Sean, really I like your list, I'm gonna toss in some more thoughts.
I bolded the ones I think are true superstars out of this group. I think to be a true superstar in this league, you have to be a player not only performing in the upper echelon consistently, but need be the straw that stirs the dink on your team, as well as a name that transcends hockey; do baseball and basketball fans know who you are as well? If you want to get really picky you can toss in the teams following or heritage in which case Tampa would likely hurt some rankings here.
In that sense, you may be able to even take MacKinnon, Kucherov and Marchand off the list. But for purposes of this thread being hockey-savvy folks, we will forget the transcendent portion.
I'dd add to this list Jack Eichel, for sure, he's a guy that's in that upper crust now. I think Elias Pettersson could be on the cusp if Vancouver continues to build that franchise into something.
Now on to the outside, looking in group, guys right there at the door, but not getting in.
If you want Stamkos on the list, I'dd be remiss to omit a couple guys like Malkin and Kopitar who are on the downward trend of superstardom, but definitely superstars of the "edler" ilk. Especially Malkin, guy is a threat and gamebreaker at any moment on the ice.
Looking ahead, hard to predict, but it's rare to see a defenseman on these type lists, even a goalie these days. Cale Makar is looking like the next young stud on that stacked Avs team, Quinn Hughes could be part of that big turnaround in Nuck land. At this point I'm more impressed with him than his highly touted brother Jack. Doughty is still a threat, Subban peaked after a couple years and has tumbled off a cliff since. John Carlson and Hedman have arguments I suppose, but sadly, and unfairly, dmen don't rotate the turnstiles or get the "superstar" moniker.
Any goalies? I can't think of any era in hockey where we haven't had at least a handful of real, true, star goalies. The list for me currently as it pertains to potential "superstars" is likely Price and MAF, maybe Holtby sneaks in as well.
I'll admit, I forgot about Kopitar (I think that has to do with the Kings having a couple of down seasons, and Kopitar not being near the top of the scoring race). If the Kings decided to move him, and go in full-on rebuild, I think he has the ability to transform teams. Think about groups like Carolina, or NYI. He'd make them cup contenders.
Malkin I should have included from the get go. That was more a brain fart than anything else.
The other one I'd mention is Bergeron.
That's a bunch of guys that IMO are not in the "best player in the league" conversation, but all at an incredibly high tier.... higher than simply being "stars".
Eichel? I think the talent is there, I'm just not sure I'd put him into that group yet - as he never had the individual success (i.e. trophies, scoring titles, or really close to it) and he's never had the team success (which I don't hold against him when judging the player - but I would want to see one or the other, before applying the "Superstar" label)
Defence. It's weird. I know I didn't name any, and that was by design. If I had to pick the top-5 blue liners in the NHL today... I'd go with Burns, Hedman, Doughty, Carlson, and, ummmm, Josi? Something like that anyway.
Hedman might be the one I'd call a Superstar - but if I'm applying that label to a dman, I'm looking for a guy that can do to a game what Lidstrom or Pronger did. Erik Karlsson, IMO, was that guy... but he's not anymore.
Goalies - Yeah. I don't think there are any real Superstars in net anymore. Like I said in the last post: Maybe Price, but that's more on reputation than anything.
I think this is the result of the position being so good now. There isn't a lot of difference between the 3rd best goalie in the NHL and the 19th. Using Price as the example.... and let's suggest for the sake of argument that he *IS* the best goalie in the league (at 10.5m per season, he's the highest paid).
IMO, Montreal would be FAR better off with Varlamov (the 15th highest paid goalie in the league) and the 5.5 million spent upgrading one or two of their top 6 forwards. That's not because I don't think Price is good... I just don't think the difference between Price & Varlamov is worth 5.5 million, but the difference between Tomas Tatar & Anze Kopitar is DEFINITELY worth the 5.5 million.
