NHL 15 News Post

NHL 15 - Top Rated Left Wingers

04:13 PM - August 6, 2014 by Steve_OS

EA Sports has continued to reveal NHL 15 player ratings today with the top rated left wingers, along with new screenshots of each player.

Alexander Ovechkin - 93 Overall
Henrik Zetterberg - 92 Overall
Zach Parise - 90 Overall
Taylor Hall - 90 Overall
Jamie Benn - 90 Overall

Let us know what you think!

Previously released NHL 15 player ratings:

NHL 15 screenshot gallery - Click to view

Game: NHL 15Reader Score: 6.5/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 16 - View All

NHL 15 Videos

Member Comments

# 21 meep316 @ 08/10/14 10:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba2011


	I lost you at Justin Williams being one of the greatest playoff performers of our generation or greatest ever. Williams has 78 points in 115 playoff games, Ovie has 61 points in 58 playoff games. Williams had two great seasons in the playoffs (2013/14 and 2005/06) outside of that he has been good in post season play but not in the discussion for greatest of our generation and definitely not greatest ever. As much as I don't like him I would put Sidney Crosby in that discussion before Williams.

You are nothing but a blind stat watcher if you don't think that Justin Williams is one of the best postseason players of all time. I'm not even going to bother to respond to you because your opinion is just so ignorant.

lol at Crosby. He feasts on bubble teams in the first round, pads his stats so they look decent, then disappears when met with any resistance whatsoever. One of the most overrated players to ever play.

# 22 Sheba2011 @ 08/11/14 02:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meep316


	You are nothing but a blind stat watcher if you don't think that Justin Williams is one of the best postseason players of all time. I'm not even going to bother to respond to you because your opinion is just so ignorant. lol at Crosby. He feasts on bubble teams in the first round, pads his stats so they look decent, then disappears when met with any resistance whatsoever. One of the most overrated players to ever play.

My opinion is ignorant because I don't think a guy with 2 good playoff performances and two where he completely disappeared is one of the greatest of all time?

No I am someone who has been watching Hockey all my life and I don't put two good playoff performances into the same category as guys like Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, Steve Yzerman, Brian Trottier, Patrick Roy and Wayne Gretzky among others. I wouldn't even put Williams in the top 25 playoff performers of all time. Patrick Kane on the other hand is a different story.

# 23 meep316 @ 08/11/14 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba2011


	My opinion is ignorant because I don't think a guy with 2 good playoff performances and two where he completely disappeared is one of the greatest of all time? No I am someone who has been watching Hockey all my life and I don't put two good playoff performances into the same category as guys like Gordie Howe, Guy Lafleur, Steve Yzerman, Brian Trottier, Patrick Roy and Wayne Gretzky among others. I wouldn't even put Williams in the top 25 playoff performers of all time. Patrick Kane on the other hand is a different story.

Originally I didn't say of all time, I just said of our generation. But then I felt like I had to take it to another hyperbolic level to illustrate my point. Right now, there are very, very few guys I would take over Justin Williams if I had a playoff series starting tomorrow, and Alexander Ovechkin is for sure NOT one of them.

# 24 Sheba2011 @ 08/11/14 03:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meep316


	Originally I didn't say of all time, I just said of our generation. But then I felt like I had to take it to another hyperbolic level to illustrate my point. Right now, there are very, very few guys I would take over Justin Williams if I had a playoff series starting tomorrow, and Alexander Ovechkin is for sure NOT one of them.

That is your opinion you are entitled to it. My opinion if Ovie was on a team that was 4 lines deep (like LA and Chicago are) he would have multiple Cup wins by now. You have a deep hatred of Ovie so you obviously don't agree. Personally I have no feeling either way for Williams, I think he is a good player. He is clearly one of your favorite players so you think he is a great player. I feel the same way about Patrice Bergeron, who I would take in a playoff series over any forward in the NHL.

# 25 meep316 @ 08/11/14 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba2011


	That is your opinion you are entitled to it. My opinion if Ovie was on a team that was 4 lines deep (like LA and Chicago are) he would have multiple Cup wins by now. You have a deep hatred of Ovie so you obviously don't agree. Personally I have no feeling either way for Williams, I think he is a good player. He is clearly one of your favorite players so you think he is a great player. I feel the same way about Patrice Bergeron, who I would take in a playoff series over any forward in the NHL.

Williams isn't one of my favorite players, I like him a lot, but I wouldn't say he's one of my favorites.

The thing is, when comparing Williams and Ovechkin, there are different standards. Williams at his salary, is expected to be part of an ensemble cast of scorers. And he does that very well, and always ALWAYS seems to show up when it matters most. He is on a better team than Ovechkin's, but Williams is a HUGE reason why his team is better.

Ovechkin is never going to be a guy who is on a team with 4 deep lines like the Kings, Hawks, or Bruins. He makes too much money for them to build a team like that around him. But because he is so skilled, he is relied on to make up that difference with how much more skilled he is. And for many reasons, he has been unable to step up and do that. The problem with him, in a nutshell, is that he doesn't have IT. The skill isn't enough if you are a loser, and he is a loser.

The Capitals haven't been very good the last couple of years, but there have been plenty of years where they have run roughshod over the league in the regular season, only to fold like a wet paper bag in the playoffs.

I would also take Bergeron over anyone in the NHL if I had a playoff series starting tomorrow, but Toews and Kane are right there. Toews and Kane have played on some great teams, but they have LEAD those teams. They are the biggest reasons why those teams are so great.

Guys like Bergeron, Krejci, Toews, Kane, Williams, Kopitar, Richards, Datsyuk, Zetterberg, etc. might not put up the points that Ovechkin does, but they will die to win. Ovechkin will not. I would even put Stamkos in that category, even though he's only gotten to the ECF.

I just hate Ovechkin being shoved down people's throats as the best player in the NHL, he's not even close. Jonathan Toews is the best player in the NHL. Ovechkin might be the most offensively talented, but best player and most talented (let alone if your talent is one dimensional) are not mutually exclusive. Those two terms mean very, very different things. So it's just annoying for me to see him as the number 1 LW in the game.

Although the ratings are really all over the place anyway, and my feelings on the EA NHL series in general are well documented on here. I haven't checked this but I saw someone say that Crosby has a higher defensive awareness than Bergeron...

# 26 BearishRiggs @ 08/11/14 08:48 PM

100% agreed with above post. There's a big difference between the best goalscorer and the best player. Ovechkin is the best goalscorer, but I wouldn't want to ever build a team around him.

But to play devil's advocate, you're comparing Ovie to a bunch of the best centers in hockey. I personally don't see the issue with him being the best LW in the game. His skill-set is extremely unique, and his main flaws come in the form of lack of hockey sense, effort, and his defensive deficiencies. Most of these things don't factor into an overall rating.

# 27 Sheba2011 @ 08/12/14 05:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meep316


	Williams isn't one of my favorite players, I like him a lot, but I wouldn't say he's one of my favorites. The thing is, when comparing Williams and Ovechkin, there are different standards. Williams at his salary, is expected to be part of an ensemble cast of scorers. And he does that very well, and always ALWAYS seems to show up when it matters most. He is on a better team than Ovechkin's, but Williams is a HUGE reason why his team is better. Ovechkin is never going to be a guy who is on a team with 4 deep lines like the Kings, Hawks, or Bruins. He makes too much money for them to build a team like that around him. But because he is so skilled, he is relied on to make up that difference with how much more skilled he is. And for many reasons, he has been unable to step up and do that. The problem with him, in a nutshell, is that he doesn't have IT. The skill isn't enough if you are a loser, and he is a loser. The Capitals haven't been very good the last couple of years, but there have been plenty of years where they have run roughshod over the league in the regular season, only to fold like a wet paper bag in the playoffs.

Williams "always" shows up when it matters? I guess we are not counting 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010 or 2012 when he completely disappeared in the playoffs despite playing good in the regular season each of those years.

Kane and Towes both just signed new contracts that will pay them more than Ovie over the next 4 seasons. There are other players in the league that make as much if not more than Ovie that have been surrounded with good to great talent on all lines. His salary has little to do with it.

It doesn't matter how skilled a player is he can only play so many minutes a game, hockey is a team game and he still has to rely on the rest of his team to produce. Just look at Ray Borque, one of the greatest players of all time. He never won a SC with Boston, not because he was a "loser, because he was never surrounded with a whole team worth of talent.

The Capitals teams that were great in the regular season were great because they had an awesome first line and the rest of the team was average, in the regular season you can get away with that in the playoffs when you are playing the top competition in the league you need all 4 lines to be able to produce in some way.

The NHL (just like every other sport) is always going to market it's star players, that is how they draw in the casual fans. People who don't watch a lot of hockey know the names Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, they don't recognize names like Justin Williams. That is why he is always "shoved down your throat".

# 28 meep316 @ 08/12/14 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sheba2011


	Williams "always" shows up when it matters? I guess we are not counting 2001, 2002, 2009, 2010 or 2012 when he completely disappeared in the playoffs despite playing good in the regular season each of those years. Kane and Towes both just signed new contracts that will pay them more than Ovie over the next 4 seasons. There are other players in the league that make as much if not more than Ovie that have been surrounded with good to great talent on all lines. His salary has little to do with it. It doesn't matter how skilled a player is he can only play so many minutes a game, hockey is a team game and he still has to rely on the rest of his team to produce. Just look at Ray Borque, one of the greatest players of all time. He never won a SC with Boston, not because he was a "loser, because he was never surrounded with a whole team worth of talent. The Capitals teams that were great in the regular season were great because they had an awesome first line and the rest of the team was average, in the regular season you can get away with that in the playoffs when you are playing the top competition in the league you need all 4 lines to be able to produce in some way. The NHL (just like every other sport) is always going to market it's star players, that is how they draw in the casual fans. People who don't watch a lot of hockey know the names Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, they don't recognize names like Justin Williams. That is why he is always "shoved down your throat".

I can't remember far enough back to when Williams played for the Flyers, but he sure as hell didn't disappear in any of those Cup years. Winners win and losers lose, period. Guy has 3 rings as a key contributor on all of those teams. I'm not expecting to have Williams rated higher than Ovechkin in the game, but I'm saying that if I had a series starting tomorrow, and you gave me the choice of Ovechkin or Williams, I'm taking Williams. I couldn't care less about what a guy does in the regular season. The regular season is a stepping stone, that's it. A guy could score infinity goals in the regular season, if he doesn't do what it takes to win in the playoffs, it's all completely worthless.

There are like 5 guys that make more than Ovechkin. In a salary cap era, it absolutely matters. He has to perform well enough to justify that money, and he hasn't. He's put up the numbers, but that's not the point of the game. So many people just point to the numbers and then will put the blame on the rest of his team, just whistling past the graveyard. The excuse making for him is nauseating, same with Crosby. I guarantee Toews and Kane with their salaries get back to the Finals again at the very least, if not win another Cup before Ovechkin ever even comes close.

Bourque never won it in Boston but he at least got to the Finals. Also just lol at even comparing the two situations. Bourque is such a different player than Ovechkin. If Ovechkin amended and tweaked his game even a LITTLE bit, his team would be so much better off, but he absolutely refuses.

The Penguins won with a topheavy team in 09. Because Crosby and Malkin are both better players than Ovechkin.

Yeah I understand that, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I will take every chance I can get to point out the glaring flaws of those players, as a fan that knows better than to drink their bullsheeit kool aid.

# 29 Sheba2011 @ 08/12/14 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meep316


	I can't remember far enough back to when Williams played for the Flyers, but he sure as hell didn't disappear in any of those Cup years. Winners win and losers lose, period. Guy has 3 rings as a key contributor on all of those teams. I'm not expecting to have Williams rated higher than Ovechkin in the game, but I'm saying that if I had a series starting tomorrow, and you gave me the choice of Ovechkin or Williams, I'm taking Williams. I couldn't care less about what a guy does in the regular season. The regular season is a stepping stone, that's it. A guy could score infinity goals in the regular season, if he doesn't do what it takes to win in the playoffs, it's all completely worthless. There are like 5 guys that make more than Ovechkin. In a salary cap era, it absolutely matters. He has to perform well enough to justify that money, and he hasn't. He's put up the numbers, but that's not the point of the game. So many people just point to the numbers and then will put the blame on the rest of his team, just whistling past the graveyard. The excuse making for him is nauseating, same with Crosby. I guarantee Toews and Kane with their salaries get back to the Finals again at the very least, if not win another Cup before Ovechkin ever even comes close. Bourque never won it in Boston but he at least got to the Finals. Also just lol at even comparing the two situations. Bourque is such a different player than Ovechkin. If Ovechkin amended and tweaked his game even a LITTLE bit, his team would be so much better off, but he absolutely refuses. The Penguins won with a topheavy team in 09. Because Crosby and Malkin are both better players than Ovechkin. Yeah I understand that, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. I will take every chance I can get to point out the glaring flaws of those players, as a fan that knows better than to drink their bullsheeit kool aid.

Your obviously have extreme hate for Ovie. Best at this point to agree to disagree.

« Previous 12Next »

More Links

NHL 15 - Top Rated Left Wingers