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Poll: Who Are The Best Goaltenders In The NHL?

By | at August 27, 2018 9:38 am

Over the last few weeks the NHL Network has been releasing their lists of the best players in the league, detailing the Top 20 Centers, Top 20 Defensemen and Top 20 Wingers in separate polls. In response, we’ve polled the PHR community to give our own thoughts on the very best talents around the NHL and have come up with significantly different lists. Among centers, Sidney Crosby edged out Connor McDavid for the top spot here at PHR, while Erik Karlsson overcame his down 2017-18 to take the spot on the blue line.

On the wings, NHL Network had Nikita Kucherov as the very best in the league after his 100-point campaign alongside Steven Stamkos. That didn’t impress the PHR readers though, who have Kucherov at #4 behind three more veteran options. Alex Ovechkin takes home the trophy to place on his overburdened shelf alongside his recent Conn Smythe award for playoff MVP and seventh Maurice Richard trophy. It’s difficult to overcome 607 goals and more than 1,100 points now that Ovechkin has a Stanley Cup to go with them. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Wingers currently looks like this:

  1. Alex Ovechkin (632 votes)
  2. Taylor Hall (532 votes)
  3. Patrick Kane (531 votes)
  4. Nikita Kucherov (521 votes)
  5. Patrik Laine (510 votes)
  6. Vladimir Tarasenko (476 votes)
  7. Brad Marchand (425 votes)
  8. Artemi Panarin (392 votes)
  9. Jamie Benn (371 votes)
  10. Claude Giroux (370 votes)
  11. Johnny Gaudreau (345 votes)
  12. David Pastrnak (329 votes)
  13. Phil Kessel (323 votes)
  14. Blake Wheeler (320 votes)
  15. Filip Forsberg (263 votes)
  16. Mitch Marner (195 votes)
  17. Brock Boeser (175 votes)
  18. Logan Couture (166 votes)
  19. Jakub Voracek (156 votes)
  20. T.J. Oshie (132 votes)

Continuing the series, the NHL Network today released their ranking of the Top 10 Goaltenders, sparking quite a bit of debate among the hockey world. Sergei Bobrovsky takes home their top spot after collecting Vezina votes again last season. The Columbus Blue Jackets netminder has won the trophy twice and consistently puts up some of the most impressive numbers in the league. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next summer, giving the Blue Jackets a very tough decision on whether to make him the most expensive goaltender in the league or watch him walk away.

Stanley Cup Champion Braden Holtby is second, despite being benched at the beginning of the playoffs by his club in favor of Philipp Grubauer. Holtby would eventually regain the net and carry the Capitals to the promised land, but not without at least some doubt in his ability down the stretch.

Incredibly, Carey Price and Henrik Lundqvist, the two highest-paid goaltenders in the NHL don’t appear on the list making their contracts seem quite excessive. Lundqvist at least has a long history of success during his current deal, something that Price will have to prove as he starts in on his eight-year $84MM extension.

Like all of the other polls, we’ll ask the PHR community to give their own thoughts on who deserves at the top of the list. We’ve included a huge number of NHL goaltenders and ask you to cast your vote by selecting 10 names. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or on how the Top 20 Wingers list turned out.

Who are the best goaltenders in the NHL?

  • Sergei Bobrovsky 9% (650)
  • Braden Holtby 8% (599)
  • Marc-Andre Fleury 8% (588)
  • Carey Price 8% (568)
  • Pekka Rinne 8% (555)
  • Jonathan Quick 8% (550)
  • Andrei Vasilevskiy 7% (528)
  • Connor Hellebuyck 6% (421)
  • Tuukka Rask 5% (392)
  • Henrik Lundqvist 5% (360)
  • Matt Murray 4% (277)
  • John Gibson 3% (238)
  • Frederik Andersen 3% (201)
  • Martin Jones 2% (172)
  • Corey Crawford 2% (168)
  • Devan Dubnyk 2% (162)
  • Ben Bishop 2% (109)
  • Cory Schneider 1% (102)
  • Roberto Luongo 1% (74)
  • Antti Raanta 1% (67)
  • Semyon Varlamov 1% (51)
  • Mike Smith 1% (46)
  • Jake Allen 1% (39)
  • Carter Hutton 1% (39)
  • Jimmy Howard 1% (36)
  • Cam Talbot 0% (34)
  • Philipp Grubauer 0% (27)
  • Craig Anderson 0% (18)
  • Jacob Markstrom 0% (14)
  • Jaroslav Halak 0% (14)
  • Scott Darling 0% (14)
  • Jonathan Bernier 0% (11)
  • Brian Elliott 0% (9)
  • James Reimer 0% (9)
  • Robin Lehner 0% (8)

Total votes: 7,150

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11 comments Polls

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Fourth Overall Pick

By | at August 25, 2018 12:59 pm

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.”  Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended.  For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

Our look back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft is now in full swing as we poll the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now.  Through the first three picks, we have already seen big changes from what actually happened.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
3rd Overall: Nicklas Backstrom (Chicago Blackhawks)

Although the Blackhawks didn’t get Toews this time around, they wind up with a solid consolation prize in Backstrom, who would certainly fit in well as their number one center today.  He quietly leads all 2006 draft points in NHL assists (590) and points (799) and certainly would have made for a dynamic one-two punch alongside winger Patrick Kane.

Now, let’s move forward to the fourth pick in the draft, which was held by the Washington Capitals.

It’s safe to say that their original selection turned out to be the right one as Backstrom has been a go-to player for them for the last 11 years and still has two years remaining on a team-friendly contract with a $6.7MM cap hit.  While Alex Ovechkin draws most of the headlines, Backstrom has made a strong career for himself largely serving as his setup man while emerging as a capable two-way threat as well.  Obviously, with him now off the board as Chicago’s pick, Washington will have to pick someone else this time around.

With the fourth pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Washington Capitals select?  Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: Fourth Overall

  • Brad Marchand 45% (531)
  • Phil Kessel 42% (504)
  • Jordan Staal 4% (42)
  • Milan Lucic 2% (25)
  • Erik Johnson 1% (10)
  • Bryan Little 1% (10)
  • Artem Anisimov 1% (9)
  • Derick Brassard 1% (8)
  • Semyon Varlamov 1% (7)
  • Patrik Berglund 1% (6)
  • Nick Foligno 1% (6)
  • Kyle Okposo 0% (5)
  • Cal Clutterbuck 0% (5)
  • Jamie McGinn 0% (5)
  • Michal Neuvirth 0% (3)
  • Michael Grabner 0% (3)
  • Jeff Petry 0% (3)
  • Steve Mason 0% (2)
  • Mathieu Perreault 0% (2)
  • Trevor Lewis 0% (1)
  • Chris Stewart 0% (1)
  • James Reimer 0% (1)
  • Jonathan Bernier 0% (1)
  • Shawn Matthias 0% (1)
  • Michael Frolik 0% (0)
  • Nikolay Kulemin 0% (0)

Total votes: 1,191

Mobile users, click here to vote.

0 comments Polls Washington Capitals

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Third Overall Pick

By | at August 23, 2018 1:44 pm

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

We’ve begun our journey looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, polling the PHR community to see who would have been selected in the first round and in what order knowing what we know now. Already we’ve seen big changes at the top of the draft, with Erik Johnson falling out of the first-overall slot and the St. Louis Blues picking a potential Hall of Fame captain in his place.

Here are the results of the redraft so far:

1st Overall: Jonathan Toews (St. Louis Blues)
2nd Overall: Claude Giroux (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Giroux beat out Nicklas Backstrom to be the second pick, finishing with close to 35% of the vote. The Philadelphia Flyers captain is among the very best offensive players in the league, and would have given the Penguins another versatile player to fit in beside or behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Though Jordan Staal, who was the real second pick by the Penguins, helped the team to a Stanley Cup as a young player, adding Giroux could have made Pittsburgh even more dominant through the years.

Now we’ll move forward to the third pick in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, which was held by the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Blackhawks obviously lucked out when Toews fell to them in the third spot, getting their future captain and leader for a run of success nearly unparalleled in the cap era. Toews led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2010 with a Conn Smythe-winning effort, and has captained them to two more titles since. The perennial Selke and Hart trophy nominee was the easy choice at first overall, meaning Chicago will have to go with someone else this time around.

With the third pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Chicago Blackhawks select? Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: Third Overall

  • Nicklas Backstrom 50% (689)
  • Brad Marchand 22% (300)
  • Phil Kessel 19% (254)
  • Jordan Staal 1% (20)
  • Milan Lucic 1% (20)
  • Erik Johnson 1% (12)
  • Artem Anisimov 1% (7)
  • Michael Grabner 1% (7)
  • Kyle Okposo 0% (6)
  • Patrik Berglund 0% (5)
  • Nick Foligno 0% (5)
  • Cal Clutterbuck 0% (5)
  • Derick Brassard 0% (5)
  • Bryan Little 0% (4)
  • Semyon Varlamov 0% (4)
  • Michael Frolik 0% (4)
  • Nikolay Kulemin 0% (4)
  • Chris Stewart 0% (3)
  • Jonathan Bernier 0% (3)
  • Steve Mason 0% (2)
  • Jamie McGinn 0% (2)
  • James Reimer 0% (2)
  • Trevor Lewis 0% (1)
  • Michal Neuvirth 0% (1)
  • Shawn Matthias 0% (1)

Total votes: 1,366

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3 comments Chicago Blackhawks Polls

Poll: Which 35+ Skater Would You Rather Sign?

By | at August 22, 2018 4:58 pm

The free agent market is down to the last few interesting names. While Rick Nash continues to deliberate on whether he’ll play this season, other players are starting to accept professional tryout offers to attempt to secure an NHL contract in 2018-19. Scottie Upshall, Mark Letestu, Emerson Etem, and others will be in NHL training camps trying to prove they have something left to offer at the highest level, while many other familiar names sit at home waiting for a call.

In the NHL, multi-year contracts given out to players over the age of 35 come with some added risk. If that player decides to retire at any point, the full average annual value is still applied to his team’s salary cap and he becomes a burden on the books. That only really affects teams that give out expensive deals to aging players though, and one-year contracts for those veterans can actually be quite beneficial to both sides. One-year contracts signed by players over 35 are eligible to include performance bonuses, something that cannot be given to most other players during their NHL careers. We’ve seen plenty of these contracts handed out in the past, and they can be a perfect blend of low risk for the club and high reward for the player.

Among the group that could still receive contracts like this are several very interesting names. Mike Cammalleri isn’t the same offensive player he once was, but still recorded 29 points in 65 games last season and likely could be had for near the minimum salary. He signed a one-year $1MM deal last season with the Los Angeles Kings, which included an additional $200K in bonuses. Scott Hartnell can’t bounce between first and third lines like he used to be able to, but he did find his way into 62 games with the President’s Trophy-winning Nashville Predators last season. Hartnell had 13 goals and 24 points in those games, and is still earning a solid paycheck from his buyout last summer.

Other names that could be considered include Antoine Vermette, Jussi Jokinen, Dominic Moore and Jason Chimera, all of whom have been big contributors in the past and played at least 50 games in 2017-18. So the question is who would you most like your team to sign? If you could get one of these players for the league minimum of $650K with some added performance bonus, who would it be? Cast your vote below and make sure to explain why in the comment section.

Which 35+ skater would you rather have?

  • Scott Hartnell 16% (211)
  • Antoine Vermette 14% (186)
  • Mike Cammalleri 13% (176)
  • Joel Ward 10% (135)
  • Kevin Bieksa 8% (104)
  • Lee Stempniak 7% (98)
  • Dominic Moore 6% (85)
  • Johnny Oduya 5% (63)
  • Jussi Jokinen 5% (60)
  • Paul Martin 4% (48)
  • Jason Chimera 3% (44)
  • Ales Hemsky 3% (42)
  • Dennis Seidenberg 3% (41)
  • Brian Gionta 2% (23)
  • Chris Kelly 1% (15)

Total votes: 1,331

[Mobile users click here to vote!]

5 comments Polls

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: Second Overall Pick

By | at August 21, 2018 1:37 pm

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

Starting this week, we’re looking back at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft and asking how it would shake out knowing what we do now. Will the first round remain in much the same order, or will some late round picks jump to the top of the board?

On Monday we asked the PHR community to weigh in on who should have been selected first overall in 2006 and after more than 2,500 votes the decision is clear. Though he didn’t get quite the 88% that Sidney Crosby came away for the top honor in 2005, Jonathan Toews earned the majority of votes at nearly 57%. The Chicago Blackhawks legend was an easy choice for many readers, who noted his three Stanley Cups and decade of success in the NHL. Claude Giroux and Nicklas Backstrom both earned more than 10% of the vote, and are solid challengers for the second position.

In reality, the Pittsburgh Penguins held the second pick in 2006 and used it on a familiar NHL name. Jordan Staal, the younger brother of then-Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal ,was a big center for the Peterborough Petes and was in real contention for the top spot going into the draft. The older Staal had just cracked 100 points and led his team to the Stanley Cup, but it wasn’t just the family success that decided Pittsburgh’s selection. The NHL’s Central Scouting Service had Staal ranked only behind eventual first-overall pick Erik Johnson among North American skaters, and ahead of Toews who was already playing at the University of North Dakota. Staal already stood 6’4″ and well over 200-lbs, making him the prototypical first line center in the eyes of many.

Unfortunately perhaps for the Penguins, who passed on the chance to get Toews, Staal didn’t quite live up to the lofty expectations. He did find early success with Pittsburgh, slotting in behind Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to win the Stanley Cup in 2009, but was eventually moved out of town as he got too expensive. He reunited in Carolina with his brother for a short time, and has put up a fine if unremarkable career since. Staal has failed to win any major individual awards, and likely wouldn’t be Pittsburgh’s pick if they got another chance at it today. Who would they take if given the benefit of more than a decade of hindsight?

With the second pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the Pittsburgh Penguins select? Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: Second Overall

  • Claude Giroux 35% (754)
  • Nicklas Backstrom 26% (571)
  • Brad Marchand 19% (407)
  • Phil Kessel 13% (280)
  • Jordan Staal 2% (36)
  • Milan Lucic 1% (27)
  • Kyle Okposo 0% (9)
  • Erik Johnson 0% (8)
  • Patrik Berglund 0% (8)
  • Artem Anisimov 0% (8)
  • Trevor Lewis 0% (7)
  • Nick Foligno 0% (6)
  • Cal Clutterbuck 0% (6)
  • Bryan Little 0% (5)
  • Chris Stewart 0% (5)
  • Derick Brassard 0% (3)
  • Michael Neuvirth 0% (3)
  • Steve Mason 0% (3)
  • Jamie McGinn 0% (3)
  • James Reimer 0% (3)
  • Semyon Varlamov 0% (2)
  • Miachael Grabner 0% (2)
  • Jonathan Bernier 0% (1)
  • Michael Frolik 0% (1)
  • Nikolay Kulemin 0% (0)
  • Shawn Matthias 0% (0)

Total votes: 2,158

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4 comments Polls

Poll: Who Are The Best Wingers In The NHL?

By | at August 20, 2018 2:34 pm

Over the last few weeks the NHL Network have released their lists of the Top 20 Centers and Top 20 Defensemen in the league, sparking huge debate across the hockey world. In a response to this we polled the readers in the PHR community and came up with our own lists, which varied greatly from the original. For our centers, Sidney Crosby came out just ahead of Connor McDavid for the best in the NHL, while John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron were given much more respect.

On the blue line, NHL Network had Victor Hedman as the best defenseman following his Norris Trophy season while several other respected names found themselves off the list entirely. After nearly 10,000 votes, PHR chose Erik Karlsson as the top dog despite his disappointing 2017-18 campaign. Karlsson just barely edged out Drew Doughty and Hedman at the top of our list, while there were some other interesting inclusions further down. Our PHR community-voted Top 20 Defenseman list currently looks like this:

  1. Erik Karlsson (867 votes)
  2. Drew Doughty (862 votes)
  3. Victor Hedman (857 votes)
  4. P.K. Subban (694 votes)
  5. Brent Burns (633 votes)
  6. Roman Josi (429 votes)
  7. Seth Jones (387 votes)
  8. Oliver Ekman-Larsson (378 votes)
  9. Alex Pietrangelo (373 votes)
  10. John Carlson (341 votes)
  11. Dustin Byfuglien (326 votes)
  12. Shea Weber (219 votes)
  13. Aaron Ekblad (215 votes)
  14. John Klingberg (203 votes)
  15. Ryan Suter (194 votes)
  16. Kris Letang (166 votes)
  17. Dougie Hamilton (165 votes)
  18. Duncan Keith (163 votes)
  19. Ryan Ellis (139 votes)
  20. Charlie McAvoy/Ivan Provorov (137 votes)

Today, the NHL Network released their next ranking, this time valuing the Top 20 Wingers in the league. Nikita Kucherov took down the top spot after once again proving he is an elite offensive talent for the Tampa Bay Lightning. Registering a career-high 100 points last season, Kucherov led the Lightning in scoring for the third consecutive season despite only just turning 25 and was rewarded with a huge eight-year $76MM contract extension this summer. He’ll be in Tampa Bay for quite a while putting up huge point totals and driving an offense that is among the best in the NHL.

Behind Kucherov was the ageless Alex Ovechkin who recently took home his seventh Rocket Richard trophy as the league’s best goal scorer, and finally won the Stanley Cup after being ousted annually by nemesis Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ovechkin also broke the 600-goal threshold in 2017-18, and will likely end up among the very best goal scorers to ever play the game. Reigning Hart Trophy winner as the league MVP falls in just behind the top two, as Taylor Hall managed to hold off Patrick Kane and Brad Marchand for third in the ranking. The rest of the group is a mishmash of veteran stars like Blake Wheeler and Phil Kessel, and young talents like Brock Boeser and Mikko Rantanen.

Just like the debate over centers and defensemen, we will now as you at PHR to rank the top wingers in the NHL. The NHL Network did their own fan vote which ended up being somewhat hijacked by Jake Virtanen fans, but also included other names like Mitch Marner and Tom Wilson. Where do you think those players fall in? Since there are an incredible amount of talented wingers in the league, this time we’ll ask you to cast your vote by selecting 20 names. Make sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the center and defense polls ended. We’ve included many names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important (which we undoubtedly have) make sure to leave his name down below.

Who are the best wingers in the NHL?

  • Alex Ovechkin 7% (638)
  • Taylor Hall 6% (535)
  • Patrick Kane 6% (534)
  • Nikita Kucherov 6% (528)
  • Patrik Laine 5% (513)
  • Vladimir Tarasenko 5% (482)
  • Brad Marchand 5% (428)
  • Artemi Panarin 4% (396)
  • Claude Giroux 4% (374)
  • Jamie Benn 4% (374)
  • Johnny Gaudreau 4% (347)
  • David Pastrnak 4% (331)
  • Phil Kessel 3% (323)
  • Blake Wheeler 3% (322)
  • Filip Forsberg 3% (265)
  • Mitch Marner 2% (197)
  • Brock Boeser 2% (175)
  • Logan Couture 2% (166)
  • Jakub Voracek 2% (157)
  • T.J. Oshie 1% (133)
  • William Nylander 1% (130)
  • Gabriel Landeskog 1% (127)
  • Wayne Simmonds 1% (126)
  • Jonathan Marchessault 1% (123)
  • James van Riemsdyk 1% (119)
  • Mark Stone 1% (118)
  • Mikko Rantanen 1% (93)
  • James Neal 1% (89)
  • Max Pacioretty 1% (89)
  • Jaden Schwartz 1% (86)
  • Jonathan Huberdeau 1% (80)
  • Nikolaj Ehlers 1% (75)
  • Evander Kane 1% (72)
  • Sebastian Aho 1% (72)
  • Jeff Skinner 1% (62)
  • Rickard Rakell 1% (58)
  • Patric Hornqvist 1% (55)
  • Anders Lee 0% (47)
  • Alexander Radulov 0% (44)
  • Corey Perry 0% (44)
  • Viktor Arvidsson 0% (42)
  • Jordan Eberle 0% (39)
  • Clayton Keller 0% (38)
  • Patrick Marleau 0% (37)
  • Kyle Connor 0% (36)
  • Jonathan Drouin 0% (35)
  • Mikael Granlund 0% (31)
  • Teuvo Teravainen 0% (30)
  • Jason Zucker 0% (29)
  • Travis Konecny 0% (25)
  • Alex DeBrincat 0% (23)
  • Anthony Mantha 0% (23)
  • Reilly Smith 0% (22)
  • Brendan Gallagher 0% (21)
  • Mike Hoffman 0% (20)
  • Josh Bailey 0% (19)
  • David Perron 0% (19)
  • Dustin Brown 0% (19)
  • Evgeny Dadonov 0% (11)
  • Yanni Gourde 0% (8)

Total votes: 9,454

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3 comments Polls

2006 NHL Draft Take Two: First Overall Pick

By | at August 19, 2018 11:32 am

Hindsight is an amazing thing, and allows us to look back and wonder “what could have been.” Though perfection is attempted, scouting and draft selection is far from an exact science and sometimes, it doesn’t work out the way teams – or players – intended. For every Patrick Kane, there is a Patrik Stefan.

In the fall of 2016, PHR ran a series where fans were able to choose the order in which draft picks should have been selected during the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. While Sidney Crosby was still the obvious choice for first overall, there was huge turnover for the rest of the first round. Even looking back less than two years later some voters may change their mind, given Carey Price‘s (voted second overall) recent struggles.

This time around we’ll be looking at the infamous 2006 draft, in which Erik Johnson was picked first overall ahead of star forwards like Jonathan Toews, Phil Kessel and Nicklas Backstrom. Three players from the 2006 first round would never suit up for a single NHL game, while seven others would last fewer than 100 games. The 2006 draft was loaded with talent at the top, but where would these stars go if selected today with the benefit of hindsight?

Over the next month as we wait for training camp to begin, we’ll be going through the entire 2006 NHL Entry Draft and have the PHR community select who they would have picked knowing the result of the player’s career. We’ll include a list of players to vote for, and update the first round as it progresses. While 2005 was a clear cut answer at first overall, there might be a little more debate on who is the first off the board this time around.

The St. Louis Blues had the first selection over a decade ago, and went with a big physical defenseman from the US National Team Development Program in Johnson. After a year at the University of Minnesota, Johnson stepped right into a full-time role with the Blues and hasn’t looked back. With 637 career games under his belt and still an important part of the Colorado Avalanche blue line, Johnson can’t be considered a bust. Was he the right selection though at the very top of the draft?

With the first pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, who should the St. Louis Blues select? Cast your vote below!

2006 Redraft: First Overall

  • Jonathan Toews 57% (1,521)
  • Claude Giroux 14% (362)
  • Nicklas Backstrom 12% (316)
  • Brad Marchand 7% (197)
  • Phil Kessel 6% (170)
  • Erik Johnson 1% (23)
  • Jordan Staal 0% (13)
  • Milan Lucic 0% (11)
  • Cal Clutterbuck 0% (8)
  • Trevor Lewis 0% (7)
  • Patrik Berglund 0% (6)
  • Kyle Okposo 0% (4)
  • Shawn Matthias 0% (4)
  • Semyon Varlamov 0% (4)
  • Chris Stewart 0% (2)
  • Michael Grabner 0% (2)
  • Jonathan Bernier 0% (2)
  • Nick Foligno 0% (1)
  • Bryan Little 0% (1)
  • Derick Brassard 0% (1)
  • Nikolay Kulemin 0% (1)
  • Artem Anisimov 0% (1)
  • Jamie McGinn 0% (1)
  • James Riemer 0% (1)
  • Michal Neuvirth 0% (1)
  • Michael Frolik 0% (0)
  • Steve Mason 0% (0)

Total votes: 2,660

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11 comments Polls Prospects St. Louis Blues

Poll: Who Will Be The Top Free Agent Available In 2019?

By | at August 15, 2018 3:27 pm

The 2019 Superclass is losing some of its power. At this point a few months ago, hockey fans across North America were drooling with anticipation while thinking about the group of players scheduled to become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2019. There were some incredible defensemen set to hit the open market, and real questions about whether their current teams would be able to hammer out an extension in time. Now, just six weeks into that extension period and we’ve already seen several names crossed off the list.

On July 1st alone, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Drew Doughty, Ryan McDonagh and Niklas Hjalmarsson were all removed from a possible free agent frenzy by inking huge contract extensions with their respective teams. Ekman-Larsson and Doughty would re-up for eight years each, while McDonagh would receive seven and Hjalmarsson an extra two. It took a few more weeks but Ryan Ellis would join them with an eight-year extension of his own, taking another elite defenseman off the market well before anyone could even prepare a sales pitch.

It wasn’t just defensemen. Logan Couture received an eight-year $64MM extension from the San Jose Sharks as soon as they could give it out, and Adam Henrique was given five more years from their state rival Anaheim Ducks. Marc-Andre Fleury was rewarded for his playoff performance with a three-year deal that makes him one of the highest-paid goaltenders in the league, despite only playing 46 regular season games for the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18.

A ton of talent has already been locked up, but it wasn’t dubbed a Superclass because of just a few players. The 2019 market still has a long list of talent scheduled, including superstar forwards like Tyler Seguin and Artemi Panarin. Erik Karlsson hasn’t signed an extension with the Ottawa Senators and may still be traded before the season, while Sergei Bobrovsky and Pekka Rinne provide some elite goaltending options if they aren’t re-signed.

So who will be the best free agent to make it all the way to market? After John Tavares showed that a superstar can indeed change teams in the prime of their career, who will be next to follow the money (or the home cooking) to a new club? Cast your vote below not for the player who you think is currently the best, but the best player you think will actually become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, 2019. Explain your thoughts in the comment section below.

Who will be the top UFA in 2019?

  • Erik Karlsson 31% (454)
  • Tyler Seguin 24% (347)
  • Artemi Panarin 18% (263)
  • Blake Wheeler 4% (52)
  • Matt Duchene 3% (50)
  • Sergei Bobrovsky 3% (39)
  • Mark Stone 2% (34)
  • Pekka Rinne 2% (34)
  • Wayne Simmonds 2% (33)
  • Max Pacioretty 2% (27)
  • Jordan Eberle 1% (19)
  • Joe Pavelski 1% (17)
  • Jeff Skinner 1% (11)
  • Tyler Myers 1% (9)
  • Jake Gardiner 1% (9)
  • Anders Lee 1% (9)
  • Gustav Nyquist 1% (8)
  • Nate Schmidt 0% (7)
  • Kevin Hayes 0% (6)
  • Eric Staal 0% (6)
  • Mats Zuccarello 0% (5)
  • Jakob Silfverberg 0% (5)

Total votes: 1,444

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3 comments Free Agency Polls

Poll: Who Are The Best Defensemen In The NHL?

By | at August 13, 2018 12:14 pm

Last week the hockey world exploded into debate when the NHL Network released their list of the Top 20 Centers in the league. They had Connor McDavid ahead of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at the top of the list, while others like Jonathan Toews were left off completely. At PHR we did our own poll in which readers were asked to rank the ten best, and after more than 10,000 votes the list looked quite different. The PHR community-voted Top 20 Center list currently looks like this:

  1. Sidney Crosby (1,213 votes)
  2. Connor McDavid (1,127 votes)
  3. Evgeni Malkin (817 votes)
  4. John Tavares (797 votes)
  5. Patrice Bergeron (732 votes)
  6. Auston Matthews (696 votes)
  7. Nathan MacKinnon (689 votes)
  8. Steven Stamkos (596 votes)
  9. Anze Kopitar (591 votes)
  10. Mark Scheifele (435 votes)
  11. Tyler Seguin (401 votes)
  12. Evgeny Kuznetsov (335 votes)
  13. Jonathan Toews (307 votes)
  14. Nicklas Backstrom (301 votes)
  15. Jack Eichel (237 votes)
  16. Aleksander Barkov (160 votes)
  17. Ryan Getzlaf (156 votes)
  18. Ryan O’Reilly (100 votes)
  19. Sean Couturier (99 votes)
  20. Mathew Barzal (85 votes)

Today, the network released their ranking of the Top 20 Defensemen in the NHL right now. At the very top is Victor Hedman, who has established himself as not only one of the best two-way defensemen in recent history, but an absolute superstar for the Tampa Bay Lightning capable of taking home a Norris trophy in any season. Hedman took home the trophy for the 2017-18 season after averaging nearly 26 minutes a night and recording 63 points in 77 games. Behind him though will bring plenty of controversy, as the rest of the list contains some interesting decisions and leaves out several seemingly deserving candidates.

Drew Doughty, Erik Karlsson, Brent Burns and P.K. Subban, winners of four out of the five previous Norris trophies before Hedman took home this year’s award round out the top five. Duncan Keith, who won his second Norris in 2013-14, is nowhere to be found on the list after a down year with the Chicago Blackhawks. Taking up spots previously given to older players like Keith are a handful of youngsters, including Zach Werenski, Seth Jones, and Charlie McAvoy.

Just like the center debate, we’d like to ask you at PHR who you think deserves to be on the list. Can others like Ivan Provorov, Hampus Lindholm, Mattias Ekholm or Marc-Edouard Vlasic make it into the top group? Once again we’ll ask you to cast your vote by selecting 10 names. Makes sure to leave a comment below on who you think deserves to be recognized, or your thoughts on how the center poll ended. We’ve included many of the names that could be considered, but if you think we’ve missed someone important make to to leave his name down below.

Who are the best defensemen in the NHL?

  • Erik Karlsson 9% (906)
  • Drew Doughty 9% (888)
  • Victor Hedman 9% (887)
  • P.K. Subban 7% (719)
  • Brent Burns 7% (660)
  • Roman Josi 5% (442)
  • Seth Jones 4% (397)
  • Alex Pietrangelo 4% (384)
  • Oliver Ekman-Larsson 4% (383)
  • John Carlson 4% (349)
  • Dustin Byfuglien 3% (335)
  • Shea Weber 2% (232)
  • Aaron Ekblad 2% (218)
  • John Klingberg 2% (209)
  • Ryan Suter 2% (196)
  • Kris Letang 2% (178)
  • Dougie Hamilton 2% (168)
  • Duncan Keith 2% (165)
  • Charlie McAvoy 1% (146)
  • Ryan Ellis 1% (143)
  • Ivan Provorov 1% (140)
  • Zach Werenski 1% (137)
  • Jaccob Slavin 1% (137)
  • Zdeno Chara 1% (132)
  • Marc-Edouard Vlasic 1% (120)
  • Shayne Gostisbehere 1% (117)
  • Mark Giordano 1% (101)
  • Ryan McDonagh 1% (100)
  • Colton Parayko 1% (96)
  • Morgan Rielly 1% (88)
  • Torey Krug 1% (66)
  • Cam Fowler 1% (66)
  • Jacob Trouba 1% (65)
  • Hampus Lindholm 1% (60)
  • Rasmus Ristolainen 1% (57)
  • Mattias Ekholm 1% (55)
  • Matt Dumba 0% (42)
  • Nate Schmidt 0% (41)
  • Matt Niskanen 0% (28)
  • Brady Skjei 0% (26)
  • Tyler Myers 0% (25)
  • Keith Yandle 0% (25)
  • Dmitry Orlov 0% (24)
  • Jared Spurgeon 0% (21)
  • Tyson Barrie 0% (16)
  • Jonas Brodin 0% (12)
  • Oscar Klefbom 0% (10)

Total votes: 9,812

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8 comments Polls

Poll: Who Is The Best UFA Left On The Market?

By | at August 8, 2018 4:09 pm

The unrestricted free agent frenzy dried up extremely quickly this season, and we haven’t seen single contract signed in the first week of August. The last UFA to ink a deal was Matt Read, who signed a two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild to try and compete for some fourth line minutes and continue his NHL career. Though the cap situation for many teams is quite tight and roster spots are more and more valuable every year, it is somewhat shocking to see how much NHL experience is still out there. The talent of the remaining players can be questioned, but the league has always seemed willing to give veteran players a chance on one-year deals in the past.

Last August, we saw older players like Matt Cullen, Francois Beauchemin, Drew Stafford and Matt Hendricks given another chance to extend their careers while several minor league players were brought back on two-way contracts. That is still bound to happen over the next few weeks, but the more surprising part is how many veteran names may be left searching for a professional tryout or heading to Europe to find work. There are dozens of skaters who played in at least one NHL game last season still available on the UFA market, and several goaltenders including three with plenty of previous experience.

So which would you most likely sign if you had control of your favorite franchise? Rick Nash may be the obvious choice, given his relative youth and previous star status, but he’s been kept out of our poll given that he hasn’t even decided whether he wants to play next season. Nash may come back to the game at some point, but right now he should be considered off limits. Among the other names though there are several players who’ve shown real effectiveness in the past, some even as recently as last season.

Cast your vote to decide who is the best free agent left on the market, and make sure to leave a comment down below explaining your choice. We’ve included many of the available options, but speak up if there’s someone you think is being overlooked.

Who is the best unrestricted free agent left on the market?

  • Toby Enstrom 12% (181)
  • Luca Sbisa 10% (158)
  • Mike Cammalleri 7% (104)
  • Scott Hartnell 6% (94)
  • Kris Versteeg 6% (90)
  • Antoine Vermette 6% (89)
  • Joel Ward 5% (78)
  • Tommy Wingels 5% (71)
  • Troy Brouwer 5% (71)
  • Alexei Emelin 4% (67)
  • Kari Lehtonen 4% (66)
  • Steve Mason 4% (59)
  • Drew Stafford 4% (54)
  • Nick Shore 3% (49)
  • Mark Letestu 3% (47)
  • Kevin Bieksa 3% (46)
  • Johnny Oduya 3% (43)
  • Lee Stempniak 3% (42)
  • Benoit Pouliot 2% (31)
  • Dominic Moore 2% (29)
  • Ondrej Pavelec 2% (28)
  • Daniel Winnik 2% (26)
  • Jakub Jerabek 1% (8)

Total votes: 1,531

[Mobile users click here to vote]

10 comments Free Agency Polls
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