David Pastrnak, Patrice Bergeron, Tuukka Rask Recognized By NHL Players As Some Of The Best In The Game
BOSTON (CBS) -- Lots of people have lots of opinions about lots of hockey players. Some are more valuable and insightful than others.
And when the opinions are being offered by the players themselves about their fellow players, it's a pretty good indication that the opinions are worth valuing.
With that, it's worth noting that some Bruins players ranked highly in the annual NHLPA survey, for which almost 500 players were asked to answer questions about the league. Here are the Bruins who landed high on some lists.
Patrice Bergeron -- The most complete player
Everyone in Boston believes Patrice Bergeron is the perfect hockey player. His peers around the NHL seem to believe the same.
Bergeron and Sidney Crosby received the exact same number of votes from players who were asked to name the most complete player in the game.
Crosby and Bergeron received 112 votes apiece -- 23.78 percent of the 471 respondents -- to lead this category, followed by Aleksander Barkov (14.65 percent), Connor McDavid (7.22 percent), Nathan McKinnon (5.52 percent), and Anze Kopitar (4.46 percent).
David Pastrnak -- Among the best goal scorers
The Bruins' young goal scorer certainly garnered plenty of attention in the 2019-20 season, when he shared the Rocket Richard Trophy with Alex Ovechkin. He came in third place in this category with 6.02 percent of the votes.
The leaders -- Auston Matthews at 46.27 percent and Alex Ovechkin at 33.82 percent -- are miles ahead, but Pastrnak's spot shows that the 25-year-old has made serious headway on his path toward superstardom. (Connor McDavid came in fourth, with 4.56 percent of the 482 votes.)
Tuukka Rask -- Among the best goaltenders
Tuukka Rask has always been a hot topic in Boston, but around the league, the 34-year-old Finn is still regarded as one of the best puck stoppers in the business.
Rask ranked fifth in the vote for best goaltender, getting 4.02 percent of the 473 votes. Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy was the runaway choice for the top spot, as he garnered 54.12 percent of the vote. Rask was behind Marc-Andre Fleury (8.88 percent), Carey Price (8.25 percent), and Connor Hellebuyck (5.07 percent).
Other categories
David Pastrnak also showed up on the results for Best Shot, getting 1.89 percent of the vote for sixth place. (Alex Ovechkin still is the best in the business, as 48.95 percent of his peers voted him for that distinction.) Pastrnak was also given the distinction of having the Most Unique Tape Job on his stick, garnering 42.32 percent of the votes thanks to his unique toe-only taping.
And he was voted the second-most fashionable player in the NHL, getting 11.08 percent of the vote. (Auston Matthews, at 21.16 percent, got the top spot.)
When players were asked which player they'd want on their team in a must-win game, Bergeron got the fourth-most votes, at 4.57 percent. Connor McDavid, interestingly, received the most votes, at 36.74 percent. McDavid's skills are, obviously, otherworldly, but the Oilers have not been known for doing too much winning during his six-year career.
