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Post by Ryan on Oct 11, 2003 10:58:47 GMT -5
I’ve read in the past few days that some are ready to trade away Saku Koivu and go another route. If you believe that each team must build itself around a “Franchise Player” then you could easily argue that trying to build around Koivu hasn’t worked. Maybe it’s not too late, maybe it is.
But it got me thinking, just who are the Franchise Players around the league? In my mind a Franchise Player is different from a Star Player, or even a Superstar. A Franchise Player is someone who you model your entire team after and build the rest of the team to compliment his strengths and compensate for his weaknesses.
IMO these are the current Franchise Players in the NHL:
Anaheim
Sergei Fedorov
Atlanta
Dany Heatley
Boston
Joe Thornton
Calgary
Jarome Iginla
Colorado
Rob Blake
Peter Forsberg
Paul Kariya
Joe Sakic
Dallas
Mike Modano
Detroit
Niklas Lidstrom
New Jersey
Martin Brodeur
St. Louis
Chris Pronger
Tampa Bay
Vincent Lecavalier
Vancouver
Todd Bertuzzi
Ed Jovanovski
Markus Naslund
There are players like Marian Gaborik, Marian Hossa, Simon Gagne, and even Jose Theodore that could be Franchise Players in a year or two, but right now I would not build a team around them. Also some players you might notice are missing like Mats Sundin, Dominik Hasek, Jeremy Roenick and Eric Lindros are past their prime and could no longer be considered Franchise Players.
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Post by blaise on Oct 11, 2003 11:23:23 GMT -5
As Glenn Healey said during the CBC broadcast, the Habs don't have a single future Hall of Fame player on the roster. Neither do a lot of other teams.
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Post by MPLABBE on Oct 11, 2003 11:45:04 GMT -5
Good post Ryan... IMO these are the current Franchise Players in the NHL: Anaheim Sergei Fedorov Agreed. Jiggy is close to being one as well in my mind. No doubt about it. I'd say Foppa and Sakic are the franchise players in this group. Blake, albeit a very good d-man, I wouldn't consider him a franchise player anymore. Kariya's performance as the man in Anaheim was dissapointing the past few years. Is he a franchise player or just an excellent 2nd or 3rd gun on a team like he will be in colorado? Definitely. TB must be thanking their lucky stars they never dealt him. Gaborik and especially Hossa are real close to that level and I'd probably put Hossa in the franchise player group right now. There's also Jagr who on any night can play like a franchise player or like the biggest contract mistake in history among the kids in the NHL, I'd consider Rick Nash Tuomo Ruutu Erik Staal Marc Andre Fleury Jay Bouwmeester Joni Pitkanen as the potential franchise players |
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Post by Cranky on Oct 11, 2003 12:02:38 GMT -5
We had a franchise player who has taken a few bad turns. Hopefully, he will find his way back to the proper road before the Hab fans get road rash.
Hopefully.....
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Post by Ryan on Oct 11, 2003 12:05:21 GMT -5
Jagr is just annoying, I don't think you can count on him anymore. I guess I consider attitude as well, so in that case there's no way I want a team of Jagrs out there.
Blake is definitely on the tale end of his productive years, but I still love him on the back-end.
Granted Kariya is the 3rd or 4th best player on his current team, most teams would be blest to have his talent. Let's face it, in Montreal, Buffalo, or Columbus Kariya is a God. I'm thinking he'll make the hockey world forget about the last two years with his performance this year.
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Post by blaise on Oct 11, 2003 12:08:13 GMT -5
I infer that CanadiensAddict is referring to a certain goaltender.
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Post by habwest on Oct 11, 2003 13:14:22 GMT -5
Interesting list. Could you add Brad Richards in Tampa?
Not sure about Heatley as a model- he just may not be around for the next 10-15 years.
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Post by Patty Roy on Oct 11, 2003 15:30:44 GMT -5
Ilya Kovalchuk anyone? The kid scored 38 goals last season and he's only a few months past his 20th birthday. People tend to forget that he's more than 2 years younger than Dany Heatley.
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Post by Patty Roy on Oct 11, 2003 15:32:19 GMT -5
Interesting list. Could yopu add Brad Richards in Tampa? I wouldn't. Good player yes, but not a franchise player, IMO. |
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Post by MPLABBE on Oct 11, 2003 16:27:04 GMT -5
Ilya Kovalchuk anyone? The kid scored 38 goals last season and he's only a few months past his 20th birthday. People tend to forget that he's more than 2 years younger than Dany Heatley. ahh I knew someone would bring him up  well, right now Kovalchuk is a terrific offensive player but he still has some holes in his game. Like the forecaster says ''Kovalchuk needs to decide whether he wants to become one of the game's greatest stars or merely an offensive enigma..'' |
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Post by Patty Roy on Oct 11, 2003 17:04:19 GMT -5
ahh I knew someone would bring him up well, right now Kovalchuk is a terrific offensive player but he still has some holes in his game. Like the forecaster says ''Kovalchuk needs to decide whether he wants to become one of the game's greatest stars or merely an offensive enigma..'' And i just knew somebody was going to respond to my suggestion of Kovalchuk with something along the lines of the quote you posted! Last i checked, guys like LeCavalier, Naslund and especially Bertuzzi were not known as being too defensive minded. Kovalchuk is just so young and so darn talented, i definitely think that he's a franchise player. He's a weapon that you can build around. He may never win a Selke, but to approach 40 goals in today's NHL as a 19 year old...that's just spectacular. This year will be a nice test for him...see how he picks things up with Heatley out. I for one am a believer... |
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