Luukkonen has finally blossomed, and it’s such a sigh of relief. Can’t wait to see him get better and better

I’d love to see you do a video on current rivalries in the NHL

The Marchenko - Voronkov - Chinakhov line has scored nearly 30% of all of Columbus’ goals this season.

Forecheck, Backcheck, Trocheck.

The more I watch Zary, the more I love him. Such a breath of fresh air for the Flames.

Agreed on Adam Larsson. He's one of the most responsible defensemen we have and complements Dunn's more offensive style.

I was a Conner Zary fan from the day he got drafted. He dropped to like 27th or 28th I think. They said at the time he's a fantastic player just needs to work on his skating. Looks like he really worked on it and now in the Calder talk if he can keep his pace up

I think forsling is a better 2 way defenseman than many higher profile names. Gets overlooked since his point totals are more modest but even there he is no slouch.

I feel that forsling should be in the norris conversation but nowadays everything is about the points

Liked seeing Parayko up there because I literally just became a fan of him because I learned he is from the same town as me and my English teacher taught me him Colton Parayko is coming up an odd amount today

Lyon for sure, he’s been lights out

Would have gone with Jalen Chatfield for Carolina. Guy puts 110% effort, is extremely fast and defensively sound. Not much offensive upside but great everywhere else.

For Nashville, I think you also could have gone with Nyquist. He's quietly putting up one of his best seasons of his whole career, and has been coming in so clutch. Great leadership from him too.

Nic Dowd. Man, I remember when the Caps traded for him. Jay Beagle, the capitals 4th line center for YEARS, had just been let go. And frankly, I was very sad to see it. Beagle was the type of player who was really solid defensively, and was always always always giving all that he had to give. Dude was always blocking the craziest slapshots. But, alas, good things must come to an end. Enter Nic Dowd. Dowder has been every thing you could ask of your player and more. Guy brings attitude, a little bit of snarl, blocks shots, fought in a line brawl against the rangers, and wins face offs. He's been a great player

Alex the Lyon King, dude has been a monster.

Forsling is a freaking tank.

Nick Seeler really is one of the best pure defensive defenseman in the league. Offers little to nothing on the offensive end but that’s not his role at all. If you watch a Flyers game, he’s blocking shots everywhere and is constantly breaking plays up with his stick while also playing a physical game. I honestly would like to keep him around.

6 swedish players, 6 defensemen

Forsling is the most underrated player in the entire league.

Parayko and Binnington have been exceptional this season and the two of them are almost entirely responsible for us having a shot at the postseason

The fact that the Canucks struggles began after Dakota Joshua got out of the lineup with an injury is no coincidence. The man is severely underrated.

Couldn't agree more on Logan O'Connor. He's defensively strong and never quits on a play, and he's maybe developing a scoring touch, too. He's the linchpin of our bottom six. Toews I think is fairly rated around the league. People are talking about him as a pick for Team Canada, that's not the kind of player who flies under the radar. Most people know how good he is.

I agree Brodin is super underrated but i think Erikson Ek might be the most underrated player in the whole league. He is unreal but no-one seems to talk about him

I guessed Parayko before I saw you mention it, he has done well this year

I just realized you’re left handed…. And as a math teacher I have to also applause your whiteboard writing skills overall, so legible compared to what my mad scrambles look like😅

I was just thinking what kind of other video you were gonna do today and thought about a 32 team video. Let's go I'm here for it

Love seeing a shoutout for Dic Nowd

Thanks for all the usual good assessments here. So many of the picks resonate with me also. 🌟🌟🌟

Michael McCarron is a nice redemption story. When he got drafted in the first round by Montreal (i.e. 2013), he got asked, the usual trick question, to compare his game to one of the actual NHL player. He answered that his game was similar to Milan Lucic. That was back in 2013 and Milan Lucic's game was on a downward trend. He got flak for that. The guy worked hard, mostly at the AHL level, and now, he is resurfacing at the NHL level; good for him. Similarly, for the last two years, each time I see the Blackhawks, I am surprised and, happy, to see a similar story with Jarred Tinordi. Another Habs first round pick (i.e. 2010), that never solidified his position with the Habs. In both cases, these guys kept working, mostly in the minors, and now, they are both reaping the reward of their hard work at the NHL level.

I do not know why I like this guy but I do. He is by far the best Hockey Nerd on KZfaq and I say nerd in the 2020's respect and not the dis it was in the 1990's. God bless this man.

As a Pens fan, Pettersson is so underrated. He is such a solid defenseman, very rarely does he make costly mistakes, he's just fantastic

Mattew Boldy could also be up there too for Minnesota.. almost up to a point per game on the season

For Pittsburgh (I know this seems ridiculous from an outside pov) its easily Tristan Jarry. Fans HATE this guy to this day, even when he is providing such a good on ice product. His history of inconsistent play outweighs that for a lot of people ive talked to and its so unfair in my opinion. We barely deserve to be in the playoff discussion as it is this season I can guarantee you without Jarrys contributions we'd be convincingly bottom of our division. Without the 6 shutouts we'd already be 2nd to last in the metro and I feel like the pens deserved to lose most of those games but Jarry won them. On top of that the amount of times hes kept the scoring far below expected just for the pens to do absolutely nothing with the opportunity this season is infuriating when you see it happen. Especially against teams Jarry has shut out somewhat recently its like our entire defense just turns off because surely Jarry has it in the bag. The story of the Penguins right now is the dedicated few making up for the lackluster majority, Jarry is one of the few.

Im glad you agree with me on seeler.

Very happy to see Slafkovsky get some much needed praise. All the impatience fans, media, and haters calling him a bust after half a season. He’s a 19 year old kid but he has the right attitude and he is taking huge steps this season. Looks like he is going to be an absolute beast in a few seasons. Already unbeatable in the corners.

I love me some Trocheck. I liked his game when he was with Carolina and I knew that was a good pickup last year. This year he’s definitely proven me right. Great on faceoffs, solid on defense, great vision, smart passing…and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Panarin is having a career season with Trocheck as his center.

Hope JT breaks the century mark this year. Aside from leading in team scoring, he's also the Canucks most consistent point getter. Sure hope though that Joshua returns soon and kinda worried about EP and his inability to produce against elite clubs. I think he wants to stay here and hasn't signed yet because he wants to see what the new cap will be. But who knows what will unfold with Trader Jim around. I hope he finds his scoring touch again and remains in Vancouver.

DeMelo is one of my favorite underrated players in the league, going back to his days in Ottawa, as a part-time Sens fan. You have to be a fan of the team he plays on to even know who he is because what he does isn't something you can pick up on unless you watch him every game. Spending most of your career in Ottawa & Winnipeg is a good way to remain anonymous.

I love your love for Petterson. He almost never puts a wrong foot forward night in and night out

Man so glad. I got that connor zary signed jersey

Not sure Burns is underrated for Carolina. Being paired with Slavin will make anyone look good. TDA was better as the PP QB, which is NOT to suggest I'd bench Burns for DeAngelo. Since you used Noesen last time for underrated Cane though, I get selecting Burns as the least appreciated. I'd probably have gone with Staal however as many who start analysis with "how many goals" would miss what Jordan means to the team.

Honorable mention for Vegas should be Roy. He’s solid on the 4th line and is great and getting the puck into the offensive zone.

Lily is what he is but is very good when given the opportunity. Played great with more responsibility during the rielly suspension

Gotta hand it to you, Parayko is easily the best Blues pick. You nailed it. He's constantly over-criticized (much of it sight unseen, in fact) and under-praised. He's been the most consistent Blue this season playing brutally tough minutes. If the Blues didn't waste PP time on Krug, he'd get much more attention. Parayko is having probably his best season ever, good on you to notice.

thoughts on valtteri puustinen (penguins)? i love watching him as it seems like he's playing with a lot of heart and enthusiasm, excited for his future!

Ekholm is like a good rug; Really pulls the room together. The Oilers blue line looks so much more stable and confident since he's come in, and he brings a strong work ethic and ability to make the tough/smart play each time he's on the ice. He also works really well with Bouchard to create a balanced offence/defense pairing. Such a good addition to the team!

Zary has been such a welcome rookie for us this year. I’m interested to see how year two goes if he has the sophomore slump or continues his current trajectory

I’ve been telling anyone who would listen that Vincent Trocheck was a bonafide stud since he was in Plymouth with the Whalers before he was even drafted. That team was loaded, but even on that loaded team that lost in the finals the year in talking about to Hershey IIRC, you could see Trocheck was just better than anyone else on either team. He was so fast and so dangerous and all of a sudden he’d disappear in the offensive zone and you’d see a teammate flip it to seemingly nowhere and here comes Vince Trocheck to snipe it home. He’s super good at being elusive in the offensive zone and getting to the scoring area with enough room to get it to him, he can make plays, he’s quicker than he looks and he’s got a shot that’s tricky to pick up and accurate. I’ve wanted him in Detroit since day one and it seems if that ever happens it’ll be too late in his career to see his peak but man he’s good and now everyone is seeing it since he’s doing it on broadway.

Personally a underrated player in Nj is Jesper Bratt i think he makes great plays and is a good scorer and you don’t see many people talk about him much

💯 on Logan O’ Connor. A lot of the Avs honestly have underachieved or slumped, but LOC works his butt off and has had a year that is even better than usual. Even when he doesn’t score it’s fine, because he does so much else out there, particularly defensively.

Interesting stuff.

Rockin' the Whale! And lookin' good!

Nice to see Dobson get recognition.

6 current / former panthers on here. They’re great at bringing in castaway players, getting them to reach their potential and they go to sign somewhere else and be criminally underrated lol

JT Miller was my favorite when he was in Tampa. Coming from my second fav team to my favorite team and now on my third favorite team, I'm happy.

Mrazek has some nerve being so clutch and trying his hardest every game in Chicago after the way he stunk up the crease every night for the Leafs. Where waa this Mrazek when he was in Toronto?

Nico Hischier was really good pick. I think everyone knows he’s really good but just kinda forgets him. He’s sooo consistent and puts the puck in the net plenty, racks up apples, strong defense, and unquestionable leadership. Love Nico

For Pittsburgh Marcus Pettersson is having a pretty underrated season. He’s probably the most steady D-man when we’ve had this year. Couldn’t have gone wrong either if you said Drew O’Connor. His overall play is just improving so much, I remember a couple of years ago during the preseason and I said if this dude can figure out how to utilize his speed because it seem like he just wanted to go as fast as he could every time he got the puck on his stick and he kept losing control of it. Looked like his hands weren’t keeping up with his feet. Reminded me of Martin Straka in his first year. Got some good size. He’s got the speed it seems like he’s figuring out when to slow down and speed up that shifting of speeds is what I’ve noticed the biggest improvement. I think the goal totals will improve in the coming years. It might sound a little crazy right now to some people but I really seriously think this guy could be a steady top 6.

LOC was an amazing pick for Colorado. Could not agree more. On the defensive side I’d say Manson has been one of the bright spots on a down defensive year for the Avs.

Gudas has been so great on the Ducks. I've loved having him on the team and I think so do the fans. Kinda hope they give him the captain for the time being since hes sort of already in that role

Logan O’Connor was exactly who I thought would pop for the Avs. Got to meet him in the airport in Denver during the all star break and super nice guy. Of course I was the nerdy fan wearing an Avs sweatshirt but I resisted overly bugging him and just told him I was a fan and thanked him for the two snipes he had right in front of us at the game vs the Kings just before the break. Got a smile out of him when I told him our broadcast crew called him Logan O’Sakic 😂

On Trocheck, I could honestly see him getting the "A" at some point, he already seems like one of the heart and soul members of the team and clearly the younger guys like Laf, Cuyle, and Kakko look up to him; Cuyle even lives with the guy.

Tanev to the STARS!

Shout out to Noah Juulsen for also being super underrated

two video ideas for you. Best contracts in the league (player value for salary) I'd also love to see your projected lineups for best on best countries

I feel like there's something to be said for Suzuki, whom most people seem to consider a pretty good second line center, when he's shown especially in the last twenty games that he's one of the best 2-way centers and certainly a true number 1

After how there was barley any defensemen recognition for the All Star game I love seeing the defensemen love. It's an underrated position in general.

100% agree with your take on Miller, hes been our best and most consistent forward this year and he doesnt seem to get the credit he deserves around the league

Veleno is my wings pick. I think he's up to like 11g14a in purely 4th line minutes, solid all around player

Trocheck also is a skilled guy that is feisty. Rangers do miss Ty Emberson to their depth.

Forsling was easily the right choice for Florida, man when you watch them closely every game, it's just wild how solid and consistent he is defensively, and how many times he bails us out after a dumb mistake. He almost never makes mistakes himself, he barely takes penalties which is great since he's amazing on the PK. Might honestly be the best waiver pickup ever? He's gonna be tough to pay this offseason.

I own Burns in fantasy and I'm wondering where you buy your hasish, Shannon

Logan O'Connor is also deadly with the puck in shorthanded breakaway situations

Shannon where did you get that hat??

Love that Whalers jersey

I don't mind Slaf, but what about Nick (not a first line center supposedly) Suzuki ?

V. Trocheck is considered highly important in the little group I watch NYR games with.

I'm an Oilers fan who will take any reason I can to hate the Canucks, but I LOVE JT Miller so much. Love everything about him. While I'm here I will mention that the entire defensive core has been underrated. Go look at the stats: they are a top 10 defensive team and it's because everybody on that defense has stepped up defensively.

Seeler is one of the hearts of this team and I would love to see him stick around

interesting that a couple of days ago you mentioned Adam Fox as underrated for the Rangers. But, I think Trochek is right, because if there is one major difference between the Rangers of this year to last, its winning faceoffs.. Gallant never seemed to stress it, Laviolette definitely does and Trochek has been the best FO man on the team..

As an Avs fan, I was hoping for Sammie G but I will accept LOC

Marcus "the dragon" Pettersen is a great pick from the pens. He's a great defender and flies under everyone's radar.

I was thinking either Marchment, Harley, or Johnston for dallas

I think you defended your reasoning for Miller well. Noah Juulsen has really impressed me this year. If he keeps it up i think he could be a good #5/6 defensman next year

Millsy is the grit & talent the Canucks need. He has proved skeptics wrong with his work ethic.

I like this topic. Shout out to all the D who done get recognition. People underestimate most D in the league because they don't put up points (with exceptions of course)

adin hill is a gem and we got unbelievably lucky to get him

Patiently waiting for thg trade analysis 😊

welcome back

I agree that Pinto has brought a boost to Ottawa, not only with his play, but also his personality in the dressing room. He always comes across in interviews as a very upbeat guy, which a struggling team could certainly use. The only silver lining to his suspension was that the team was able to keep Joseph, who, after a poor season last year, has bounced back and been pretty good this year. At the start of the season, because of Dorion's cap mismanagement, in order to sign Pinto they would have had to unload a salary, and most fingers pointed at Joseph, figuring that they'd have to also include a high pick just to get another team to take him. Having already traded away (or forfeited) a couple of firsts, that was something they could ill afford.

Lyon has given me some piece of mind that the goalie won't cost us the game. But im watching for signs of hitting the wall. I don't think hes ever played this much in the nhl. I'd like to see him get more games off. But then im nervous about Reimers rebounds. Ha. So close to ending the drought.

Dmitri Voronkov is an unreal player this guy will be in the NHL for a long time. He’s a 6’5” Russian monster that’s so good in front of the net!

I fully expected Miller to be your Van pick, and couldn’t agree more. People know he’s a star. But he’s actually way better than just that. He is absolutely the best forward we have.

I really wish that Crouse got more ice time. He's never seemed to get the nod from coaches, even when Arizona didn't have much in their lineup

Alex Lyon might be underrated throughout the league, but amongst the Detroit fanbase he is incredibly appreciated. He's a hilarious and goofy guy as well.

woo list!

I figure some aren't doing as well as we figure they could be due to undisclosed injuries or other just being a bit off. With the parody in the league it doesn't take much

Zary in the thumbnail!! ❤❤

The Bread-Man is on fire though...😮

Personally, Alex Vlasic would’ve been my pick for the hawks, considering all the trade chatter around Mrazek before he signed an extension with the team. But I can’t necessarily argue with the pick.