The Fabulous First-Years of the NHL
This week I got thinking about rookies in the NHL. Why right here on nhltraderumours.com, the banner at the top of the page is of two super-rookies.
I got thinking about rookies because most hockey minds have been bamboozled by all the stud first-year talents out there, and a lot of said minds are not in the right place right when it comes to ranking them. So I've decided to rank the top five rookies in the NHL this season myself, taking into account the following (in no particular order of importance):
a) Players' value to his team
b) Caliber of team player plays on
c) Players' impact on the league
d) Players' position (and difficulty thereof)
e) Players' potential
f) Players' current overall ability
Let's take a look and see who came in where (counted down in reverse order...ooo the anticipation).
5. Andrej Meszaros, D, Ottawa Senators - Meszaros is unquestionably the most underrated rookie in this year's crop. The guy is an exceptional talent who has actually put up better numbers at the NHL level than he did in junior (a product of being on a great offensive hockey club, but impressive nonetheless). He's incredibly smart both with and without the puck, and bumped highly-touted defensive prospect Anton Volchenkov from the Sens' top-four, so Ottawa has to think pretty highly of him. Judging by the year he's having, that high opinion is completely justified.
4. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins - Crosby is a very good hockey player playing on a very bad team. He sees the ice better than most guys twice his age, and has made his young career to date by making his untalented teammates look far better than they actually are. However there are serious off-ice issues with Crosby concerning his maturity and his connection with his teammates - something certainly hindered by his being given an 'A' as an unproven rookie. There is no denying that he's going to be one of hockey's best players in ten years, in fact he's made great strides towards that level in his freshman campaign, but hype and a bunch of points have made people think he's farther along in his development than he actually is.
3. Dion Phaneuf, D, Calgary Flames - Phaneuf is a hockey player's hockey player. He can score, pass, hit, fight, and defend, and he does it all with the grace and guile of a man who's played defense in the NHL for fifteen years. He absolutely eats powerplay time on a club that sorely needs someone to do just that, and produces more offense than many of the club's forwards. Besides Miikka Kiprusoff, Dion Phaneuf might well be the Flames' MVP, and that's not bad for a guy who can't legally have a beer when the team goes on a roadtrip to the US.
2. Henrik Lundqvist, G, New York Rangers - The Rangers' puckstopping sensation has quietly had the best season of any goalie in the NHL, all things considered. He came to camp as a question mark, then proceeded to take the starting job from Kevin Weekes and turn the whole league on end. Lundqvist has already struck Olympic gold this season, proving he can win the big game, and is now looking to barnstorm the playoffs for a chance to sip from Lord Stanley's mug. While his Czech mates have been largely credited with the Rangers' resurgence, the fact that this guy has made the hardest position in hockey look like a walk in the park in his first season should garner some serious Calder consideration, and maybe a sniff at the Vezina too.
1. Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals - I ask you one question: who is better than this guy right now? You would find some answers out there, yes, but those answers could be counted on one hand. Ovechkin is a human highlight reel, scoring goals as if the NHL were a beer league. He has an incredible nose for the net, and is actually a surprisingly capable defensive forward - when he decides to play in his own end, which is somewhat rare. He has thrown several thunderous bodychecks this season, including a memorable filling of Colin White earlier in the year and a bigtime collision with Zdeno Chara, of which he got the better. When a team takes a player first overall in the draft, this is what they are dreaming of. Expect Ovechkin to score seventy goals in a season more than once, and probably by his twenty-fifth birthday.
And that's how the NHL rookies break down this season. Honorable mention goes to Marek Svatos, who might have been on there if he wasn't hurt, Brad Boyes, who is quietly having an exceptional year for the Bruins, and Thomas Vanek, who was sixth on my ballot with an overly productive campaign for the Sabres. Thanks for reading, I'll be back next Friday. The Opinion Blog of Matthew Ryder
I got thinking about rookies because most hockey minds have been bamboozled by all the stud first-year talents out there, and a lot of said minds are not in the right place right when it comes to ranking them. So I've decided to rank the top five rookies in the NHL this season myself, taking into account the following (in no particular order of importance):
a) Players' value to his team
b) Caliber of team player plays on
c) Players' impact on the league
d) Players' position (and difficulty thereof)
e) Players' potential
f) Players' current overall ability
Let's take a look and see who came in where (counted down in reverse order...ooo the anticipation).
5. Andrej Meszaros, D, Ottawa Senators - Meszaros is unquestionably the most underrated rookie in this year's crop. The guy is an exceptional talent who has actually put up better numbers at the NHL level than he did in junior (a product of being on a great offensive hockey club, but impressive nonetheless). He's incredibly smart both with and without the puck, and bumped highly-touted defensive prospect Anton Volchenkov from the Sens' top-four, so Ottawa has to think pretty highly of him. Judging by the year he's having, that high opinion is completely justified.
4. Sidney Crosby, C, Pittsburgh Penguins - Crosby is a very good hockey player playing on a very bad team. He sees the ice better than most guys twice his age, and has made his young career to date by making his untalented teammates look far better than they actually are. However there are serious off-ice issues with Crosby concerning his maturity and his connection with his teammates - something certainly hindered by his being given an 'A' as an unproven rookie. There is no denying that he's going to be one of hockey's best players in ten years, in fact he's made great strides towards that level in his freshman campaign, but hype and a bunch of points have made people think he's farther along in his development than he actually is.
3. Dion Phaneuf, D, Calgary Flames - Phaneuf is a hockey player's hockey player. He can score, pass, hit, fight, and defend, and he does it all with the grace and guile of a man who's played defense in the NHL for fifteen years. He absolutely eats powerplay time on a club that sorely needs someone to do just that, and produces more offense than many of the club's forwards. Besides Miikka Kiprusoff, Dion Phaneuf might well be the Flames' MVP, and that's not bad for a guy who can't legally have a beer when the team goes on a roadtrip to the US.
2. Henrik Lundqvist, G, New York Rangers - The Rangers' puckstopping sensation has quietly had the best season of any goalie in the NHL, all things considered. He came to camp as a question mark, then proceeded to take the starting job from Kevin Weekes and turn the whole league on end. Lundqvist has already struck Olympic gold this season, proving he can win the big game, and is now looking to barnstorm the playoffs for a chance to sip from Lord Stanley's mug. While his Czech mates have been largely credited with the Rangers' resurgence, the fact that this guy has made the hardest position in hockey look like a walk in the park in his first season should garner some serious Calder consideration, and maybe a sniff at the Vezina too.
1. Alexander Ovechkin, LW, Washington Capitals - I ask you one question: who is better than this guy right now? You would find some answers out there, yes, but those answers could be counted on one hand. Ovechkin is a human highlight reel, scoring goals as if the NHL were a beer league. He has an incredible nose for the net, and is actually a surprisingly capable defensive forward - when he decides to play in his own end, which is somewhat rare. He has thrown several thunderous bodychecks this season, including a memorable filling of Colin White earlier in the year and a bigtime collision with Zdeno Chara, of which he got the better. When a team takes a player first overall in the draft, this is what they are dreaming of. Expect Ovechkin to score seventy goals in a season more than once, and probably by his twenty-fifth birthday.
And that's how the NHL rookies break down this season. Honorable mention goes to Marek Svatos, who might have been on there if he wasn't hurt, Brad Boyes, who is quietly having an exceptional year for the Bruins, and Thomas Vanek, who was sixth on my ballot with an overly productive campaign for the Sabres. Thanks for reading, I'll be back next Friday. The Opinion Blog of Matthew Ryder
posted by Matthew Ryder at 4:49 AM
6 Comments:
Its a sweet banner btw :D
Pretty accurate I would say. There's no doubt that Lundqvist is a huge reason the Rangers are where they are (finally in a playoff position!!!!), while with Ovechkin, one has to wonder how he can manufacture such point totals with such a terrible team.
steen also an honorable mention? not to be biased, but he's surprised most.
someone said that its like 5 players on pace for 100 points this season (the new NHL), the fact that one of them is a rookie is amazing.
Crosby is slightly off the mark at 90, but you have to note that he is almost two years younger than Ovechkin (I believe).
An 18 year old acheiving 90 pts is living up to the hype for me.
yeah, just looked it up ovechkin is actualy 25 months older than crosby.
exactly. I guarentee in two years crosby is above ovechkin's current numbers. not to take anythign away from alex the great
Meszaros is going to be great to have in the next few years
imagine if muckler had of drafted right and chosen staal instead of that stick lee, we would have quite a tandem.
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