NHL

Year in Review: Most viewed players on Elite Prospects in 2022

Thu, 29 Dec 22 15:28:30 +0000

Sean Shapiro Associate Editor

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It's Connor Bedard's world, we are all just living in it.

At least that's how it feels when you look at our backend data at EP Rinkside and Elite Prospects at the end of 2022.

Of all the individual page views at Elite Prospects, Bedard nearly accounted for a million on his own.

Here are the top-20 viewed player profiles across the globe on Elite Prospects in the calendar year.

All page views are for the time frame between Jan. 1 and Dec. 27 2022.

1. Connor Bedard (888,512 views) – He'll likely be the No. 1 pick and he's the most sought after player on the planet for teams and fans looking to the future.

Add in a nice little World Juniors bump and Bedard's page had nearly 300,000 more views than any other player.

But can you blame anyone? The stat line is ridiculous, it's like a video game on easy mode.

2. Juraj Slafkovský (602,541) – The No. 1 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft and currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens. Slafkovsky has been a major source of intrigue since he was a slight surprise at No. 1 by an Original Six franchise.

3. Shane Wright (498,869) – With us cutting off the data at Dec. 27, I'm pretty confident Wright has already crossed over the 500K mark for views.

Which is approximately the number of debates that have been had about him in the past 12 months.

Is the he No. 1 pick? Should he play in the NHL or CHL this season? Should he go to World Junior? Should the Kraken keep him for more than nine games?

Wright was an evolving story of the year.

4. Connor McDavid (406,905) – The best player in the world. But only the second-most viewed Connor on Elite Prospects for 2022.

Video game numbers, dominance, he's always going to be high on this list.

5. Logan Cooley (287,562) – The No. 3 pick in the 2022 Draft, taken by the Coyotes.

Cooley was another player picked over Wright and has been allowed to fly under the radar a little bit at the University of Minnesota this season. He's got 25 points in 19 NCAA games and is currently playing for Team USA at the WJC.

6. Cale Makar (245,584) – The best defenceman in the world and now the most popular on Elite Prospects.

I'm sure Cale will put that on his resume right next to his Norris Trophy, Stanley Cup, and Conn Smythe accomplishments from 2022.

7. Adam Fantilli (226,345) – The likely No. 2 pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. He's not going to unseat Bedard, but he sure is fun to watch at the University of Michigan right now.

8. Alexander Ovechkin (225,568) – The Elite Prospects page that eventually will have the most goals in NHL history on it.

9. Michael Misa (205,644) – He's not draft eligible until 2025, but with his OHL exceptional status, Misa is already amongst the elite when it comes to EP page views.

10. Simon Nemec (197,679) – The No. 2 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Currently captaining the Slovaks at the World Junior Championship and having a solid start to his pro career in the AHL.

11. Matvei Michkov (196,175) – One of the top prospects heading into the 2023 NHL Draft.

12. Brad Lambert (193,623) – A Finn with a not-so-Finnish name, Lambert has always had keen interest from Elite Prospect viewers on both sides of the Atlantic.

13. Mason McTavish (192,735) – No. 3 pick in 2021, now a rookie with the Ducks, McTavish has 20 points in 36 NHL games as a 19-year-old.

14. Matthew Savoie (181,036) – Buffalo's first-round pick in 2022 (No. 9 overall), currently having a strong season with Winnipeg in the WHL.

15. Arber Xhekaj (179,376) – One of the NHL's best stories this season going from working at Costco to playing in the NHL.

16. Auston Matthews (176,874) – Reigning Hart Trophy winner, current Maple Leafs icon, his name always gets pulled into the Coyotes arena debate because of his upbringing in Arizona.

17. Sidney Crosby (176,557) – A lot gets made about the Ovechkin goal chase for 894, but as someone pointed out to me the other day, Crosby has an outside shot of becoming the second player in NHL history to ever reach 2,000 points in their career. Stay healthy, Sid.

18. Wayne Gretzky (174,280) – Does it really surprise you that the biggest name in hockey history is still on this list more than two decades after he retired?

19. Jonathan Lekkerimäki (172,671) – The No. 15 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, currently playing for Djurgårdens IF as a teenager in HockeyAllvsenksen.

20. Marco Kasper (171,502) – Another top prospect, this one playing for Rogle in the SHL and part of the long-term future for the Detroit Red Wings.

So that's the top-20 world wide, but I have a bonus as well.

Here are the top-viewed players by individual country.

Canada: Connor Bedard

USA: Connor Bedard

Sweden: Connor McDavid

Finland: Aron Kiviharju

Slovakia: Juraj Slafkovsky

Czechia: Juraj Slafkosvky

Germany: Lukas Reichel

Switzerland: Denis Malgin

Norway: Mats Zuccarello

Denmark: Kasper Larsen