The 15 most irreplaceable players in the NHL

The start of the new NHL campaign means a lot of speculation as to who will have the biggest and best season. Who will be the shining star on the stats sheet? Who will make the most appearances on highlight reels?

But sometimes it goes beyond how many times you put the puck in the back of the net—or if you’re a netminder, keep it out. It’s about how invaluable you are to your franchise.

There is a whole cast of characters that make up the face of the modern day NHL, and the game simply wouldn’t be what it is without them. Every team has at least one guy each team can’t do without, but there are a couple that stand a bit ahead of the pack.

Here is—in no particular order— the 15 most irreplaceable NHL players.

Henrik Lundqvist
As great of a job as Cam Talbot did in his starts for the New York Rangers last season, no backup netminder was going to replace Lundqvist. His prowess between the pipes is only part of what makes the Swede’s game so great. It’s his confidence in net that echoes out to his teammates and makes the Rangers such a force to be reckoned with—an important key for a team that continues to find itself in the playoff mix.

Evgeni Malkin
There’s no arguing that Sidney Crosby is the face of the Penguins, but it is hard to say that Pittsburgh would have any success without Malkin on their squad. The 29-year-old forward is one of the most fascinating puck handlers in the game, and adds a extra boost of grit to the Pens’ offense. Now he just needs to apply that to helping them get out of their early season slump (more on that later).

Steven Stamkos
The Lightning sure as heck know how irreplaceable the vocal leader is to their franchise. The 25-year-old proved his worth yet again when he notched his 500th career point, showing that off-ice contract talks aren’t slowing down his game.

Tyler Seguin
The Dallas Stars’ forward cracked the top ten of SportsNet's "Top 50 Most Important NHL Players" list because he is equally as captivating off the the ice as he is when he’s on it. Seguin is indeed a figurehead for a younger generation of players by becoming the face of brands like Under Armor and interacting with fans via social media. He also happens to be good hockey player, leading the Stars with 37 goals in the 2014-15 season.

Joe Pavelski
The Wisconsin native is a multitasker: He took on thee big leadership role in a turmoil-infused locker-room last season when the San Jose Sharks were without an appointed captain, on top of being ranked second in the league in power play goals, just behind Alex Ovechkin. Now, with the “C” stitched onto his sweater, Pavelski is primed to keep the special teams rolling and make Sharks hockey must-see-TV.

Taylor Hall
Everyone in the league, it seems, has caught “Connor McDavid Fever.” But the Oilers will still rely  on continued growth and success from Hall—preferably in a replica of his 80-point campaign from the 2013-2014 season, but without the -15 rating on the plus-minus scale.

Patrice Bergeron
Heck, the Boston forward was even called "irreplaceable" by Boston.com when referring to the level of smarts he brings to the B’s. He is one of the forces that keeps the Bruins going despite how much of a rollercoaster the Boston club’s season might be.

Zdeno Chara
Another important piece for Boston, Chara is an integral part of the team’s blue line, and not just because of his size. Boston still competed when they lost the mighty captain to injury at the start of the 2014 season, but they are a heck of a lot stronger when he’s on the ice contributing.

PK Subban
Subban is the defensive juggernaut that forces opposing team’s to put in extra practice. They’ll have to keep doing so for a while too, as Montreal inked the hockey player/philanthropist to a hefty eight-year deal this past September.

Ryan Getzlaf
The Anaheim Ducks have many faces on their roster that have contributed to their playoff success over the last several years, but there might not be any one player as clutch as Getzlaf. He has overcome injury to be a driving entity in the most recent playoff showings for Anaheim—who are considered by many to be a heavy cup contender again this season.

John Tavares
You can’t have a discussion about irreplaceable players in the NHL without his name coming up, given that a healthy Tavares is both the present and foreseeable future of the Islanders. It doesn’t hurt that he’s a goal-scoring machine, staying on Alex Ovechkin’s heels through the 2014-15 season.

Jonathan Toews
He’s one of those “love him or hate him” kinds of players that gets hockey fans in a tizzy. Either way, there is no denying the Chicago captain is an important piece of a Blackhawks’ team that has been so successful over the past six seasons. The Winnipeg-native knows how to step up on the ice — notching two key goals in 72-seconds against Anaheim in the playoffs — and after the play clock expires — bringing the Stanley Cup to a pick-up game of street hockey.

Carey Price
Stellar goaltending is not overrated. Neither is this Montreal Canadien’s ability to remain cool, calm and collected when the pressure is on. Plus, we are only a couple weeks into the season and he already has a highlight reel’s worth of saves.

Sidney Crosby
There are few players more polarizing on the current NHL scene. When the Penguins go on a winning streak, it’s because they are “lead by Crosby.” When they suffer, like they have been to open up the 2015-16 season, all eyes go straight to the captain. If Connor McDavid wants lessons on what it’s like to encapsulate a franchise and always be under the microscope, he should look no further than Sid.

Alex Ovechkin
The beginning of this article prefaced that the players on this list have attributes that go beyond the stat sheet. Except it can’t be ignored that Ovechkin holds  stat sheets at his mercy, with help from teammate and last year’s league leader in assists, Nicklas Backstrom. On top of that, Ovi has a level of confidence on the ice that is undeniably intimidating. Nobody else in the NHL can split a defense to put the puck on net like the six-foot-three 229-pound forward can. Hopefully, he learned his lesson and won’t over-sleep through morning skates and get benched again—the Caps are a tough team, but they aren’t the same without him.