BT's Top 50 NHL Players: Let the Argument Begin!

At his age, it was surprising to see Kovalev bounce back after a very disappointing 2006/07 (47 points). With a huge season in 2007/08 though (84 points), Kovalev endeared himself a little longer to Canadiens' faithful, although his production may fall somewhere in the 70-80 point neighbourhood this season. At least the Rangers got Jozef Balej in return.

33. Marty Turco, Dallas Stars—A solid starting goalie for the Stars, working on five straight 30 win seasons. Turco is very athletic, and has proven that he has the ability to win when it counts. Although he's getting older, Turco is still eyeing that elusive Cup ring, and has the drive to carry the Stars.

32. Martin St Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning—His production dropped a lot last season (Almost 20 points) but he can still be that startling little winger when he lines up on the side. With the added depth on Tampa's forwards, his production may go up a bit from last year, but St. Louis can still open up some space with his quick feet.

31. Mike Richards, Philadelphia Flyers—Has great vision, and can use his hockey smarts and skating ability to get himself to the open ice. He's one of the most dynamic two-way players entering the NHL, and his leadership is a highly coveted commodity in Philly.

30. Brad Richards, Dallas Stars—Richards had a bit of an off year last season, but with a talented group of Dallas forwards around him, he'll make them better, and his numbers will reflect that. Although Richards shot a little less in Dallas last season (2 goals in 11 games), Richards has some great playmaking ability that will flourish over the course of a full season.

Here's where it gets jumbled...

29. Marc Savard, Boston Bruins—After a bit of an off-year, Savard looks primed to return to his 90-point presence for the Boston Bruins. Once thought that he couldn't perform without a winger the caliber of Ilya Kovalchuk, Savard has shown off his deft passing ability, along with a little bit of goal scoring ability.

28. Jay Bouwmeester, Florida Panthers—Is the real deal on the back end for the Florida Panthers. Bouwmeester is starting to come into his own as a goal-scoring threat on the back end, and will work with Bryan McCabe to make the Florida powerplay a real monster.

27. Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators—Alfie has started to watch his body catch up with him over the past few seasons. He'll be 36 this season, and even with injuries mounting, he'll still be able to put up a solid season atop the heap in Ottawa. He'll also have the drive to get Ottawa back to the playoffs, and really make some noise this season.

26. Mike Green, Washington Capitals—Coming off of a huge year (18 goals, 56 points) for the Capitals, Green is poised to become the leader of the Caps defense. He's an exciting player to watch, and will only get better as time goes on.

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