fortunate beneficiary in the NHL having McDavid. Can you just imagine what some of these other top-tier players in the NHL would do having a McDavid hold their hand. It would be insane.


That said, the easy answer to this thread is McDavid.

 

[KrisLetAngry]

Most obvious:

Edmonton - McDavid
Toronto - Matthews
Boston - Bergeron
Dallas - Heiskanen
Capitals - Ovechkin
Winnipeg - Helleybuck
Nashville - Saros
Rangers - Fox


Theese are players that are extremely important to their teams and could be the factor beeing a playoff-team or not.Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Colorado have enough depth so 1 players doesnt keep them outta playoffs.

I don't think its McDavid and Matthews tbh.
Definitely not McDavid but I'm unsure if it'd Matthews

I think if you have a 1C behind these 2 players then there's probably a more important player if injured that would hurt them.

Nurse imo if he goes down probably causes more problems for the Oilers then if McDavid goes down if Draisaitl is healthy. See His Hart season.

The Leafs have Nylander who can go to centre and a Tavares and those are both first line players.

Heck for Boston it may actually be Bergeron because of the terrible C depth for Boston. I'd say Marchand is the better player now but I'd have to agree on this one.

 

[Bob and 200 others]

One of my teams star players, duh