Who is your favorite player? Best you have ever seen? What player born on U.S. soil is the greatest NHLer of all time?
With Patrick Kane picking up his 1,375th point and passing Mike Modano earlier this week as the top scoring U.S. player in NHL history, the question of who is the greatest American player came to mind and eventually got us digging into the facts.
We asked for suggestions and submissions from former players, broadcasters, writers, and X to come up with a long list and eventually the final findings listed below.
Kane, who has won three Stanley Cups, the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Calder Trophy and Conn Smythe Trophy, was the consensus No. 1.
“I was just a young kid from Buffalo who tried to maybe play hockey and enjoy it, and maybe get a college scholarship or something like that,” Kane said in November. “You never think — like I remember at my age group, comparing myself to some of the kids in my age, and I just felt like they were so much better than me, right? And as time goes on, whether it’s getting opportunities or take advantage of playing in different situations, you get chances to do some pretty special things. So, (I’ve) been pretty fortunate with that, but to be up there on that list would be pretty cool, just given the amount of players that have played the game from the U.S.”
We made a choice to separate skaters and goalies and we also included our list of honorable mentions as well as some up-and-comers including Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel.
One note, Brett Hull competed for Team USA but was born in Canada and therefore not included in our list. Hull finished with 1,391 career NHL points and Kane will likely pass him by the end of this season as well.
Agree, disagree, come up with your own list. Here’s ours:
Top Five Players:
- Patrick Kane - Three Stanley Cups, the Hart Trophy, Art Ross Trophy, Calder Trophy, Conn Smythe Trophy, and the highest scoring U.S. born player in NHL history.
- Chris Chelios – Three Stanley Cups, 1,651 regular season games, 266 playoff games, three Norris Trophies
- Mike Modano – Second in points, one Cup, 561 goals.
- Brian Leetch – Dominant defenseman who played a key role in 1994 Cup run for New York Rangers. Two Norris Trophies and 1,028 points.
- Pat Lafontaine – Career cut short by injury but he collected 1,013 points in 865 games. His 1.17 points per game mark is the best among this group.
Goalies:
- Jonathan Quick – Three Cups and more wins than any other U.S. born goalie at 408 as well as a career .910 save percentage.
- Ryan Miller – A sparkling .914 save percentage and 391 wins.
- Tom Barrasso – Two Cups and a standout in Buffalo and Pittsburgh.
- Frank “Mr. Zero” Brimsek – Two Cups and the greatest nickname in goalie history as well as 252 wins in an era of shorter seasons.
- Mike Richter – One Cup and MVP at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey at Team USA beat Canada in best-on-best play.
Coming On Strong:
- Auston Matthews – Will likely be in the Top 5 before all is said and done and already has 773 points and has won three Rocket Richard Trophies as well as the Hart.
- Jack Eichel – A Cup winner with 672 points, Eichel will get to 1,000. He is Team USA’s most important center right now due to his elite two-way game. Gold at the international best-on-best level will go a long way to getting him into the top five by the time he retires.
- Connor Hellebuyck – Two Vezina Trophies and a Hart Trophy.
Honorable Mentions
Jeremy Roenick
Keith Tkachuk
Mark Howe
Joe Mullen
Phil Housley
Neil Broten
Ken Morrow
