NEW YORK (AP) — NHL players still believe Edmonton's Connor McDavid is the best skater and Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy is the top goaltender, according to the association's annual survey released Wednesday. and believes Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby is the most well-rounded player in the league.
McDavid, Vasilevskiy, Crosby and Colorado defenseman Cale Makar were among the top responses from the 639 members who responded as part of the seventh annual NHL Players Association survey. Players also gave Montreal and Edmonton the highest scores for having the best ice in the league, but rated defending champion Las Vegas and current Stanley Cup favorite Carolina as having the most difficult buildings to play in. .
A three-time MVP and reigning Hart Trophy winner, McDavid has been named the best skater or forward in every version of the survey since 2018-2019. He has won the Lester B. Pearson Award as the most outstanding player of the season as voted by his peers his fourth time.
Vasilevskiy, a two-time Cup champion, has been considered the favorite for goaltenders to win ever since he surpassed Montreal's Carey Price for that spot in 2020. Lightning teammates Nikita Kucherov (the best playmaker) and Victor Hedman (the hardest player to play against in his own half) were also No. 1 candidates.
Canadian star Marie-Philippe Poulin of Montreal has been named the top player to watch for the inaugural year of the Women's Professional Hockey League. She was followed closely by American Hilary Knight, captain of PWHL Boston.
Italy was the global destination where players most desired to host NHL games. This follows an agreement to send NHL players to Milan for the 2026 Olympics.
On the lighter side, Boston's David Pastrnak narrowly defeated Toronto's Auston Matthews for Best Style.
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