Ten NHL Players That Would Have Been Fun To Watch At The Olympics
There are a number of NHL players that would have been fun to watch at this year’s Olympic games. While it was expected the players would go to the event, the league and its players decided it would be best to hold off from going to the games.
This obviously is the best move for the NHL and the season going on, especially with all the postponements this past month from COVID. While it was the right move, that doesn’t mean there are not a handful of players that would have been fun to watch at the event.
Let’s go over some of the top NHL players that would have been fun to watch at this year’s game:
1. Connor McDavid – Canada
Of course, this list needs to start with Connor McDavid. McDavid was going to be the heart and soul of the team this year and it would have been the first chance McDavid had to play during the Olympic stage. The fact that he can’t go to the games this year and play with the world’s best is bad for the game of hockey as he truly is a once-in-a-lifetime talent – just look at one of his highlight-reel goals so far this season.
2. Steven Stamkos – Canada
Steven Stamkos is 31 years old. He has played over 800 games in the NHL and has won two Stanley Cups. Yet he still hasn’t been able to represent his country at the Olympics. The fact that McDavid hasn’t gotten a chance and is missing this season is tough, Stamkos missing again is even harder to see.
Stamkos hasn’t been able to go to the Olympics in the past because of injuries and other misfortunes. Hopefully, he is still playing at a high enough level to get on the roster in four years, but at 35 who knows.
3. Auston Matthews – United States
Auston Matthews was going to make team USA really fun to watch this upcoming year. He hasn’t gotten a chance to represent his country at the Olympics much like Connor McDavid with Canada. Matthews is one of the best American Born hockey players of his era, and the opportunity to watch him and Patrick Kane play together would have been something special.
4. David Pastrnak – Czech Republic
David Pastrnak has represented the Czech Republic in the World Junior Championship in the past, but he hasn’t been able to go to the Olympics yet in his career. He is only 25 years old and will definitely get another chance in four years but at the top of his game right now he would have been fun to watch.
5. Leon Draisaitl – Germany
Leon Draisaitl plays with Connor McDavid every night in the NHL. The two are some of the top players in the NHL, and the opportunity to get Draisaitl on his own team to show what he is made of would have been fantastic. I think Draisaitl is as good away from McDavid as he is with him and watching Draisaitl at the Olympics with Germany would have given fans around the world a chance to see just how much Germany has grown with a hockey team – especially with the next guy on this list.
6. Moritz Seider – Germany
Moritz Seider is one of the top young hockey players of his draft class. Seider was drafted by the Red Wings in a move that had a lot of people shaking their heads, but so far Steve Yzerman is looking like a genius with Seider producing 21 assists through 37 games with the Red Wings this season.
7. Victor Hedman – Sweden
Victor Hedman has won two Stanley Cups, a Conn Smythe, a Norris Trophy, and has been one of the top players in the league for a long time. He has done basically everything except represent his country at the Olympics. It’s crazy that there are two Lightning players on this list that haven’t gotten the opportunity to go.
8. Patrick Kane – United States
Patrick Kane has had a lot of heartbreaks at the Olympics in the past. This arguably would have been the best lineup that team USA could have built around Kane to get him a chance at a gold medal. While there is little doubt that he can probably make the team in four years the way he is playing, it still is another opportunity down the drain.
9. Sidney Crosby – Canada
Sidney Crosby is a generational talent that has a lot of trophies and accomplishments already under his belt. A chance at another gold medal is definitely not something he would have passed up and it stinks that we won’t be able to see him on the biggest stage again this year.
10. Alex Ovechkin – Russia
Alex Ovechkin scores a lot of goals during the regular season, and it would have been fun to see what he could have done this year at the highest stage with the most people watching. The NHL not going to the Olympics does mean that the games the league is missing can probably get made up, which does give Ovechkin more opportunities to score goals in his pursuit of the most goals all-time.