Who is the NHL’s most entertaining player to watch?

Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury

Credit: Dec 14, 2024; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (29) makes a glove-save against Philadelphia Flyers forward Travis Konecny (not pictured) during the first period at Xcel Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

Elite hockey players can entertain us in many ways. Some thrill us with their scintillating speed and dekes. Others bring us to our feet with their blistering shots or desperation saves. Depending on the brand of hockey you enjoy, you may gravitate toward watching peerless pest Matthew Tkachuk work his magic or Jacob Trouba blow up opponents with huge open-ice hits.

So when I ask the Roundtable to name their favorite NHL players to watch, it’s not as easy as unanimously voting for Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and dusting off our hands. He’s the greatest player on Earth, no doubt, but he has plenty of competition for most entertaining.

With that: Who is the NHL’s most entertaining player to watch today?

MATT LARKIN: I can’t get enough of Nikita Kucherov. He is just so cerebral and, as his teammates will tell you, he has programmed so many tiny little moves into his muscle memory with all the offseason work he does. The one-touch passes, the plays off the boards, the slapshot passes, the feints… he is just such a pleasure to watch because you see something new every time you witness him in action.

PAUL PIDUTTI: While he’s being used selectively in Minnesota, is there anything better than watching Marc-Andre Fleury? Looking beyond his 1,000-plus game legacy and celebrated personality, Fleury’s play remains a unique, explosive, dazzling, joyous, unpredictable blast of energy at 40 years old. Aggressive poke checks! Acrobatic glove saves! Athletic, sprawling recoveries! His clever and mischievous character has always seemed to translate onto the ice. No one plays like Fleury anymore. No one is being taught to play like Fleury anymore. In his 21st and final NHL season, Flower remains one of a kind. Soak him in while you can.

STEVEN ELLIS: Gavin McK… Nevermind, it’s Lane Hutson. I haven’t had this much fun watching a defenseman play hockey since Cale Makar’s college days. I fully understand Hutson’s shortcomings and, yes, I can have a laugh in the straight-line highlights some people seem to get really excited about. But the raw skill and the way he thinks the game with the puck – he’s special. I remember watching him play at the U-18s a few years back and being incredibly impressed with the things he did back then. Right now, he’s even more explosive, and just getting started. The Montreal Canadiens have a great one there.

SCOTT MAXWELL: This is a very “no duh” answer for me, but it’s Auston Matthews. Not only is it because I’ve followed the Toronto Maple Leafs for most of my hockey fandom, but it’s such a joy watching him work to evade defenders and get into the right spots to score, and even when he doesn’t get in that right spot, he still finds a way to score anyways. He also has an underrated playmaking ability that is always fun to see as a changeup against the opposition. On top of that, my own playing style lacks most of the skills that go into scoring, but I’ve always had the awareness to play good defense, so I always love watching good defensive players at work and seeing how they shut down other opponents. Matthews is one of the better defensive players in the league, so that’s another part of his game that I’ve always enjoyed, and to see how he manages and balances both is also such an underappreciated aspect of his game. Long story short, he does the most fun thing in the league very well (score goals), and does one of the things I enjoy watching the most very well (the tactics of playing good defense), so it’s the perfect combination for me.

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Who is the NHL’s most entertaining player to watch?

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