NHL Top 10: Favorite Players Who are Not New York Rangers

Huge New York Rangers girl here – but there are players I adore that aren’t on my home team. Here are my top ten non-Rangers players:

Quinn Hughes, Vancouver Canucks

Quinn is the best Hughes brother, and I’m not taking debates from anybody.

He’s become quite popular, and, if you’re not on Devils or Michigan hockey Twitter, he might be the only Hughes brother on your timeline.

The Canucks captain leads defensemen in points and assists and is playing the best game of his career right now.

Plus, when people pay to see him play, he actually delivers.

Vladimir Tarasenko, Florida Panthers

He will always be famous in my mind.

I miss Tarasenko so much. When he and Niko Mikkola came over from St. Louis, I knew the Rangers were going to be all in on the Cup (and then lost to the Devils in the first round, but let’s not focus on that).

Tarasenko is now playing in Florida, and I will miss him forever.

Ryan Reaves, Toronto Maple Leafs

Like all Rangers fans, I really miss Reavo.

He’s one of the heavyweights of the leagues, and everybody loves a good hockey fight. I’ll always remember him yelling “Shesty! Release us!” at Shesterkin before the Rangers ran out of the tunnel.

Brady Skjei, Carolina Hurricanes

Another former Ranger I always miss, Brady Skjei is thriving in North Carolina.

He was my second favorite Ranger (behind Henrik Lundqvist, of course), and when I went to Madison Square Garden for the first time in 2018, it was his jersey I wore and his number I had painted on my hand.

Even though that trade resulted in the Blueshirts grabbing Alexis Lafrenière in the 2020 Draft, it still hurts that he’s not on my team anymore.

Jeremy Swayman (and Linus Ullmark, by extension), Boston Bruins

Behind Kreibanejad (Chris Kreider and Mika Zibanejad, for those of you not following), Swaymark is the best bromance in hockey.

Swayman and Ullmark are super-close, as the two hang at each other’s houses with each other’s families.

Recently, Swayman dressed up as Santa Claus for Ullmark’s kids during the Christmas season, and if that’s not the most adorable hockey story you’ve ever heard, I’m not sure what to tell you.

Ilya Sorokin, New York Islanders

I don’t like the Islanders as much as the next Rangers fan, but I really like and respect Sorokin.

I’m a goalie fanatic (as you can see from this article), and I think Sorokin is the glue that holds the Islanders together.

I think he’s a good person, and Sorokin is great friends with my favorite Ranger, Igor Shesterkin. Both of them Russian, the two goalies spend time at each other’s houses, crank on PlayStation together, and Sorokin is the godfather of Shesterkin’s son. Adorable!

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Buffalo Sabres

Continuing the goalie trend, I am obsessed with Luukkonen.

I’ve seen so many funny little clips of him on social media, and I think he is a solid goaltender and bright star for the Sabres.

The future is very bright for Buffalo, and I won’t be surprised if we see Luukkonen leading the Sabres into the playoffs.

Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

NHL One's merchant Auston Matthews is the best American-born player in the game right now.

It’s really hard to root against Matthews, and he’s garnered a huge following on social media. I get it.

Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

They do not call this guy Connor McJesus for nothing.

I’m not one of those crazy Gretzky stats-obsessed hockey fans (Matt Rempe is 1071 away from tying Gretzky’s record), but McDavid might actually be the closest thing this generation has to the great one.

You know if you’re taking this guy on in Ones, you’re getting cooked.

Adrianna Gallucci is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her, please email amg7989@psu.edu.