Most Skilled Hockey Players of All Time

Now remember it's not top ten best point getters, it's most skilled. I was around when Bobby Hull started tearing up the NHL I have seen a lot.
The Top Ten
1 Mario Lemieux Mario Lemieux is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and current owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He played parts of 17 National Hockey League seasons with the team from 1984 to 2006, assuming ownership in 1999.

His 1.883 points per game is second only to Gretzky's 1.921. But Gretzky had most of his most successful years in the early 1980s where there was much more scoring, while Lemieux wasn't in the league at this time. Lemieux also had to overcome many injuries and cancer throughout his career. If he didn't miss so many games, Lemieux would have multiple 200 point seasons. Lemieux was also forced to play with a bad back, yet he still absolutely dominated. Lemieux had everything. Speed, skill, size, vision and strength. At his peak, he was simply unstoppable. The most talented player ever.

This guy was amazing don't get me wrong gretzky was a great, at getting points. But to be able to turn a team that was going bankrupt and make them a stanley cup winning team.

Mario the Magnificent! What else can you say? This guy played hurt most of his career. He was a one man scoring machine but also a play making genius. Mario was the most skilled player I ever watched play.

Mario broke Gretzky's records in Junior hockey. Mario should have broken most if not all of Gretzky's records in the NHL. - if not for the injuries. Mario was the best goal scorer ever followed by Mike Bossy.

2 Bobby Orr Robert Gordon Orr is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player, widely acknowledged as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Bobby orr in my opinion is the most skilled hockey player of all time. He missed his prime because of knee injuries and is still the only defenceman to ever win the art ross, twice

Bobby orr is probably the most underrated player besides jean ratelle (rangers) and guy lafleur. he was an amazing player. he lead the league in scoring as a defensemen and is the best penalty killer of all time. not only is he the greatest skilled player of all time but the best player of all time

Ahead of his time. Unbelievable skater and did it all making it look easy. Definitely in the top 3 for sure.

They new about him when he was 10 years old if you sign a contract with a 10 year old he going to be good

3 Wayne Gretzky Wayne Douglas Gretzky CC is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player and former head coach. He played 20 seasons in the National Hockey League for four teams from 1979 to 1999.

The guy below me pointed it out well, he was an average skater, average shooter, he was also below average in physical strength and couldn't throw a body check. He didn't do what he did because of his skill but rather because of his hockey sense. Pure skill, a few in NHL history would have to be ranked ahead of Gretzky.

Gretzky was not the most skilled player. He was an average skater, had an average shot, wasn't the kind of player that could turn you inside our like Mario or Kovalev. He was the most intelligent player and the purist scoring machine the game has ever seen. We will never see another one like him.

I know it was so hard to put gretzky the great one in fith place but you have to remember I said most skilled if it was greatest he would be first or second but he wasnt the fastest the toughest best shooter but still most points ever have to give him some credit.

There's a reason why Gretzky scored 1000 PTs more than the 2nd place guy. He was just that much better than everyone else

4 Bobby Hull

One of the most complete players ever. He could skate, shoot, pass and body check with the best of them. He regularly helped kill penalties with the Black Hawks as well as manning their power play. He could stick handle with either hand. His great speed and tremendous shooting power allowed him to do things most players could not. Best goal scorer ever and could fight with the best of them when he was abused by the hatchet men--which was often.

The most exciting player ever. Not only one of the fastest skaters in ever in professional hockey, but his slap shot and wrist shots were the fastest ever recorded. Many times Hull would score goals on spectacular end to end rushes through the other team that had the fans in every arena on their feet screaming "Hull, Hull!
The other way Bobby Hull scored many goals was with his slap shot which was timed close to 120 mph. Routinely he would blast goals in from the blue line--60 feet away with it. Many times the puck would be over the goalies shoulder or under his pads before he could move..
Hull was so strong that even when opposing players were hanging all over his back grabbing both his arms he would still get a wrist shot off.
This unmatched speed and power made him not only the most exciting player ever but the most dangerous goal scorer of all time.

Greatest left wing ever. Most dangerous goal scorer ever. Nobody else who ever played had as much strength, speed and shooting power as the "golden jet". One of the most complete players of all time. Should be higher on your list.

As a complete player Hull is very underrated. He was a great passer (having started out as a center) and could give out devastating body checks. Ask the 1976
Russian team which player on team Canada hit them with most crushing but legal body checks.

5 Pavel Datsyuk

,Behind Lemieux and Gretzky, Pavel Datsyuk is the most skilled player EVER in the nHL you see this guy play and you're just at awe in the way in which he is able to score goals and the way in which he makes them look so effortless. Bobby Orr eat your heart out. Datsyuk Destroys you.

Most skilled player with his stick, the best at picking away the puck, his style makes players look like amateurs

Pave and Bobby Orr are tied # 1. I meant paved and he could do the impossible.

Dekes goalies like a boss that's coming from a die heart Blackhawks fan

6 Stan Mikita

Only player ever to win the Hart trophy, Art Ross and Lady Byng in the same year. And he did this two years in a row! In 66-67 and 67-68 seasons. People forget how good this guy was. He also won the Ross trophy as scoring champion four times. The best center of the 1960's without question. If he hadn't gotten a crippling back injury from a dirty play by two Montreal players in 1969(he was cross checked from behind) he would much higher on the list of the greatest players ever. Mikita was leading the league in scoring again when the cross check happened.

Not a bad goal scorer either. Had 541 goals in 22 seasons-- all with the Blackhawks. Had career highs 40 goals in 1968 and 35 goals and 62 assists in during his peak year in 1967 which was the last year of the original six teams.

Most underrated great player ever. Could do everything as well or better than Gretzky--except score goals.

7 Patrick Kane Patrick Timothy Kane II (born November 19, 1988) is an American professional ice hockey right winger for the Chicago Blackhawks of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Patrick Kane will for ever be the mots skilled hockey player!

What The Heck Kane Should Be IN The Top 4

Should be in top 5

8 Gilbert Perreault

Perreault was so naturally gifted that I actually think that worked against him. He could float and still get 100 points in a season. It it too bad that his effort never matched his prodigious skills. Just think what he could have accomplished if he gave the same effort as Guy Lafleur did. Perreault had as many points as Lafleur did in his career but Lafleur never took a night off. How scary great could Perreault have been?

No one could skate and stick handle like him. He was electrifying and one of those rare players that regularity brought fans to their feet Had he played for a team like Montreal he would not be underrated like he is now. He was like a faster Mario Lemieux.

A big man that skated like the wind-there is fast but he was fast and a thing of beauty when he put the moves on the best defenders in the NHL.

When "asked who the toughest guy was for him to play against, or the best player that he ever played against." Bobby Orr answered "Gilbert Perrault"

9 Pavel Bure

He was good defensive player as well, killed penalties.
I f he had the right line mates his score would have been a lot higher

The most spectacular hockey player of all time. No one was more thrilling than Pavel Bure.

10 Maurice Richard

Amazing better then everyone in the NHL today

The Contenders
11 Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby ONS (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who currently serves as captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League.

Crosby, Lemieux, Ovechkin, Riley and Bure would be a killer line.

This is where nikita kucherov should be or austin mathews maybe conner mcdavid

12 Gordie Howe Gordon "Gordie" Howe OC (March 31, 1928 – June 10, 2016) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player. From 1946 to 1980, he played twenty-six seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL).

Howe best resembles any hockey player of all time, he stood up for himself unlike Gretzky or Lemieux. Imagine if he never was in the box or had 80 game seasons

We as spectators want our superstars to lift you out of your seat with tremendous feats of skill. That was not Gordie's game. You had to watch him over a period to time to realize he was simply better than anyone else. He was a fabulous skater -best stickhandler /passer/ playmaker in a poll taken by the players in the early 60's. He didn't have to fight especially after the Lou Fountinato heavyweight bout. Gordie could play the game anyway you wanted even as he got into his late thirties.Best all-around player the NHl has seen.

Don't forget the era in which Howe played, I know that for part of his career, the NHL only awarded 1 assist per goal, during the original 6 era, he was always playing against one of the 6 best goalies in the world and also, the NHL never had 80 games in a season until he was 40... interestingly, that year, he got his career high of 103 pts (yes, at 40). No other player ever had a 100 pt season at that age (Gretzky got his last one at 35, and then 98 at 36).

Bobby orr and Wayne Gretzky both have said Gordie was the best player. Even scotty bowman the most successful coach has said it. That says a lot coming from 2 of the all-time greats. Howe could do everything both as a left and right handed player. He was also ambidextrous

13 Jaromir Jagr

Few players display more tools then the Czech born superstar. His super human strength, powerful shot, elite playmaking and exceptional puck control simply places Jagr as one of the most skilled players of all time. Boom.

14 Kent Nilsson

According to Gretzky... The most skilled player he ever played with.

He was just really good at hiding the skill

Considering the players Gretzky played with, incl on the Canada Cup team, stating Kent is the most skilled player he ever played with mean something.

Hitting the crossbar from center ice on live T.V. is another amazing story.

The inventor of the Peter Forsberg 1994 Olympic final penalty, Kent did this back in 1989 against the US in World Cup (not on a penalty though, so no time to plan this).

15 Teemu Selänne

Teemu is the Finnish Flash a god

Just check the stats!

16 Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich "Alex" Ovechkin is a Russian professional ice hockey winger and captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League.

That guy is pretty big and hers really skilled

Best hockey player in the NHL today.

Best goal scorer in the modern NHL!

17 Zdeno Chara Zdeno Chára (born 18 March 1977) is a Slovak professional ice hockey defenseman who serves as captain of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He won the James Norris Memorial Trophy while playing for the Bruins in the 2008–09 season. Standing at 6 feet 9 inches (2.06 m) tall, Chára is the tallest person ever to play in the NHL. He is also the second European-born and raised captain to win the Stanley Cup (in 2011), and the first born and trained in a country within the Iron Curtain. As of the 2019-20 season, Chára is the tallest and oldest active NHL player as well as the last defenseman to have played in the NHL in the 1990's.

Shouldn't be here in my opinion, he's just an alien 6'9 guy who's super slow

6'9" and easily 7 ft on skates

18 Peter Forsberg

If you combine defensive, offensive, puck handling, physicality, mental focus, and vision. Forsberg will end up scoring the highest. Being active in the nasties era of hockey took it's toll and wore him down.

Most Complete Player Ever. Stellar level of skill in every aspect of the game, most notably his awareness and playmaking ability.

Most skilled player on this planet. Period.

19 Connor McDavid Connor McDavid (born January 13, 1997) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Number 1 for me. He is the fastest skater ever, and the best stickhandler ever. Most skilled player ever.

His speed and stick handling is the best there ever was and will be

I had to add him! Seriously? This guy has got to be top 3!

20 Paul Coffey
21 Phil Esposito

You have to remember this he had the most points for one season before people started getting unreal amount of points.

22 Alexei Kovalev

If based purely on skill, no player, not even Gretzky, Datsyuk, Lemieux, etc. Could out stickhandle or beat AK27 one-on-one. He may not have put up huge numbers in his career, but nobody could get around defenders more effortlessly than Kovalev.

Who else was able to pick up his lost glove while smoking defenseman behind goal? Also super strong and maybe best wrist shot ever seen.

23 Johnny Gaudreau
24 Ron Hextall
25 Matthew Tkachuk
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