On Wednesday morning, the NHL Players’ Association revealed this season’s player poll. The PA surveyed 626 NHL Players on 14 hockey-related questions during the regular season. It’s not surprising that two Edmonton Oilers dominated the polls and questions.
Connor McDavid won the vote for “In a must-win game, which forward do you think would be most impactful” garnering 59.3% of the votes. Sidney Crosby was the runner-up in this category at 11% based on 599 votes.
When it came to the best stick-handler McDavid finished second next to Patrick Kane who won the vote by 46.1% with Connor at 28.7% based on 609 votes.
Leon Draisaitl has been deemed the best passer in the NHL once again next to Patrick Kane. Interestingly enough McDavid finished fifth in this poll with 7.7% and Leon in first with 25% out of 600 total votes. Connor McDavid leads the league in assists right now with 78 while Draisaitl is in fifth with 62. Good to see the league respects the sweet dishes Leon can pull off.
The players voted Sidney Crosby as the most complete player, 30.1%, and Patrice Bergeron as the runner-up at 18.8%. McDavid finished fourth in this poll at 11% with 591 votes in this category.
“Which player do you LEAST enjoy playing against, but would like to have on your team?” Funny enough, Brad Marchand tops this poll at 36.5%, and Connor McDavid in second with 15.6%. Little surprising to see most players would prefer Marchand on their team over McDavid. The total number of votes was 520 for this one.
There was also lots of love for the ice at Rogers Place. Edmonton’s barn is the runner-up this year next to Montreal’s Bell Centre. Rogers Place gained 14.7% of the votes while the Bell Centre received 35% of 503 votes. Edmonton’s home rink has been in second place over the past few seasons (17-18,18-19,19-20).
It’s always nice to see the NHLPA share the perspective of the players and who they think are the best in the league. It should be no surprise who winds up getting voted as the league’s Most Valuable Player in June.