The most underrated player for every NHL franchise

Old-school names are more likely to be underrated, but that is not inherent. For example, Bobby Orr is by no means underrated. Nor is Phil Esposito. Those are names that have remained part of the NHL zeitgeist. Bucyk, though, is a different story. In fact, since Esposito played several years with other franchises, Bucyk’s 545 goals are the most in Bruins history. He started with the team in the 1950s and stuck around until the late 1970s, winning two Cups with Orr.

Miller’s issue is that he happened to excel for a franchise whose goalie is clearly the most iconic player in the franchise's history. Dominik Hasek is in the running for the best goaltender in NHL history. He won six Vezinas and two Harts with the Sabres. Miller, though, also won a Vezina with the Sabres. He made 404 starts with the team and had a .916 save percentage. Miller was a very good goalie. He’s just not Dominik Hasek.

This may not be the case much longer, as the Red Wings have retired Fedorov’s number and it seems like the ice has thawed, so to speak. Fedorov himself said in his number retirement ceremony the biggest mistake of his career was leaving Detroit. It’s the bad blood that has led to Fedorov being underrated. Fans remember him leaving, and they remember him threatening to leave for years before that. Fedorov played in 908 games for the Red Wings and had 954 points while winning a Hart and a Selke. It’s time to remember him as a Detroit legend again.

Being a first-overall pick sets the bar high. Ekblad has never won a Norris, and he never will. What he has done, though, is be a staple on the Panthers’ blue line for over a decade. He and Aleksander Barkov are tied for the most games in franchise history, and Ekblad is fourth in franchise history with 406 points. Yeah, Ekblad didn’t become what we imagine Matthew Schaefer will become, but he’s heading toward number retirement.

With the Canadiens, it’s hard to stand out. Maurice Richard. Jean Beliveau. Ken Dryden. The Canadiens have retired 15 numbers, but one of those is Robinson’s. The Hall of Famer they call “Big Bird” won two Norris trophies with the Canadiens. He played over 1,200 regular-season games with Montreal, and several more in the playoffs. After all, Robinson won six Cups with the Canadiens, and he won the Conn Smythe in 1978.

We’re on a run of defensemen, evidently. Daniel Alfredsson is clearly the top player in Senators history. Erik Karlsson is not underrated, and also he’s still playing, and also he left the Senators somewhat acrimoniously. Redden was not as good as Karlsson, but he played over 800 games on the Ottawa blue line. He also notched 410 points. If Tim Stutzle and Brady Tkachuk stick in Ottawa, they will battle Alfredsson for Mr. Senator, and Redden will also become more underrated.

When you get there first, sometimes you get forgotten. Lecavalier was the first-overall pick in 1998, and to that point the Lightning had a brutal history. He was good, but the team wasn’t for a while. Then, Martin St. Louis showed up, and Brad Richards showed up, and they won a Cup. Steven Stamkos was a later first-overall pick, and he proved better than Lecavalier. Nikita Kucherov came around as well and became possibly the best player in Tampa Bay history. Lecavalier had a 50-goal season, leading the league in goals. He’s still third in franchise history in games played. There are just now three forwards better than him.

The Maple Leafs last won a Stanley Cup in 1967. They have the longest drought in the NHL. When the Maple Leafs won that Cup in 1967, Keon won the Conn Smythe. Frankly, that should make him one of the faces of the Leafs until another Cup is won. By the way, he also won the Calder and two Lady Byngs with Toronto.

We opted not to include the Whalers years, because that was its own thing. When a franchise moves cities, it shouldn’t carry the history with it. Under those parameters, though, nobody is underrating the Staal brothers, or Sebastian Aho, or former captain, current coach, and face of the franchise Rod Brind’Amour. Svechnikov is still playing for the Hurricanes, and he’s only in his mid-20s. Give him three more seasons, and he’ll be in the top four in points for the franchise.

Another active player! The fact that the Blue Jackets have only been around for 25 years plays into that, though. Plus, a lot of those years were pretty rough. Basically, they were Rick Nash’s team, and then they became Zach Werenski’s team. Fittingly, those two are first and second in points. In third, though, and first in games, is Jenner. It will take three more seasons, but Jenner could become the first player to play 1,000 games for the Blue Jackets, and that’s cool.

Martin Brodeur and two defensemen named Scott define the heyday of the Devils. These days, it’s Jack Hughes, and so someday Nico Hischier may be the most underrated player in franchise history. Not yet, though. It feels like Patrik Elias, comfortably the franchise leader in goals and points, is still “properly” rated. MacLean played 14 seasons with the Devils, through the ‘80s and the ‘90s. He’s second in career goals and points for the Devils, but there are probably even a lot of Devils fans who don’t know his name.

It’s not a player from the ‘80s dynasty, and it’s not Schaefer, who some Islanders fans would probably attend a number retirement for after one season. It is one of Schaefer’s teammates, though. Lee is the kind of player who ends up underrated: steady, good, unremarkable. He did have one 40-goal season, but mostly he’s been a 25- to 30-goal guy for the Islanders. If he sticks around for even one more season, though, Lee will end up third in franchise history in goals.

Four Rangers have won the Hart Trophy. The average fan can name one of them, Mark Messier. That’s fair, because the second-most-recent winner is Bathgate, who won the Hart back in the 1958-59 campaign. Bathgate consistently had 70-to-80 points for the Rangers back when the NHL played a shorter schedule. He’s a Hall of Famer and one-time MVP for a franchise lacking individual hardware.

Fortunately, people have come around on just how good Eric Lindros was and are more understanding now that we collectively know more about concussions. You could make a case for Claude Giroux, but we want to give Propp some love. Sure, it was easier to score goals in the 1980s, but he had four 40-goal seasons out of five campaigns, and in the other he had 39. Not a Hall of Famer, but an underrated player.

The Penguins’ icons are as etched in stone as any franchise. Beyond those names, though, things get interesting. It’s easy to be forgotten when Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr cede the way for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Before Lemieux arrived and boosted/saved the franchise, though, Kehoe was the guy for the Penguins. In 722 games, he had over 300 goals and 300 assists for the franchise. Kehoe’s the franchise leader in points who isn’t Kris Letang or an inner-circle Hall of Famer.

Because of how Alex Ovechkin has overshadowed every other Capitals forward, there is an argument to be made for almost any forward in franchise history. However, we’re heading into the goal. Olaf Kolzig, who played over 700 games for the Capitals, is the most-famous goalie in franchise history. However, Holtby is second in games played and had a higher save percentage and lower GAA with the Capitals. He also managed the same number of shutouts as Kolzig. Holtby is also a Vezina winner and the only Cup-winning goalie in franchise history. Is Braden Holtby the best goalie in Capitals history? There’s an argument to be made.

For years, it was basically Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull, and then finally the franchise really reemerged behind Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. Oh, and Duncan Keith, of course. Keith is now in the Hall of Fame, but Seabrook rode alongside him. Seabrook wasn’t as good as Keith, but there were a lot of teams in the NHL during that Blackhawks heyday where he could have been the number-one guy and had better numbers.

We take a break from wondering if Nathan MacKinnon will surpass Joe Sakic as the greatest player in Avalanche history to look for the most-underrated guy. Hejduk is an easy choice. Did he benefit from playing with Sakic and Peter Forsberg? Sure, but he didn’t lead the NHL in goals once just because he got to play on a team with those two. Hejduk, who spent his entire career with the Avalanche, retired with 805 points.

Jamie Benn has been around long enough and has had enough success that he probably isn’t underrated, or at least the most underrated. However, if he plays another season, he will get to 1,000 points, which is notable. Dallas’ history of goaltending features a lot of guys who have blown through town. Ed Belfour won a Cup with the Stars, but he only played five seasons with the franchise. Turco is the franchise leader in games played in net. Also, wins and shutouts, with a .911 save percentage and 2.31 GAA. Quietly, quite a good goalie.

It’s an exciting time for talent in Minnesota, with Kirill Kaprizov and Quinn Hughes bolstered by youngsters like Matt Boldy and Brock Faber. Spurgeon is also still around. Spurgeon took over as captain from Mikko Koivu, and next season he will take over as the player with the most games played for the franchise. Steady defensemen don’t get a lot of love, but Spurgeon has been a rock for the Wild.

This is twofold. One, Erat was moved to Washington in exchange for Filip Forsberg, the best forward in Predators history. That alone makes him one of the most important people in Nashville franchise history. Erat was no slouch on the ice, though. He had 481 points with the Predators, fourth-highest in franchise history. Forsberg has him beat by a few hundred, of course.

“Oh yeah, one of the Sutter brothers,” you might say. Sure, that is true, but the Sutters were more than six hockey-playing brothers. They weren’t a mere novelty. Brian played his entire career with the Blues and had 636 points. The franchise even retired his number. He’s the franchise leader in penalty minutes as well. Probably did a lot of fighting as a kid with all those brothers, right?

Again, because the Mammoth have existed for two seasons (one as Utah Hockey Club) we are going back to the days of the Coyotes. Not to the days of the Winnipeg Jets, though, because the current Jets should have that history. Ekman-Larsson is still kicking around the NHL, and he was probably the best defenseman for the franchise in the Coyotes era. The Swede scored 128 goals for the Coyotes, which is notable for a defenseman.

It’s tricky with the Jets because it’s mostly guys properly rated as very good and guys properly rated as not very good. Wheeler, by dint of beginning his career with Boston, ending it with the Rangers, and being retired, is perhaps not as much ingrained in the history of the Jets as he should be. Yes, Mark Scheifele has surpassed him as the best forward in franchise history, but Wheeler had 812 points with Winnipeg. Kyle Connor will likely pass him, but Wheeler will be in the top five in franchise points for a long, long time.

Fowler debuted as a teenage defenseman for the Ducks and then proceeded to spend 15 seasons with the franchise. It’s a bit of a shame that he moved on to the Blues in part to make way for Anaheim’s youth movement. He’s now played in over 1,000 games, scored over 100 goals, and tallied over 500 points, but he crossed all those thresholds with St. Louis.

There are a handful of Flames names everybody knows, from Hall of Famers like Jarome Iginla and Al MacInnis to local legends like Theo Fleury and Johnny Gaudreau. Backlund, though, has been a steady presence for many years. It’s not just that he could potentially pass Iginla for the most games in franchise history, given that he’s still active and still a Flame. Backlund has over 606 points and often gets a few Selke votes.

Yes, we fully accept that Nugent-Hopkins has benefited a ton from playing with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. Those two have pushed RNH, also a first-overall pick, to the side when it comes to the story of the Oilers over the last decade. He has over 800 regular-season points and, given that he’s in the first half of his thirties, could end up with 1,000 career points. We don’t care if you play years with two future Hall of Famers. Plenty of guys played with Crosby and Malkin and never did that.

In the wake of Anze Kopitar’s retirement, there is talk about whether he’s had the best career as a King (which is different from saying he’s the best player ever to be a King). We’re going into the net, though. Jonathan Quick is, undoubtedly, the top goalie in Kings history. Also, Vachon won his Vezina with the Canadiens. Three times with the Kings, though, Vachon finished in the top four in Hart voting. Those were the finishing touches on his Hall of Fame career.

Vlasic was a defensive defenseman, but he was there for the Sharks when they needed him for years. For almost two decades, in fact. “Pickles” played 19 seasons in the NHL, all with the Sharks. He played in 1,323 regular-season games with San Jose, averaging a ton of minutes. Plus, Vlasic threw in 379 points for good measure.

The Kraken have a brief history, but we’re still doing this exercise. You know? Beniers is underrated! Just because he hasn’t become a star after being the second-overall pick doesn’t mean he hasn’t been quite good. Beniers won the Calder, and he has 196 points through his age-23 season. He’s been good, and he should continue to get better.

Before Pavel Bure showed up and made people pay attention to the Canucks, Smyl was easily the choice for best player in franchise history. He’s still fifth in points and fourth in goals in franchise history. Smyl was the face of the franchise throughout the ‘80s, but he’s been overshadowed since.

We end with another fairly new franchise. A few guys- Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, Conn Smythe winner Jonathan Marchessault- already have their places in the firmament of the franchise. Theodore, though, has flown under the radar. He’s been in the top 10 in the Norris voting a couple of times, and he’s routinely had 40-to-50 points in a season. So far, he’s clearly the choice for best defenseman in franchise history.