FanHouse's Adam Gretz takes a look at his top 50 players in the NHL. No. 4 is Detroit Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk.
The Detroit player development system strikes again. When discussing the best players in the league the names Ovechkin, Crosby and Malkin are usually the ones that get mentioned. I consider Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk to be part of that group, and there's not much of a gap between him at No. 4 and the No. 3 player on my list.
A sixth-round pick in 1998, Datsyuk, like his teammate, Henrik Zetterberg, is one of the NHL's all-time great draft steals, selected by the Red Wings with the 171st overall pick. (Just a quick random note that I found somewhat interesting -- when looking over past drafts to find other late-round gems, the first name I looked up was 2009 Hall of Fame inductee, and former Red Wing, Luc Robitaille, and I noticed that he too was selected 171st overall in his draft class. Just seemed like an odd spot to find two incredible talents).
There may not be a better puckhandler in the league, and he is always capable of doing something you've never seen before on any given shift. Over the past four years he's developed into one of the top scorers in the league, registering 87, 87, 97, and 97 points in each season, finishing in the top-five two times. He's become a consistent 30-goal scorer, and has also averaged over 60 assists per season, finishing in the top-10 four years in a row. He also has his moments where he can dish out some surprisingly crushing hits given his size -- just ask Todd Marchant and Ryan Malone.
As for his hardware: his name is on the Stanley Cup twice, he's owned the Lady Byng Trophy the past four years, and has won the Selke Trophy as the league's best defensive forward twice.
And for your obligatory YouTube video, it's Datsyuk's signature shootout move.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-11-2009 @ 10:40AM
John said...
Shocker, the Penguins blogger puts Datsyuk behind both Crosby (really?) and Malkin. Your list just lost the tiny bit of credibility it may have had. Malkin is debately, but no way is Crosby better than Datsyuk. Apparently scoring is the only criteria you use for forwards. Apparently being the best 2 way player in the game doesn't really matter all that much. I guess you don't take into account the fact the Pavel spends a lot of time on the pk (a hell of a lot more time than the 2 Penguin's players) and thus has less ice time in which to rack up points than do the Pittsburgh duo. If you actually looked at points per ice time during 5-5 and powerplay, you'd know Pavel is just as productive offensively when given equal scoring time, if not more so. If Pavel was given the same ice time as those 2, he'd have more points. But that's not how they do it in Detroit, players are expected to be 2 way players, and that's how we like it.
It's comical you label this the top 50 in the NHL, when it's clear all your doing is tooting the Penguin's horn once again.
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8-11-2009 @ 10:53AM
adamfanhouse said...
Given that I have five Red Wings in my top 50, including three in the top eight, I'd say it's the Red Wings' horn that I'm tooting...
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8-11-2009 @ 11:06AM
Bruce Ciskie said...
I know that takeaways is a subjective stat to a certain extent, but Evgeni Malkin did lead the league in that category this past season. And it's not like Crosby is lazy defensively.
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8-11-2009 @ 11:34AM
darci said...
I guess if we aren't supposed to consider how many points a player makes, then probably Ovechkin shouldn't even be in the top 10 as that is basically all he can do. Hog the puck and score! Crosby is by far the "best" hockey player, to any one who actually watches him play more than just a "few" games that is!
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8-11-2009 @ 1:45PM
claytor said...
Ill bite my tongue and politely disagree. I noticed Bruce showed up with the token "but its not like he sucks defensively" for Crosby. Thats pretty much a nice way of saying he isnt very good in the first place, and only furthers the debate as to Pavels ranking.
Thats not the point. The point is that Datsyuk can do what Crosby does, and more. Easily. I really thought the true debate would be Malkin/Datsyuk, and placement is moot or who you added when it comes down to the best defensive forward in the game.
You get 95+ points PLUS all universe defense. You get flash and Malkin having to carry the team during yet another injury with Crosby.
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8-11-2009 @ 2:00PM
rwing said...
Just gotta love Pav, and according to a commercial aired here in the Detroit area for his eye Dr., "you should too". Love it. A world-class player that's for sure. And Datszuk is quite the jokester too.
There's a story of how Babcock had scribbled a long line of numbers on a board in the Red Wings locker room and asked everyone to take a stab at what they meant. No one could guess.....finally Pav pipes up and says "Zetterberg's new contract"???? Everyone busted out laughing....funny.
Agree with John though, just cannot see Datszuk behind Crosby.
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8-13-2009 @ 9:48PM
yappy007 said...
i will take pavel or zetty anyday over crosby. just for the simple fact i hardly ever here about them whinning like sid the kid!
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8-18-2009 @ 3:30AM
monkeyman0077 said...
I'm a caps fan who also loves the pens (sue me)
I hate the wings, but I can honestly say I think Pavel Datsyuk is clearly the best player in the NHL right now.
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10-12-2009 @ 8:18AM
hafttwo said...
even with the schedule change in last years final that favored the pens if datsyuk was healthy pitt would have lost face it he is better that sid and malkin
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