Ranking the 10 greatest one-team players in NHL history

If you asked 100 people who they think is the best player in NHL history, the players with the most mentions would probably include Wayne Gretzky, Bobby Orr and Gordie Howe.

You won’t see any of those players on this list.

Instead of just naming the best players of all-time, Pucks and Rec’s Wes Herrmann and Bob Herpen have decided to look at the 10 best to play for one team over their career. That rules out Gretzky, who played for four, Howe after he finished with the Hartford Whalers and even Martin Brodeur, who played seven games for the St. Louis Blues at the end of his career.

Some players on an equally legendary footing did, in fact, stick with a single franchise for their whole career. But with the aforementioned names out of the mix, there is also room for a few historically under-recognized figures.

10. Thomas Steen

Dale Hawerchuk might have been, and likely still is, the greatest player in all of Winnipeg’s hockey history, but Steen clearly holds the mantle of Mister Jet. The speedy Swede arrived in Manitoba the same year “Ducky” was taken first overall (1981), but stuck around as a key piece of the forward ranks five whole years after Hawerchuk took off for Buffalo.

Steen, still holds the Jets record for games played at 950 while ranking second in scoring. He was the rock the club could depend on through 14 seasons of mostly long winters, and was present for virtually every key moment of the team’s first run in the provincial capital. These included what was then the biggest single-season turnaround in modern NHL history during his rookie season of 1982, the Jets’ first, second and only playoff series wins (both over Calgary); their crushing 1990 first-round loss to the Oilers; the arrival of Teemu Selanne and the lockout-shortened season where it looked like the team was relocating to the Twin Cities.

As a result, Steen was the first player whose bulk of his career intersected with the Jets to have his number retired by the franchise — an honor justly carried over by the Arizona Coyotes. – B.H.

9. Alex Delvecchio

Today, everyone makes a big deal about how tough it is to play with Sidney Crosby. He may be the best playmaker in the game, but it’s tough for most players to guess what Crosby will do with the puck – opponents and teammates alike.

Howe, arguably the second-best forward in history, never had that problem playing with Delvecchio. The pair, along with Ted Lindsay, created the “Production Line” in Detroit after Sid Abel left.

The nickname suited them perfectly. While Howe was good for 70 points a year, Delvecchio and Lindsay could be counted on for 50 when teams played 70 games a season.

Looking at Delvecchio’s stats, he almost had a Benjamin Button-like career. Before 1967-68, the center never scored over 70 points in 16 seasons. From the ’67-’68 season to the end of his career in 1973, he posted three 70-plus seasons including a career high 83 points in 1968-69. Expansion may have played a part in that.

But that’s not to say Delvecchio wasn’t a star. He never led the Wings in points, but was consistent through his 24 seasons. His versatility also made him important. He could line up at center or left wing.

Maybe the reason why the 5-foot-11 skater doesn’t get the recognition he deserves is because of playing behind Howe’s shadow. Delvecchio won the Stanley Cup and Lady Byng Trophy three times.

In 1977, Delvecchio was inducted into the Hall of Fame, and not only spent all of his playing time in Detroit, but spent his coaching and managerial career exclusively with the Red Wings as well. – W.H.

8. Joe Sakic

When Sakic retired, he finished with two different NHL sweaters. But since the Quebec Nordiques franchise became the Colorado Avalanche, we can overlook the fact that he technically played for two different teams.

The 15th overall pick in 1987 is probably most known for his lethal wrist shot which helped earn him two-50 goal seasons and six 100-point seasons. But he was also a silky smooth skater with plenty of skill and passing ability.

In the Avalanche’s first season in Colorado, Sakic led the team to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. In 2001, surrounded by stars like Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy and Rob Blake, the Avs won their second Cup.

While the team’s glory years never reached those heights again, Sakic never slowed down. He stayed in Colorado after the 2004-05 lockout and contributed 187 points over the next two years. He scored 100 in 2006-07, three years before he retired.

Like most Canadians, the center transitioned his game in his later years to be more defensively reliable and is well known for his leadership.

Sakic was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, having won one Hart and Conn Smythe Trophy, plus Olympic gold in 2002. – W.H.

7. Bobby Clarke

It’s a lot to live up to when virtually every player, coach and front office personnel recognizes you’re the best player on the team the first time you hit the ice…at the ripe old age of 19. But Clarke worked hard every single day he donned the Orange and Black, all 1,144 regular season and 136 playoff games over a 15-year career that stretched over parts of three decades (1969-84).

Despite generations of stories that grow darker and meaner with each telling as the years pass, the true image of the Broad Street Bullies isn’t so much fists-to-face, blood, gut and, gore, but Clarke doggedly working over an opponent to capture the puck and set up a goal, culminating in his gap-toothed grin while holding the Stanley Cup. He was known to Hall of Fame head coach Fred Shero as “a dream dressed in work clothes.”

Clarke is still considered the best player in Flyers history, holding team records for most regular-season and playoff games played and playoff and regular-season points (1,210) He was also most likely the best skater in the entire NHL from 1972 to ’76, winning three Hart Trophies in that four-year span, along with two Cups. He earned just as much praise for his playmaking acumen and leadership abilities as he did scorn for his active stick, and was not afraid to speak his mind. Clarke even managed to turn back the clock on his detractors in 1982-83, winning his lone Selke Trophy and recording 85 points at age 33. – B.H.

6. Stan Mikita

Born behind the Iron Curtain in Czechoslovakia but transplanted to and trained in Canada, Mikita teamed with Bobby Hull to give Chicago the most feared offensive duo of the 1960s thanks to the novel trick of curving their stick blades.

Mikita led the league in points four times over a five-year stretch, won two Hart Trophies and helped the Blackhawks to the 1961 Stanley Cup, the franchise’s last title before its dynasty in the 2010s.

When Hull left for the WHA in 1972, Mikita became the elder statesman and face of the Blackhawks. By the end of his career in 1980, he had played 1,394 games over four calendar decades, all clad in red, black and white.

Beyond the stats, Mikita had a diverse career. He was one of the first European-born players to star in the NHL despite never having seen a professional game before playing in one. He was among the first of what is now a prerequisite for successful pivots, namely a two-way center with a reputation for being and excellent faceoff man.

Combative in his early years, Mikita remade his image into one more gentlemanly, one that has stuck with him since. He remains the only player in NHL history to win the Hart, Art Ross and Lady Byng Trophies in the same year, doing so in both 1967-68 and 1968-69. – B.H.

5. Steve Yzerman

How bad were the Red Wings at the start of the 1980s? The so-called Dead Things were saved by an 18-year-old kid with a worse haircut than future teammate Ron Duguay.

Yzerman went fourth overall in the 1983 draft and finished second to Tom Barrasso in the Calder Trophy vote while playing for a team well below .500. And so, the long, slow resurrection of the Original Six franchise began as Yzerman learned the ropes in the NHL.

Within three years, he was named Detroit’s team captain, and two years after that, the Wings finished first in the Norris Division and reached the conference final. Then in his 14th season, long after he had transitioned from an offensive dynamo to a solid two-way performer while a series of playoff disappointments hammered home the point that he should not carry the weight by himself, the Wings finally won a Cup. They would add two more during Yzerman’s career and captaincy for good measure.

Though he never won a Hart Trophy, Yzerman did collect a Selke, Pearson, Masterton and Conn Smythe, along with nine All-Star Game selections. If how defined the Red Wings in the first half of the franchise’s existence so far, Yzerman has clearly defined the second. He holds club career records for assists, power-play and shorthanded goals, along with single-season goal, assist and point marks. – B.H.

4. Jean Beliveau

The stories of how the Montreal Canadiens rose to prominence on the backs of copious local and provincial talents are legion. But the tale of how they brought Beliveau to the NHL is one of the greatest in sports history, straight-up purchasing an entire league in Quebec to ensure the franchise held his rights as a professional.

The gamble paid off better than anyone could have imagined: Beliveau went on to lead the parade on stacked Canadiens teams of the ’50s and ’60s, winning a pair of Hart Trophies to go with an Art Ross and a Conn Smythe, as well as leading the league in goals twice.

He served as the Habs’ captain from 1961 to his 1971 retirement, lasting longer than any franchise player past or present with that honor. He won an incredible 10 Stanley Cups on the ice, then another seven as a long-time member of the Habs’ front office for a record 17 Stanley Cup mentions.

Beliveau’s greatest singular moment might have come at the end of his career, his leadership and unflappability acknowledged as the spark that led to a comeback in the 1971 playoffs at Boston Garden against the Bruins that helped propel the bleu, blanc et rouge to yet another Cup.

In his post-playing days, not only was Beliveau respected as a franchise icon above all others with the exception of Rocket Richard, he rose to become a symbol of dignity and grace for the Canadian hockey community at large. – B.H.

3. Nicklas Lidstrom

No one growing up in the late ’90s and early ’00s looked up to a defenseman above Lidstrom’s caliber. Sure, there were Chris Pronger and Scott Niedermayer, but Lidstrom was the cream of the crop.

He played so effortlessly and made so few mistakes. Teammates knew they could trust the Swede whenever he stepped on the ice:

Even Wayne Gretzky had bad games, everybody has had bad games. To this day I’ve never seen Nick Lidstrom have a bad game. It’s amazing…for him, a bad game would be one bad pass.

– Luc Robitaille (The Hockey News)

On or off the ice, Lidstrom was the same. He was reserved, quiet and calm in all situations. For the younger group, Duncan Keith is the best comparison, albeit a weaker one.

The Red Wings chose Lidstrom in the third round, 53rd overall in the 1989 draft. He made the overseas jump for the 1991-92 season scoring 60 points and finishing second in the Calder vote.

He became a crucial part of Scotty Bowman’s Wings in three Stanley Cup wins and led the last of the Red Wings’ recent Cup wins in 2008. In addition, he is a Triple Gold Club member with Olympic and World Championship gold.

Individually, Lidstrom has seven Norris Trophies and one Conn Smythe Trophy.

Overall, he played 20 seasons and 1,564 games in the red-and-white sweater. After he retired in 2012 at the age of 42, he had his No. 5 retired in Detroit, and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015 on his first ballot. – W.H.

2. Maurice Richard

Not many players have awards named after them. The “Rocket Richard Trophy” is awarded to the player who scores the most goals in a season, so I’m sure you can tell what Richard was known for.

While Richard now sits just 29th among the NHL’s all-time leaders in goals, he was the first to score 50 in a season with the Canadiens back in 1944-45, reaching that mark in 50 games.

The right winger helped grow the sport with his fiery competitiveness and lethal shot. He could shoot off the rush and wasn’t afraid to set up in the slot like most scorers do today.

He earned his nickname “Rocket” because of the way he attacked the opponent’s net. He wasn’t big at 5-foot-10, but he would skate full speed at the net, disregarding anyone who got in his way.

Richard helped the Canadiens to eight Stanley Cups during his time with the club, and was part of the “Punch Line” with Elmer Lach and Toe Blake. The trio became one of the most famous lines in history, mainly because of the play of Richard.

Although Richard only hit 50 goals once, he compiled three 40-goal years and 10 more with at least 20. – W.H.

1. Mario Lemieux

Not many people – let alone players – can claim that they saved a franchise. Lemieux can say he’s done it twice.

That’s how important he was to Pittsburgh and to the NHL. The Penguins were willing to tank to get the first pick in the 1984 draft to take the future superstar. Lemieux paid them back by helping to put an end to relocation rumors and put hockey on the map in the Steel City.

The Montreal native was a unique blend of size and skill. He had the same talents as Gretzky, but was four inches taller. He also killed penalties, which gave him the opportunity to be the only player in NHL history to score five goals of as many varieties in a single game.

Lemieux led the Penguins to back-to-back Cups in 1991 and 1992. But two years later, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, which forced him to miss a season. The problems persisted, and Lemieux announced his retirement after the 1996-97 season.

That closed door opened another for Lemieux to purchase the Penguins and keep the team in Pittsburgh in 1999. However, he wasn’t done playing. In 2000, the already-inducted-Hall-of-Famer announced he was making a comeback.

I was seven years of age when Lemieux made his return, but can still remember watching him scoring a goal in his return against the Maple Leafs. He played five more seasons beyond that, finishing with 1,723 points, good for eighth all-time. – W.H.