NHL Power Rankings: The Most Overrated Player in the History of Every Franchise

The history of the NHL is filled with stories of players who lifted themselves up to a different level. Not only would they elevate themselves, but they would elevate their teams and lead them on to greatness.

Players like Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Joe Sakic, and Steve Yzerman. Players who always managed to come through when it mattered the most.

Then there are the players in history that had those kinds of expectations set on them, but who never managed to elevate themselves to that elite level.

Every team has had them, and the die hard fans of each team remember who they are.

Here is a list of each franchise's most overrated players.

Anaheim Ducks: Guy Hebert

A blast from the past of the Anaheim Ducks, or should I say the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim?

Guy Hebert was the first "franchise goalie" for this Ducks franchise, and for many in Anaheim was the first actual goalie that they knew of.

Hebert was part of an expanding franchise, which means that things were hard for him, but even as the team became more and more established, Hebert was never really able to be the stellar franchise goalie that the Ducks wanted.

Only once in his career as a part of Anaheim was he able to post a goals against average under 2.50. He pretty much lived close to the 3.00 goals against mark during his whole career.

Boston Bruins: Martin Lapointe

Martin Lapointe was signed to one of the worst contracts in the history of the Boston Bruins.

After Lapointe put up 27 goals for the first time in his career with the Detroit Red Wings, the Bruins gave him a $5 million a year contract for three years.

The problem with this is that Lapointe was a third line role-player at best who just had a good year playing for a good team.

He never lived up to this contract and the Bruins promptly let him go once that absurd contract ended.  Easily one of the most overrated players ever.

Buffalo Sabres: Maxim Afinogenov

Max Afinogenov was a player that a lot of people seemed to think was very underrated during his time with the Sabres.

He lived in the shadows of Dany Briere and Chris Drury, but was still considered a vital piece to their puzzle.

There is just one problem with all of that, he really wasn't all that vital at all. During his time with all of those very talented Sabres teams, Afinogenov's best year of scoring was when he tallied 23 goals and 38 assists.

Plus, his playoff performances were never all that stellar either. His career high in playoff production was a whopping nine points.

Sure, he was fast, but he didn't really have great vision or stick skills.  If anything, Afinogenov is easily the most overrated player in Buffalo Sabres history.

Calgary Flames: Dion Phaneuf

Dion Phaneuf took the NHL by storm when he came into the league in 2005, scoring 20 goals in his rookie year.

Phaneuf had everybody believing that he was the next great offensive defenseman, but his production has slowed every year since his third season.

This decline in productivity, coupled with declining play in his own ends, sent him off to Toronto where Phaneuf was voted as the league's most overrated player in 2010.

Phaneuf's production continued to decline after his arrival in Toronto as well.

Carolina Hurricanes/Hartford Whalers: Geoff Sanderson

Geoff Sanderson is a great choice for this particular list not only because he was a bit overrated, but also because he was a member of the Hartford Whalers when they moved down to North Carolina, so he spans the entire franchise.

I read a great review of his game that helped me choose Sanderson as the most overrated.

Few could argue that he great speed, but he had almost no variety in his moves. Either go wide, or hope that the speed makes the d-man back off enough so that he could get off his great shot.

He made a name for himself with his speed, and was able to score goals, as he showed in the 1992 - 1993 season when he tallied 46, and then again the following season with 41.

He was just so up and down and completely inconsistent. He could put up 30 goals one season, and then 11 the next, he never found a way to always be a threat.

His potential was so high, which is what led to the high expectations for him, and he never managed to get to that elite level.

Sanderson ended up an NHL journeyman, who played for a grand total of seven teams.

Chicago Blackhawks: Nikolai Khabibulin

Nikolai Khabibulin has had a very interesting career that has seen a lot of ups and downs.

His greatest up came when he played for the Tampa Bay Lighting and won a Stanley Cup just before the NHL lock out.

When the NHL returned from the lock out, Khabibulin came over to the Chicago Blackhawks for the specific purpose of returning them to the Stanley Cup Finals.

That didn't work out so well for the Blackhawks, or for Khabibulin, as he posted only two winning records during his time in Chicago.

It seemed that Tampa's success was more about their team than their goalie.

Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques: Derek Morris

The Colorado Avalanche had just been eliminated in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals before the Colorado Avalanche announced a gigantic bombshell that left many Avalanche fans, myself included, absolutely speechless.

The Avalanche sent Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle to Calgary and got Derek Morris and second round draft pick.

The justification was that the Avalanche were deep enough with their forwards, but didn't have that big stud defenseman to anchor the team for years to come, and that was going to be Derek Morris.

Two years later, Morris got traded away to Phoenix, and the Avalanche have been missing that one guy on the team that refused to lose ever since.

So Morris wasn't only a huge bust in and of himself, but the trade that brought him to Denver lost the Avalanche one of the best money players that they ever had.

Columbus Blue Jackets: Sergei Fedorov

Sergei Fedorov experienced unbelievable success with the Detroit Red Wings, but after he let a contract dispute get the best of things, he departed for the Anaheim Ducks, where he did manage to post a 30 goal season.

After the lockout, however, things were a much different story. Fedorov was traded by the Ducks to the Blue Jackets, hoping that he could regain his scoring touch from before the lock out.

Sadly, Fedorov never was able to regain that form, and was very frequently injured.

Fedorov was definitely overrated in what was expected of him by the time he came to Columbus, and there was very little chance of him every being the player he was in Detroit.

Dallas Stars/Minnesota Northstars: Marty Turco

Marty Turco had big skates to fill when he took over the reigns as the number one goalie in Dallas.

It's hard to live up to the goalie who led the team to their first ever Stanley Cup Championship in their history, Ed Belfour.

Marty Turco has the distinction as being one of the best puck handling goalies that has ever played the game, but that didn't ever get what the organization and fans in Dallas wanted, and that was more Stanley Cups.

If you looked up "regular season goalie" in the dictionary, you would see a picture of Marty Turco right next to it.

He was absolutely incapable of winning in the playoffs, which is why I was always surprised that the Stars stuck with Turco as long as they did.

Detroit Red Wings: Uwe Krupp

Uwe Krupp is best known for his Stanley Cup winning goal for the Colorado Avalanche in the 1996 Stanley Cup Finals.

After his time with the Avalanche, Detroit signed Krupp to a big contract, four years for $16 million, hoping he could bring the same type of all around ability that he brought to the Avalanche.

Injuries and some gambling issues kept Krupp from ever really producing for the Red Wings.

He was always thought of as a good defenseman, but I'm not totally sure where the thought that he was worth $4 million a year came to Detroit GM, Ken Holland.

Perhaps it was just because they were getting him away from hated rival Colorado. Either way, if do-overs were granted in the NHL, I'm sure Detroit would want one on Krupp.

Edmonton Oilers: Curtis Joseph

Cujo may be one of the most overrated goalies in the history of the game.

He frequently found himself on playoff teams, but it was always his inconsistent goaltending that kept his teams from going deep enough into the playoffs to get near a cup.

Yet almost every team he was on expected a Stanley Cup out of him, but there was just never a way he was going to get there.

Overrated with a capital "O."

Florida Panthers: Todd Bertuzzi

Todd Bertuzzi was, at one time, one of the best power forwards in the NHL. After his brutal assault of Steve Moore (don't get me started), Bertuzzi's game seemed to change.

It seemed as if his ability to use his size to his advantage really disappeared after he ended Moore's career, and the Panthers were hoping that he would be able to regain that form when they traded for him.

Not only did that not happen, Bertuzzi played a grand total of seven games for the Florida Panthers after back problems required surgery.

Nonetheless, Bertuzzi was overrated by the time he got there, and has been little more than a third liner ever since.

Los Angeles Kings: Barry Melrose

This is a bit of a departure from the spirit of the list, but I think that it is appropriate.

Barry Melrose was the coach of the Kings during their run to the Stanley Cup Finals, but the real credit for the success of that team definitely belongs to another person.

Melrose was a popular coach for the players during that time, but it was definitely Wayne Gretzky that was more of the coach of this team.

Sorry Barry, you're o-v-e-r-r-a-t-e-d.

Minnesota Wild: Martin Havlat

Minnesota grabber Marty Havlat from the Chicago Blackhawks hoping that he could produce for them the way that he produced in Chicago.

Havlat had a much better surrounding cast while he was in Chicago, however, and when he joined a less star-studded cast, Havlat was unable to produce nearly as much.

Plus, he has a history with injuries, so the Wild got a pretty good second line winger while hoping that he would turn out to be an elite sniper.

The Wild would have done well to remember that Havlat had only cracked 30 goals once, and that a much more defensive system was not going to bode well for him.

Montreal Canadiens: Scott Gomez

This could be split between both the Rangers and the Habs, but since he's part of Montreal now, and they were the ones that traded for him, Scott Gomez takes the cake.

Gomez had some success with the Devils, signed an absurd contract with the Rangers, and then was traded to the Canadiens.

He was overrated from day one here, as Gomez has only cracked the 20 goal mark one time in his career. Why on earth Montreal traded for him and his obscene contract, is beyond me.

Gomez has disappointed greatly while in Montreal, and may find himself in the minors next season, with all $5.7 million of his cap hit.

Nashville Predators: David Legwand

I just know that I'm going to hear this from the Nashville fans, but I have always found Legwand to be a bit overrated.

Legwand was the first ever draft pick of the Nashville Predators, and was the second overall pick way back in 1998, but really is not that kind of elite player that one takes with the second overall pick.

He had potential, and he does have skill, there is no doubt about that, but this guy is a second liner at best.

Legwand has spent his whole career on the Predators team, which was probably a very smart decision on his part because if he had ended up on another team that wasn't as thin talent wise as Nashville was for many years, it would have been obvious long earlier how overrated he really is.

Just a reminder, Legwand has never once cracked 30 goals, and was the second overall pick.  Those are not numbers you would expect from somebody selected that high.

New Jersey Devils: Ilya Kovalchuk

I'm sorry, you sign one of the largest contracts in the history of the NHL (15 years, $100 million) you will immediately be labeled as overrated.

The only player that I can even think would be worth anything near that is Mario Lemieux, and that ship has long sailed.

Nobody can live up to that type of a contract because nobody scores 80 goals a year anymore. Kovy set himself up for this big time, and got off to a quick start disappointing everybody with only 30 goals this year.

The last time he scored this few, his rookie year.

Was it worth it, New Jersey?

New York Islanders: Rick DiPietro

Rick DiPietro has done only one thing consistently for the New York Islanders ever since taking the crease, and that is get injured.

DiPietro is five years into a 15 years, $67.5 million contract. During those five years, DiPietro has seen less than one third of the action during those seasons.

This easily is the worst contract that the New York Islanders have ever been involved in, and they had to buy out Alexei Yashin.

It is debatable whether or not their most overrated player is DiPietro or Yashin, but based off of the complete lack of actual time playing games, I'll take DiPietro.

New York Rangers: Wade Redden

Before he was signed by the New York Rangers, Wade Redden was thought of as one of the top defenders in the NHL, and also one of the best leaders.

Cue his signing with the New York Rangers and after two seasons he was sent down to the AHL team.

Redden was supposed to be a force in returning the Rangers to Stanley Cup form and has just turned out to be one of the biggest busts in the history of the franchise.

Ottawa Senators: Alexei Yashin

Alexei Yashin was another one of those players that you looked at and expected him to do amazing things. He was full of skill, ability, had great size, and unbelievable hands.

After his best season in Ottawa, where he scored 44 goals and had 94 points, he ended up sitting out the following season because of a contract dispute.

The only problem with Yashin was that, once the playoffs rolled around, Yashin became absolutely invisible. The most goals that he ever scored in a playoff year was five.

Another player who could have been legendary, and now plays in the KHL in Russia.

Philadelphia Flyers: Mikael Renberg

Mikael Renberg was a part of the Flyers' vaunted "Legion of Doom" line that sported Renberg, Eric Lindros, and John LeClair.

After being swept out of the Stanley Cup Finals by the Detroit Red Wings, the Flyers broke up their powerful line by trading Renberg to Tampa Bay.

After his trade, Renberg immediately went from being a 20 to 30 goal scorer, to barely breaking 20 goals and constantly being traded.

His value was well overblown based off of the powerful line that he was a part of.  Renberg was definitely made better by the presence of Lindros and LeClair, and that showed by his sharp drop off in productivity once being moved.

Phoenix Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets: Ilya Bryzgalov

Bryzgalov is considered one of the top goalies in the league today, but he is definitely one of the more overrated goalies as well.

Bryzgalov came to Phoenix and really did make a name for himself, but that name is just like the one Marty Turco made for himself.

Regular season goalie. He'll play lights out all year, but then put him in the pressure of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and he'll crumble like a overcooked cupcake.

Maybe he can do better for the Flyers, but until he can make a deep run into the playoffs, he'll be overrated.

Pittsburgh Penguins: Kevin Stevens

Kevin Stevens was a part of the two Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguin teams, but his value was highly overrated based off of who he was playing with.

He did break 50 goals twice, but the second he lost the protection of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr, the guy struggled to break 20 goals.

Stevens ended up playing with several other teams in the league, never managing to recapture his scoring touch from the Penguins glory days.

San Jose Sharks: Evgeni Nabokov

Evgeni Nabokov once had a reputation of being one of, if not the best goalie in the NHL.

During his time in San Jose, which was 10 seasons, he posted some amazingly gaudy number, which included three seasons where he won more than 40 games, and 50 career shutouts.

The big problem with Nabokov was that he has been the most picture perfect example of a regular season goalie.

Nabokov was never able to get himself to that level a goalie must be when they're in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The competition is always much more difficult as you get deeper into the playoffs, and a goalie must be able to keep his team in a series.

Nabokov may be the reason that the Sharks have never made it to the Stanley Cup Finals, despite all of the skill and ability, they just never had a goalie that could keep the team on his shoulders.

St. Louis Blues: Manny Legace

Manny Legace was a long time back-up goalie in Detroit before he got his chances to start for the Red Wings.

Then he benefited, as pretty much all of the goalies in Detroit do, from having one of the best teams in the league in front of them.

Legace was definitely not as good as his below 2.20 goals against average suggested he was, and his playoff performances should have told anybody that.

Once he was cast away from Detroit, St. Louis thought he might be able to help them return to strong playoff form, but he wasn't.

He wasn't terrible, but he definitely wasn't the franchise goalie that the Blues thought they were getting.  Overrated, bit time!

Tampa Bay Lightning: Chris Gratton

Chris Gratton was selected third overall by the Lightning in 1993, but definitely never became that elite player.

In fact, the only year that he did seem to start playing up to that value was the same year that the Lightning traded him to the Philadelphia Flyers in a failed experiment for Mikael Renberg.

Gratton later came back to the Lightning, but was still never able to elevate his play to the status one would expect from a third overall draft pick.

Toronto Maple Leafs: Jonas Gustavsson

I don't really remember the last time that the Maple Leafs hyped a goalie this much. Maybe Ed Belfour, but even then people knew that Eddie the Eagle was heading towards the twilight of his career.

Gustavsson was heralded as the future of hockey, the next great goalie, the savior of the Leafs.

Good luck living up to that one kid, with that kind of expectation in the Mecca of the hockey world, Toronto, you'd better deliver, and quick.

Gustavsson has a 3.02 goals against average in two years with Toronto. Definitely not as advertised.

Vancouver Canucks: Roberto Luongo

During his time in Florida, Luongo might have been the most underrated goalie in the NHL, but a few years later, it's possible that Luongo could end up one of the most overrated.

After another stellar regular season, Luongo finally managed to put together a decent playoffs, but still left a lot of question marks about him while coming within one victory of the Stanley Cup.

For years before this, Luongo had always had a very difficult time putting together any type of consistency in the playoffs.

It is true that not all of the Canucks' post-season woes can be laid at the feet of Luongo, but sometimes your goalie has to be able to be the reason that you win a series, and so far Luongo has never reached that level.

Washington Capitals: Jose Theodore

I'm not going to go with the obvious choice, because as invisible as Ovechkin has been in the playoffs, he is probably the most consistent player for the Caps year in and year out, so no way is it Ovechkin.

No, it's easily Jose Theodore.

The Washington Capitals signed Theodore to a two year deal worth $9 million after he basically bottomed out while he was goalie for the Colorado Avalanche.

Perhaps they thought that his years with the Avalanche couldn't be trusted because they really hadn't played well, but come on, Theodore failed to set himself apart from Peter Budaj as the clear starter in Colorado, what did they expect?

I think everybody in Colorado was laughing when Washington signed Theo to this contract, and Caps fans soon understood why. No way was he worth what the Caps paid him.

Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers: Danny Heatley

Before they became the Winnipeg Jets, the Atlanta Thrashers had a lot of excellent talent on their team.

They had a collection of Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk and Marian Hossa that was supposed to take this team to great heights.

While Kovalchuk and Hossa managed to do positive things for the team, Heatley ended up being one of the franchise's biggest disappointments.

After an incredibly successful sophomore season, scoring 41 goals, Heatley got in a huge car accident as a result of an evening of drunk driving—which killed a teammate of his at the time.

After such a promising beginning, Heatley ended up requesting a trade, which was honored as he was sent to Ottawa.