Who is the most underrated player in the NHL hands down?

[Knives and Tulips]

Chychrun and Buchnevich

Homer vote: Bryan Rust. Always hear the product of Crosby/Malkin blah blah blah.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Grubauer. He has the 9th best SV% among the 29 goalies who have played at least 100 games since the start of 2018-19, and people still question if he's just a product of the Avs defense.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Since Hyman is finally getting some well deserved recognition now, I have long said he was a good player since his rookie season when many disagreed. Another player that I said at the time Connor Brown, has been slower to get praise.

How many 21 goal scorers this season are not considered a top 6 winger? Also he is a dependable 2 way player, high on character, and is only a 4.42% cap hit. You would be hard pressed finding many more 21 goal scorers at that cap hit this season. Definitely under the radar.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Gaudreau. Top ten scorer since he entered the league. The only person who played with less talent above him is Pat Kane.

yet the guy can’t get a top 50 player ranking on HF… lol

 

[AsparaGus]

Draisaitl.

People think he sucks.

 

[AsparaGus]

Gaudreau. Top ten scorer since he entered the league. The only person who played with less talent above him is Pat Kane.

yet the guy can’t get a top 50 player ranking on HF… lol

Someone’s got to score on that team...

 

[TSBruins13]

Marchand. People focus solely on his antics (which have subsided quite a bit over the past few seasons), and fail to see how good he is.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Someone’s got to score on that team...

And yet there is like 25 teams he would be the leading scorer on in that time period…

 

[TS Quint]

Draisaitl.

nobody is even discussing his season when he’s head and shoulders above all but one guy in the league.

The reigning Hart trophy winner is underrated? GTFOH!

 

[Panda Bear]

Gaudreau. Top ten scorer since he entered the league. The only person who played with less talent above him is Pat Kane.

yet the guy can’t get a top 50 player ranking on HF… lol

Maybe he should get back to scoring like he did in 17-18 and 18-19 instead of what he did in 19-20 and this season before we cry too many Johnny Tears.

 

[Tkachuk Norris]

Maybe he should get back to scoring like he did in 17-18 and 18-19 instead of what he did in 19-20 and this season before we cry too many Johnny Tears.

you mean like how he’s got 22 points in his last 16 games since being put on a line with Tkachuk and Lindholm?

 

[Voight]

Bäckström
Draisaitl
Scheifele
Kucherov

Something like that.

Kuch is super underrated for a guy with his resume.

Homer vote — Jake Guentzel
I see projections of the USA Olympic team without him on it. He’s got a 40 goal season for cripes sake.

Playing with Crosby/Malkin has its benefits.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Probably Spezza seeing as how he was put on waivers and nobody claimed him and he's 3rd on the Leafs in P60 ahead of $11 million Tavares.

That's because he said he would retire if claimed. otherwise he would have been claimed 100%

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Draisaitl
Sorry he's incredible I'm aware.
but I can't help but think his numbers are inflated because of McDavid

 

[Panda Bear]

Grubauer. He has the 9th best SV% among the 29 goalies who have played at least 100 games since the start of 2018-19, and people still question if he's just a product of the Avs defense.

I mean, he might be like Brian Elliott was in St Louis.

Grubauer posts the 9th best save percentage among goalies with 100 games played since 2018-19. He joined Colorado in 2018-19. This is the first season he's played where he's hit 40 games, which means it's the first season in Colorado where he has had to deal with a bonafide starter's fatigue over an entire season. He's had spells of starting before that were interrupted by injury, but a break is still a break.

According to moneypuck, he's ranked #10 this season for goals saved above expected per 60, #17 for 19-20, and #26 for 18-19. Other models will distribute him in the same ranges.

But the two seasons before that? #2 in goals saved above expected per 60.

You can literally argue that he's doing worse in Colorado.

 

[Wintersun]

Always thought Krejci was severely underappreciated. Connor Brown could be another guy.

I see names here of elite players that everybody ranks in the top 10-20 players in the league. How are they underrated? Maybe they're rated 5 spots lower than they should on the league ranking? lol

 

[Panda Bear]

you mean like how he’s got 16 points in his last 14 games since being put on a line with Tkachuk and Lindholm?

Yeah, like that, which washes away your "plays with the least amount of talent aside from Patty Kane" argument.

Good player. Definitely in the top fifty.

 

[Roboturner913]

Jaccob Slavin

429 GP, 32G, 134A, +77, 60Pim, 22:47 TOI, 761 Blk

Draws opponents top line, night in and night out but doesn’t receive the press like other defenseman do because of the small Carolina market

It's also because he doesn't have a ton of points this year, but that's not really so much his fault. When you're paired with Dougie Hamilton you're not going to jump in the rush or make a bunch of pinches.

But Slavin has shown he can be a 35-40 point player in addition to being an eraser in his own zone. I wish voters for the Norris (and Selke, for that matter) would look more at the big picture of players like him instead of automatically just looking at the people with the most points. A 35-point Jaccob Slavin to me is worth more than any 80 point d-man who has problems in his own zone.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Adam Pelech is underrated. He is the partner to Pulock on one of the league's best shut down pairs, and is probably the anchor to it. Many people will think it is the other way around. Not so.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Wait a second.

We're supposed to all agree on a single player who is hands-down, without a doubt, obviously the most underrated player?

Think that one through again

 

[Shanahanigans]

The correct answer is Jonas Brodin

 

[AdvancedPressure]

Quinn Hughes.

 

[The90]

Chychrun is a good one.

But I think it's Scheifele. He's been a consistent top point producer but doesn't seemingly get the recognition he deserves as others do.

Marchand -- even knowing how good he is, I still get surprised seeing his name at the top of the leader board every time I see it. His reputation certainly clouds his talent.

Schiefele is being torched by his own fans these days as someone who doesn’t compete. He’s very dangerous off the rush, though and always seems to have a point or two at the end of the day.

 

[chauron]

Weegar

 

[nergish]

Quinn Hughes.

I'm Quinn Hughes' biggest fanboy, I've been on record saying his upside is "best player in the entire NHL".
I still stand by that.

He has had what I would consider a poor season.
Offensively, he is an unbelievable talent (another 3 assists last night). PP, and especially 3-on-3 overtime... he's just unreal. His skating and puck skills are downright sublime.
Defensively, he's getting bullied every single night. Pushed off the puck like he's the kid brother to the other team's top line. The plus/minus stat is no lie, he was been walked countless times this year.

However, there was a play during OT last night that I noticed:


That's what we want to see more of.
He will continue to make plays like this as he gets bigger and stronger. Right now he's getting walked because he's not physically mature and being asked to log huge minutes on a poorly structured team.
If you dare to imagine a grizzled 27-32 year old Quinn Hughes, you can start to visualize the kind of impact player who can take over games and playoff series.

He regressed slightly from his Rookie year once other players started to figure him out. But he continues to rack up points, and so far has not even endured anything close to a scoring drought or pointless streak.
Offensively he is beyond consistent. Once his D game catches up, you're looking at a world-beater of a player.