NHL Players Under-Represented On ESPN's Top 100 Athletes Since 2000 List

ESPN recently ranked the top 100 athletes since 2000. The criteria were that only an athlete's post-2000 career achievements were considered. For example, Derek Jeter shows up on the list at number 53 because only his accomplishments from January 1, 2000 onward are considered.

All those World Series, 1996 Rookie of the Year, and All-Star selections from the late 1990’s meant nothing here.

Michael Phelps earned top honors considering he’s the most decorated Olympian of all time. Only three NHL players made the list, however. The highest rated was Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins at number 22. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals ranks number 54.

The “next one”, and new Conn Smythe winner, Connor McDavid is way down near the bottom at number 98. Since 2000 was the start date Wayne Gretzky was left off since his career ended in 1997. When ESPN ranked the greatest athletes of the 20th century 25 years ago Gretzky was ranked fifth. 

The NHL has more than three players deserving of being on this list.

McDavid’s low ranking makes sense in the view of overall sports with all sports considered. His career is still at its peak and he was drafted less than a decade ago. Compare that to the other two NHLers on the list, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. Both have almost an extra ten years as the Oilers captain.

Both also have won a championship. Yes, the Oilers made it to the Stanley Cup final and fell short, and remain cup contenders entering this season, but you can’t tell us having a ring wouldn’t bump any player up a few notches on a list like this.

While Ovechkin is an all-time hockey great, a ranking in the middle of the pack doesn’t necessarily set off any red flags. Ovechkin only has one Stanley Cup so his championship resume pales in comparison to his contemporary in Crosby.

It was a surprise to see Crosby ranked at number 22 when he has had success and been the face of the league since 2005. 

Crosby is the driver of a powerhouse Penguins team for a period that lasted nearly two decades. “Can they rank a three-time Stanley Cup champion that low”, we thought to ourselves, and then we checked.

Looking through the 21 athletes ahead of Crosby only eight had played in the four major North American professional men's sports (NHL, NBA, MLB, and NFL).

Six had more championships than Crosby’s three in their respective leagues. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, ranked number 18, is tied for Crosby with three.

Former Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald ranked number 20, is the only player with less than three, as Donald only won one Super Bowl in his career.

It would be unwise for us to expect even representation in the list divided among all sports, as individual Olympians, tennis players, race car drivers, MMA fighters, boxers, etc, all had to be included. There still should have been more sports given than only three.

Auston Matthews has proven to be a legendary goal scorer the NHL hasn’t seen in almost a generation. His career is only a year younger than the ranked McDavid, so why is Matthews not ranked?

Does it have something to do with his lack of playoff success? Even if McDavid is void of a Cup, he still has an impressive playoff resume, unlike Matthews.

All three players ranked were forwards, with no defenseman or goalie. Cup-winning defensemen like the Tampa Bay Lighting’s Victor Hedman and the Penguins Kris Letang could have earned a spot on his list, even if they seem like “fringe” outliers on a list like this.

Nikita Kucherov, who has four 100-point-plus seasons, including one in each full non-shortened season, since 2017-2018 was left off the list. McDavid’s wingman in Edmonton Leon Draisatl also went unranked.

Draisatl has had six 100-point-plus seasons since 2018-2019. The only exception was the shortened 2020-2021 season, although he reached the century mark in the 2019-2020 regular season that ended abruptly.  

Here is an odd theory: where did the shortened season hold against them? Since Ovechkin was drafted in 2004 the NHL has had two lockouts. The 2004-2005 lockout infamously cancelled a whole season while the 2012-2013 NHL lockout limited the season to only 48 games.

Add in the two seasons that were pandemic-shortened, the NHL has only played a full 16 out of a potential 20 seasons since 2004. Fewer games mean fewer games for players to pad stats and reach achievements.

Does that mean post-2005 era players are playing at a disadvantage when it comes to ranking the “greatest of all time”, both for the NHL and sports in general?

No indication factored into ESPN’s rankings. It’s still an interesting thought that might affect any other potential “ranking” exercises such as this one.

ESPN followed up that article with a list of 25 potential athletes to add to a future “top 100 athletes” list. Connor Bedard of the Chicago Blackhawks and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche both appeared on the unranked list.

Each of the four major North American professional sports leagues had two players each, so the NHL had no more or no less than their basketball, football, and baseball-playing brethren.