Who is your favorite player to watch (with caveats)?

[Down by the River]

List your three favorite players to watch, and why. I'm not talking about who is the best, most dominant, etc. I just want to know who you most enjoy seeing play the game of hockey. However, the player must be active and currently in the NHL. Your answer cannot include the obvious guys that everyone is aware are fun to watch:

 

McDavid

Kane

Crosby

Karlsson

 

My top 3:

 

1. Jeff Skinner. One of the most creative skaters I've ever seen. Very shifty; great lateral movement.

2. Mitch Marner. Eyes in the back of his head. Creative with the puck, good at creating space.

3. Artemi Panarin. Basically plays similar to Marner. Lots of one touch passing in the o-zone with Kane.

 

Honorable mentions: Mike Hoffman (his release is one of my favorites in the league), Brendan Gallagher (nobody works harder than him; takes a ton of abuse. Maybe one of the toughest guys in the league)

[Zhukini]

Not sure how many of these would be classified in the Kane/Crosby class.

 

1. Gaudreau

2. Marner

3. Scheifele

4. Price

5. Ristolainen

[Brad Marchand]

Outside of the four names you mentioned:

 

1. Laine

2. Gaudreau

3. MacKinnon

[diesel_3]

I agree with Mitch Marner, My wife is a die hard Leafs fan so I tend to watch a lot of their games. He seems to have the ability to create something out of nothing and you always have that feeling he is going to do something entertaining with the puck.

 

Wayne Simmonds - Was able to watch a game of his in junior for Owen Sound when he played against Tavares and the Generals, He has definitely worked hard and earned his place as a very good power forward in the NHL. He is gritty, can score, hit, plays hard in all 3 zones...I would love to have Simmonds on the Canucks.

 

Nikita Zadorov - I know, probably not well known (Colorado Defenseman) but he's a throwback to the big open ice hitters that I grew up watching. He plays on the edge and hits like a truck, I used to really like Anton Volchenkov and Zadorov reminds me a lot of him. Opposing players always have to keep their head up when Zadorov is patrolling the blue line, he's still young and eventually could become a very good shutdown D-Man. If you want to see big hits and hard work in the corners, this guy is awesome.

[NUCKER67]

Horvat

PK Subban

Ovechkin

Duchene

Burns

Drouin/Johnson

[-Vintage Canuck-]

In no particular order:

 

Johnny Gaudreau

Vladimir Tarasenko

Jaromir Jagr

P.K. Subban

Bo Horvat

[Xbox]

PK Subban, Steven Stamkos, Auston Matthews

 

[Master Mind]

Canucks and former Canucks aside:

 

1. Voracek

2. Hedman 

3. Kuznetsov 

 

Why? I've had all 3 in fantasy pools for a few years, and have grown to like them.

 

[Toews]

1) Nikita Kucherov, the end of season run he went on was absurd. With half the lineup out and a roster full of players from Tampa's farm team, he still put the team on his back and almost carried them to the playoffs. Yzerman sold at the deadline thinking there was little shot of this team making it and in turn strengthened a team that Tampa could have caught up to. The tighter the checking becomes the more dominant Kucherov becomes. He then called out his teammates for not doing enough. As far as I am concerned when you dominate to such an extent, you can say whatever the hell you want and your teammates have to respect you.

 

Such an incredibly clutch player in the playoffs as well.

 

2) William Nylander, I can watch this kid skate for hours. On top of that he is such an intelligent player, knows exactly which pass to make to maintain possession. People credit Matthews for his success but to me its the other way around. It was Nylander that drove that line towards the end of the season going close to ppg to in his last 30 or so games to lead the Leafs to the playoffs.

 

3) Leon Draisatl, if you watched Edmonton's playoff run there is no explanation needed for this one.

 

Yes my list contains 3 Europeans, an Oiler and a Leaf.

[Toews]

52 minutes ago, diesel_3 said:

Nikita Zadorov - I know, probably not well known (Colorado Defenseman) but he's a throwback to the big open ice hitters that I grew up watching. He plays on the edge and hits like a truck, I used to really like Anton Volchenkov and Zadorov reminds me a lot of him. Opposing players always have to keep their head up when Zadorov is patrolling the blue line, he's still young and eventually could become a very good shutdown D-Man. If you want to see big hits and hard work in the corners, this guy is awesome.

+1 For Zadorov, a unique choice and I must say I like it. He is a fearsome player, his hits are clean and doesn't shy away from the extra attention that earns him.

[diesel_3]

 

[Down by the River]

1 hour ago, diesel_3 said:

 

Nikita Zadorov - I know, probably not well known (Colorado Defenseman) but he's a throwback to the big open ice hitters that I grew up watching. He plays on the edge and hits like a truck, I used to really like Anton Volchenkov and Zadorov reminds me a lot of him. Opposing players always have to keep their head up when Zadorov is patrolling the blue line, he's still young and eventually could become a very good shutdown D-Man. If you want to see big hits and hard work in the corners, this guy is awesome.

When I made this thread, this was exactly what I had in mind. I should have wrote "pick obscure-ish players that you love to watch". Give people some insight into a player they might not know much about.

[Blazer8717]

In no particular order: 

Carey Price

Roberto Luongo

Bo Horvat

Sedins (From a few years ago)

Brent Burns

And there's probably a bunch I'm forgeting. 

[BettyWhites44]

1) JP Pageau - Was always a Burrows fan. I really see jp as Burrows 2.0 Gritty two way with soft mitts and has a nose for the net.

2) TJ Oshie - Just always enjoyed his ability to make something out of nothing. Him and Backstrom gel extremely well and it's fun to watch them together. 

3) Filip Forsberg - This kid reminds me a lot of another Forsberg...Peter. He's going to very good for a very long time.

 

(honourable mention) William Nylander and Brock Boeser - Mature beyond they're years. They just process the game so well. They're offensive predators who are always looking for the kill shot.

[-AJ-]

Bo Horvat - Obvious because I'm a Canuck fan, but this kid is really exciting and can razzle and dazzle.

P.K. Subban - The way this guy steps up his game sometimes is incredible. He really takes charge and moves the puck up the ice incredibly.

Blake Wheeler - In my opinion one of the most underrated forwards in the NHL. He knows how to use his size well and skates hard while having incredible skill.

[Cramarossa]

My obvious choices: Horvat, Granlunds (both)

 

My less obvious choices: Draisaitl, Duclair, Laine

[Toews]

36 minutes ago, Down by the River said:

When I made this thread, this was exactly what I had in mind. I should have wrote "pick obscure-ish players that you love to watch". Give people some insight into a player they might not know much about.

Ahh I see I would throw in Sebastian Aho into the mix then. Incredibly intelligent player. There was a play that he made against Sweden in the SF, he lost his stick during a puck battle in the corner. The puck bounces around an arrives at his feet near the slot, he kicks the puck towards his stick which was lying in the corner. He then picks up his stick, makes a pass to maintain possession which eventually generates a great scoring chance for one his linemates. Ferraro was gushing about him all game. He is going to be an incredible player for the Canes. Just overshadowed this year by the incredible rookie class.

[Team Bagues]

The Hanson Brothers

[timberz21]

1. Toews

2. Bergeron

3. Kopitar

 

Honorable mention for their play in the 2017 playoffs : J.-G. Pageau, Getzlaf, Forsberg, Theodore, Johansen and Ryan Ellis

[Brad Marchand]

1 hour ago, Down by the River said:

When I made this thread, this was exactly what I had in mind. I should have wrote "pick obscure-ish players that you love to watch". Give people some insight into a player they might not know much about.

Was wondering about that because you asked about less prominent players, then went on to mention Marner and Panarin, who I feel get plenty of attention from the media as being exciting to watch. For guys with elite level skill who don't get mentioned a lot, David Pastrnak belongs in the conversation.

 

For some reason, I also consider Jakob Silfverberg as one of my favourite under-the-radar players. Aside from his finishing ability and generally high level of offensive and defensive awareness, he has one of the best releases I've ever seen:

 

The clip is from a while back, but the amazing part about his shot is that he can release the puck with his hands in a completely neutral position, without having to snap his stick back (Crosby is one of the few other guys I've seen do this effectively). Makes it extremely difficult for goalies to anticipate when he's going to shoot. He pretty much abuses it in the shootout.

 

Just as an FYI (because this thread is meant to be about interesting stuff) if you or anyone else is wondering about why Jeff Skinner is such a good skater, he used to figure skate growing up. Even won a bronze medal at the Canadian Junior Figure Skating Championship in 2004.