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I think this is a good question. If you look 2-3 years down the road when the rookies fully develop, and the young guns become veterans, things will be different for the 5 mentioned players. Sidney Crosby - Only 18 years old, still has time to grow, still has time to mature, and despite not fully doing the mentioned things, he's still demonstrating a spectacular year. At 21 years old, everyone knows he will be better, but we don't know how better, not to mention he will be playing with Evgeni Malkin. Alexander Ovechkin - Already one of the biggest stars in the league. Is on a current streak, and will only get better from here on. He just might get Maurice Richard, is the number one Calder candidate as of now, and there's still plenty of season left, who knows, possible MVP mentions are floating around. This is just his 1st year! Ilya Kovalchuk - He's dominant now and will only get better. In my opinion he has potential to end his career as the greatest goal scorer of all time. He is incredibly hard to knock off the puck, and just think, his game will improve in 2-3 years, even moreso then it is now. Joe Thornton - Already a veteran, but his career is still very young. There's no prediction on what this guy can do, he is a hell of a playmaker and ranked high in scoring through recent years. He's bound to get MVP, bound to get Art Ross, and in the next 2 years, I could see him pulling off one of those. He has yet to show his complete dominance, and could pull off Lemieux mid 90's-esque statistics. Rick Nash - Though many think he isn't what he could be, give it time. He's going to explode next season playing with Nikolai Zherdev and a future star Gilbert Brule, and not to mention Fedorov's game could boost seeing as it has recently. He's won a Maurice Richard trophy at the age of 19, and if he can avoid injuries, he's sure to kill the NHL in the goal scoring department. He's a possible candidate to be a true elite star. Vincent Lecavalier - Though he hasn't put up incredibly high numbers yet, he does have potential to do so. There have been players who have been in the same situation as Vinny is currently in. Look at Markus Naslund, Jarome Iginla, Todd Bertuzzi, and Martin St. Louis. They all started their careers as mediocre players and all came out of nowhere to be elite stars winning MVPs and scoring titles. Lecavalier could get into that position, and I could see it happening. With that being said, I chose Crosby. I mean Wayne's success came alot with the presence of another sniper star, Jari Kurri. With Malkin coming into the NHL next season and expected to have a huge impact immediately, Crosby will have alot to do with it, seeing as his vision for finding people is spectacular and I'm quite sure Malkin will be found alot, IF they do play together. We never know with Ovechkin either, if he has a right hand man, he could be one of the most dangerous players to ever step foot in an NHL rink. I still think Crosby, with his complete development and another star to play with, he'll be something else. Nevermind the "The" as the thread subtitle. You should be able to edit the thread titles dammit!

CLAYTON STONER.

I LMAO at you guys still hating on Sid... I mean he's a phenomenal hockey player, in all aspects, he hasn't been "whining" 1/8th as much as he did TWO years ago. He shows respect in how he plays and against others, and people should respect him for his uncanny effort and his uncanny approach to the game. He gets sooo much criticism from fans and even respected media... You think he's so ignorant that he doesn't realize the negative attention he gets? He get's it, and it motivates him. I respect everything about his game. I just haven't posted here in awhile. But with that said, I'm surprised how many people still hate Crosby. Yes, from 2005-2008 okay, but he has grown up, and still is growing up. So, does it matter that much whether or not he becomes captain or "wants" to become captain? No, IT'S A F**KING ALL STAR GAME!

Considering Chicago is like my second team, I'd want them to win... But wouldn't fans in general want San Jose to win it all? So you could say "at least my team lost to the cup champs."

The other brothers say that Jared has the best hands out of all of them, does it mean he's the best? No, but it counts for something.

Hossa is a great all around player, but Kovalchuk's skill is exceptional. In fact, I'd put Kovalchuk on the same level as Malkin, right behind Crosby and Ovechkin... Maybe at the top of his game he is on the same level as Sid and Ovie.

The Windsor Spitfires just came back from a 3-0 deficit in the OHL conference finals . If the Wings do it, cool... Do I think it will happen? NO.

Hmm... I would have expected to see Ryan Miller as a nominee, but this isn't no surprise.

See, I would have created a whole new trophy in Lindsay's honor. Ted Lindsay Trophy - An award given annually to the player that best demonstrates a hard work ethic with a combination of offensive skill, grit, and determination.

Well, how long has this rule been in effect? I thought it came into effect when the NHL got the new style jerseys which was 3 years ago. It didn't seem like it was that long ago when a player would jersey another player and just feed it to them.

Not too much of a change, I'm just not a big fan of the "Rob Ray Rule." Jerseying players was a tradition when it came to fighting, it's like locking in a submission in the UFC.

Funny? In some ways, but awesome nonetheless.

Hottest spouse... Mike Fisher's. Come on, Underwood is pretty sexy, Comrie should have got that one for Hillary Duff.

If Franzen plays a full season, or at least 77 games, I think he'll reach 50 goals, not 100 points though. As far as 100 points goes, yes, Datsyuk can reach it.

When the opponent get's a hooking penalty, they like to play "Hooked on a Feeling." Also, don't know how often they did this, but when Hasek flipped Gaborik, they played "Fly Like an Eagle." I watch a lot of hockey on TV, and it seems like the Joe plays the most relevant and clever music at the perfect time.

I was just going to say that... I mean seriously look at the rest of Buffalo's defense core. There's Tyler Myers, and the rest of the regulars could be full time AHLers or regular call ups on any decent defensive roster. A lot of Buffalo's success is directed to Ryan Miller, but when you look at the roster... Boatloads of credit is due to Myers' success.

You're going to hate me for this, but if the Bruins make the playoffs... I'd give Tuuka Rask the award before Howard, but overall Myers is the winner IMO. ...Wait, I didn't realize he only started 32 games.

Zetterberg, no question.

He kinda looks like Bobby Lee.

Assuming not too much drastically changes over what's left of the schedule, <10 games... It's pretty safe to say any predictions for the awards right now would be how it would look by season's end... So with that said... Hart - Ovechkin (Miller, Crosby) Lady Byng - St. Louis (B. Richards, Marleau) Vezina - Miller (Bryzgalov, Brodeur) Calder - Myers (Howard, Rask) Norris - Keith (Doughty, Green) Selke - Kesler (Datsyuk, M. Richards) Adams - Tippett Masterton - Lilja

Seen it before, I think it was that very clip though.

The guy started his NHL career at age 22 also... Imagine he started at 18? He'd be at 700 for sure.

1a) Zetterberg 1b) Lidstrom 2) Franzen 3) Kronwall 4) Holmstrom

Yeah, but I thought Selke was "two way forward", much like Norris and it's "two way defenseman" category. But ya... MIKE RICHARDS Just some thought...