My favorite player by team

[yave1964]

@Tomdog started a topic in the wild forum asking who your favorite Wild player is, I decided to take it a step further and  list my favorite player by team...

 

ANAHEIM Zegras. Kid has all the tools, just a matter of time

 

ARIZONA Vejdemo. Always seems to have his best games against the best teams. Not a great goalie, barely good but faces a ridiculous amount of shots per night without embarrassing himself

 

BOSTON Bergeron, no brainer. Aging like a fine wine

 

SABRES Cozens, watching him turninto a fantastic faceoff man and number one centre under the radar with so many other great young players

 

CALGARY Lindholm among the games best pivots and waaayyyy underrated for his overall game

 

CAROLINA Slavin. Does no one thing that stands out, just does everything well like a young Vlasic

 

CHICAGO Kaner and Toews on the back nine and aproaching the clubhouse fun to appreciate them 

 

COLORADO Makar. I was not quite old enough to remember Bobby Orr, this is as close as i am likely to ever see

 

COLUMBUS Jenner. Can play in any situation, one of the few players in organization with a clue.

 

DALLAS Pavelski. Like Bergeron, continues to seemingly find something new to his game ignoring father time

 

DETROIT Larkin of course. 

 

EDMONTON Draisatl. Is it possible to be the second best player in the game and be underrated because the first best is your teammate? Leon can ask Messier.

 

FLORIDA Ekblad. This man could have played defense at an increbibly high level in any era.

 

LOS ANGELES Durzi. Nowhere near the best player on his team but he is calm with or without the puck way beyond his years. Watch him some time, he had a blip in the second or third game of the year and got in the dog house, i doubt he has been out of position since.

 

MINNESOTA Kaprisov. He makes the game a joy to watch, he looks as if it is effortless

 

MONTREAL Suzuki. Honestly, his vision through traffic and ability to get the puck to a linemate when harassed may be the best in the game today. Still lots of holes in his game but man can he pass in traffic.

 

NASHVILLE Josi. Simply a presence on the ice. Can dominate in both ends

 

NEW JERSEY Hischier. This man is far and away with apologies to Bergeron the best two way forward in the game today including everyone. He should win the Selke or it is a criminal violation. Nobody backchecks better. Nobody.

 

NY ISLANDERS Sorokin. I love athletic goalies when focused there are none better

 

NY RANGERS Shesterkin. Except maybe this guy. Man New York has an overabundance of great tenders.

 

OTTAWA my favorite player in the game is Tkachuk, a junk yard dog who can score 100 points. Best power froward in the game today. a Throwback.

 

PHILDELPHIA Morgan Frost. I have watched his minutes go up as the year has went on, his offensive zone time increase, his power play time go up and he has not shown signs of being overwhelmed. Fun young player.

 

PITTSBURGH Letang. Like Doughty and Ekblad one of those blueliners who could go to the hall of fame in any era

 

SAN JOSE Couture. Plays a heavy game, never takes a shift off and glides.

 

SEATTLE Beniers. Likely gonna win the Calder in a weak class but he has begun to pull away and his upside is through the roof

 

ST. LOUIS Binnington. Dreadful goalie but you never know what you are gonna get. He could have a 40 save shutout, give up five softies in the first or challenge the opponents bench to a brawl. Wouldnt want him on my team but love Blues games because I love to see what he is gonna do next

 

TAMPA BAY Man so many superstars but i love the way Cirelli and Cernak play. The perfect complimentary team players. None better.

 

TORONTO Matthews. Seems lame to pick him but he is a force, if you were making a case for someone not in Alberta as the games best player the convo starts and ends here, with apologies to the brilliant Makar. Matthews draws two men lugging them on his back up and down the ice every shift and can still score 60.

 

VANCOUVER JT Miller is among my favorite players in the game, Horvat may be the most underrated 

 

VEGAS Reilly Smith. Took a long time to appreciate what a cerebral player he is. Best short handed forward in the game today.

 

WASHINGTON gotta be Ovie. Like Kaprisov he is a joy to watch, even 800 goals later

 

WINNIPEG Josh Morrisey. Fun watching him get better and better every year. Becoming one of the best two way blueliners in the game.

[Tomdog]

That’s a pretty nice list, I don’t follow many of the other teams enough to really have favorites, but I do have some. 
I’ll have to think about it a bit and make a list. 

[pilldoc]

18 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

@Tomdog started a topic in the wild forum asking who your favorite Wild player is, I decided to take it a step further and  list my favorite player by team...

 

ANAHEIM Zegras. Kid has all the tools, just a matter of time

 

ARIZONA Vejdemo. Always seems to have his best games against the best teams. Not a great goalie, barely good but faces a ridiculous amount of shots per night without embarrassing himself

 

BOSTON Bergeron, no brainer. Aging like a fine wine

 

SABRES Cozens, watching him turninto a fantastic faceoff man and number one centre under the radar with so many other great young players

 

CALGARY Lindholm among the games best pivots and waaayyyy underrated for his overall game

 

CAROLINA Slavin. Does no one thing that stands out, just does everything well like a young Vlasic

 

CHICAGO Kaner and Toews on the back nine and aproaching the clubhouse fun to appreciate them 

 

COLORADO Makar. I was not quite old enough to remember Bobby Orr, this is as close as i am likely to ever see

 

COLUMBUS Jenner. Can play in any situation, one of the few players in organization with a clue.

 

DALLAS Pavelski. Like Bergeron, continues to seemingly find something new to his game ignoring father time

 

DETROIT Larkin of course. 

 

EDMONTON Draisatl. Is it possible to be the second best player in the game and be underrated because the first best is your teammate? Leon can ask Messier.

 

FLORIDA Ekblad. This man could have played defense at an increbibly high level in any era.

 

LOS ANGELES Durzi. Nowhere near the best player on his team but he is calm with or without the puck way beyond his years. Watch him some time, he had a blip in the second or third game of the year and got in the dog house, i doubt he has been out of position since.

 

MINNESOTA Kaprisov. He makes the game a joy to watch, he looks as if it is effortless

 

MONTREAL Suzuki. Honestly, his vision through traffic and ability to get the puck to a linemate when harassed may be the best in the game today. Still lots of holes in his game but man can he pass in traffic.

 

NASHVILLE Josi. Simply a presence on the ice. Can dominate in both ends

 

NEW JERSEY Hischier. This man is far and away with apologies to Bergeron the best two way forward in the game today including everyone. He should win the Selke or it is a criminal violation. Nobody backchecks better. Nobody.

 

NY ISLANDERS Sorokin. I love athletic goalies when focused there are none better

 

NY RANGERS Shesterkin. Except maybe this guy. Man New York has an overabundance of great tenders.

 

OTTAWA my favorite player in the game is Tkachuk, a junk yard dog who can score 100 points. Best power froward in the game today. a Throwback.

 

PHILDELPHIA Morgan Frost. I have watched his minutes go up as the year has went on, his offensive zone time increase, his power play time go up and he has not shown signs of being overwhelmed. Fun young player.

 

PITTSBURGH Letang. Like Doughty and Ekblad one of those blueliners who could go to the hall of fame in any era

 

SAN JOSE Couture. Plays a heavy game, never takes a shift off and glides.

 

SEATTLE Beniers. Likely gonna win the Calder in a weak class but he has begun to pull away and his upside is through the roof

 

ST. LOUIS Binnington. Dreadful goalie but you never know what you are gonna get. He could have a 40 save shutout, give up five softies in the first or challenge the opponents bench to a brawl. Wouldnt want him on my team but love Blues games because I love to see what he is gonna do next

 

TAMPA BAY Man so many superstars but i love the way Cirelli and Cernak play. The perfect complimentary team players. None better.

 

TORONTO Matthews. Seems lame to pick him but he is a force, if you were making a case for someone not in Alberta as the games best player the convo starts and ends here, with apologies to the brilliant Makar. Matthews draws two men lugging them on his back up and down the ice every shift and can still score 60.

 

VANCOUVER JT Miller is among my favorite players in the game, Horvat may be the most underrated 

 

VEGAS Reilly Smith. Took a long time to appreciate what a cerebral player he is. Best short handed forward in the game today.

 

WASHINGTON gotta be Ovie. Like Kaprisov he is a joy to watch, even 800 goals later

 

WINNIPEG Josh Morrisey. Fun watching him get better and better every year. Becoming one of the best two way blueliners in the game.

 

Pretty similiar ....of course it helps playing FHL .....

 

Outside of the Flyers absolutely love Draisaitl ...... and NO there is no trade offer out there that will pry him away from my team.  

[SaucyJack]

53 minutes ago, yave1964 said:

WASHINGTON gotta be Ovie. Like Kaprisov he is a joy to watch, even 800 goals later

Oddly I suppose (as a Caps fan) I seem to like Ovie a bit less than most here because of his questionable results in playoffs overall, and his career plus/minus mediocrity.

 

Yet, you made me think.  Over the decades there are several Caps I’d have selected wholeheartedly at some point.  (E.g., Bobby Gould, Kelly Miller, Devante Smith-Pelly to name a few obscure faves.).  But now?

 

Nobody now has any sufficient  “It Factor” for me.  (Kuznetsov perhaps but not quite; nor Eller nor Oshie nor even a healthier Backstrom.)

 

So right; who else but Ovie by choice or default.

[Mad Dog]

A nice list... On couple of teams, there could be some questions, but overall, hard to disagree with most of the choices. And taking it even further, if I would have to name THE best of the best... just one active player, I would go with Cale Makar without hesitation. Just a phenomenal player on all levels and clearly the best d-man in the league by a country mile right now, who will remain to be the best of the best for many years to come. An absolute, unquestioned superstar.

[yave1964]

1 hour ago, Mad Dog said:

A nice list... On couple of teams, there could be some questions, but overall, hard to disagree with most of the choices. And taking it even further, if I would have to name THE best of the best... just one active player, I would go with Cale Makar without hesitation. Just a phenomenal player on all levels and clearly the best d-man in the league by a country mile right now, who will remain to be the best of the best for many years to come. An absolute, unquestioned superstar.

Absolutely agree on Makar... As I mentioned I cannot remember ever watching Orr play, but I do remember Coffey who was the best offensive blueliner of his generation. I see Makar in the same mode. When he has the puck on his stick it is must see TV.

[mojo1917]

I copied and pasted your list @yave1964 it's a really good list.

Some teams I left alone because I either agree or I don't know very well, see Canucks:Vancouver

 

ANAHEIM Zegras. Kid has all the tools, just a matter of time

 

ARIZONA Clayton Kellar - guy just torched the Flyers for a hattie last week. He's got a good motor, wheels and shot.  He's got a little Crosby in his game too, a little punky but we're not playing 4 square here now are we?

 

BOSTON Charlie MacAvoy guy always seems to around the puck and making the right play, he's physical, smart-a guy who is easy to hate when he's playing your team.

 

SABRES Tage Thomson, a huge guy with soft hands and deceptive speed. If he keeps developing he'll be a one of one kind of player.

 

CALGARY Lindholm among the game's best pivots and waaayyyy underrated for his overall game

 

CAROLINA Jacob Slavin he makes me mad because he's so good but he's not my favorite. I really like Sebastian Aho, that guy does everything well, I think he always looks dangerous on the ice. 

 

CHICAGO Jonathan Towes  

 

COLORADO Cale Makar is a one of one kind of player, I really like Nathan MacKinnon too. He goes from a stand-still to HOLY **** fast in a blink, great shot and motor for a superstar caliber player.... I think I go with Makar if I'm starting a team but I wouldn't be upset if I had to choose Mac. 

 

COLUMBUS Sean Kuraly I just got a load of this guy the other night. I liked what I saw, big dude has an attitude and skill. He was mixing it up with anyone within shouting distance, I'll bet he's got some great chirp game. He's not a goon, but he has some Marchand to his game. I think he could wind up being a pretty good player.

 

DALLAS this team has a lot of guys I like, Heiskanen, Marchment, Old Man Benn, and Roope Hinz but I think I go with Jake Otteinger whose presence last season I think spurred the team's turnaround. He's quiet makes all the saves and then competes like a ************ in scrambles. They're a fun talented team.

 

DETROIT Larkin of course. 

 

EDMONTON McJesus. 

 

FLORIDA Ekblad. This man could have played defense at an increbibly high level in any era. This is true.

I like Sasha Barkov a lot, I think he's the best 2 way guy in the league. But my favorite player is Sam Bennett, he grows a great porn 'stache, He'll straight up punch you in the face and then score. He's old school hard nosed hockey, fun to watch. honorable mention to Eetu Loustarinen who is a perfect middle six pivot.

 

LOS ANGELES Durzi. Nowhere near the best player on his team but he is calm with or without the puck way beyond his years. Watch him some time, he had a blip in the second or third game of the year and got in the dog house, i doubt he has been out of position since.

 

MINNESOTA Kaprisov. He makes the game a joy to watch, he looks as if it is effortless

 

MONTREAL Suzuki. Honestly, his vision through traffic and ability to get the puck to a linemate when harassed may be the best in the game today. Still lots of holes in his game but man can he pass in traffic.

 

NASHVILLE Josi. Simply a presence on the ice. Can dominate in both ends

 

NEW JERSEY Jack Hughes, I'm a believer the kid is quicksilver fast, smart...He's really fun to watch.

 

NY ISLANDERS Tough one- there are a lot of good players on this roster. I'm going to go with Anthony Beauviller, He's not as fast as Barzal or as tough as Lee around the net but he's a close second and he's got a lot of "it" factor. He's always one of their more dangerous players when he's on the ice. 

 

NY RANGERS The Breadman Artemi Panarin. Explosive shot will loose it from anywhere, supremely confident playmaker and goal scorer a joy to watch when he's not torching my team.   

 

OTTAWA I would have said Stutzel but he's having some trouble with his availability, So I'm going with the Russian defensman Zaitsev, he's a mean cus and Russian trained, he's got skill and wants to punish his opponents. Very Ivan Drago-esque imo.

 

PHILDELPHIA Morgan Frost- is he starting to show out? I've been underwhelmed by him at every level...He's been great the two weeks though. 

I like Noah Cates.

That kid is smart, hates losing (picked by the wrong team sorry Noah) any sort of battle anywhere. He's learning center in the NHL after playing wing for most of his young life and he's holding his own playing above his level on a depleted team.  He's a guy I'd like to see kept around. 

 

PITTSBURGH Letang. Like Doughty and Ekblad one of those blueliners who could go to the hall of fame in any era. Yave forgot to mention he's got the best hair in the Metro division. 

 

SAN JOSE Couture. Plays a heavy game, never takes a shift off and glides.

 

SEATTLE Beniers. Likely gonna win the Calder in a weak class but he has begun to pull away and his upside is through the roof

 

ST. LOUIS I like Vlady Terrasenko he's lost a step so now he's just quick but he's a guy that whenever he has the puck near him looks dangerous. 

 

TAMPA BAY Brayden Point, fast, tough, great hands in tight spaces. I hope to see him playing for many more years. Fun player to watch.

 

TORONTO Matthews. Seems lame to pick him but he is a force, if you were making a case for someone not in Alberta as the games best player the convo starts and ends here, with apologies to the brilliant Makar. Matthews draws two men lugging them on his back up and down the ice every shift and can still score 60. Yave forgot he's a bit of a goofball and that makes rooting for him more funner.

 

VANCOUVER JT Miller is among my favorite players in the game, Horvat may be the most underrated 

 

VEGAS Reilly Smith. Took a long time to appreciate what a cerebral player he is. Best short handed forward in the game today.

 

WASHINGTON John Carlsson booming shot, smart, plays in all situations. He's a perfect lead dog. 

 

WINNIPEG Josh Morrisey. Fun watching him get better and better every year. Becoming one of the best two way blueliners in the game.

[Math]

Here's my non-official-not-so-serious list. 

 

Anaheim: Gibson. Love him as a goalie, hate him in my fantasy team.

 

Arizona: J.J. Moser. Playing under the radar but making quietly his place in the NHL. And you have to love someone who's named Janis-Jérôme.

 

Boston: Marchand and Bergeron, but absolutely not for the same reasons.

 

Buffalo: Tuch. Dedecated and love his playing style. Hated when the Wild didn't protect him for the Vegas draft.

 

Calgary: Kadri because "now that I won the Cup, you can kiss my a$$"

 

Carolina: Staal. Perfect leader and family guy.

 

Chicago: Domi. When you used to like the father, you have to take for the son.

 

Colorado: Nischuchkin. 0 goal for the Stars in 47 games, and now he proved he can be a centerpiece in the NHL. Just a friendly reminder for Nill.

 

Columbus: Elvis. Because Elvis.

 

Dallas: Marchment. Because he's the only player that has a gravity center outside his body. Still far of the Tinordi/Gagner/Bellows/Ciccarelli/Churla/Elik scale though.

 

Detroit: Hronek. Another underrated Dman that seems to make everything right.

 

Edmonton: Kane. He's a POS but still to manage to produce before his injury.

 

Florida: Duclair. After having faced a lot of adversity, he finally made it. He was a brainless clueless hell of a talent back in the Juniors with Québec but he gained a lot of maturity.

 

L.A.: Danault. Happy for him he left the toxic environment in Montréal but too bad Bergevin followed him.

 

Minnesota: Frédéric Hockey and Marc-André Fleury, of course.

 

Montréal: Hate them but they surprisingly became more sympathetic to me from the moment they officially go and assume their rebuilding team status. Xhekaj seems to be a cool guy.

 

Nashville: Josi, no brainer for my fellow compatriot.

 

New Jarsey: Akira Schmid. A 6-1 record to begin his NHL career. And how not to love a guy called Akira.

 

NY Islanders: Pageau. The perfect complete player good on all ends of the rink.

 

NY Rangers: Chytil. Reminds me of Krejci: the perfect joker and swiss-knife type of guy.

 

Ottawa: Tkatchuk, who else...

 

Philadelphia: I'd go with Laughton, or Provocop.

 

Pittsburgh: Zucker, a speedy player I have good memories of.

 

San José: I'll go with another homer, Meier.

 

Seattle: Oleksiak. A good physical guy that have underrated offensive capabilities. I hated to see him leave the Stars.

 

St-Louis: Hate the Blues and I honestly don't see anybody likeable in this team. Maybe Tarasenko because he's open to leave.

 

Tampa Bay: $18M-over-the-cap Kucherov: love his cockiness, especially when he's trolling Habs fans.

 

Toronto: Marner. Seems that he can break any franchise record.

 

Vancouver: Hughes. A potential Norris winner and hell of a passer. But if the trend continues he will reach negative shooting pct. area.

 

Vegas: Carrier. Serviceable, efficient, fourth-liner capable to play in any position and any situation.

 

Washington: Oshie. Always liked him. I don't know why because he was a former Blue.

 

Winnipeg: Scheifele. A big physical scorer that has a huge impact on the game.

[Tomdog]

I gave this a little thought and decided to put a little twist on my list.

I don't follow other teams as much as I should so having a truly knowlegeable take is a little tough.

So I am going to make my picks based on which players I root for when they are not playing the Wild. If a team isn't listed it's because I don't care about them one way or the other.

Boston, Charlie Coyle, I don't think he was ever used right by the Wild and he really is a tough likeable dude.

Buffalo, Alex Tuch, because as Math as said the Wild / Fletcher really screwed the pooch on that deal.

Calgary Tyler Toffoli.

Colorado, Nathan Mackinnen.

Chicago, Jonathon Toews.

Detroit, Dylan Larkin.

Dallas, Jake Oettinger.

Florida, Patrick Horquist.

Las Vegas, Phil Kessel.

Nashville, Michael Granlund, hated to see him go but that's the salary cap world.

New Jersey, Eric Haula, same reason as Alex Tuch.

Ottawa, Alex Debrincat.

Pittsburgh, Sid Crosby, never saw such a complete player as a rookie.

Philly, their fans, because ffor now they're stuck with Chuck Fletcher.

San Jose, Luke Kunin, I thought they should have kept him over Greenway.

Seattle Carson Soucy.

St. Louis, Tarasenko.

Tampa, Correy Perry, what a warrior.

Winnepeg, Kyle Conner.

Washington, TJ Oshie.

 

I know, a lot of Wild, Penguins connections.

 

[TropicalFruitGirl26]

@Tomdog
For a guy who doesn't watch much of the league as a whole, that is a pretty nice list...and I agree with a few choices there as well!
Tuch in Buffalo, Toews in Chicago, Granlund in Nashville, and Oettinger in Dallas in particular from the ones you listed.

[Tomdog]

I guess I forgot to list the player for the Wild that I root for the most, Jonas Brodin.

He's probably one of the best defensmen in the league, except he doesn't score much.

I always hope he gets a goal when he gets a chance.