Athletistic / Hockey. The authoritative North American publication The Athletic has compiled a list of the best NHL players before the start of the 2023/2024 season. The list included 10 Russian hockey players.
In total, there were 125 players in the rankings. The publication divided all hockey players into four groups: MVP, “Face of the Franchise”, “All-Star Team Level” and “Top Level”. The Russians do not fall into the first category. There were nine hockey players: Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl (both Edmonton Oilers), Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar (both Colorado Avalanche), Auston Matthews (Toronto Maple Leafs), Jack Hughes (New York), from the Jersey Devils, David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins), Matthew Tkachuk (Florida Panthers) and Adam Fox (New York Rangers).
The second group included two Russians: Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild) and Nikita Kucherova (Tampa Bay Lightning). Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was also among the 20 “Faces of the Franchise” players.
The third category is made up of 32 hockey players. Among them are four Russians: Artemy Panarin (New York Rangers), Andrei Svechnikov (Carolina Hurricanes), Pavel Buchnevich (St. Louis Blues), Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay Lightning).
The fourth group, called “Top-Level Level”, consisting of 64 players, included four Russian hockey players: Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins), Valery Nichushkin (Colorado Avalanche) and Dmitry Orlov (Carolina Hurricanes). .
Source: Sport
I’m Emma Smith, a dedicated journalist and avid storyteller. I have been writing for news websites for the past 5 years, reporting on hockey news and delivering in-depth analysis of the sport. In my current role as Author at Athletistic, I write about hockey events from around the world to keep followers up-to-date with what’s happening in the sport.
