| Hockey's most underrated and overrated players
Top underrated players (in no particular order):
1. Eric Brewer, St. Louis Blues: Brewer's a horse. He plays a lot of tough minutes and is really difficult to handle in front of his own net. He'll never score a ton of goals, but he'll play 25 solid minutes a night, every night. There are 29 other teams in the league who would take him in a minute.
2. Chris Drury, Buffalo Sabres: One of the best big-game players currently in the league, Drury boasts a multitude of skills. He can score, he's a crafty playmaker, he can check and he has a little bit of a mean streak to his game. He's a coach's dream and is also a rock-solid leader in the Buffalo locker room.
3. Manny Fernandez, Minnesota Wild: Fernandez is among the most fundamentally sound goaltenders in the league today, and always gives his team a chance to win. He's the perfect goalie for the Wild, a team built around overall team defense. Fernandez is one of the top five goaltenders in the NHL, although not everyone knows it yet.
4. Brenden Morrow, Dallas Stars: Morrow is the heart and soul of the Stars, a team that has traditionally been identified as Mike Modano's team. While Modano is still a very fine player, Morrow brings the "blood and guts" attitude that we often associate with old-time hockey players (and is regrettably lacking in today's game). He can score, he can (and will) get in your face and he's a great leader. He's the perfect player to build a team around, and it appears that's what the Stars are doing.
5. Christopher Higgins, Montreal Canadiens: Higgins is turning into a fine player in just his second full season in the NHL. The New York native is on the smallish side, but he's a bulldog when it comes to hunting down the puck and is now rewarding the faith Montreal showed in him by selecting him with the 14th pick in the 2002 draft. At 23 years of age, you can expect him to keep getting better.
Top overrated players (in no particular order):
1. Marc Savard, Boston Bruins: Savard had an outstanding year last season playing mostly on a line with the incomparable Ilya Kovalchuk, but there is nothing on his resume to suggest that he will bring the same offensive prowess to the Bruins, especially since he'll be playing with less talented linemates. Savard also had three good years in Calgary, but he's always a minus player, and he's not big enough to make an impact in the toughness category. If he's not scoring a lot, he's not helping his team, and he could struggle in Beantown.
2. Paul Kariya, Nashville Predators: At one time, Kariya was poised to be the NHL's new poster boy for its "aggressive" marketing focus, but that was before injuries slowed him down. He still has decent skills, but at 32 and playing with a small team, he'll never return to the form he showed as a young player.
3. Derian Hatcher, Philadelphia Flyers: Teams used to covet Hatcher for his size and toughness, but now he's a bit of a dinosaur. The NHL has changed so dramatically and is no longer kind to slow, lumbering defensemen who are big and tough. Hatcher has already been on the ice for a boatload of goals scored by the Flyers' opponents, because he can no longer clutch and grab opposing forwards who are blowing past him with impunity.
4. Michael Peca, Toronto Maple Leafs: Most of the offensive skills Peca once possessed have taken their leave, and he takes far too many lazy penalties. With his skill set, he'd better be the best defensive player on his team every night, or he's just wasting a roster spot. He's completely average at this point in his career.
5. Doug Weight, St. Louis Blues: Despite his recent assist binge, Weight's once formidable offensive skills have largely deserted him, leaving him among the coterie of average forwards sprinkled liberally throughout the NHL. He's in St. Louis solely for his leadership at this point. He's still an asset to the team, of course, and he has put up a decent point total so far this season, but he'll play out the string in St. Louis without much to show for his efforts. |