Who’ll be the best? Take your chance!

[helicecopter]

OK, the discussions going on in the confrontation threads between Nash, Ovechkin and Malkin make me feel the urge for a kind of summary on HFposters’ opinions.

Here are the supposed best/most promising youngsters in the world:
Crosby, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Nash, Lehtonen, Ovechkin.

Now you have to rank them..which is the order you would follow to draft out of this group? (ties are not allowed!)
Yes they have different ages, some are proven and some others not, so it’s very difficult to compare and it’s very close to call imo..but that’s just where it’s more interesting to know others’ opinions!
For example, i can guess about #1 choice of some guys (epsilon: Kovalchuk. Vlad the Impaler: Nash. Pei fan: Crosby), but after that i am curious...

Feel free to follow your feelings/instincts more than how you would be able to do if you were a real GM, a position where it would be more than difficult to pass on the more proven guys. We are on boards, so you are entitled to let your feelings go without getting too worried. That’s what i’m doing here (going out on a frail, frail limb ):

1-Crosby- I will buy the hype (and the numbers) here.
2-Malkin- risky pick, but is a too seducing package for my tastes.
3-Nash- ideal style to be consistently effective in the NHL game.
4-Kovalchuk- Stellar acceleration and shot..the proven factor gives me the edge over Alex.
5-Ovechkin- ehm.. at #5..
6-Lehtonen- awesome, but I think you can find the one very good goalie you need without passing on the likes of the other 5 guys.


And now give me yours please!

Click to read more...

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Crosby
Kovalchuk
Lehtonen
Ovechkin
Malkin

 

[Ola]

1. Nash //Effective as @£$~'¨*. All 6 I listed below Nash will probably take turns beeing better then him. But in 2020 I would be suprised if anyone of them would have better numbers in their careers then Rick...
2. Ovechkin //He is here because of the excitement factor. If you would break down the abilitys of a hockey player into general cathegorys Ovechkin ranks among the best in 2 of them(skating&stickhandling) + that he have that extra touch. AO have Bure/Jagr/Forsberg potential and I belive he will reach it.
3. Malkin //A complete package with size.
4. Crosby //Haven't seen him that much. Will be a great player thats for sure. Have a ton of pressure and allot could go wrong...
5. Lethonen //Will be spectacular...
6. Kovalchuk //I belive Kovalchuk will take a step back pretty soon. I am not that impressed with him. A Shanahan type of player IMO. Will be really good over a long period of time. But big wingers is always hurt when they start loosing some speed.
7. Lundqvist //Will become one of the top goalies in the league. Have not seen many goalies perform like he have at the same age the last years. Luongo and maybe a few others.

 

[gars59]

Nash
Kovalchuk
Ovechkin
Crosby
Malkin
Lehtonen

 

[helicecopter]

Crosby
Kovalchuk
Lehtonen
Ovechkin
Malkin

No Nash?

 

[eddy]

1. Crosby
2. Ovechin
3. Nash
4. Kovalchuck
5. Lehtonen
6. Malkin

 

[Crosbyfan]

Nash
Kovalchuk
Ovechkin
Crosby
Malkin
Lehtonen

Crosby
Malkin
Nash
Ovechkin
Kovulchuk
Lehtonen

Hard to put any of them in the bottom 3 though, if that makes any sense.

 

[Barnaby]

Crosby
Nash
Kovalchuk
Ovechkin - Could outdo Kovalchuk in a few years...
Lehtonen
Malkin

 

[kremlin]

Kovalchuk
Malkin
Ovechkin
Crosby
Nash
Lehtonen

 

[markov`]

Very good topic.

#1 Sidney Crosby. The kid dominated the CHL at 16-17 like no one else ever did. He's a better prospect than Mario Lemieux in my books - I know I'm going to get flamed for this. Fact is, as 16-17 yrs old, Crosby had more impact to his team and to the league than Lemieux, by a fairly significant margin.

#2 Kari Lehtonen. Best goaltender since Patrick Roy. 'Nuff said. This guy is gonna win a lot of Vezinas.

#3 Alexander Ovechkin. This kid got it all - skill and determination. He loves to play hockey and wants to play hockey and he is a winner... and extremely skilled.

#4 Ilya Kovalchuk. The fact that he had more than 100 goals in his first 3 seasons speaks for itself. He is an offensive dynamo, but he doesn't have the package Ovechkin possess, that's why he is rated higher.

#5 Rick Nash. The NHL needs more players like that. One of the best goalscorer we've seen in a long time. But don't expect him to get more than 25-30 assists per season.

#6 Evgeny Malkin. Skilled and physically gifted. This kid could be a great one but I wouldn't rank him before any of the 5.

 

[pei fan]

Crosby (surprise )
Lehtonen-has the potential to be the best ever,technique of Roy,flexability/
athletisism/quickness of Hasek.
Ovechkin-Gets the edge over the other 3 because of speed and all-around skill
Nash
Kovalchuk
Malkin
Like someone else said it's hard to put anyone in the "bottom 3" and really I
think the bottom 4 you could probably roll the dice on and at the end of their
careers you could argue it either way but maybe one will rise significantly
above the others.

*note I haven't seen Malkin play very much.

 

[markov`]

Crosby (surprise )
Lehtonen-has the potential to be the best ever,technique of Roy,flexability/
athletisism/quickness of Hasek.
Ovechkin-Gets the edge over the other 3 because of speed and all-around skill
Nash
Kovalchuk
Malkin
Like someone else said it's hard to put anyone in the "bottom 3" and really I
think the bottom 4 you could probably roll the dice on and at the end of their
careers you could argue it either way but maybe one will rise significantly
above the others.

*note I haven't seen Malkin play very much.

Very surprised to see someone of my own opinion. Didn't tought anybody would throw Lehtonen at #2.

 

[Blind Gardien]

That's an impossible task for me. But I'll go ahead and be biased about it and say:
1a) Crosby, Nash
1b) Kovalchuk, Ovechkin
1c) Malkin
6) Lehtonen

Lehtonen at the end because as great a prospect as he is, I'm not sure that there is that much separating an elite goaltender from his peers, and that a team can still win with oh say, Kiprusoff or Khabibulin or Brodeur or about any of a dozen or more other goalies in net.

Plus, I give props to Kovalchuk and Nash because they've already proven themselves as sure things. Any of the others might have some slim margin for failing to pan out (although that's hard to imagine with these three). And Crosby at 1a) because... because... I've devoured enough hype. Actually, he's no better than Ovechkin or Malkin in my hype-free mind, but I'll go with the local boy when building my team. Give me any of these 6, though, and I'll hardly complain!!!

 

[Vlad The Impaler]

Here are the supposed best/most promising youngsters in the world:
Crosby, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Nash, Lehtonen, Ovechkin.

Just a nitpick but as far as I'm concerned, if you go as far as 2001, there are a couple of names I would definitly add to this list.

Staal and Spezza I would take above Malkin at this point. Whether one prefers Malkin to them, they are at the very least in that ballpark of promises, IMO.

Phaneuf, Bouwmeester, Hamhuis and Pitkanen are also very promising. Defensemen always get the shaft on those lists.

Others might consider many names, with probably Zherdev at the top of their lists.

Here's a list, based on your 2001 cutoff:

The Club 13

(There is definitly a cream of the crop top 4 at this point in time in my view)
Nash
Ovechkin
Kovalchuk
Crosby
(small drop in value here)
Lehtonen
Bouwmeester
Spezza
(another small drop for me)
M-A Fleury
Phaneuf
Staal
Malkin
Hamhuis
Pitkanen


Players with a chance to be better than some of the guys on the list above include (but are not limited to)
Jeff Carter, Zach Parise, Hannu Toivonen, Ryan Whitney (highly unlikely in Ryan's case but still...), Patrice Bergeron and the aforementioned Nik Zherdev.

Another very interesting player from 2001 is Tuomo Ruutu. Not the top end potential of the guys on the elite list but the skills, grit and desire are undeniable. This guy should be the future Hawks captain and will be one of the most respected players in the league if he can stay healthy.

 

[EroCaps]

Just a nitpick but as far as I'm concerned, if you go as far as 2001, there are a couple of names I would definitly add to this list.

Staal and Spezza I would take above Malkin at this point. Whether one prefers Malkin to them, they are at the very least in that ballpark of promises, IMO.

Phaneuf, Bouwmeester, Hamhuis and Pitkanen are also very promising. Defensemen always get the shaft on those lists.

Others might consider many names, with probably Zherdev at the top of their lists.

Here's a list, based on your 2001 cutoff:

The Club 13

(There is definitly a cream of the crop top 4 at this point in time in my view)
Nash
Ovechkin
Kovalchuk
Crosby
(small drop in value here)
Lehtonen
Bouwmeester
Spezza
(another small drop for me)
M-A Fleury
Phaneuf
Staal
Malkin
Hamhuis
Pitkanen


Players with a chance to be better than some of the guys on the list above include (but are not limited to)
Jeff Carter, Zach Parise, Hannu Toivonen, Ryan Whitney (highly unlikely in Ryan's case but still...), Patrice Bergeron and the aforementioned Nik Zherdev.

Another very interesting player from 2001 is Tuomo Ruutu. Not the top end potential of the guys on the elite list but the skills, grit and desire are undeniable. This guy should be the future Hawks captain and will be one of the most respected players in the league if he can stay healthy.

I like the way you did this. Only changes I'd make- power Lehtonen and Malkin up one level each.

 

[freakazoid]

Nash
Ovechkin
Kovalchuk
Crosby
Lehtonen
Bouwmeester
Spezza
M-A Fleury
Phaneuf
Staal
Malkin
Hamhuis
Pitkanen

1)Crosby: If we go by feelings, I would risk it and take him, since his ceiling is the highest among the group.

tie 2)Nash: His size and what he does with it is amazing.

tie 2)Malkin: For those who didn't know, he was listed as 6'4 in the WHC this year. His size and his ceiling, which I believe is second only to Crosby, are attracting.

4)Kovalchuk: What he does on offence merits forgiveness on the defencive end.

5)Lehtonen: Wow, he really gets undervalued here. Yes you can win with Bulin and Kipper, but thats once in a lifetime when they magically transform into hockey greats for a stretch of games (a la Gigguere), but a guy like Lehtonen can turn into a dominant G like Brodeur who can give you a chance at the cup every year. I don't see that in Luongo yet, his mental game and puck handling need some work.

6)Ovechkin: I'm not as high as some on this guy, I think the 5 above him will turn out to be better, but I'd take him over the rest mentioned here. And no, he won't outperform Kovalchuk on offence any time soon, but he compensates on defence.

7)Bouwmeester: Has the looks of a Norris candidate year in and year out.

8)Pitkanen: See Bouwmeester

9)Phaneuf: Same

10)Spezza: Sure he is going to be great, get tons of points, but he doesn't have that "je ne sais quoi" that would take him from superstar to elite level. A guy with his skillset should have came into camp, won a job, and took over no matter who the coach is. Say all you want about Martin not giving him a chance, I'm sure he had a good reason, otherwise why would he hurt his teams chances of winning and giving the kid some experience.

11)Staal: Will be a great 2-way forward for years to come, but isn't going to overwhelm many outside Carolina.

12)Hamhuis: Just a notch below the 7/8/9 bunch.

13)M-A Fleury: He is one of those star or nothing type of players. Other goalies progressed steady and kept lifting their game from level to level. Guys like Lehtonen, Toivonen, Ward have dominated on every level they played, but Fleury stumbled not once but twice, first when sent to the minors then in the AHL. Whatever reasons there are to explain this, it is obvious he lacks mental toughness. I see him as a Bulin type of G, top notch when his head is straight, or makes the GM want to trade him when it's not.

 

[helicecopter]

Just a nitpick but as far as I'm concerned, if you go as far as 2001, there are a couple of names I would definitly add to this list..

Well i thought there was some kind of consensus about these guys being the top 6…you at least agree on the top 5 though!

Here's a list, based on your 2001 cutoff:

The Club 13

(There is definitly a cream of the crop top 4 at this point in time in my view)
Nash
Ovechkin
Kovalchuk
Crosby
(small drop in value here)
Lehtonen
Bouwmeester
Spezza
(another small drop for me)
M-A Fleury
Phaneuf
Staal
Malkin
Hamhuis
Pitkanen

I was interested in your list and I am a bit surprised. Not only by the rankings as in these lists guys on top can be very close to the ones at the bottom in the mind of the author.. but you even defined small drops of level.
The rankings don’t look direct consequence of how proven they are since Ovechkin is 2nd and Crosby 4th, so I am in particular interested in the reasons why you rate malkin two drops behind the top guys. How many times have you seen him? (more than mine 3 probably) and what you don’t like, or at least, what doesn’t impress you?

 

[Habsfan 32]

1.Crosby
2.Malkin (I think he's going to be that good)
3.Ovechkin
4.Kovalchuk
5.Nash
6.Lethonen
7.Bouwmeester
8.Pitkanen
9.Fleury
10.Zherdev

 

[dmcilvan]

Kovalchuk
Nash
Lehtonen
Ovechkin
Crosby
Bouwmeester
Staal
Spezza
Phaneuf
Malkin
M-A Fleury
Pitkanen
Hamhuis

 

[Kaizer]

Haven't seen enough other 3 prospects, but there is how I would ranked Russian prospects in this list:
1. Ovechkin
2. Malkin
3. Kovalchuk

 

[Epsilon]

There's very little separating these six guys. I agree with Vlad's point about incorporating more guys, but for the sake of simplicity I'll simply list the 6 requested at the start:

1. Iya Kovalchuk
2. Kari Lehtonen
3. Rick Nash
4. Alexander Ovechkin
5. Sidney Crosby
6. Evgeni Malkin

I could explain every little choice in detail but I don't really have the time righ now. You could seriously rank 15 or so guys and have the difference between 1 and 15 be really quite small. Guys I'd consider (note that I didn't say would) taking over one or more of these six include: Pitkanen, Spezza, Zherdev, Bouwmeester, Fleury, Staal, Ruutu, Kessel, Frolik, and probably some others as well.

 

[RandomCanuckFan]

my list of those 6...

1. Ilya Kovalchuk
2. Kari Lehtonen
3. Sidney Crosby
4. Evgeni Malkin
5. Alexander Ovechkin
6. Rick Nash

but they're all very close.

 

[O.T.]

Crosby, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Nash, Lehtonen, Ovechkin.
#1. Crosby - I've watched him enough too know that his talent level is just sick!
#2. Ovechkin - I have'nt seen him alot, but I'll buy the hype.
#3. Nash - This kid just keeps improving, he is going to be amazing!
#4. Lehtonen - He is what you would look for in goaltender, big, quick, felxable...
#5. Kovalchuk - His playmaking, and defence is holding him down a little for me.
#6. Malkin - Do to not seeing him too much he is in last, I hated his hot dog move at the WJC.

 

[wilka91*]

Ovechkin
Malkin
Kovalchuk

 

[RandomCanuckFan]

Crosby, Kovalchuk, Malkin, Nash, Lehtonen, Ovechkin.
#1. Crosby - I've watched him enough too know that his talent level is just sick!
#2. Ovechkin - I have'nt seen him alot, but I'll buy the hype.
#3. Nash - This kid just keeps improving, he is going to be amazing!
#4. Lehtonen - He is what you would look for in goaltender, big, quick, felxable...
#5. Kovalchuk - His playmaking, and defence is holding him down a little for me.
#6. Malkin - Do to not seeing him too much he is in last, I hated his hot dog move at the WJC.

How do you take Nash over Kovalchuk?

Kovalchuk has a better shot, he's faster, more exciting, a better passer...both are very bad defensively, both have good size...the only thing Nash does better than Kovalchuk is score garbage goals and take penalties...well he does use his size more effectively, but still.

Really, I don't see how, if Kovalchuk's playmaking and defense is holding him down, how is it not holding Nash down?