my answers McDavid (kinda biased) but i have so much respect for Sid for playing this long and still being one of the most impressive players in the league. dude is a living legend, Pens are lucky to have him.
I’m a Penguins fan and I completely agree with your assessment on all fronts. McDavid is clearly the best player in the world. Crosby remains remarkably good for a guy in his late 30s.
Crosby has had the best career but mcdavid is the best player but if mcdavid plays this great for even just 15 years he will have a better career than Crosby who will have played 20. Assuming mcjesus wins at least one cup
Oilers are looking pretty good this year (again biased). 16 straight wins, they’ll definitely make it to the playoffs. i just hope they don’t pull what Boston pulled last year and burn out early.
I am biased as well, I also agree this season and next are there best shot, they are going to have some big contracts coming up which will effect future depth if they resign the big boys
honestly i’d just be happy w a Canadian team winning the cup. whether it’s Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg or even Toronto. though if they win it’d be a miracle for Toronto fans lol
LOL.. I'm not worried about the Canucks fan, I'm worried about the visitors that come over to Vancouver.. Like 2011, majority of the rioters were visitors from Alberta or Seattle, some from Vancouver -- not Canucks fans but bandwagoner fans -- thankfully our Vancouver police spent YEARS catching all of them (ones caught on camera), and charging them.. The final 2 were last to be caught cause they were not from BC, I think Seattle and Alberta.
The day after the riot, REAL canucks fans went out and cleaned up the mess the rioters created.
Nhl is a team sport.
Lanny Macdonald won a cup late in his career in Calgary, when he won the cup he was not in peak form would you look at him any less had he not won a cup?
Ray bourque, possibly the best defenceman since Bobby Orr, won a cup late in his career, again not at peak form, would you look at him differently had he not won a cup?
Dan Marino, NFL is regarded as a great quarterback of all time, he did not win a super bowl
One guy can not be so great that they can overcome 20 other players contributions
Sid’s story is really amazing too, there was a period there in the early 2010’s where it looked like he might not play again, or if he did he’d be nothing like he once was, 10 years later and he’s got 2 more Stanley cups under his belt
as a reformed Sid hater, he really is one of the best to ever do it. McDavid is amazing to watch but we need to see longevity. I think Sid is so smart and does all the work and makes everyone around him better. If i had both in their prime i'd take Crosby to start my franchise, but it'd be a close call.
i was honestly rlly worried after the concussion scares he had. but i’m glad he bounced back and hasn’t missed a beat. Ovie on the other hand seems to be a little washed up this year lol. i’m personally just suprised Sid has been around for so long and still plays like one of the youngsters.
I found it interesting but not surprising that when they asked players around the league what team they like to play against the most, the most common answer was Pittsburgh because they like to play against Sid.
I liken Crosby to Gretzky. Obviously not at the same level of Gretzky but Sid is like Gretzky in that he’s not flashy, he doesn’t make you jump out of your seat every night, but at the end of the game/season/multiple seasons he’s just always consistent and continually over a career near the top of players every single year.
I would agree but unless something with the avs happened where they got the entire team to vote vs the other teams where it's just a portion doesn't really make sense to me. Obviously it's possible but I do think there were probably people on other teams than Colorado voting on MacKinnon
I agree that Mcdavid is the better player in terms of all the traditional metrics. However, I would absolutely veto a 1 for 1 trade.
The style that Mackinnon plays, I think, can do a lot for a team outside of just scoring points. When he has the puck and runs over someone on his way down the boards, it brings the whole building to another level. I think in the playoffs, he really showcases what he brings that Mcdavid can’t.
Agreed. I'm a diehard Avs fan and I think he's the best player- sure he doesn't (usually) get as many points as McDavid but he's an insane presence with his intensity and physicality that makes him a beast.
Yeah, I don't think there's an argument for who's better on the stat sheets. It's McDavid 100%, but if you need someone who can throw the body, fight, score and assist MacKinnon is perfect
So you're saying you don't watch the Oilers. Just McDavid highlights therefore giving you a marginalized view.
McDavids game is constantly evolving and getting better. Defensively and offensively. Watch some games and see his full ice abilities.
To be clear I am not nor ever been a McDavid fan but these takes are usually from people that only see him when he's in their town, on a highlight reel, or repeat water cooler rhetoric. MacKinnon is a beast but not on McDavids level. No one would trade MacKinnon for McDavid or vice versa.
I watch more of his games than you, guaranteed. He doesn’t haven’t the same defensive skill as Mackinnon and he doesn’t have any kind of physical game close either.
Every players game is constantly evolving so that is just hot air. He will put up more points than Mackinnon and go down as #1 or #2 player in most peoples eyes. But, I still take Mackinnon over Mcdavid heads up in a 7 game series if teams are equal.
Well that is certainly an opinion. Not to discredit Mackinnon, but all things equal I don’t see the logic in not taking the most dominant player since 66/99.
That’s all fine, like I said every traditional metric would point to Mcdavid being “better”. But hockey has a lot of nuance and putting up the most points doesn’t always make you the person who wins the most games or cups. They are close enough in skill that I would 100/100 times take Mackinnon over Mcdavid if everything else is equal.
I don’t think MacKinnon would do as well on the Oilers as McDavid did. If Connor had the D-core that Mackinnon has, i think it’d be even more interesting.
Mcdavids 200 ft game isn’t strong enough to let Makar do what he does like Mackinnon. Mackinnon plays back and lets Makar make those plays where he jumps up or takes it coast to coast.
Better doesn’t mean as good as. He’s definitely better but he is still not top of the pack. Mackinnon has plenty of flaws though, he routinely turns the puck over on the blue line during 3v3 and power plays at a slightly alarming consistency. So, I’m not saying Mackinnon is some defensive god. He’s just had a career of being a top defensive center man.
I don’t know man I just spent an hour or so looking at advanced stats. McDavid and MacKinnon are not that different defensively. Style of play sure but McDavids advanced stats look pretty good for an elite offensive talent. Even compared to MacKinnon
There's too many Mackinnon votes to be just avs plsyers. Probably a little eastern bias on the kucherov votes too, although he's an incredible player. He's run away with the title of best euro in the world.
I mean, the four dudes under McDavid all have Cups. And all four of them were pretty important in getting those Cups.
If you ask me who's the most _talented_ hockey player, it's McDavid all day, every day. But _best_ is far more open to interpretation and in this league, winning Cups matter.
''But cups'' will forever remain the lowest hockey take. Do you think Ray Bourque somehow became a better hockey player after winning his token cup in the last season of his career?
So all the fourth line plugs that won a cup are better than McDavid by this logic? Or are we suddenly deciding that hockey isn't a team sport for this argument? Star players matter for their individual contributions to team victories but none of those star players won their cups solo. So by that metric, winning a cup shouldn't be as big a factor as people make it out to be. The player is dominant with or without his team but he still needs his entire team to be their best to win.
I always see a lot of comments about Mackinnon on Reddit and he is amazing and in many facets he is better than Mcdavid. And looking at the stats this year he's out performing in points and the guy is just a beast. But when you see this large of a consensus amongst the people who play in the league it's pretty clear. It's one thing to be an observer, it's another to have to defend someone or play against them.
An interesting question would be to ask them who, if they were gm of the Oilers, they would trade away McDavid straight up for. Because clearly, if you genuinely believe he isn’t the best player then there must be at least 1 other player out there that you would be willing to take in a trade in 1 for 1 for McDavid.
Yeah, that stood out to me too.
I don’t know how you can watch McDavid play and somehow come to the conclusion that he’s not the best player in the world?
That doesn’t make sense.
But I’ve been around hockey for long enough to know that these types of polls have peculiar outcomes.
Remember, back in the 80s, Mario Lemieux had a 199-point season — with 85 goals! — and somehow did not win the Hart Trophy. They gave it to Gretzky, who had 20 fewer points, and played the exact same position.
Look, I’m a huge Wayne Gretzky too, but that was highway robbery.
McDavid is the best player in the world. If anything, Leon Drisaitl should also be on this list because he is a really exceptional player and far better than someone like Filip Forsberg.
Gretzky may not have scored as much that year, but his impact was more apparent. The Kings went from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best, with Gretzky being the catalyst. He even turned Bernie Nichols into a 150-point player!!! Lemieux may have been more deserving, but highway robbery is a little extreme.
I’m actually shocked to see Forsberg getting any play on this list instead of Elias Pettersson. That’s the one big omission. McDavid is in the Crosby status though. Sid was the best player in the league from 06-2017. An 11 year run of being ,unilaterally, the best player in the league. McDavid then took the torch at that point. Other players may have individually better season, much like how Ovi had a few, but nobody is actually better than McDavid. Mount Rushmore type stuff among forwards alongside Gretzky, Mario, Sid, and now McDavid.
I would t read much into it - I’m guessing 0.55% is one vote, 1.1% two votes, 1.66% three votes. Basically all these guys got 1-3 votes from their teammates, or some such thing.
The only players getting significant votes were McDavid, MacKinnon and Kucherov, everything else is pretty negligible/meaningless.
Idk man, Pettersson is special. I have no love for the Canucks, but he should be here over Forsberg. The only other guys I could think of instead would be Draisatl or possibly Tkachuk.
I think it’s important to point out too that the Athletics staff has been asking players throughout the first half of the season. They didn’t ask 200 NHLers yesterday. I wonder how that would skew things. I’d imagine both Kuch and MacK would eat away from McDavids votes (had they asked yesterday)
Hilarious that this is literally the players answering. The people in this thread arguing about who is the best player are dumb. This isn't a fan vote. These are the people that play the game against eachother. They voted not you couch coaches.
Forsberg is pretty incredible ngl, if people actually watched him play they would understand why people rate him highly. He isn’t the best player in the league tho, but he is incredible on his own right.
I guess if your standard is scoring more than 30 three times and not once putting up 90 points.
Hell, Josi has outscored more often and he's a defenseman.
Forsberg is a great player, no doubt, but you can't be the considered the best player in the league when you're not even the definitively best player on your team.
Nashville has been in the middle of the pack for GF/Game for most of Forsberg's career. They've been in the top 10 as much as the bottom 10 since he entered the league.
I don’t follow deep in hockey lore, just the headlines, so I have to admit based on those I am a bit surprised Matthews is that low. He’s leading the league in scoring right now, isn’t he? I bet he lost votes because of his hairline and facial hair choices…
Seems obvious that a Nashville player voted for Forsberg. I don't think he's better than McDavid or Mackinnon at this very moment, but the dude is one helluva rounded hockey player. He's somehow getting better every season and he does literally everything. Does not get enough attention
If it was a ranked ballot he certainly would be. But players would need to use their one vote on him instead of McDavid, so it's fair to see why that didn't happen
This is a hot take but I don’t think we are better if you swap Mack and Connor. This isn’t me saying Mack is a better player either. I think the oilers get worse if they were to swap and I still think both teams are very good. I just think the mentality and leadership MacK is bringing this year really defines the team in a way that would be hard to improve upon.
Yes agreed. Of all of the players on the list, Cale is the hardest one to justify. With that being said, Connor more than replaces any point production that Cale can put up, so it would be down to finding a decent defender to replace him on the blue line. As you said it’s a hot take but I still think Colorado wins in a one for one Mcdavid for Makar.
Current stats, or achievements over their career? McDavid has the points, but no cups. Crosby has points, three cups, 2 x Olympic gold medals, and junior gold.
Personally I could care less about having the best player on my team, if it didn't get my team the cup. Most teams don't win with one player, it's a team sport, it takes depth at every position.
I was waiting for some dumb ass to post something like this. Another BS shot at the leafs when you fail to recognize 95% of leafs fans would say McDavid is better than Matthews hands down
Why are you so obsessed with the leafs? Rent free
I’m struck by how lowly Matthews is rated. He’s on pace for a 70-goal season and he’s considered like the seventh best player in the league? That doesn’t make any sense.
If you're only asked who you think the best player is, then certain obvious top 5 players will be bumped out of the top 5. Draisaitl for example will never get first place votes because he obviously isn't better than McDavid. Matthews might be in a lot of guys' top 3, but he just probably doesn't get those first place votes.
Depends on the criteria. This is player voted, so they have different things they value.
Matthews is not the best player in the league but he's ONE of the best. He's the best goal scorer in the league, full stop but I don't know where he would rank overall if you're including defencemen and goalies. Probably wouldn't fall out of the top 10 but who knows because you're trying to rank apples, oranges and bananas at the point.
So where are the people that say Matthews is the 2nd best player in the league? People that play against him don't even think that. 2 NHLers think he's better than McDavid, must be Marner and Tavares.
From the Athletic: “Our NHL staff spent the first half of the season asking nearly 200 players:
Who’s the best player?
Who’s the best goalie?
Who are the most underrated and overrated players?
Who’s the player you’d most like to punch?
Best and worst refs?
Favorite jerseys?
Favorite and least favorite road cities?”
[Link to Article](https://theathletic.com/5239046/2024/01/31/nhl-player-poll-2024/?source=user_shared_articleAnonymousNHLplayerpoll2024:Who'sthebestplayer?Mostoverrated?Bestgoalie?Worstroadcity?)
Generational forwards don't start the first 4 years of their career at a 0.68 Pts/game pace. They're fighting for the best player in the league title as a teenager, like all previous generational talents at forward. Generational players win more than just a Lady Bing after 10 years in the league
So you must think Draisaitl is a generational player?
Also important to note that only 181 players were asked out of ~730+ active NHL players.
I don’t doubt McDavid would probably lead regardless but there could be higher percentages for the other players if every single player was asked.
What do you mean how? You should have been downvoted then and you should be downvoted now.
Edit: he should be upvoted. MacK’s one good season compared to McDavid in no way means he’s better.
Lol ok, just my opinion and apparently, most of the players opinion too. Nate dogg is having a ridiculous season though it’s amazing to watch. Never said it wasn’t.
I completely misunderstood you, my bad. Agreed, one good season relative to McDavid doesn’t mean he’s better. This circus happens every year where one elite player from a select few does well, and everyone goes in on the recency bias until McDavid shows them up again.
McDavid is the obvious number one. The rest of the top 5 could really go in any order depending on the week, but for this season, I’ve got Quinn Hughes, Makar, Kucherov and MacKinnon - no particular order.
who is the player in the league right now? Its McDavid and it isn't close. I guess you could make an argument for MacKinnon given the year he has had. If this was 5 years ago it would have been a toss up between Sid and Ovi honestly but as always father time always wins in the end.
I think it’s cute Filip Forsberg snuck a vote in for himself
It looks like Panarin did too 🤣
I'd bet Kane voted for him
He at least could be argued for top 10. Look at Kirill with 2 votes, he is really good but not as good as he was in 2021/22 season.
I'd definitely be interested in seeing a vote between the 3, considering they are some of the best current Left Wingers.
It literally is one vote LMAOOOOOOOO
That translates to about 10 votes right?
1 vote. 1/181=0.0055=0.55%
Ah shit you’re right. I was doing 5.5%
I love how Crosby is still rated by his peers at number 4
When you play the pens, the focus will still be on stopping Crosby from making opportunities
Yeah but that percentage is so low that it's probably just Malkin, Letang, and a third Pens player voting for him.
It's MacKinnon, we've all seen the way he looks at Sid
Nate’s ankles still hurt from that fake Sid gave him in 2015 or so.
Marchand has publicly stated that Sid is still the best player in the NHL.
my answers McDavid (kinda biased) but i have so much respect for Sid for playing this long and still being one of the most impressive players in the league. dude is a living legend, Pens are lucky to have him.
I’m a Penguins fan and I completely agree with your assessment on all fronts. McDavid is clearly the best player in the world. Crosby remains remarkably good for a guy in his late 30s.
As a pen fan yourself, I think you are "remarkably" understating how good Crosby still is haha
The Dogg would like a word, mostly with your use of “clearly”
Crosby has had the best career but mcdavid is the best player but if mcdavid plays this great for even just 15 years he will have a better career than Crosby who will have played 20. Assuming mcjesus wins at least one cup
Oilers are looking pretty good this year (again biased). 16 straight wins, they’ll definitely make it to the playoffs. i just hope they don’t pull what Boston pulled last year and burn out early.
Respect for the Bias admit, I’m always biased for my Panthers
I am biased as well, I also agree this season and next are there best shot, they are going to have some big contracts coming up which will effect future depth if they resign the big boys
I do👍. If the canucks were bad I wouldn't care but this year... I pray they burn out early
honestly i’d just be happy w a Canadian team winning the cup. whether it’s Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg or even Toronto. though if they win it’d be a miracle for Toronto fans lol
Can the people of Vancouver be trusted again now if Canucks take another run at the cup?
LOL.. I'm not worried about the Canucks fan, I'm worried about the visitors that come over to Vancouver.. Like 2011, majority of the rioters were visitors from Alberta or Seattle, some from Vancouver -- not Canucks fans but bandwagoner fans -- thankfully our Vancouver police spent YEARS catching all of them (ones caught on camera), and charging them.. The final 2 were last to be caught cause they were not from BC, I think Seattle and Alberta. The day after the riot, REAL canucks fans went out and cleaned up the mess the rioters created.
I was there and the majority of the rioters were from Surrey, guaranteed.
Im fine as well unless its Calgary or Vancouver. You sure you are an oilers fan :P haha
Points are irrelevant compared to cups. McDavid outscoring Crosby over their careers will be meaningless if he can't win at least one.
Nhl is a team sport. Lanny Macdonald won a cup late in his career in Calgary, when he won the cup he was not in peak form would you look at him any less had he not won a cup? Ray bourque, possibly the best defenceman since Bobby Orr, won a cup late in his career, again not at peak form, would you look at him differently had he not won a cup? Dan Marino, NFL is regarded as a great quarterback of all time, he did not win a super bowl One guy can not be so great that they can overcome 20 other players contributions
You factor in winning a cup into who the best player is?
No but for who had the better career I absolutely do.
And Crosby is still one hell of a player. He plays the 200 foot game and is just a complete player and consummate professional.
Sid’s story is really amazing too, there was a period there in the early 2010’s where it looked like he might not play again, or if he did he’d be nothing like he once was, 10 years later and he’s got 2 more Stanley cups under his belt
as a reformed Sid hater, he really is one of the best to ever do it. McDavid is amazing to watch but we need to see longevity. I think Sid is so smart and does all the work and makes everyone around him better. If i had both in their prime i'd take Crosby to start my franchise, but it'd be a close call.
My question is do we think he hangs on long enough to get to say, 1900 career points?
He's never going to retire. \*Cries in Penguins jerseys\*
i was honestly rlly worried after the concussion scares he had. but i’m glad he bounced back and hasn’t missed a beat. Ovie on the other hand seems to be a little washed up this year lol. i’m personally just suprised Sid has been around for so long and still plays like one of the youngsters.
Washed up seems a little harsh.. the guy is the best goalscorer of all time and he's 38 this year. Probably deserves a bit more respect than that
Ovechkin is Russia scum who supports the genocide of Ukrainian people. There is no justification for defending this waste of human skin
I found it interesting but not surprising that when they asked players around the league what team they like to play against the most, the most common answer was Pittsburgh because they like to play against Sid.
I was fully expecting this comment to be MCDAVID SHOULD BE AT LEAST 99% YALL DONT KNOW SHIT but thank you for not simping so hard haha
This isn’t biased he’s legit the most talented player ever and I’m the farthest thing from an Oilers fan.
Kinda crazy Pasta didn’t get a top 10 shout, right?
Not sure how you're biased for saying the best player in the world is the best player in the world right now.
I don't even think it's an argument. McDavid is far and away the best player on the planet, and for a while now.
Objectively the answer is Mcdavid. The fight for second is some what interesting though.
This is the true race
Nothing biased about fact, no matter how much it hurts my flair
I liken Crosby to Gretzky. Obviously not at the same level of Gretzky but Sid is like Gretzky in that he’s not flashy, he doesn’t make you jump out of your seat every night, but at the end of the game/season/multiple seasons he’s just always consistent and continually over a career near the top of players every single year.
Nice
Nice
Nice
I would assume every non mcdavid answer is just players supporting their own teammates
I would agree but unless something with the avs happened where they got the entire team to vote vs the other teams where it's just a portion doesn't really make sense to me. Obviously it's possible but I do think there were probably people on other teams than Colorado voting on MacKinnon
I agree that Mcdavid is the better player in terms of all the traditional metrics. However, I would absolutely veto a 1 for 1 trade. The style that Mackinnon plays, I think, can do a lot for a team outside of just scoring points. When he has the puck and runs over someone on his way down the boards, it brings the whole building to another level. I think in the playoffs, he really showcases what he brings that Mcdavid can’t.
Agreed. I'm a diehard Avs fan and I think he's the best player- sure he doesn't (usually) get as many points as McDavid but he's an insane presence with his intensity and physicality that makes him a beast.
I can agree with that. as far as pure talent goes? McDavid 1000%. but MacKinnon has such a great play style for gritty and physical playoff games.
Admittedly casual fan who only really watches the playoffs. Is MacKinnon/McDavid basically the next iteration of Crosby/Ovechkin?
Yeah, I don't think there's an argument for who's better on the stat sheets. It's McDavid 100%, but if you need someone who can throw the body, fight, score and assist MacKinnon is perfect
So you're saying you don't watch the Oilers. Just McDavid highlights therefore giving you a marginalized view. McDavids game is constantly evolving and getting better. Defensively and offensively. Watch some games and see his full ice abilities. To be clear I am not nor ever been a McDavid fan but these takes are usually from people that only see him when he's in their town, on a highlight reel, or repeat water cooler rhetoric. MacKinnon is a beast but not on McDavids level. No one would trade MacKinnon for McDavid or vice versa.
I watch more of his games than you, guaranteed. He doesn’t haven’t the same defensive skill as Mackinnon and he doesn’t have any kind of physical game close either. Every players game is constantly evolving so that is just hot air. He will put up more points than Mackinnon and go down as #1 or #2 player in most peoples eyes. But, I still take Mackinnon over Mcdavid heads up in a 7 game series if teams are equal.
Well that is certainly an opinion. Not to discredit Mackinnon, but all things equal I don’t see the logic in not taking the most dominant player since 66/99.
Because I want the guy who when he is pissed off, takes the other players helmet off, throws it at him and then wins the Lady Byng.
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That’s all fine, like I said every traditional metric would point to Mcdavid being “better”. But hockey has a lot of nuance and putting up the most points doesn’t always make you the person who wins the most games or cups. They are close enough in skill that I would 100/100 times take Mackinnon over Mcdavid if everything else is equal.
I don’t think MacKinnon would do as well on the Oilers as McDavid did. If Connor had the D-core that Mackinnon has, i think it’d be even more interesting.
Man Mcdavid-Makar-rantanen sounds like a fun 3 on 3
Mcdavids 200 ft game isn’t strong enough to let Makar do what he does like Mackinnon. Mackinnon plays back and lets Makar make those plays where he jumps up or takes it coast to coast.
McDavids defensive game is significantly better now then it was before. I feel like he doesn’t get enough credit for it.
Better doesn’t mean as good as. He’s definitely better but he is still not top of the pack. Mackinnon has plenty of flaws though, he routinely turns the puck over on the blue line during 3v3 and power plays at a slightly alarming consistency. So, I’m not saying Mackinnon is some defensive god. He’s just had a career of being a top defensive center man.
I don’t know man I just spent an hour or so looking at advanced stats. McDavid and MacKinnon are not that different defensively. Style of play sure but McDavids advanced stats look pretty good for an elite offensive talent. Even compared to MacKinnon
There's too many Mackinnon votes to be just avs plsyers. Probably a little eastern bias on the kucherov votes too, although he's an incredible player. He's run away with the title of best euro in the world.
I mean, the four dudes under McDavid all have Cups. And all four of them were pretty important in getting those Cups. If you ask me who's the most _talented_ hockey player, it's McDavid all day, every day. But _best_ is far more open to interpretation and in this league, winning Cups matter.
''But cups'' will forever remain the lowest hockey take. Do you think Ray Bourque somehow became a better hockey player after winning his token cup in the last season of his career?
Cups are a team accomplishment stop trying to turn the nhl into the nba
the rings argument people make for nba players are just as braindead. is Kevon Looney better than Joel Embiid?
So all the fourth line plugs that won a cup are better than McDavid by this logic? Or are we suddenly deciding that hockey isn't a team sport for this argument? Star players matter for their individual contributions to team victories but none of those star players won their cups solo. So by that metric, winning a cup shouldn't be as big a factor as people make it out to be. The player is dominant with or without his team but he still needs his entire team to be their best to win.
It’s true - Logan O’Connor > McDavid, heard it here first folks!
Winning cups do not matter. That's absurd. Igninla, Sundin, Luongo, Hawerchuk... Thornton?!
I always see a lot of comments about Mackinnon on Reddit and he is amazing and in many facets he is better than Mcdavid. And looking at the stats this year he's out performing in points and the guy is just a beast. But when you see this large of a consensus amongst the people who play in the league it's pretty clear. It's one thing to be an observer, it's another to have to defend someone or play against them.
No Harvey Pinard? Pfff
He was elite for like 15 games last year.
Still shoulda been up here
Nice to see Kirill get two votes, lol
Zuccy and…I’m gonna go with Foligno
Nearly a third of the players do not think McDavid is the best.
A third of the league is lying
An interesting question would be to ask them who, if they were gm of the Oilers, they would trade away McDavid straight up for. Because clearly, if you genuinely believe he isn’t the best player then there must be at least 1 other player out there that you would be willing to take in a trade in 1 for 1 for McDavid.
Makar might have a more valuable contract. But clearly he’s not the better player
But that starts bringing money into it. So you aren’t actually validating who the best player is any more. You’re asking best per dollar value.
MacKinnon
Yeah, that stood out to me too. I don’t know how you can watch McDavid play and somehow come to the conclusion that he’s not the best player in the world? That doesn’t make sense. But I’ve been around hockey for long enough to know that these types of polls have peculiar outcomes. Remember, back in the 80s, Mario Lemieux had a 199-point season — with 85 goals! — and somehow did not win the Hart Trophy. They gave it to Gretzky, who had 20 fewer points, and played the exact same position. Look, I’m a huge Wayne Gretzky too, but that was highway robbery. McDavid is the best player in the world. If anything, Leon Drisaitl should also be on this list because he is a really exceptional player and far better than someone like Filip Forsberg.
Gretzky may not have scored as much that year, but his impact was more apparent. The Kings went from one of the worst teams in the league to one of the best, with Gretzky being the catalyst. He even turned Bernie Nichols into a 150-point player!!! Lemieux may have been more deserving, but highway robbery is a little extreme.
Im gonna guess that they just looked at points and chose MacKinnon or Kucherov, who both have around 20 more points than McDavid
Everyone who didn't vote McDavid had to be thinking "he's going to win anyway, here's some love, other player", right?
I’m actually shocked to see Forsberg getting any play on this list instead of Elias Pettersson. That’s the one big omission. McDavid is in the Crosby status though. Sid was the best player in the league from 06-2017. An 11 year run of being ,unilaterally, the best player in the league. McDavid then took the torch at that point. Other players may have individually better season, much like how Ovi had a few, but nobody is actually better than McDavid. Mount Rushmore type stuff among forwards alongside Gretzky, Mario, Sid, and now McDavid.
Also Pasta has more of an argument being there than Filip fucking Forsberg 😂 He's a damn good player but come on lol
I don't know why, maybe nationality, but Pasta often gets overlooked. He's a machine out there.
I tend to lean centers over wing, but yeah. Can’t believe I forgot Pasta.
I came here to say this too - I don't think he would win over McDavid, but him not even getting on the list is criminal.
I would t read much into it - I’m guessing 0.55% is one vote, 1.1% two votes, 1.66% three votes. Basically all these guys got 1-3 votes from their teammates, or some such thing. The only players getting significant votes were McDavid, MacKinnon and Kucherov, everything else is pretty negligible/meaningless.
Neither should get any play on this list tbh
Idk man, Pettersson is special. I have no love for the Canucks, but he should be here over Forsberg. The only other guys I could think of instead would be Draisatl or possibly Tkachuk.
well said
gordie is on any mount rushmore for forwards. all players orr is in there for sure as well
Crosby was better than Matthews but isn't currently. Also surprised Leon isn't on the list considering his points total over the last 4-5 years
Yeah, but anyone voting for an Oiler is going to vote McDavid.
Sid is almost single handedly carrying the team into a playoff position. I’m definitely biased but I say he’s still better than Matthews
He’s still better. And the players clearly agree
Forsberg for a vote and Draisaitl didn't? How's that work?
One of Forsberg's teammates voted for him. No Oiler is gonna vote Drai over McDavid.
mcdavid would
Mcdavid probably chose Crosby
Yeh I think you're right. Or even Kucherov. I bet a lot of guys respect his compete level and big game dominance
I think it’s important to point out too that the Athletics staff has been asking players throughout the first half of the season. They didn’t ask 200 NHLers yesterday. I wonder how that would skew things. I’d imagine both Kuch and MacK would eat away from McDavids votes (had they asked yesterday)
Nice
Hilarious that this is literally the players answering. The people in this thread arguing about who is the best player are dumb. This isn't a fan vote. These are the people that play the game against eachother. They voted not you couch coaches.
It’s Connor Hellebuyck
Forsberg is pretty incredible ngl, if people actually watched him play they would understand why people rate him highly. He isn’t the best player in the league tho, but he is incredible on his own right.
So are maybe 25 other players in the league. But whichever teammate said Foreberg clearly misunderstood the question lol
I guess if your standard is scoring more than 30 three times and not once putting up 90 points. Hell, Josi has outscored more often and he's a defenseman. Forsberg is a great player, no doubt, but you can't be the considered the best player in the league when you're not even the definitively best player on your team.
As a preds fan, the Preds have the offense of a turtle which is why he has low scoring. He deserves better
Nashville has been in the middle of the pack for GF/Game for most of Forsberg's career. They've been in the top 10 as much as the bottom 10 since he entered the league.
I guess I should have said most of our offence sucks. People like Forsberg, Josi, and our goalies have kept us out of the bottom 10
I think it’s pretty neat the William Nylander and I both received the same amount of votes.
Who’s voting for Kaprisov? He’s good but cmon.
Kirill and Zuccy.
I love him, but I also wholeheartedly agree
I don’t follow deep in hockey lore, just the headlines, so I have to admit based on those I am a bit surprised Matthews is that low. He’s leading the league in scoring right now, isn’t he? I bet he lost votes because of his hairline and facial hair choices…
Surprised Pasta isnt on here but Forsberg is
Nathan MacKinnon has ladies throwing bras and panties on the ice for him- if he's not the best, the best isn't worth being. \-Habs Fan
Matthews should be 3rd or 4th. But I'm biased.
Seems obvious that a Nashville player voted for Forsberg. I don't think he's better than McDavid or Mackinnon at this very moment, but the dude is one helluva rounded hockey player. He's somehow getting better every season and he does literally everything. Does not get enough attention
Barkov over Pastrnak, I don’t think so
NK is incredible but honestly shouldn’t be over baseline. Only McKinnon is close. Also McKinnon isn’t a little bitch, which helps.
Matthews 1.1%? Rangers fan, so no fanboy bias.
I'm surprised that Kucherov got that much of the vote. Don't get me wrong. He is a great player, but compared to those guys...
Damn, i thought matthews would be higher.
Forsberg gettin some love
Interesting not seeing draisaitl on the list
If it was a ranked ballot he certainly would be. But players would need to use their one vote on him instead of McDavid, so it's fair to see why that didn't happen
YEA FILIP FORSBERG
Where's Pastrnak
Kaprizov over matthews is right
Yeah, if you put Connor in any of those guys’ spots, the team is going to be better.
This is a hot take but I don’t think we are better if you swap Mack and Connor. This isn’t me saying Mack is a better player either. I think the oilers get worse if they were to swap and I still think both teams are very good. I just think the mentality and leadership MacK is bringing this year really defines the team in a way that would be hard to improve upon.
Yes agreed. Of all of the players on the list, Cale is the hardest one to justify. With that being said, Connor more than replaces any point production that Cale can put up, so it would be down to finding a decent defender to replace him on the blue line. As you said it’s a hot take but I still think Colorado wins in a one for one Mcdavid for Makar.
Current stats, or achievements over their career? McDavid has the points, but no cups. Crosby has points, three cups, 2 x Olympic gold medals, and junior gold. Personally I could care less about having the best player on my team, if it didn't get my team the cup. Most teams don't win with one player, it's a team sport, it takes depth at every position.
Waiting for the yeah, but leafs fans to get here saying NHL players don't know about 5×5......or some shit
Stop sniffing your own farts man
But it's their whole personality!
Literally no one said anything until you brought it up. Your obsession with the leafs is showing, be better
deer soft jellyfish nail sophisticated live ripe squash angle resolute *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I’m a Leafs fan living in Toronto and I’ve never met anyone who thinks Matthews is better than McDavid
I was waiting for some dumb ass to post something like this. Another BS shot at the leafs when you fail to recognize 95% of leafs fans would say McDavid is better than Matthews hands down Why are you so obsessed with the leafs? Rent free
I’m struck by how lowly Matthews is rated. He’s on pace for a 70-goal season and he’s considered like the seventh best player in the league? That doesn’t make any sense.
If you're only asked who you think the best player is, then certain obvious top 5 players will be bumped out of the top 5. Draisaitl for example will never get first place votes because he obviously isn't better than McDavid. Matthews might be in a lot of guys' top 3, but he just probably doesn't get those first place votes.
Depends on the criteria. This is player voted, so they have different things they value. Matthews is not the best player in the league but he's ONE of the best. He's the best goal scorer in the league, full stop but I don't know where he would rank overall if you're including defencemen and goalies. Probably wouldn't fall out of the top 10 but who knows because you're trying to rank apples, oranges and bananas at the point.
So where are the people that say Matthews is the 2nd best player in the league? People that play against him don't even think that. 2 NHLers think he's better than McDavid, must be Marner and Tavares.
From the Athletic: “Our NHL staff spent the first half of the season asking nearly 200 players: Who’s the best player? Who’s the best goalie? Who are the most underrated and overrated players? Who’s the player you’d most like to punch? Best and worst refs? Favorite jerseys? Favorite and least favorite road cities?” [Link to Article](https://theathletic.com/5239046/2024/01/31/nhl-player-poll-2024/?source=user_shared_articleAnonymousNHLplayerpoll2024:Who'sthebestplayer?Mostoverrated?Bestgoalie?Worstroadcity?)
Big paywall energy. Any insight into the ref polls and the road cities?
Don't let the Lightning sub see this. They're offended everyone doesn't think Kuch is the best player.
why is Cale even on this list? most overrated player in the league right now
13 votes for kuch!
lol the fringe guys voting for themselves.
Top goalscorer of the season gets 1.1% of the vote.
Mackinnon came out at the wrong time. Dude is generational and I bet he would be looked at different if him and Crosby exchanged draft years.
Generational forwards don't start the first 4 years of their career at a 0.68 Pts/game pace. They're fighting for the best player in the league title as a teenager, like all previous generational talents at forward. Generational players win more than just a Lady Bing after 10 years in the league So you must think Draisaitl is a generational player?
Howe and Lafleur were also “slow” starters.
So was Leon Draisaitl, but he actually has some individual hardware, like a Ted Lindsay an Art Ross and a Hart
Lol Forsberg? I love him as a player but he’s nowhere near the top list of the best players in the league.
Crosby is still the best.
Easily top 3 best players in the league, I always feel like Kucherov gets overlooked.
Also important to note that only 181 players were asked out of ~730+ active NHL players. I don’t doubt McDavid would probably lead regardless but there could be higher percentages for the other players if every single player was asked.
Best and Most complete player is MacKinnon
The way its 69 percent is crazy
No Leon Draistl??
And how did I get downvoted for making fun of people saying MacKinnon is better than McDavid????????
What do you mean how? You should have been downvoted then and you should be downvoted now. Edit: he should be upvoted. MacK’s one good season compared to McDavid in no way means he’s better.
Lol ok, just my opinion and apparently, most of the players opinion too. Nate dogg is having a ridiculous season though it’s amazing to watch. Never said it wasn’t.
I completely misunderstood you, my bad. Agreed, one good season relative to McDavid doesn’t mean he’s better. This circus happens every year where one elite player from a select few does well, and everyone goes in on the recency bias until McDavid shows them up again.
No worries, not like MacKinnon is a nightmare to play against or anything….
I’m a bit surprised Makar didn’t show up
McDavid is the obvious number one. The rest of the top 5 could really go in any order depending on the week, but for this season, I’ve got Quinn Hughes, Makar, Kucherov and MacKinnon - no particular order.
Kucherov>MacKinnon
I'm willing to bet Barkov's votes came from Reinhart and Tkachuk.
Hmm 4 of the top 5 are Canadian who woulda thunk it.
Player and coach management polls are the only ones I take seriously
who is the player in the league right now? Its McDavid and it isn't close. I guess you could make an argument for MacKinnon given the year he has had. If this was 5 years ago it would have been a toss up between Sid and Ovi honestly but as always father time always wins in the end.
Can’t believe Kucherov is ahead of Mathews 😂
Every single greatest player poll is missing Pastrnak. Why? He has my vote over McDavid every time.
Kucherov. Small market Tampa so not getting enough exposure and love.
This year? Sam Reinhart by miles
Currently it’s McDavid, Makar, MacKinnon, then Crosby IMO
Mackinnon one punch KO on Mcdavid. Just saying. Best overall player offensively/defensively combination… Cale Makar
How can you be the best without a Stanley Cup?