Brad Marchand reveals who he believes to be the best player in the NHL and his answer may shock you
The NHL contains a lot of star power and some very, very elite players. Through the various generations, we have seen a number of players who have transcended the game, including the likes of the greats in Bobby Orr, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemeiux. In more recent generations, we've seen Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin emerge as the next wave of greats and now we have players like Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews and Nathan MacKinnon trending in that direction as well.
It can be tough to put a label on who the best all-around player is or was. Obviously, there are variables to consider here, like Lemieux's cancer diagnosis and back issues, for example. Ovechkin's prolific, possibly even record-setting, goal scoring versus Crosby's elite playmaking is another example of how it can be difficult to gauge who the better player is.
While Gretzky is very likely still the best player of all-time, one NHLer, Boston's Brad Marchand, made waves on Friday when he very openly addressed who he believes is the best active player in the National Hockey League. Marchand affirmed that his fellow Nova Scotia native Sidney Crosby is still the best in the world, even at an advanced age.
He's not as flashy as some of the higher-end guys. He's direct. He plays safe but he plays hard and direct. He plays a winning game. I think he's learned how to play the right way that you need to play in playoffs to have success. He plays [like] that the entire season. He's not trying to beat somebody one-on-one every time he gets the puck. He tries to find open space and find the open man, he moves it quick.
The young guys are getting the attention now. There's a lot of flashy young guys coming to the league, but if you look at the attention that Bedard's getting compared to Sid, they're not on the same level right now. Bedard's a (heck) of a player for his age, but Sid's one of the best to ever play the game, one of the top couple players in the league now and Bedard probably gets more attention than anybody."
While Marchand had a lot of love to share about the games of Nathan MacKinnon and Connor Bedard, to him, there's obviously one player who is better than the rest. Crosby has undoubtedly stood the test of time and has had a lot of sustained success over the years because of how he takes care of himself and how he plays the game. While he may not be the most popular answer for who the best player in the world is right now, it's probably the right one.
| POLL | ||
JANVIER 6 | 1096 ANSWERS Brad Marchand reveals who he believes to be the best player in the NHL and his answer may shock you Is Sidney Crosby the best all-around player in the NHL still at 36 years old? | ||
| Yes | 654 | 59.7 % |
| No | 321 | 29.3 % |
| I don't even think he's top-5 anymore | 121 | 11 % |
| List of polls | ||
