Colorado's got some game-breaking talent with McKinnon, Rantanen and Makar. Team is gonna be scary for a long time. Shame about Landeskog's injury though.
I'm keeping my eye on Lonzo Ball as he has the same injury and if memory serves right, he got his procedure a few months ahead of Landy so it hopefully can act as an indicator of what's to come because yeah, if that's it for the Captain, that would be a bummer. And also would start to elude to a Swedish Injury Hex on the Avs...
I love that Draisaitl is finally getting some respect from the hockey community. There are several games where he is the best player on his team, and his playoff performance this last season was ridiculous. Put him on any other team and he would be their best player no question.
Dude, Rantanen had to literally carry the Avs forward corps for a quarter of the season when MacKinnon got hurt (and remember, no Landeskog either), put up over 50 goals and over 100 points, scored his 500th point by going bardownski on an empty-net *from inside his own blueline* and still didn't get enough respect. If he played on a team that didn't have Gabe/MacK/Makar, especially if it were in a market as hockey-crazy as Colorado, he'd be top-10 on so many lists of best players in today's NHL. Criminally underrated player.
I think Adam Fox 100% deserved to be on this list. In my opinion he is the second best defenceman in the league ahead of guys like Mcavoy, Josi and Hedman. Other than that great list though! Can't wait to see more!
I feel like McDavid and Draisaitl right now is what Crosby and Malkin were in the early 2010's. Malkin beat Crosby to the art ross in 08-09 when they both played a full season and people still don't put Malkin on the same level and Ovi and Crosby (granted he doesn't have the longevity they do). McDavid was a big part of the Oilers powerplay this year, but Draisaitl was the one slappin them in most of the time.
Absolutely. Malkin is a top 3 player of his generation. As you mentioned, he spent over a decade as a top 3-5 player every season, and the 2 guys who were consistently better happen to be better than just about everybody in history.
Roman Josi is sooooo underrated! Glad you put him on this list. I still comprehend how he did not win the Norris Trophe with his 96 pts in 2021-2022…this guys deserves one big time!
You'll always have my utmost respect for your unbiased opinions, even with the Oilers. (like how does anyone not know you're a Flames fan?! YOUR CHANNEL NAME IS RIGHT THERE) You're a real one man! love the videos keep 'em comin! -Oilers fan that grew up in Calgary
I´d say rantanen is the best winger in the NHL right now. Just amazing on both ends of the ice and he was also amazing when playing center. Reminds me of bergeron but with more offensive talent.
As an Avs fan, I'd definitely say that he's in the discussion along with Kaprizov, Marner, and Tkcuck. You could honestly make a top 4 winger list and put them in any order and make good arguments for all.
Solid overall. Only argument from me is the lack of Adam Fox, and I'd have Petey top-15 when you take into account not only his offensive game, but that he's also an elite defender.
Fun fact, the pronounciation of MacGuire (or atleast the way you said it in the video) for Mikko Rantanen is actually very close to the original Finnish pronounciation. Instead of the one that is usually used for his name.
That's a SAD fact, actually: the guy who made the video KNOWING the correct pronunciation of a name, only to mock it & continue by using the incorrect one. There is no such thing as the "American pronunciation" of name. The name is the name.
As a lifelong Avalanche fan who made it through the dark ages…it’s mind boggling to be able to watch Makar, Mack and Rantanen every night. I’ll never take it for granted. Go Avs Go!
I was Very confused at first because i didnt realize what order you were doing it in. also I love your ranking videos, the first video i watched on your channel was the dressing room one
I think next year majority of this list may stay the same but if there were honourable mentions for this year I think Timmy Stutzle would be one of those, despite not having the most experience he still had 90 points in 78 games this year, and it will probably increase next year.
Two predictions for Johnny's list for 2024-25: Tage Thompson moves up several spots & Eichel has such an incredible season, there's no way he stays off anyone's list.
Love the love for kuch. Feel like he gets forgotten sometimes. Absolute gem. If the list was top outrageous skillset, he’d be top 2. Great video man! Will definitely keep watching!
My list: 1. Connor McJesus 2. Leon Draisaitl 3. Nathan MacKinnon 4. Cale Makar 5. Matthew Tkachuk 6. Auston Matthews 7. David Pastrnak 8. Nikita Kucherov 9. Mikko Rantanen 10. Tage Thompson 11. Jason Robertson 12. Kirill Kaprizov 13. Jack Hughes 14. Sidney Crosby 15. Alexander Ovechkin 16. Mitchell Marner 17. Elias Pettersson 18. Charlie Mcavoy 19. Roope Hintz 20. Artemi Panarin 21. Jack Eichel 22. Victor Hedman 23. Erik Karlsson 24. Brayden Point 25. Steven Stamkos That is how I would rank the Top 25 players in the NHL today, not including goalies.
I like this list, I’m just wondering where Adam fox is? I feel he should probably be top 25. But other than that it’s a very good list with very good reasonings for the rankings
@@obi-wankenobigoat id rather have: Makar, McAvoy, Hedman, karlsson, q. hughes, josi, heiskanen, doughty, seider, ekblad, and letang just off the top of my head. Fox is massively overrated
@@poloyipclips7476 u clearly not looking at the numbers then, not very far behind in points to makar and has better defense than over half those guys you listed
I like your top 5. Personally I do these more as tiers. I’d put McDavid in his own tier at the top, Leon and Makar a tier below, then MacKinnon, Kucherov, Crosby, etc below that. MacKinnon maybe gets his own tier where he’s just barely under the Leon/Makar.
Matthews is above Kucherov and Crosby no? At this point in kuch and Crosby career they are on a decline, Matthews in his prime and has better numbers, I agree with that tier list but drop Crosby and Kuch for Matthews.
@@obi-wankenobigoatKucherov at 30 is still giving Matthews back shots in offensive production so no. And if you include playoffs there’s not a debate. Matthews isn’t much worse tho
@@obi-wankenobigoat better than Crosby, ahhh no, and not sure what you mean by he is playing at a decline.... have you seen his numbers for this year?!!
@@sinevins for starters Matthews clearly has better stats right now, secondly do a simple comparison of Crosby stats from this year to last year and 2 years ago, not as good, decline
Howly smokes! I am not even close being neither a veteran nor an expert of NHL, but my top 7 spots were actually identical to yours! Awesome to see that I am not completely off. Awesome list and thank you for explaining each player. :)
My Top 25 for the upcoming season. Didn’t put the goalies in the mix. But Vasi/Shes/Sorokin as top 3. 1. McDavid 2. Draisaitl 3. Makar 4. Mackinnon 5. M. Tkachuk 6. Matthews 7. Kucherov 8. Crosby 9. Pastrnak 10. Rantanen 11. Fox 12. Kaprizov 13. Robertson 14. Thompson 15. McAvoy 16. Eichel 17. Point 18. Heiskanen 19. Marner 20. J. Hughes 21. Pettersson 22. Dahlin 23. Stone 24. B. Tkachuk 25. Barkov
it’s rare we get a long johnny hawkey video. absolutely love the content, long or short videos i haven’t missed a single one in almost a year. fact check me. keep up the amazing work
2-5 is interesting cause depending on the night it could be anybody. That 2022 playoffs by Makar had him at 2 for me. When Drai is on easily 2 but I could say the same for Mac or Papi
Tbh im really not sure theres a way to justify not having Draisaitl at #2. Makar is the only possibility to dethrone him but i wonder if he'll ever be healthy enough consistently to do that.
@@sojiroseta98how about the fact that he is a powerplay merchant? He isn't even top 60 in even strength goals. Dylan Strome had more even strength goals than him last year just put that into perspective. Not even top 10 in even strength points either. Still a great player but I think 2 is a little high.
@@hockeyhamrincry about it bro 😂 the point of the power play is to score…… if it were so easy why does no one else score so many power-play goals, also did it ever occur to you how many potential even strength goals he could’ve had but someone took a penalty on him to prevent it causing him to go on power play and then score.
@hockeyhamrin THATS your argument?? You smokin something strong? Ok so lets go with your metric here, the so called 'PP Merchant'. Ok so his competition is what Makar, Mackinnon, Kucherov? I even added Crosby's best 5 point total years...heres a surprising fact (though its only surprising if you just go with narratives) Heres what i confirmed, last 5 point total years (best 5 for Crosby, only 4 for Makar: 1)Makar - 43% of his pts are PP 2)Crosby - 41% of his pts were PP 3) Kucherov - 39% of his pts were PP 4)Draisaitl - 36% of his pts were PP 5)Mackinnon - 35% of his pts were PP So with that said, based on your argument, it seems that despite the fact that all of these players play/played on stacked PPs it seems like Crosby was actually the real merchant of PP as you say, yet he doesnt have that rep....if you actually look at the facts on average most NHL superstars throughout history were in that 35-40% pp points range so that completely destroys this narrative about Leon. I didnt even bother with Matthews because he doesnt even put up enough assists to rank with them. That being said i wouldnt personally judge them on points alone, Leon's playoff performances alone were enough to place him at #2 to begin with...just one example.
What he said about Draisaitl is very true as soon as he has one bad game they say he sucks 😔 but they do the same thing to Marner even if he's been planning better than Matthews 🥲
@@theturtlefamily9531 lol he ain’t even close the reason why the oilers lost is because of depth and physically issues in the playoffs Vegas was loaded
McDavid and Draisytle remind me of Lemieux and Jagr at one time in the early to mid 90’s….you are 100% correct I think you actually got Tage Thompson ranked too low….I got him around number 10 more. Crosby is definitely NOT a top 5 player anymore…..but he is the reason that there are so many good ones now.
All great players. I bet you wanted to do top 50! It would be interesting to do a follow-up video at the end of the season. Not so much to prove anyone wrong, but to see how their potentials played out. It's also going to be dependent on their teammates, and that's often the biggest excuse we hear when a player doesn't reach their potential LOL! Interesting list-all great picks
Matthews not in the top 5 is pretty ridiculous to me. Back to back rocket winner, hart and Ted Lindsay winner and is one of the best defensive centres in the league. I get the playoff doubters but he’s young enough to give him the benefit of the doubt
Come on Kevin! Matthews scoring 52 goals in 57 games! In 1980s Gretzky's time NHL 8 goals per game! Today NHL only 6 goals per game! If Matthews have played in 1982 he could have scored closer to 100 goals breaking Gretzky's 92 goals record! Ovechkin would have score high scoring 1980s easily over 1000 goals!
Draisaitl has the best overall shot in the league. Matthews has the best wrist shot/ half slapper, McDavid is the best goal scorer, but Drai can shoot the puck so hard and accurate with no wind up whatsoever off his forehand or backhand, from any angle. It makes no sense, you’d think he has Popeye forearms.
@@dwaynethewokjohnson7773 if you watched him play for a single playoff game or even regular season game you’d understand. Also he’s never hit 50 goals yet he’s consistently ranked 2nd in the league. That alone should tell you how good he is
SO you listed 25 players and didn't list Alexander Barkov? You must not not value winning to highly. There's a reason Austin Matthews was a bum in the Panthers series and it was because he was matched up with the best 2-way center in the world. Putting guys like Tage Thompson, Pettersson, Matthews, Kaprizov, Charlie Mcacvoy, Sebastian Aho and not including Barkov is disrespectful to the sport and I stand on that!!! You bias as hell for players on Canadian because they play in tough hockey markets, there's no pressure win in Vancouver right now everybody knows they are trash as hell at the moment. Who cares that Pettersson is the face of the Canucks? They are a very bad hockey team, Barkov is the captain of the defending Eastern Conference Champions Florida Panthers and the best defensive center in the entire sport. He's worse than Matthews, Aho, Pettersson and Tage Thompson? Please give me a break, Barkov hasnt fully been healthy since 2019 but still won a selke, presidents trophy and went to the Stanley Cup Final in that time span while not being fully healthy. Barkov moves the needle more than any center in the Eastern Conference and his peers agree with me as he was once again voted him the 2022-2023 NHL Most Underrated player 119 out 518 players believe he's the most underrated player in the league. Lists like yours confirm why. www.nhl.com/panthers/news/barkov-voted-most-underrated-player-in-2022-23-nhlpa-player-poll/c-342579406
Exactly. He is like producing points at the same level as all of those guys you listed while being one of the best two way players in the game. At least I can't see when Aho has been a better player than Barkov.
WHERE THE HELL IS ADAM FOX. A near consensus top 2 defenseman largely considered many times better than anyone else other than Makar who slightly edges him out. I hope he wins the Norris to show you that he is better than most people on this list.
@@ryanlauzon177 yeah how dare I put Norris trophy winner Adam Fox in the top 10. A guy NHL PLAYERS say at absolute worst is the 3rd best Dman in the league. 🤓
Serious question. How much points would guys like Mackinnon, Matthews, Ovechkin etc.. have playing with Mcdavid all year long? I’ve gotta believe that he drastically improves any players point totals. Especially goal scorers.
My top 5 are. McDavid 1 McKinon 2 Draisaitl 3 Makar 4 Crosby 5 and before anyone freaks out Mathews is 6 but I find Crosby is still better in the overall category but Mathews could over take him soon.
I think Matthews is better the kuthurov and sindney right now if you really want to pause it I could see Auston Matthews become better then Nathan mackinnon in 2 years
Gotta give you props, draisaitl is definitely that good, not many see it, especially with you being a flames fan. Hope soon flames sort things out so we see the battle of Alberta again and I can get some digs in when oilers win lol jk, keep up the great content please!
Crosby is overrated which feels wrong to say, but if you look at his stats, he barely makes top ten My top five would be Connor (of course) Nate Mac Leon Draisaitl Cale Makar Auston Matthews People dont realize how good Auston Matthews is as a pure hockey played, if Matthews wasn’t in a down year, I might put home top two, but other players, loke draisaitl dont show that complete package like connor or auston do
Well done. Not just a ranking, but strong reasons why you put each player on the list. Draisaitl as #2 is one hot take that makes this list worth checking out.
Not that much of a hot take imo, he does everything that MacKinnon and Matthews can do but better. Has Matthews scoring ability, MacKinnon’s physicality, and is #1 passer in the league. That’s a #2 player all day.
Stamkos has a Nasty One Tee and he is a great passer witch makes him a threat you have to respect his shot but if you don't attack him he can dish the puck and set up his teammates for easy goals
Who do you think is the best when in their peak (so far): McDavid, Crosby, Ovechkin, Jagr, Lemieux, Gretzky or Messier? Considering everything, skill, point generation, leadership, everything. I might go for Lemieux.
McDavid and Draisaitl are the best players at the moment, that is for sure! And for me as a German it is nice to see, that you guys are finally taking notice, that Leon has its own shadow. He never was and ever will be in McDavids shadow!
Good list but I’d switch Makar and Draisaitle. I think Makar is hands down the second most talented player in the league and the only guy with potential to overtake Mcdavid as the best right now. It’s just playing as a defence man gets you less credit.
tbh kinda shocked that there were no rangers players here i think adam fox is one of the top defenders in the whole league and possibly chris kreider as well somewhere. all i know is that one of those jerseys are going up in the rafters at msg
Dylan Larkin has got to be on this list he has to much talent and leadership not to be. He plays powerplay, penalty kill, offence, defence, faceoffs, great playmaker and has a powerful one timer shot. He is a all round great player and the Wings are lost when he is not in the line up. Also other notables are Barkov, Nylander, Panarin, Barzel, Suzuki, and Zach Hyman with over 50 goals already this season.
Talk about fake news - “I don’t even think mackinnon is the best on his team” - man that gave me a good chuckle. Wouldn’t even call it controversial, just clearly flat out wrong. Mack and McDavid top 2 no questions
![Stromae, Pomme - “Ma Meilleure Ennemie” (from Arcane Season 2) [Official Visualizer]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1F3OGIFnW1k/mqdefault.jpg)
Where the hell is Phil Kessel??
Growing Glizzy trees in his retirement 😂
@@Wattupaworkinthat doesn’t explain pat maroon
In the press box
Edit want to be clear this is a joke.
Taking credit for a cup he didn’t win lol.
4 cup Phil confirmed?
Colorado's got some game-breaking talent with McKinnon, Rantanen and Makar. Team is gonna be scary for a long time. Shame about Landeskog's injury though.
A lot of solid players missed a lot of time and we’re still able to recover and have meaningful careers. Like Crosby
I'm keeping my eye on Lonzo Ball as he has the same injury and if memory serves right, he got his procedure a few months ahead of Landy so it hopefully can act as an indicator of what's to come because yeah, if that's it for the Captain, that would be a bummer. And also would start to elude to a Swedish Injury Hex on the Avs...
Definitely 👍
I think Nichuskin deserves more praise aswell
I love that Draisaitl is finally getting some respect from the hockey community. There are several games where he is the best player on his team, and his playoff performance this last season was ridiculous. Put him on any other team and he would be their best player no question.
He was also playing injured. He's that good 👍
Respectable list. Can you rank the top 10 goalies for the 23-24 season?
Markstrom #1
Vasilevskiy, bobrovsky, and shesterkin are my top 3
Dude, Rantanen had to literally carry the Avs forward corps for a quarter of the season when MacKinnon got hurt (and remember, no Landeskog either), put up over 50 goals and over 100 points, scored his 500th point by going bardownski on an empty-net *from inside his own blueline* and still didn't get enough respect. If he played on a team that didn't have Gabe/MacK/Makar, especially if it were in a market as hockey-crazy as Colorado, he'd be top-10 on so many lists of best players in today's NHL. Criminally underrated player.
I think Adam Fox 100% deserved to be on this list. In my opinion he is the second best defenceman in the league ahead of guys like Mcavoy, Josi and Hedman. Other than that great list though! Can't wait to see more!
Him and Heiskanen deserve it more than those guys. He included Hintz and Robertson, but Miro is the best Dallas Stars player
Flames fan wouldn't have him on this list tho
heiskanen is overrated. not that many number1 dman with the amount of giveaways he gets every year. @@zcohen17
I 100% agree.
the only defenseman better is Cale Makar. Every one except him think differently. He and Makar are 10 times better than every other defenseman.
I feel like McDavid and Draisaitl right now is what Crosby and Malkin were in the early 2010's. Malkin beat Crosby to the art ross in 08-09 when they both played a full season and people still don't put Malkin on the same level and Ovi and Crosby (granted he doesn't have the longevity they do). McDavid was a big part of the Oilers powerplay this year, but Draisaitl was the one slappin them in most of the time.
They are similar. Only difference is that they have 3 cups.
@@chelious1973team effort
Just because Malkin did good a couple years doesn’t mean much. Sid has been far more consistent 1,500 points and a 210 +-
@bleachroxmysox22 not saying he's better, just that he's been a top 5 forward in the league over the 2010s and a lot of people don't recognize that
Absolutely. Malkin is a top 3 player of his generation. As you mentioned, he spent over a decade as a top 3-5 player every season, and the 2 guys who were consistently better happen to be better than just about everybody in history.
Roman Josi is sooooo underrated! Glad you put him on this list. I still comprehend how he did not win the Norris Trophe with his 96 pts in 2021-2022…this guys deserves one big time!
He has won a Norris. Doubt he will come close again tho
Josi is fantastic
Good list. I think fox, Barkov and heiskanen would’ve found their ways on my list
No Adam Fox?! (devils fan here)
My firsts thought as well! Coming from a bruins fan
Draisaitl is this era's Malkin.
Malkin won multiple cups lol
Bro, the fact that you even realized Rantanen. Dude is one of the most underrated players in the league since he plays with Makar and Mackinnon
You'll always have my utmost respect for your unbiased opinions, even with the Oilers. (like how does anyone not know you're a Flames fan?! YOUR CHANNEL NAME IS RIGHT THERE)
You're a real one man! love the videos keep 'em comin!
-Oilers fan that grew up in Calgary
Tim Stutzle making this list next season
Yep, and maybe Matiac Macelli too :)
@@imulippo5245 we'll see, he's a promising prospect but he's on a trashy yotes team and stutzle already has a 90 point season under his belt
I´d say rantanen is the best winger in the NHL right now. Just amazing on both ends of the ice and he was also amazing when playing center. Reminds me of bergeron but with more offensive talent.
Matthew Tkchuck is better
@@ethanvanloon4452 he would be my second choice
As an Avs fan, I'd definitely say that he's in the discussion along with Kaprizov, Marner, and Tkcuck. You could honestly make a top 4 winger list and put them in any order and make good arguments for all.
@@ethanvanloon4452and Pasta is better still.
@@gavindough3344Pasta, Kuctch, Kaprisiv, Tkcuck, Is my top 4
Solid overall. Only argument from me is the lack of Adam Fox, and I'd have Petey top-15 when you take into account not only his offensive game, but that he's also an elite defender.
Respectable list. A best under 25 list would be interesting.
Fun fact, the pronounciation of MacGuire (or atleast the way you said it in the video) for Mikko Rantanen is actually very close to the original Finnish pronounciation. Instead of the one that is usually used for his name.
That's a SAD fact, actually: the guy who made the video KNOWING the correct pronunciation of a name, only to mock it & continue by using the incorrect one. There is no such thing as the "American pronunciation" of name. The name is the name.
As a lifelong Avalanche fan who made it through the dark ages…it’s mind boggling to be able to watch Makar, Mack and Rantanen every night. I’ll never take it for granted. Go Avs Go!
The way you said dark ages
Sounds like the Great Depression
JH - "You're gonna want to see who I've got at number 2"
Me - "It's Draisaitl isn't it?"
JH - "#2 is Leon Draisaitl"
Me - "I f*ckin knew it"
lol
I was Very confused at first because i didnt realize what order you were doing it in. also I love your ranking videos, the first video i watched on your channel was the dressing room one
I’d change a few things I think Hintz is going to have a much bigger year than Mark Stone
I think next year majority of this list may stay the same but if there were honourable mentions for this year I think Timmy Stutzle would be one of those, despite not having the most experience he still had 90 points in 78 games this year, and it will probably increase next year.
Draisaitl at 2 is a great choice. I’d personally move Pasta and Tkachuk up to more of the top 5/6
Two predictions for Johnny's list for 2024-25: Tage Thompson moves up several spots & Eichel has such an incredible season, there's no way he stays off anyone's list.
Eichel had a great post-season, his season was pretty mediocre
yeah Thompson don't make the list now so u were wrong, don't think I would put Eichel there either to be honest
Barkov is in the top 25 imo
Bedard will be in it very soon
I agree about barkov
I feel like Dahlin is gonna be top 15-10 by the end of next season
Easily
I’m confused how Dahlin isn’t on this list now. If he is - I didn’t see him
I love the top 4. After watching that Oilers vs. Avs WCF the previous year...I have never seen hockey played so fast in my life.
Missing Heiskanen and Barkov🤔
He just continues being underrated... Imo he is the 2nd best Finn after Rantanen.
Love the love for kuch. Feel like he gets forgotten sometimes. Absolute gem. If the list was top outrageous skillset, he’d be top 2. Great video man! Will definitely keep watching!
My list:
1. Connor McJesus
2. Leon Draisaitl
3. Nathan MacKinnon
4. Cale Makar
5. Matthew Tkachuk
6. Auston Matthews
7. David Pastrnak
8. Nikita Kucherov
9. Mikko Rantanen
10. Tage Thompson
11. Jason Robertson
12. Kirill Kaprizov
13. Jack Hughes
14. Sidney Crosby
15. Alexander Ovechkin
16. Mitchell Marner
17. Elias Pettersson
18. Charlie Mcavoy
19. Roope Hintz
20. Artemi Panarin
21. Jack Eichel
22. Victor Hedman
23. Erik Karlsson
24. Brayden Point
25. Steven Stamkos
That is how I would rank the Top 25 players in the NHL today, not including goalies.
I like this list, I’m just wondering where Adam fox is? I feel he should probably be top 25. But other than that it’s a very good list with very good reasonings for the rankings
Fs, easily the second best d-man
not even a top 30 player
@@poloyipclips7476literally a top 2-5 d-man, that deserves being in top 25
@@obi-wankenobigoat id rather have: Makar, McAvoy, Hedman, karlsson, q. hughes, josi, heiskanen, doughty, seider, ekblad, and letang just off the top of my head. Fox is massively overrated
@@poloyipclips7476 u clearly not looking at the numbers then, not very far behind in points to makar and has better defense than over half those guys you listed
I like your top 5. Personally I do these more as tiers. I’d put McDavid in his own tier at the top, Leon and Makar a tier below, then MacKinnon, Kucherov, Crosby, etc below that. MacKinnon maybe gets his own tier where he’s just barely under the Leon/Makar.
Matthews is above Kucherov and Crosby no? At this point in kuch and Crosby career they are on a decline, Matthews in his prime and has better numbers, I agree with that tier list but drop Crosby and Kuch for Matthews.
@@obi-wankenobigoatKucherov at 30 is still giving Matthews back shots in offensive production so no. And if you include playoffs there’s not a debate. Matthews isn’t much worse tho
@@obi-wankenobigoat better than Crosby, ahhh no, and not sure what you mean by he is playing at a decline....
have you seen his numbers for this year?!!
@@sinevins for starters Matthews clearly has better stats right now, secondly do a simple comparison of Crosby stats from this year to last year and 2 years ago, not as good, decline
Howly smokes! I am not even close being neither a veteran nor an expert of NHL, but my top 7 spots were actually identical to yours! Awesome to see that I am not completely off. Awesome list and thank you for explaining each player. :)
Have you ever made a list of the top 25 teams with the best ice? That would be an interesting episode.
1. McDavid
2. Draisaitl
3. Makar
4. MacKinnon
5. Matthews
6. Kucherov
7. M. Tkachuk
8. Pastrnak
9. J. Hughes
10. Robertson
11. Crosby
12. Rantanen
13. Josi
14. Marner
15. Thompson
16. Hedman
17. Kaprizov
18. Ovechkin
19. Fox
20. Pettersson
21. Point
22. Heiskanen
23. Barkov
24. McAvoy
25. Q. Hughes
Marner at 14 is wild when he's easily the best on his team and a teammate is at 5 on the list
@@CC-of5xl 9-20 is basically a tier
My Top 25 for the upcoming season. Didn’t put the goalies in the mix. But Vasi/Shes/Sorokin as top 3.
1. McDavid
2. Draisaitl
3. Makar
4. Mackinnon
5. M. Tkachuk
6. Matthews
7. Kucherov
8. Crosby
9. Pastrnak
10. Rantanen
11. Fox
12. Kaprizov
13. Robertson
14. Thompson
15. McAvoy
16. Eichel
17. Point
18. Heiskanen
19. Marner
20. J. Hughes
21. Pettersson
22. Dahlin
23. Stone
24. B. Tkachuk
25. Barkov
Haha your list appears better then the videos
it’s rare we get a long johnny hawkey video. absolutely love the content, long or short videos i haven’t missed a single one in almost a year. fact check me. keep up the amazing work
2-5 is interesting cause depending on the night it could be anybody. That 2022 playoffs by Makar had him at 2 for me. When Drai is on easily 2 but I could say the same for Mac or Papi
Tbh im really not sure theres a way to justify not having Draisaitl at #2. Makar is the only possibility to dethrone him but i wonder if he'll ever be healthy enough consistently to do that.
@@sojiroseta98how about the fact that he is a powerplay merchant? He isn't even top 60 in even strength goals. Dylan Strome had more even strength goals than him last year just put that into perspective. Not even top 10 in even strength points either. Still a great player but I think 2 is a little high.
@@hockeyhamrincry about it bro 😂 the point of the power play is to score…… if it were so easy why does no one else score so many power-play goals, also did it ever occur to you how many potential even strength goals he could’ve had but someone took a penalty on him to prevent it causing him to go on power play and then score.
@hockeyhamrin THATS your argument?? You smokin something strong? Ok so lets go with your metric here, the so called 'PP Merchant'. Ok so his competition is what Makar, Mackinnon, Kucherov? I even added Crosby's best 5 point total years...heres a surprising fact (though its only surprising if you just go with narratives)
Heres what i confirmed, last 5 point total years (best 5 for Crosby, only 4 for Makar:
1)Makar - 43% of his pts are PP
2)Crosby - 41% of his pts were PP
3) Kucherov - 39% of his pts were PP
4)Draisaitl - 36% of his pts were PP
5)Mackinnon - 35% of his pts were PP
So with that said, based on your argument, it seems that despite the fact that all of these players play/played on stacked PPs it seems like Crosby was actually the real merchant of PP as you say, yet he doesnt have that rep....if you actually look at the facts on average most NHL superstars throughout history were in that 35-40% pp points range so that completely destroys this narrative about Leon. I didnt even bother with Matthews because he doesnt even put up enough assists to rank with them. That being said i wouldnt personally judge them on points alone, Leon's playoff performances alone were enough to place him at #2 to begin with...just one example.
@@sojiroseta98 bro u fucking killed him 😂 I love u
What he said about Draisaitl is very true as soon as he has one bad game they say he sucks 😔 but they do the same thing to Marner even if he's been planning better than Matthews 🥲
1:55 he scored 60 in a season !
Not many people have done that, especially in the modern era
Personally I’d put Mack over Makar and maybe even Draisaitl but I’d say 3 for sure
Who else managed to shutdown mcdavid? No one
@@edited1325 Ever heard of a legend by the name of William Karlsson?
@@theturtlefamily9531 lol he ain’t even close the reason why the oilers lost is because of depth and physically issues in the playoffs Vegas was loaded
@@edited1325I’ve seen Heiskanen clamp Mcdavid but other than that no one.
McDavid and Draisytle remind me of Lemieux and Jagr at one time in the early to mid 90’s….you are 100% correct
I think you actually got Tage Thompson ranked too low….I got him around number 10 more.
Crosby is definitely NOT a top 5 player anymore…..but he is the reason that there are so many good ones now.
I love the ranking videos,maybe the next ranking video can be all the NHL goal horns
Appreciate you agamer! Cheers!
My top 25
25. Kessel
24. Kessel
23. Kessel
22. Kessel
21. Kessel
20. Kessel
19. Kessel
18. Kessel
17. Kessel
16. Kessel
15. Kessel
14. Kessel
13. Kessel
12. Kessel
11. Kessel
10. Kessel
9. Kessel
8. Kessel
7. Kessel
6. Kessel
5. Kessel
4. Kessel
3. Kessel
2. Mcdavid
1. Kessel
my number 3 is milan lucic
@@scout8424 he’s no Kessel
All great players. I bet you wanted to do top 50! It would be interesting to do a follow-up video at the end of the season.
Not so much to prove anyone wrong, but to see how their potentials played out.
It's also going to be dependent on their teammates, and that's often the biggest excuse we hear when a player doesn't reach their potential LOL!
Interesting list-all great picks
Way too forward heavy. Fox, Heiskanen, Hughes, Dahlin are all missing
Quin Hughes top 25😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
@@Jornjunior18This comment did not age well lol
@@Jornjunior18definitely now 😂😂
I think that quinn Hughes should have cracked the top 25 he is criminally underrated and I will not stand for it
You have what most people call autism
Fox and Heiskanen were both left off the list as well tbf.
@@iCoolaxe yeah that is true
If we're talking about next season, Stutzle's gotta be in the 10-20 range
Matthews not in the top 5 is pretty ridiculous to me. Back to back rocket winner, hart and Ted Lindsay winner and is one of the best defensive centres in the league. I get the playoff doubters but he’s young enough to give him the benefit of the doubt
I know Panarin doesn't do all well in the playoffs, but he deservers some recognition for his 100 point season he's having.
draisaitl's playoff performance solidified him as #2 in my books, he totally stepped up to the plate...again
Very reasonable list and well justified. Always enjoy your work. Keep it up. Would have expected Matthews to have finished in the top five.
Come on Kevin! Matthews scoring 52 goals in 57 games! In 1980s Gretzky's time NHL 8 goals per game! Today NHL only 6 goals per game! If Matthews have played in 1982 he could have scored closer to 100 goals breaking Gretzky's 92 goals record! Ovechkin would have score high scoring 1980s easily over 1000 goals!
Draisaitl has the best overall shot in the league. Matthews has the best wrist shot/ half slapper, McDavid is the best goal scorer, but Drai can shoot the puck so hard and accurate with no wind up whatsoever off his forehand or backhand, from any angle. It makes no sense, you’d think he has Popeye forearms.
Noone seems to be able to hit him aswell. He just Forsberg’s them all. Dude’s a tank
mackinnon has a better shot imo
@@purplepotato69 That’s why he’s never hit 50 goals
@@dwaynethewokjohnson7773 that means absolutely nothing. He’s also a very big team player but when he does shoot he usually scores
@@dwaynethewokjohnson7773 if you watched him play for a single playoff game or even regular season game you’d understand. Also he’s never hit 50 goals yet he’s consistently ranked 2nd in the league. That alone should tell you how good he is
Mark Stone should be #1 for that knob on his stick haha
I agree with this list well
Done
SO you listed 25 players and didn't list Alexander Barkov? You must not not value winning to highly. There's a reason Austin Matthews was a bum in the Panthers series and it was because he was matched up with the best 2-way center in the world. Putting guys like Tage Thompson, Pettersson, Matthews, Kaprizov, Charlie Mcacvoy, Sebastian Aho and not including Barkov is disrespectful to the sport and I stand on that!!!
You bias as hell for players on Canadian because they play in tough hockey markets, there's no pressure win in Vancouver right now everybody knows they are trash as hell at the moment. Who cares that Pettersson is the face of the Canucks? They are a very bad hockey team, Barkov is the captain of the defending Eastern Conference Champions Florida Panthers and the best defensive center in the entire sport. He's worse than Matthews, Aho, Pettersson and Tage Thompson? Please give me a break, Barkov hasnt fully been healthy since 2019 but still won a selke, presidents trophy and went to the Stanley Cup Final in that time span while not being fully healthy.
Barkov moves the needle more than any center in the Eastern Conference and his peers agree with me as he was once again voted him the 2022-2023 NHL Most Underrated player 119 out 518 players believe he's the most underrated player in the league. Lists like yours confirm why. www.nhl.com/panthers/news/barkov-voted-most-underrated-player-in-2022-23-nhlpa-player-poll/c-342579406
Exactly. He is like producing points at the same level as all of those guys you listed while being one of the best two way players in the game. At least I can't see when Aho has been a better player than Barkov.
great list! In my opinion Heiskanen will be in the top 25 in a couple of years, he is so close to making the list already for me
No Milan Lucic ?! This list is bogus.
Gotta give my finnish bias here but the list missing barkov is criminal.
Honorable mentions the two dallas boys heiskanen and hintz
if i had a dime for every time Johnny said "straw that stirs the drink" i would have 2 dimes. it's not a lot but it makes you look twice
The list was agreeable
MCDAVID OVER RUZICKA?!?!?!
😐
WHERE THE HELL IS ADAM FOX. A near consensus top 2 defenseman largely considered many times better than anyone else other than Makar who slightly edges him out. I hope he wins the Norris to show you that he is better than most people on this list.
I can’t take this seriously without Adam Fox (whose honestly probably top 10) and Sasha barkov.
Top 10 player in the league for Adam fox is what most hockey fans call delusion, but hey….what else am I supposed to expect from a rags fan
@@ryanlauzon177 yeah how dare I put Norris trophy winner Adam Fox in the top 10. A guy NHL PLAYERS say at absolute worst is the 3rd best Dman in the league. 🤓
@@BKHockeyTalk he shouldn’t have even won the Norris that year be real w yourself, and he’s rlly not a top 3 defender 💀
@@ryanlauzon177 yeah ur right rangers should get rid of him. What a bum! 🤡
This list only confirms that East Coast bias is a real thing. GKG!
My thoughts exactly.
Serious question. How much points would guys like Mackinnon, Matthews, Ovechkin etc.. have playing with Mcdavid all year long?
I’ve gotta believe that he drastically improves any players point totals.
Especially goal scorers.
My top 5 are. McDavid 1 McKinon 2 Draisaitl 3 Makar 4 Crosby 5 and before anyone freaks out Mathews is 6 but I find Crosby is still better in the overall category but Mathews could over take him soon.
I think Matthews is better the kuthurov and sindney right now if you really want to pause it I could see Auston Matthews become better then Nathan mackinnon in 2 years
Adam fox and miro heiskanen
I really wish I could complain about how there's no red wings on here but I understand why they aren't there
Gotta give you props, draisaitl is definitely that good, not many see it, especially with you being a flames fan. Hope soon flames sort things out so we see the battle of Alberta again and I can get some digs in when oilers win lol jk, keep up the great content please!
Nice video
Crosby is overrated which feels wrong to say, but if you look at his stats, he barely makes top ten
My top five would be
Connor (of course)
Nate Mac
Leon Draisaitl
Cale Makar
Auston Matthews
People dont realize how good Auston Matthews is as a pure hockey played, if Matthews wasn’t in a down year, I might put home top two, but other players, loke draisaitl dont show that complete package like connor or auston do
Could Stutzle be there one year?
I’d take Drai over Mcdavid every day.
Well done. Not just a ranking, but strong reasons why you put each player on the list. Draisaitl as #2 is one hot take that makes this list worth checking out.
Not that much of a hot take imo, he does everything that MacKinnon and Matthews can do but better. Has Matthews scoring ability, MacKinnon’s physicality, and is #1 passer in the league. That’s a #2 player all day.
Thanks for all the clips of my mediocre at best flyers getting deked and scored on
Bro said tage Thompson is the complete package 😂
Jason Robertson 234 points in his first 210 games. Auston Matthews 205 points in his first 212 games. The NHL is just one big popularity contest
Matthews is by far the more complete player if you actually watched and paid attention to what he does on the ice
This list was absolutely spot on but definitely missing Adam Fox. As a bruins fan I'd take Fox over McAvoy
With peteys defense I don’t see how he’s not ahead players like robo or atleast tage.
4:36 the guy in the background might crack the list next year
Stamkos has a Nasty One Tee and he is a great passer witch makes him a threat you have to respect his shot but if you don't attack him he can dish the puck and set up his teammates for easy goals
Who do you think is the best when in their peak (so far): McDavid, Crosby, Ovechkin, Jagr, Lemieux, Gretzky or Messier? Considering everything, skill, point generation, leadership, everything.
I might go for Lemieux.
I even have Mario over 99 in most ways. He could have caught him if not for a debilitating illness
Orr then Lemieux imo
Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Howe, Crosby
@@Outta-hz1ej Gretzky isn’t better than Lemieux or Orr or Mr hockey himself
iginla
Sidney Crosby is a bit better than kucherov in my opinion
McDavid and Draisaitl are the best players at the moment, that is for sure! And for me as a German it is nice to see, that you guys are finally taking notice, that Leon has its own shadow. He never was and ever will be in McDavids shadow!
100% agreed on Draisaitl being #2
I would flip flop Pasternak and Crosby, add in vassy and otter.
Petey wayyyy higher
i seriously thought that at 36 sid would be on the outside looking in at the top 10 of this list ngl
Good list but I’d switch Makar and Draisaitle. I think Makar is hands down the second most talented player in the league and the only guy with potential to overtake Mcdavid as the best right now. It’s just playing as a defence man gets you less credit.
Pretty solid list.
tbh kinda shocked that there were no rangers players here i think adam fox is one of the top defenders in the whole league and possibly chris kreider as well somewhere. all i know is that one of those jerseys are going up in the rafters at msg
Where is Sahsa Barkov? Definitely one of the best 2 way players in the league.
Don't care what other people think. playoff Kuch is the best in NHL. regular season is like preseason to me.
Dylan Larkin has got to be on this list he has to much talent and leadership not to be. He plays powerplay, penalty kill, offence, defence, faceoffs, great playmaker and has a powerful one timer shot. He is a all round great player and the Wings are lost when he is not in the line up. Also other notables are Barkov, Nylander, Panarin, Barzel, Suzuki, and Zach Hyman with over 50 goals already this season.
Talk about fake news - “I don’t even think mackinnon is the best on his team” - man that gave me a good chuckle. Wouldn’t even call it controversial, just clearly flat out wrong. Mack and McDavid top 2 no questions
great list more please
Ever heard of Adam fox he’s a no doubt top 10 players