Top 10 best Russians in the game today?

[BeeRYCE 2]

Basically a tribute to how amazingly well Russians have been this season with 3 of the top 4 leading point getters being Russians, and others being at the top as well. A Vezina trophy winner is probably going to be a Russian, the Lady Byng winner will be a Russian, the Norris trophy will probably have a Russian nominee, while most of the other trophies will be in the hands of you know who. With that said, who are the top 10 Russians right now?

1. Alexander Ovechkin

2. Evgeni Malkin

3. Pavel Datsyuk

4. Evgeni Nabokov (Though from Kazahkstan, still considered a Russian to me. If you want to include Belarus players, same deal)

5. Ilya Kovalchuk

6. Sergei Gonchar

7. Alex Kovalev

8. Sergei Zubov

9. Andrei Markov

10. Alexander Frolov

Edited April 7, 2008 by BeeRYCE

[Guest Jeremy88]

Datsyuk is way better than Malkin

[Kira 451]

Datsyuk is way better than Malkin

You and I are gonna be in the minority on that opinion, I'm sure. Prepare to have your head handed to you for saying it. I'm sure it's gonna happen. It usually does if I say it. Of course, maybe they'll cut you some slack, but I doubt it.

[irishtemper14+25 11]

i think dats is a better player than malkin, but in terms of raw talent for scoring malkin might be better....but as a player pav is way better

[BeeRYCE 2]

I don't know... I watch a lot of Pittsburgh and a lot of Detroit games, and I have to say, Malkin seems to stand out more and seems to generate more scoring opportunities for himself. Malkin is also underrated defensively, as he is very responsible in his own zone and very aware of where to be when he doesn't have the puck. It might be tough for some people, but it's easy to say for me anyways that Malkin is the better player.

[Reds4Life 51]

1. Alexander Ovechkin

2. Evgeni Malkin

3. Pavel Datsyuk

4. Evgeni Nabokov

5. Ilya Kovalchuk

6. Sergei Zubov

7. Alex Kovalev

8. Andrei Markov

9. Sergei Gonchar

10. Alexander Frolov

[redwinger4747 6]

Basically a tribute to how amazingly well Russians have been this season with 3 of the top 4 leading point getters being Russians, and others being at the top as well. A Vezina trophy winner is probably going to be a Russian, the Lady Byng winner will be a Russian, the Norris trophy will probably have a Russian nominee, while most of the other trophies will be in the hands of you know who. With that said, who are the top 10 Russians right now?

1. Alexander Ovechkin

2. Evgeni Malkin

3. Pavel Datsyuk

4. Evgeni Nabokov (Though from Kazahkstan, still considered a Russian to me. If you want to include Belarus players, same deal)

5. Ilya Kovalchuk

6. Sergei Gonchar

7. Alex Kovalev

8. Sergei Zubov

9. Andrei Markov

10. Alexander Frolov

A player's country is the team that he represents in international play. So you are right to put Nabokov on this list because he represents Russia, but random Kazahkstan and Belarus players can't be consdered Russian. And yes, I would say Brett Hull is American just as Paul Statsny is American, though both were born in Canada. Thats why the term American-born or Russian-born is used if this is what someone means. Otherwise, nationality in the context of hockey is the country a player plays for.

As for the list, its pretty solid, I can't say much about it, I might put Semin in place of Frolov. As for Datsyuk vs. Malkin, this is tough. I think both sides have a legitimate case. I would say they are very close offensively, I would give the nod to Datsyuk by a hair because of his defense and takeaways.

[GMRwings1983 8,804]

Since your title didn't say NHL players, then shouldn't Grigorenko and Yashin be on that list?

[YoungGuns1340 1]

1. Ovechkin

2. Malkin

3. Datsyuk

4. Zubov

5. Nabokov

6. Kovalchuk

7. Gonchar

8. Markov

9. Kovalev

10. Frolov

I think Zubov is one of the most underrated players in the game. He was, IMO, playing better hockey than Lidstrom through the first 1/4 of the season and would've easily been a Norris nominee if he hadn't gotten injured. Dallas is simply not the same team without him.

Kovalchuk at 6 cause hes simply not well-rounded enough for me. Gonchar is probably having the best season of his career. Hes gotten so much better about his positioning and the defense end of things. Markov is another guy who is very underrated. Hes sound in all areas. I wouldnt like to see Kovalev any high than 9. I love the guy and his offensive skills are still out of this world, but hes not an overall powerhouse to me.

Frolov will probably be a lot higher in a few years.

[evil204 4]

Fedorov seems to be missing from that list. Did anyone see Washington's last game?

[Guest GordieSid&Ted]

You and I are gonna be in the minority on that opinion, I'm sure. Prepare to have your head handed to you for saying it. I'm sure it's gonna happen. It usually does if I say it. Of course, maybe they'll cut you some slack, but I doubt it.

I'll go one step further and say that I think Datsyuk could be the best forward in the game of hockey.

I like to use the word cerebral to describe him. IMO, he's the forward version of Nick Lidstrom. Nick is best defenseman in the world and therefore, I feel Dats is/could be the best forward in the world. It all has to do with skills and smarts. Nobody questions Dats skill. He doesn't bag many goals but there aren't too many people who have a better, more accurate wrist shot. I don't know of anybody who sees the ice better and can cause more confusion in the offensive zone than Dats. Oh, and he's fantastic defensively as well.

He'll never get the credit a Malkin or Crosby or AO gets, partly because of his quiet demeanor. But his hockey brain and talents are second to none.

[jawbreaker 0]

Almost all Russians, who are playing in the NHL are pretty damn good. Russian clubs are paying really good salaries, so a lot of 3rd, 4th line players are going back home. Even Yashin, and Markov left. Russian clubs can pay some bucks even for AO, Malkin, Datsyuk.

AO received an offer from one club, it was about $9M. Datsyuk made 4M, when he was in Dynamo, and would probably get now even more. If you think that there is NO taxes, then they could make a lot more than they are making in the NHL.

[BeeRYCE 2]

Since your title didn't say NHL players, then shouldn't Grigorenko and Yashin be on that list?

Yashin is actually playing really good in the Russian league right now, so including him wouldn't be too much of a stretch. A guy like Morozov could be included in place of Frolov though.

[wingslogo19 281]

I don't know... I watch a lot of Pittsburgh and a lot of Detroit games, and I have to say, Malkin seems to stand out more and seems to generate more scoring opportunities for himself. Malkin is also underrated defensively, as he is very responsible in his own zone and very aware of where to be when he doesn't have the puck. It might be tough for some people, but it's easy to say for me anyways that Malkin is the better player.

Malkin is also younger too. Be scary to see him in his prime

[12Newf 0]

as of today its pretty hard to say which is better malkin or datsyuk. GST makes a good argument actually and because of his defensive skill dats could even be considered the best all around forward. malkin is a big guy and can shoot and pass as well as anyone else in the game and he seems to be tough as nails (see the other night when his face got stepped on). kovalev definitely needs to be higher though.

1. Ovechkin

2. Malkin

2. Datsyuk (im calling this a tie, but it pains me to do so)

4. Nabokov

5. Kovalev

6. Kovalchuk (BRUTAL defensively)

7. Zubov

8. Gonchar

9. Markov

10. Frolov or Semin

[Opie 308]

I'll go one step further and say that I think Datsyuk could be the best forward in the game of hockey.

I like to use the word cerebral to describe him. IMO, he's the forward version of Nick Lidstrom. Nick is best defenseman in the world and therefore, I feel Dats is/could be the best forward in the world. It all has to do with skills and smarts. Nobody questions Dats skill. He doesn't bag many goals but there aren't too many people who have a better, more accurate wrist shot. I don't know of anybody who sees the ice better and can cause more confusion in the offensive zone than Dats. Oh, and he's fantastic defensively as well.

He'll never get the credit a Malkin or Crosby or AO gets, partly because of his quiet demeanor. But his hockey brain and talents are second to none.

I try to stay out of the Dats/Z debates for this same reason.

I think cerebrally there are very few people that play the game the way Lids and Dats do. Now that is not to say that Z isn't a purer goal scorer, or in any way a knock on anyone else, it is just these two seem to know what is going to happen before it does.

Dats has become one of the most complete players in the game.

I say based on pure skill (mental capacity is a skill to me) these are my top 3 forwards in the game:

Crosby (This kid is crazy at that age) AO (same as crosby, to me these two are a tie)

Thornton

Dats

The only player that I see who can pass like Dats is Marc Savard.

Savard doesn't seem to see the game as well as Dats though, and is not as much of a natural at it(IMO).

I think if Dats had to play with guys with hands of stone you would see him score more, but if you have a chance to deke the piss out of half of a team and pass to a wide open teammate, that only you and a handful of others can make that pass, you give it to him so he can bag it into an empty net. But then to top it off, the guy whose stick you put it on happens to be another of the top 15 forwards in the league that makes it nice too.

Then you top all of that offense off with the fact that he can play D as well.

It may be a product of him developing his game, could be a product of the environment he is in, but even Yzerman's stats fell a little while he was working more defensively, s*** even Jordan's scoring average went down when he became the best D player in the NBA.

Dats stats haven't diminished!

He, like Lids, seems to have great all around hockey skills and smarts.

So to make a long story short

AO

Dats

Malkin

Nabby

Kovalchuk

Zubov

Gonchar

Kovalev

Frolov

Semin

If you meant, Andrei Markov, he is further down my list a little, If you were talking Danny Markov, someone would have paid him the 4 mil he wanted, it wasn't only Det that could have used him and decided not to. That to me says something about either his motivation or his ability. Either way he is off of my list.

[YoungGuns1340 1]

If you meant, Andrei Markov, he is further down my list a little, If you were talking Danny Markov, someone would have paid him the 4 mil he wanted, it wasn't only Det that could have used him and decided not to. That to me says something about either his motivation or his ability. Either way he is off of my list.

You'd have to be an idiot to not know whether it was Dany or Andrei Markov (not you Opie, just in general). Andrei Markov is a good 10x better than Dany Markov. VERY underrated defenseman.

I think this board has a bit of a Western bias though...Markov is easily top 10 and Malkin is better than Datsyuk. Malkin is a VERY strong defensive player.

[BAFGA 0]

At least he put Ovechkin #1.... That guy has REALLY impressed me. REALLY impressed me.

Edited April 7, 2008 by BAFGA

[BAFGA 0]

Fedorov seems to be missing from that list. Did anyone see Washington's last game?

Feds knows his role. He's become less of a goal scorer and more of a setup man to Semin, another good Russian.

[Guest EZBAKETHAGANGSTA]

Datsyuk is way better than Malkin

...... You do know your an idiot right?

Malkin is 20 and already on the same level as datsyuk. Malkin will be a top 5 player in the leauge while Datsyuk will never break the top ten

[redwinger4747 6]

...... You do know your an idiot right?

Malkin is 20 and already on the same level as datsyuk. Malkin will be a top 5 player in the leauge while Datsyuk will never break the top ten

Are you kidding? Datsyuk finished 4th in league scoring and is great defensively leading the league in takeaways. I think he has broken the top 10, and I'd say top 5 FOR SURE.

[Opie 308]

...... You do know your an idiot right?

Malkin is 20 and already on the same level as datsyuk. Malkin will be a top 5 player in the leauge while Datsyuk will never break the top ten

........You do know that is your opinion right?

For Instance Malkin could destroy his knee in the first PO game and never play again. OR he could just start to suck.

While you are correct that he is at the start of an elite career, and if things continue to go this way he will be an excellent hockey player.

But as of right now this moment, Malkin isn't top 5, not even top 10 IMO, and I would already put Dats in the top 10.

I would disagree that Malkin is on the same level as Dats already, not that his offense isn't insane, but his D is not on the same level as Dats, he doesn't see/feel (bad choice of words but couldn't come up with anything better this early, lol, I am referring to the mental aspect of the game) the game like Dats. He is more physical than Dats, and I think is a purer shooter/scorer than Dats. However I would agree that at the age 20 he is better than Dats was at 27. Dats has also performed in the post season, albeit once, he has still been a playoff performer. Now I know that is not really Malkin's fault, hard to win 3 cups, 12 postseason series when you are only in your second year.

BTW I googled Malkin's name to check some of the info I posted about, and one of the top 5 results was a forum discussion about whether or not he has a girlfriend. That game up before ESPN, Yahoo, and after Wikipedia!!

[Kira 451]

I'll go one step further and say that I think Datsyuk could be the best forward in the game of hockey.

I like to use the word cerebral to describe him. IMO, he's the forward version of Nick Lidstrom. Nick is best defenseman in the world and therefore, I feel Dats is/could be the best forward in the world. It all has to do with skills and smarts. Nobody questions Dats skill. He doesn't bag many goals but there aren't too many people who have a better, more accurate wrist shot. I don't know of anybody who sees the ice better and can cause more confusion in the offensive zone than Dats. Oh, and he's fantastic defensively as well.

He'll never get the credit a Malkin or Crosby or AO gets, partly because of his quiet demeanor. But his hockey brain and talents are second to none.

Cerebral is a very good description. It fits. He sees the game so well, and like he said, he tries to keep a play or two ahead of everyone else...tries to see ahead of everyone else. It makes his game that much more intelligent. He sees angles and openings most of us can't see, and makes pinpoint passes to the player he sees open. I sometimes wonder how guys who play on a line with him at the All-Star game think when they get an unexpected pass from him - a pass they weren't looking for because they didn't see the opening he saw. But that is something you really can't get in a day or so of practice. The more you practice with him the more in tune you become, which is why guys like Henrik, Homer, Valtteri and Johan "get it". I am constantly amazed at the way he plays the game - you would almost think he has eyes in the back of his head sometimes. But it's that thinking a play or two ahead that makes that so possible.

You're right, he'll never get the credit of Ovechkin or Malkin or Crosby...and it is because of that quiet way he has about him. He goes out night after night and flies under the radar. But that's okay. When it all comes down to the end, we know what a treasure we have. And he is rewarded for it.

Edited April 8, 2008 by Kira