11/10/2007

Who's most overrated?*

*Interesting that no one pointed out that the title read "Who's most underrated" before.

Right now the Ottawa Senators are hosting the Montreal Canadiens at the Scotiabank Place in a game where the guests are better at pretty much everything. While I'm waiting for the third period to start I thought I'd make a list of the most overrated players in the NHL right now. This is never an uncomplicated task but here is my shot at three of the top names on this unflattering list.

Scott Gomez (New York Rangers)
The Rangers are forking out a cold $10 million this year for a guy who does nothing. How can it possibly be that complicated to play with Jaromir Jagr, one of the greatest goal scorers ever?

Dustin Penner (Edmonton Oilers)
The Anaheim Ducks chose not to match to $4,3 million offered by the Edmonton Oilers, and I doubt they are regretting that decision now. Penner has 3 goals and is a -1 in 16 games.

Bryan McCabe (Toronto Maple Leafs)
And this is not just because he is putting the puck in his own net, but this guy, who is supposed to anchor the Leafs defense, is costing Toronto roughly $7 million this season and is not exactly a guy you can lean on.

You have a different opinion? Let's hear it.

* * *

The Ottawa-Montreal game just finished and the Sens turned things around in the final period to win it 3-1. Daniel Alfredsson scored two and Chris Neil got the winner to save the team from what looked like a second straight loss.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, if we're talking about the size of a player's pay-cheque then McCabe fits the bill as an overrated player. But that's Ferguson's fault.

As far as Leaf Nation is concerned, McCabe is not picking up any popularity votes anytime soon as he has ultimately turned into the new Larry Murphy in Toronto: booed out of the building every night.

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Larry Murphy had the last laugh as this top-notch defenceman was finally traded and wound up with the Red Wings winning back-to-back cups.

Niklas Olsson said...

Yes, I consider the size of the pay-check a pretty important factor in that equation, so McCabe definitely fits the bill.