Although Brodeur is a beast during the regular season, his age (36) may play a factor now in the fact he runs out of gas a little bit during playoff time. Either way, he's got three-straight 40-win seasons, and is the reigning Vezina winner of two seasons. Methinks he's good.
9. Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose Sharks—It's always hard to rank the top netminders in the game. Once Martin Brodeur retires, Nabokov will be at the forefront of the battle for the seat of "premier netminder" in the NHL. Last season was his largest margin of work (77 games) in the NHL by far (He played 67 games in 2001), but if he can stay as dominant as he was, Nabokov will one day get the Sharks over the hump.
8. Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
7. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings—These two are just more examples of the proficiency of the Detroit Red Wings in the late rounds of the draft.
It really says a lot about your team when you can have two 30-goal (Big Z had 40), 90-point players, and they're both receiving consideration for the Selke trophy.
It says even more when one of them wins it.
It says even MORE when you win the Stanley cup, and that success leads to the acquisition of Marian Hossa.
I hate the Red Wings.
6. Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks—Roberto Luongo is a special goalie.
Granted Brodeur, Lundqvist and Nabokov are great, but Luongo was able to remain competitive in the race for "premier goalie in the league" on a mediocre Florida Panthers team.
He's also carried the Vancouver Canucks with a 47-win season, and suffered through a disappointing 35-win season last year.
A disappointing 35-win season. What a strange sentence.
5. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins—I tried to keep him out of the top five, I really did.
Granted, putting him at number seven in a few drafts isn't exactly "slighting" him. Or maybe it is.
Either way, Malkin is...well...Evgeni Malkin. He burst out this past season with Sidney Crosby's injury, and demolished a lot of the competition.
If Crosby goes down again this season, then none of the experts will be wondering if Pittsburgh can keep going. They know who'll pick up the slack.
4. Joe Thornton, San Jose Sharks—The Boston Bruins look smarter and smarter for trading Joe Thornton don't they? I mean yes they signed Marc Savard, but who'd need two playmaking centers, especially one that's as big as a baby hippo.
Alright, Thornton isn't the size of a hippo, but much like one, Thornton has begun to wallow in San Jose—that is to say he's settled into a comfortable environment where he can transform is wingers into threats with his crisp, sparkling passes.
That, and he could post a 100-point season without scoring a single goal (Two 90 assist seasons in the past three years). Doesn't that scare anyone else?
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