6 players in the DCHL who are overrated

Players who are overrated based on their performances and/or in comparison to the performances of others rated lower

I'm going to start by saying that this is my opinion and that I'm not bothered by the ratings or anything. I'm just bored and felt like writing something and wasn't too sure what else to write about. HM to Jack Eichel. Anyways, here's the list in no particular order:

1. Brandon Tanev, F, DAL - 87 OV

I believe that Brandon Tanev is an excellent defensive player and his DF rating of 90 reflects that. That being said, there are some specific stats that are very questionable ratings here. Let’s look at his scoring stat (SC) at 77. Tanev has only surpassed the 10-goal mark twice in his career and has never had more than 14. A 77 SC rating places him in the top 100 in the league. Other players with a 77 scoring rating include Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin, JT Miller Tyler Seguin, Drake Batherson, Jordan Kyrou, Cam Atkinson, etc. You get the point. I like what he brings to the table defensively, but his stats are boosted way too high in every other area.

2. Matty Beniers, F, ARI - 81 OV

Now I think we’d all agree Beniers is a terrific player and is bound to be a star in this league. My problem is not that I think that he is a bad player, but that he has only played 10 games in the league. Granted, he has 9 points in those 10 games, however it still feels a bit high to me. I won’t go too much into this one because realistically 81 isn’t THAT high and he is a terrific player, but Zegras was a 79 after his first season. 

3. Alex Nedeljkovic, G, CAR - 88 OV

Nedeljkovic is terrific and will probably be deserving of an 88 rating at some point in his career, but not after the season he just had. Ratings, if memory serves right, are based on the past 2 seasons. So sure, he had a terrific season 2 years ago. I understand that, as a goalie, it’s not easy to have a good season when playing for a bad team. However, ratings should still reflect the stats and his stats were not very good. .901 SV% and a 3.31 GAA are not glowing stats, and certainly not good enough to warrant an 88 rating. Especially when looking at the likes of John Gibson, Ville Husso, Jeremy Swayman, and especially Jake Oettinger, who I will get to in the underrated players article

4. Roope Hintz, F, CLS - 90 OV

By all means, Roope Hintz is a great player. A 90 rating is a tad ridiculous though. I mean, he only played 41 games 2 seasons ago, and had 72 points in 80 games last season. I don’t want to sound like I’m calling that bad, because I’m not. His last 2 seasons have been pretty great even. Having a 90 OV, however, would imply that he is a better player than Matthew Tkachuk, Mika Zibanejad, David Pastrnak, Sebastian Aho, Brayden Point, etc. These are all players rated lower than Hintz and I find it hard to believe that most GMs would prefer Roope Hintz over those guys.

5. Mark Giordano, D, WPG - 86 OV

After 2 seasons in which he put up 26 and 32 points respectively, Giordano is just not quite as good as he once was. Similar point totals to Heiskanen (who I will talk about in the underrated players article), yet he’s only rated 84. I don’t have much to say otherwise, but he ranked 34th and 47th in the last two seasons among defensemen. If you look at some of the defensemen above him, you’ll find quite a few defensemen who were rated far lower. Now, I know points aren’t everything, but I don’t believe his offensive stats should be as high as they are.

6. Pavel Buchnevich, F, STL - 88 OV

Pavel Buchneveich is coming off a very strong season in which he scored slightly higher than a point per game pace. The season prior he was slightly below a point per game pace. He’s quite good, but when you look at players like Nazem Kadri (rated lower than Buchnevich), who also had a similar past 2 seasons except his last season was better, it’s easy to see why he’s been overrated. Some other comparable players who were rated lower than Buchnevich are John Tavares, Nicklas Backstrom, Elias Pettersson, Claude Giroux, Matthew Barzal, Vladimir Tarasenko, etc. I don’t believe Buchnevich should be rated higher than any of those guys.