Where does Johnny Gaudreau rank among the most talented Flames players ever?
Enough time has passed for me to feel comfortable re-watching old Johnny highlights (shoutout to AC's great YouTube channel where I've been watching them: https://youtube.com/@ac666?si=ECygaDcyBd8vro_v)
So many great memories came back, especially watching his 2014-2015 rookie highlights and I gained an even greater respect for Johnny's talent as a hockey player than I already had.
Elite hands, IQ, skating and vision. Constantly made great passes and could've had even more points if his line-mates finished on some of the feeds he gave them. In my lifetime watching the Flames, him and Iggy were the most talented forwards I've seen on the Flames with Tkachuk, Tanguay, Cammalleri and Huselius behind them.
I'm younger than a good chunk of this forum (just entered my 30's this year) so I wasn't watching the Flames when Theo, Nieuwendyk, MacInnis, Makarov, etc. where on the team. I also know Kent Nilsson is usually considered to be the most skilled player to ever play for the Flames but I was wondering where ya'll would rank Johnny among the most talented Flames players of all-time?
He may well have been the most pure skilled player we've ever had. Huselius had the hands, Tanguay had the passing vision yet a lot of our good players still only had individual traits that collectively made Johnny so special. Nilsson is waaay before my time, but I've heard/seen a little bit of his highlights and people talking about what he could do.
So basically Johnny had:
-Even better hands than Huselius and I'd say Nilsson too
-Tanguay laser eyes passing vision
-Fleury's incredible elusiveness, but even better skating
And then I think he had a great shot too, it wasn't a heavy shot but he had a really whippy, quick and pretty accurate wrister. His compete was way higher than a guy like Nilsson too from what I've always heard.
Hockey IQ comparables, I can't quite draw any, he might have the highest hockey IQ we've seen as well.
Basically the only thing he lacked were the physical tools that made a guy like Iginla incredible, but Johnny worked so well with the natural gifts he had.
Last edited by Jetfire; 09-15-2024 at 03:06 PM.
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Depends on criteria. Iginla is there, but with an entirely different toolbox. A player like Joel Otto was incredibly talented at what he did. Won faceoffs and parked his massive frame, but most won't herald his talent.
Johnny found his niche, and was a master at it. As far as most exciting players to watch, outside of prime Iginla/Nilsson/Theo I can't think of anyone.
Edit to add, Al MacInnis, you don't launch slappers like that with old wood sticks, without a truckload of talent.
There's so many different metrics to skill and so many different skills an NHL player can have, and for that reason I have a hard time even coming up with a concrete top 5.
What I will say though is for me, Johnny was probably the most exciting Flames player to watch in my lifetime.
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He may well have been the most pure skilled player we've ever had. Huselius had the hands, Tanguay had the passing vision yet a lot of our good players still only had individual traits that collectively made Johnny so special. Nilsson is waaay before my time, but I've heard/seen a little bit of his highlights and people talking about what he could do.
So basically Johnny had:
-Even better hands than Huselius and I'd say Nilsson too
-Tanguay laser eyes passing vision -Fleury's incredible elusiveness, but even better skating
And then I think he had a great shot too, it wasn't a heavy shot but he had a really whippy, quick and pretty accurate wrister. His compete was way higher than a guy like Nilsson too from what I've always heard.
Hockey IQ comparables, I can't quite draw any, he might have the highest hockey IQ we've seen as well.
Basically the only thing he lacked were the physical tools that made a guy like Iginla incredible, but Johnny worked so well with the natural gifts he had.
Fleury was a better skater than Johnny. He was in fastest skater comps at the ASG (never a real contender but up there). And he was better one on one and on a breakaway. His flaw was his discipline on and off the ice, obviously.
Nilsson had every tool you want except physicality. His flaw was his compete level.
Pure talent, top 5 for sure. If he had played his whole career here and had some success, could have made a case for #1.
Rest in peace.
I was talking to a friend the other day and he thinks Johnny could have been #1 and...maybe. That would have taken some doing because at the end of the day we've had some amazing players and in my lifetime I cant imagine anyone supplanting Iginla.
But the sad fact of the matter remains that, regardless of his decision to leave and go to Columbus, he was always going to go his Sister's wedding.
And thus...no matter where he chose to go that was always going to happen.
That is fate. And she is a cruel mistress.
And I'm crushed for his parents. I'm crushed for his wife. I'm crushed for his kids and I'm crushed for his brother and his wife and their kids.
The whole thing is just a #### sandwich.
You work your whole life to accomplish something and *POOF*
Gone.
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People under 50 can't grasp it but for pure talent Kent Nilsson was probably top 5 in NHL history. I would put Johnny #2 for the Flames though.
My top 5
1-Nilsson
2-Gaudreau
3-Loob
4-Fleury
5-Mullen
Yeah, and in my own rambling earlier in the thread I definitely tried to leave it open in regards to Nilsson. I always hear the mystique of Nilsson, it's just as you say it's hard to comprehend for some of us younger fans never having had the pleasure of watching him. He invented what became known as the "Datsyukian Deke" way back in the 80s as well, right?
Where does Johnny Gaudreau rank among the most talented Flames players ever?
