Throughout the middle of the season, the NHL is unveiling Quarter-Century Teams for all 32 franchises, plus the now-defunct Coyotes. Each club is represented by a first and second team of six players – three forwards, two defensemen and one goalie – who played for the franchise after Jan. 1, 2000. The first and second teams were selected by broadcasters and national, local, and NHL.com writers who covered the respective teams and some former players. The six players voted to each First Team will be on the ballot for the NHL All-Quarter-Century Team and will be chosen via a fan vote starting in February.
Last month, PHR’s Josh Erickson took a crack at predicting how each franchise’s teams would shake out. You can cross-check his projections against the actual results.
Buffalo Sabres (Jan. 15)
First Team
F Daniel Brière
F Jason Pominville
F Thomas Vanek
D Brian Campbell
D Rasmus Dahlin
G Ryan Miller
Second Team
F Chris Drury
F Derek Roy
F Jack Eichel
D Jay McKee
D Tyler Myers
G Dominik Hašek
Boston Bruins (Jan. 14)
First Team
F Patrice Bergeron
F David Krejčí
F Brad Marchand
D Zdeno Chára
D Charlie McAvoy
G Tim Thomas
Second Team
F Milan Lucic
F David Pastrňák
F Joe Thornton
D Torey Krug
D Dennis Seidenberg
G Tuukka Rask
Philadelphia Flyers (Jan. 13)
First Team
F Simon Gagné
F Claude Giroux
F Mike Richards
D Éric Desjardins
D Kimmo Timonen
G Roman Čechmánek
Second Team
F Daniel Brière
F Sean Couturier
F Jakub Voráček
D Chris Pronger
D Ivan Provorov
G Brian Boucher
Calgary Flames (Jan. 11)
First Team
F Johnny Gaudreau
F Jarome Iginla
F Matthew Tkachuk
D Mark Giordano
D Robyn Regehr
G Miikka Kiprusoff
Second Team
F Mikael Backlund
F Craig Conroy
F Sean Monahan
D Rasmus Andersson
D Dion Phaneuf
G Jacob Markstrom
Winnipeg Jets (Jan. 10)
First Team
F Ilya Kovalchuk
F Mark Scheifele
F Blake Wheeler
D Dustin Byfuglien
D Josh Morrissey
G Connor Hellebuyck
Second Team
F Kyle Connor
F Nikolaj Ehlers
F Bryan Little
D Toby Enström
D Jacob Trouba
G Ondřej Pavelec
Pittsburgh Penguins (Jan. 9)
First Team
F Sidney Crosby
F Jake Guentzel
F Evgeni Malkin
D Sergei Gonchar
D Kris Letang
G Marc-André Fleury
Second Team
F Phil Kessel
F Chris Kunitz
F Mario Lemieux
D Brian Dumoulin
D Brooks Orpik
G Matt Murray
Minnesota Wild (Jan. 7)
First Team
F Marián Gáborík
F Kirill Kaprizov
F Mikko Koivu
D Jonas Brodin
D Jared Spurgeon
G Niklas Bäckström
Second Team
F Andrew Brunette
F Joel Eriksson Ek
F Zach Parise
D Nick Schultz
D Ryan Suter
G Devan Dubnyk
Seattle Kraken (Jan. 6)
First Team
F Jordan Eberle
F Yanni Gourde
F Jared McCann
D Vince Dunn
D Adam Larsson
G Joey Daccord
Second Team
F Matty Beniers
F Oliver Bjorkstrand
F Jaden Schwartz
D Brandon Montour
D Jamie Oleksiak
G Philipp Grubauer
Anaheim Ducks (Jan. 5)
First Team
F Corey Perry
F Ryan Getzlaf
F Teemu Selänne
D Scott Niedermayer
D Cam Fowler
G Jean-Sébastien Giguère
Second Team
F Paul Kariya
F Bobby Ryan
F Jakob Silfverberg
D Chris Pronger
D François Beauchemin
G John Gibson
Toronto Maple Leafs (Jan. 4)
First Team
F Mitch Marner
F Auston Matthews
F Mats Sundin
D Tomáš Kaberle
D Morgan Rielly
G Ed Belfour
Second Team
F Phil Kessel
F William Nylander
F John Tavares
D Bryan McCabe
D Dion Phaneuf
G Curtis Joseph
Florida Panthers (Jan. 3)
First Team
F Aleksander Barkov
F Jonathan Huberdeau
F Matthew Tkachuk
D Aaron Ekblad
D Gustav Forsling
G Roberto Luongo
Second Team
F Pavel Bure
F Olli Jokinen
F Sam Reinhart
D Jay Bouwmeester
D Róbert Švehla
G Sergei Bobrovsky
Columbus Blue Jackets (Jan. 2)
First Team
F Cam Atkinson
F Rick Nash
F Artemi Panarin
D Seth Jones
D Zach Werenski
G Sergei Bobrovsky
Second Team
F Nick Foligno
F Johnny Gaudreau
F Boone Jenner
D David Savard
D Fedor Tyutin
D Steve Mason
Arizona Coyotes (Jan. 1)
First Team
F Shane Doan
F Clayton Keller
F Radim Vrbata
D Oliver Ekman-Larsson
D Keith Yandle
G Mike Smith
Second Team
F Martin Hanzal
F Jeremy Roenick
F Nick Schmaltz
D Zbyněk Michálek
D Teppo Numminen
G Ilya Bryzgalov
Chicago Blackhawks (Dec. 31)
First Team
F Patrick Kane
F Patrick Sharp
F Jonathan Toews
D Duncan Keith
D Brent Seabrook
G Corey Crawford
Second Team
F Alex DeBrincat
F Marián Hossa
F Brandon Saad
D Brian Campbell
D Niklas Hjalmarsson
G Jocelyn Thibault
St. Louis Blues (Dec. 30)
First Team
F Alexander Steen
F Vladimir Tarasenko
F Keith Tkachuk
D Alex Pietrangelo
D Chris Pronger
G Jordan Binnington
Second Team
F David Backes
F Ryan O’Reilly
F David Perron
D Al MacInnis
D Colton Parayko
G Brian Elliott
The link to cross check the prediction leads to a x post about some kid.
And how does Roenick get voted to the Arizona team with his 2.5 seasons with the yotes in the timeframe?
That link is fixed. And you’re not alone in your puzzlement.
Hossa imminently superior to Sharp!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
‘Imminently’ doesn’t fit there, I think you meant Immensely. But I get your point. Must mean he’s going in with Ottawa?
Ah. Never mind. He’s on team 2.
In that case I agree completely
0 for 2, whiz kids. The word is ’eminently’ -meaning ‘to a notable degree’
That could fit too
No offense to Nick Foligno and Boone Jenner, but the fact that either of these guys made the list really underscores just how badly CBJ has been hurting for some true star talent up front. Gaudreau was on the precipice of getting there, but some drunk-driver POS had to stop that…
Fedor Tyutin.
Him over Jaroslav Spacek must have been a tough call.
Joking aside, this is some serious Jack Johnson erasure.
More meaningless NHL content compiled, And published by an overzealous intern.
Wow… That Chicago lineup, first team and parts of the second played together for years!
Youch! Forsling makes Panthers first team, one of many gifts of Benning that haunt the Canucks still (guenther will too)…
Al Macinnis 2nd Team? Wow!
Al only played 3.5 season this century.
Knew Pronger would make at least 1 list.
Make it 2 now. Although making the Flyers seems like a joke. with his 145 game career in Phili.
Three total with ANA, STL & PHI. Not sure if his one year with EDM is better than the rest of their Dmen though to make it 4 for 4…
Yeah, Pronger on Philly is so sus — only had one good year. Should have been Gostisbehere imho, who had four good impactful seasons (and two Covid seasons), but would have accepted Mark Streit, Kim Johnsson, Joni Pitkanen, or Matt Carle, who all had at least 3 good seasons with the Flyers.
Huberdeu over Reinhart is a joke.
10 years over 4 may have something to that evaluation.
Huber over Bure is also a joke. Huber is serviceable, but Bure meant more to the team revitalizing the Panthers in his short time there.
Once again, this is strictly based on this millennium. From Jan 1 2000. Bure has played about 150 games in Florida in that time. Huberdeau played almost 700. Guess who left a bigger impact.
If you watched many of those 700 games you would see why he was just about average. NO ONE went to a Panthers game to see Huberdeau. Bure brought back the fans and excitement. I’ll take his 150 games over Huberdeau’s entire career all day.
Well it was a poll conducted by the NHL asking former players and team executives and writers and it was based on their input. Clearly the people paid to do hockey stuff disagree with your amateur eye and assessment. The guy who averaged just below a ppg across 10 seasons had a stronger case then the guy with just over a PPG across 2.5 seasons when voting on the teams most influential players of this millennium.
Well these polls are made for inspiring comments…
Also, have you played against NHL players…No?…I have.
Have I played against NHL players? In practice and scrimmage ya, I played vs/with a guy who went 1st round 5th overall, while in high school. Taught me quick that I wasn’t close to good enough to pursue a career playing. Made some acquaintances who work around the game since too. Enough to know guys respect guys with longevity over a short burst in certain situations like this poll. Bure was an amazing player, especially over the entirety of his career. But Huberdeau had a better and more impactful career since Jan 1, 2000 to this date, than Pavel did for the Panthers. Pavel may have been more dazzling and had more superstar sizzle than Huberdeau in the time frame, but Huberdeau had a longer lasting effect in the set time frame than Bure. A better career is another story, Bure owns that, but a more impactful time in Florida since Jan 1, 2000 is another story.
Looks like we agree to disagree. I am glad that we were able to express our opinions. Good to hear that you actually played with an NHL’er. I actually sub’ed a couple of times at Panthers practices and regularly faced NHL players in practice and ex-NHL/WHA players in leagues. Was told by a 50 goal scorer that I would have fit right in the WHA. Wishing you all the best!
Come on Josh!! There is no way Fowler beats both Pronger and Beauchemin for the first team. Both are much, much, much better than he.
This is the NHL’s evaluation not his.
@jminn – this page reflects the final teams as voted on by local media and former players. Looks like they disagree, at least in terms of total impact/longevity.
Sorry about that Josh. I should have known. I’d still take Prongs or Beauch every day over Fowler.
Brandon Montour lol
Perry over Kariya seems wrong to me.
Seattle being a part of this list also seems wrong.
Kariya only played 3.5 seasons this millennium, Perry played 14 seasons this millennium there. That’s why Perry takes top spot over Kariya.
I suppose. I guess I’m still a bit old school in that sense. I’ll brace myself now to not see forsberg, modano, alfredsson, and all the other guys i grew up watching on the 1st team lists
Paul Kariya remains my favourite NHL player of all time. He was so, so fun to watch. They just don’t make ’em like they used to… Probably because Scott Stevens went and showed the league you can basically attempt to kill a guy and get away with it.
I’m surprised Suter is 2nd team for Minnesota.
Suter and Parise were never bad players, they were quite good in fact. They were just overpaid.
I loved them both in those early years. It’s a little nuts that they were top 5 contracts when they were signed, though.
I think they actually got the Pens right.
Yeah I’m happy about Gonchar being first team, although I love Orpik as well. Dumo being the other D-man on the 2nd team was nice.
While I know the way this was designed, I still feel something wrong about Mario being listed on the 2nd team of anything related to the Pens.
I forgot about Gonchar. Especially as a penguin
LOL with the Malkin over Lemieux comment for Pittsburgh. Most people with a brain know who should be first team between the two.
Once again. It’s since the calendar flipped to 2000. Lemuiex was definitely a better player over all. But which one has had a bigger impact since Jan 1, 2000?
This is why the rest of the world makes fun of the American education system. How many time has it been pointed out that this is a poll from the NHL to players and broadcasters from local markets, people much more wise to to the situation than any of us, who select these teams. Not writers on this site, not fans, not some random writers elsewhere. Former players and beat writers for NHL.
SMFH at some of the maroons that come into this article.
It’s not an all-time Pittsburgh team. Simple concept spelled out at the top of the page. The brain people read it.
Agree. I don’t care if Lemieux only played 1 game in this century. The fact that he isn’t 1st team renders this whole exercise irrelevant. Lemieux would be 1st team of ALL TIME.
Also, in no universe is any winger in Anahiem better than the combined tandem of Selanne and Kariya. Those 2 were so dynamic together that no individual forward from Anahiem touches their impact together.
Pronger, Cechmanek, and Boucher is a joke right?
I can see them not wanting the Carter Hart blowback (his numbers were pretty bad anyway) but no way Boucher should be over Bryzgalov or Steve Mason.
Or Bobrovsky??
Bob had one good year, his rookie year, with Philly. Boucher had two solid years. Bryzgalov had two good years with the Flyers. Mason had 3 really good years and 1 solid year. Justice for Steve Mason.
Tim Thomas over Tuukka Rask is an eternal debate. TT has the Cup, Rask has the better long-term consistency.
Timmy had two Vezinas as well. Tukka never won one.
Rask won the Vezina in 2014 (and was runner-up in 2020).
I stand corrected. Tukka was very very good.
Hasek? Hasek? He pleyed in Buffalo for 1.5 seasons under the terms expressed.
And was one of the best goaltenders the league has ever seen.
I thought, “well, maybe they just had nothing but scrubs outside of Ryan Miller” but Marty Biron had a solid run there.
And Hasek was the best EVER. In the 90’s.
That Buffalo lineup really showcases why they’re such bottom feeders most years…. Lots of good players, but not any real stars outside of the net. 25 years and the best you can show for it is Jason Pominville? Ehhhhhh…
Then they finally get a star in Eichel, and they trade him away because they didn’t want to approve a procedure to fix his back. Must be so frustrating for those fans.
Rask > Thomas
Lucic over pasta?!?!
No way