Who Is The Best Player That Nobody Talks About?

[CDN24]

Saw the thread and thought Pavalski, Rackell and Gallagher

Read the thread saw 3 or 4 Pavalski mentions
One Rackell and 0 Gallaghers

 

[Critical13]

I think Matt Grzelcyk is going to be very, very good.

 

[Stephen]

Slavin. He's a great young defensive defenseman, maybe even the best defensive defenseman in the league. Yet, no one talks about him. Hopefully, he'll soon be talked about like Vlasic is/was.

Slavin is quite the hipster pick by now. In fact, the way the hfboards hipsters talk you'd think Carolina had a blueline a shade under the 70s Canadiens.

 

[Puck Dogg]

Blake Wheeler

Second this. Wheeler had last season more points than Crosby and played one game less.

 

[Silky mitts]

I don’t know where you guys are consuming hockey talk where Barkov and Wheeler aren’t extremely appreciated

 

[Aurinko]

Gourde, Wennberg, WKarlsson (still!!), Forsberg, Rantanen

In that order.

 

[Lshap]

John Gibson. Only 25 and already putting up top-5 numbers for the last two/three years. If he hadn't been hurt in the 2017 playoffs there's a good chance Anaheim would've gone to the SCF.

 

[ziggyjoe212]

Lol No.

Sure, your average american may not know McDavid but they probably also couldn't name a single NHL player under the age of 25 that doesn't play for their own team. Anyone who is even a casual hockey fan knows who McDavid is.

I'm just saying his endorsement potential is a fraction of what it would be in a big market, or even a small American market.

Case in point, Pittsburgh is considered a small TV market by American pro sports standards. However, it is still almost twice as big as Edmonton, and both Sid and Geno are world mega stars. I don't think McDavid is getting that kind of attention among non hard-core NHL followers.

 

[Hatter of the Beach]

The best are Barkov/Hubadreau (by national Media), Girodano, and Rickard Rakkel

Not the most, but two players that kind of fly under the radar are David Perron and Dylan Larkin. I doubt many people realize Larkin had close to 50 assists last year playing with garbage, and Perron put up 66.

Kuznetsov; the guy is a freakin BEAST

also homer vote: Nazem Kadri

I feel the fact that Kadri has had two 32 goal seasons in a row while still playing his game is undersold. That is very, very, good production, especially given his ToI. Don't get why people like James Neal are more talked about these days.

 

[SotasicA]

Pierre-Luc Dubois. The most quiet 20 goals and 48 points by a teenager ever. And by a player with great size, physicality and energy.

 

[SCampo98]

Gotta be Wheeler. He's talked about so little I begin to think sometimes that he's an average player.

 

[Ugene Magic]

Kopitar.

 

[NYR94]

Pierre-Luc Dubois. The most quiet 20 goals and 48 points by a teenager ever. And by a player with great size, physicality and energy.

Wow I was sleepin on this guy had no idea he almost hit 50 points.

 

[MessierII]

Barkov is a good answer. Also Wheeler and Scheifle.

 

[M2Beezy]

Rantanen AINEC

Also

Barkov
Nolan Patrick

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Arvidsson, Rakell, and Point for me. All deserve more appreciation

 

[Rubi]

Any player that doesn't play for Toronto, particularly if the talkers work for TSN (Toronto Sports Network).

 

[57special]

Trying to add some new names.

Joe Pavelski - Guy is a captain of a perennial playoff team and usually hits 30~ish goals and 70~ish points.

Clayton Keller - he was 3rd in the Calder race last season, but you only hear about Barzal and Boeser. He's in the mould of P.Kane, Marner, and Gaudreau. But he's almost invisible playing in Arizona.

Jason Zucker - Just put together a 30+ goal season. He's like JVR except he plays better in his own end. He outscored JVR and Evander Kane by 10 points last season. But a player changing teams gets huge media attention, where as a guy staying in Minnesota isn't a story.

Ryan Getzlaf - Used to see his mane everywhere, but not so much anymore. Perry is on the decline, so maybe some people assume Getz is too? Might surprise some to hear he was over point-per-game last season. He's consistent and a workhorse, yet gets no attention anymore.

Zucker's game is nothing like JVR's. He is a speedster who creates open ice in 5v5 situation, but has trouble on the PP. Feisty, but not a lot of size, so he doesn't camp out around the net.

 

[DitchMarner]

Maybe David Patsrnak?

 

[hamzarocks]

rantanen, barkov, wheeler, rakell etc are talked about constantly on these boards, don't think they are good answers for this. I would say a guy like dadanov is not talked about much or someone like chris kreider is not really discussed much on the main boards.

 

[pheasant]

Zucker's game is nothing like JVR's. He is a speedster who creates open ice in 5v5 situation, but has trouble on the PP. Feisty, but not a lot of size, so he doesn't camp out around the net.

OK. Sure. You're right.

I think you're being a bit picky. It was an offhand comparison in the middle of a decent sized post about 4 different players on 4 different teams, none of which are my team. Sorry I compared two players who are both 30 goal LW'ers.

It's like people are only here to argue, complain, and point fault.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

John Gibson. Only 25 and already putting up top-5 numbers for the last two/three years. If he hadn't been hurt in the 2017 playoffs there's a good chance Anaheim would've gone to the SCF.

And what makes this even more worthwhile, This has got to be one of the best trade down deals that I can recall. Not only did Ducks get Rakell for trading down in The Tyler Biggs deal, the extra pick got them John Gibson.

 

[kuzy92]

Nick Backstrom

 

[Rabid Ranger]

That Aho on the Canes.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

That Aho on the Canes.

Hey! This is a family forum.