Toews Is Top Player Under 25...Kane Also In Top 5

[tbo41fan]

Toews, Kane among ESPN's "Top 5 under 25" - Chicago Blackhawks - Blogs

In a league where developing and keeping young talent is a priority, the Blackhawks' Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane are among the best of the best, according to ESPN.com's rankings of the best NHL players under 25. Toews earned the top spot on the list, besting the Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby, while Kane placed fourth overall, just behind Washington's Nicklas Backstrom. Boston's Tuukka Rask rounds out the top 5.

The list, which takes into account "a track record of success based on current statistics (both conventional and advanced), future potential and the context under which they play," said of Toews:

"Drafted third overall by the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2006 Entry Draft, he made the jump to the NHL in the fall of 2007 at age 18 and since then, has made Chicago's best players even better.

"Starting in the faceoff dot, where he has won 56.6 percent of his draws, Toews is the engine that drives Chicago's puck possession. Fellow stars Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Patrick Sharp and Brent Seabrook all have seen better puck possession (over 7 percent more even strength shots in their favor on average) when sharing the ice with Toews.

"Throw in his Olympic gold for Team Canada in 2010 and bringing a Stanley Cup to the Windy City (earning the Conn Smythe for being most valuable to his team during the playoffs in the process) and you have the game's top player under 25 years old."

 

[TheChicagoFan]

Isn't Crosby under 25?

 

[tbo41fan]

Yep..Toews beat him out

 

[TheChicagoFan]

Yep..Toews beat him out

I like this a lot.

 

[Capt. Serious]

no Stammer? I'll ruffle some feathers here, but Stammer is a better player than Kaner.

 

[derosabomb]

:fap:

 

[tbo41fan]

i would put stamkos above Backstrom

 

[Jntg4]

:yeah:

Next year Hayes, Shawm and Smith will be 1, 2, and 3, respectively.

 

[HawkWriter]

Claude Giroux anyone?

Rask on here is an interesting choice. He has a bright future but has been a back up for the last 2 seasons (even if a back up to the best goalie in the league the last two seasons). Obviously this year Rask is putting up some amazing numbers in limited games though.

 

[X]

This list is dumb.


Kane should be #2.

Then Emery, even though he's 29.

Then everyone else.

 

[TheChicagoFan]

Giroux and Stamkos should be top 5. I like that Rask is on here. He's a starting goalie anywhere but Boston and maybe a few other places like New York and LA.

 

[HawkWriter]

Saw the rest of the list (top 25 under 25 is the full list). Pretty interesting. A lot of the real young guys (Hall, Eberle, RNH, Seguin and others) are left off the list. Obviously this list is putting a lot of weight into length in the NHL, etc because it would be a whole lot different otherwise.

 

[Dementia]

I'm not sure Toews is better than Crosby and Stamkos but I sure as hell wouldn't trade him for the world.

 

[TheChicagoFan]

Saw the rest of the list (top 25 under 25 is the full list). Pretty interesting. A lot of the real young guys (Hall, Eberle, RNH, Seguin and others) are left off the list. Obviously this list is putting a lot of weight into length in the NHL, etc because it would be a whole lot different otherwise.

I agree. All four guys you mentioned should be on the list.

I don't agree with them that Crosby is better than Toews, though. If a Toews for Crosby trade came along, I would probably take it, but only if I knew Sid was done with the concussions. That might be a factor.