NHL power rankings: Top 3 greatest right wings of all-time
This edition of our NHL power rankings look at the best right wings.
Recently, I’ve been doing a NHL power rankings series breaking down the top three players of every position in NHL history. The last article I wrote covered the top three greatest left wingers of all-time, so today I will be going over the final position, the right wing.
Again, as I mentioned in the previous article, these lists are highly subjective as there have been many great right wingers to play the position.
Regardless, no one can deny the greatness of the three players listed below.
3. Mike Bossy
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Though this list was extremely tough to make and there were many players who could’ve made this list, it was impossible to leave former New York Islanders forward Mike Bossy off the list. Sure, his longevity wasn’t as great as some of the other names that could be here, but he was without a doubt one of the best the NHL has ever seen over his 752-game career.
As mentioned, Bossy’s career lacked longevity, which was due to ongoing back problems. Despite playing in just 10 NHL seasons, Bossy put up seven seasons of over 100 points, including a career high 126 during the 1978-79 season.
If you were to glance at his resume, you may notice he doesn’t have any Rocket Richard Trophies to his name. The reasoning behind this is simply that the Trophy was not given out until long after he had retired. If it had, Bossy would have won it nearly every season he played in, which is why he is considered one of the greatest goal scorers in the history of the game.
His brilliance may best be explained by the fact that he scored 60 or more goals in five of his 10 seasons. He also has the highest goals per game average in the history of the NHL at an astonishing 0.762 pace.
Bossy was a huge part of the dominant 80’s Islanders, and lead the team to four straight Stanley Cups from 1980-1983. He was at his best during all those playoff runs, which included 35 points in 18 games during the 1981 Stanley Cup run. He was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for the 1982 Cup, where he posted 17 goals and 10 assists in 19 games.
On top of the Stanley Cups and a Conn Smythe, he also won three Lady Byng’s and a Calder Trophy over his career. Though his career ended far to early, he still posted 573 goals and 1126 points. In 2017, he was named one of the 100 greatest players in NHL history.