Top 50 Player Rankings - February 3, 2012

All-star weekend was...well, it was the all-star weekend. Skills competition was fun to watch, and it was neat to see the talent level of some of the ASG line combinations. How awesome would a Gaborik/Datysuk/Hossa line be? Now that the players are back on their respective teams and most of the NHL has had a long weekend to rest, let's see who's standing out in our Top 50. (Consider Sam Gagner an on the bubble honorary mention for his 8-point performance last night.)

The purpose of these rankings is to give you an idea of the most valuable NHL players based upon a number of factors, including past production, injury history, age, average time on ice, performance predictions, etc. We've also got player rankings for fantasy hockey if you're looking for those.

As always, don't forget to check out our starting goalies, line combos, player profiles, team pages, weekly schedule, TOI tool, and forum for more information on all things NHL.

Rank	Player	Team	Pos	Explanation	Prev
1	Evgeni Malkin	PIT	C	Hands down the best player in hockey right now.	2
2	Henrik Lundqvist	NYR	G	3 shutouts in his last 5 games.	4
3	Steven Stamkos	TBL	C	17 goals in his last 21 games.	1
4	Daniel Sedin	VAN	L	Goal scoring Sedin scoring goals.	3
5	Tim Thomas	BOS	G	Thomas and the Bruins showing some chinks in their armor.	5
6	Pavel Datsyuk	DET	C	Looking to have his best season since 2008-2009.	9
7	Alex Ovechkin	WSH	L	Was heating up before earning a 3-game suspension.	8
8	Jonathan Toews	CHI	C	11 points in his last 9 games.	10
9	Henrik Sedin	VAN	C	Non goal scoring Sedin not scoring goals or assisting on goals either.	6
10	Claude Giroux	PHI	R	Only 1 goal since the Winter Classic.	7
11	Zach Parise	NJD	L	Some team is going to luck out when the Devils can't afford to re-sign this guy.	11
12	Jonathan Quick	LAK	G	10 wins back from Howard, but only because the goal support isn't there.	14
13	Jimmy Howard	DET	G	Broken finger will keep him out at least 2 games.	16
14	Corey Perry	ANA	R	Needs 28 goals in 32 games to get to 50 again. No goals in 5 straight games doesn't help.	13
15	Phil Kessel	TOR	R	Just 3 points in his last 10 games.	12
16	Shea Weber	NSH	D	1 SHG, 2 A, +6 in his last 6 games.	17
17	Pekka Rinne	NSH	G	Has only lost 1 game in over a month.	20
18	Marian Hossa	CHI	R	Tied with Tavares and Datsyuk for 5th in points.	15
19	Martin St Louis	TBL	R	Points in 8 straight games for St. Louis.	19
20	Tomas Vokoun	WSH	G	Has given up 3 or more goals in last 4 games.	18
21	James Neal	PIT	L	How does this guy keep scoring from such crazy angles?	25
22	Marian Gaborik	NYR	R	7 points in 7 games after a slow start to January.	21
23	Roberto Luongo	VAN	G	A little surprised he only has 2 shutouts this season.	23
24	Ilya Kovalchuk	NJD	L	Goalvalchuk seems like an odd nickname for a guy with only 20 goals, but he's getting the job done.	27
25	Erik Karlsson	OTT	D	What does Karlsson have in common with Elias and Neal? 48 points.	26
26	John Tavares	NYI	C	NHL Player of the Month for January.	34
27	Kris Letang	PIT	D	Back to his old self after concussion injury.	38
28	Anze Kopitar	LAK	C	Been a disappointment offensively all season long.	24
29	Patrick Sharp	CHI	L	Looking just fine after wrist injury.	29
30	Thomas Vanek	BUF	L	Only 1 G and 1 A with a -6 in January.	22
31	Marc-Andre Fleury	PIT	G	Despite winning 8 in a row, he's play has been up and down.	32
32	Nicklas Lidstrom	DET	D	Misses 1 game, and the team gives up 7 goals...	30
33	Patrick Marleau	SJS	L	Finished off the month of January with only 1 point in 7 games.	31
34	Zdeno Chara	BOS	D	108.8 mph shot? Holy crap!	33
35	Ilya Bryzgalov	PHI	G	Jekyll & Hyde: January SV% above .940 in 5 games and below .890 in 4 games.	28
36	Jason Spezza	OTT	C	He's cooled off a bit lately.	37
37	Jaroslav Halak	STL	G	January stats: 8 GS, 7 W, 1.36 GAA, .946 SV%, 3 SHO.	40
38	Scott Hartnell	PHI	L	Having the best season of his career.	42
39	David Backes	STL	R	5 G, 7 A, +8, 39 PIM, 30 hits, 8 blocks in 11 January games.	47
40	Joffrey Lupul	TOR	R	Like Kessel, the points aren't flowing so freely anymore.	39
41	Tyler Seguin	BOS	C	Bruins have cooled off a bit overall, but Seguin is a playmaker.	48
42	Taylor Hall	EDM	L	8 G, 6 A in 12 January games.	-
43	Nicklas Backstrom	WSH	C	Has not played in a month.	36
44	Patrick Kane	CHI	R	Disappointing season continues.	41
45	Antti Niemi	SJS	G	Will be going for 3rd straight shutout once he recovers from taking a shot to a "sensitive spot."	-
46	Carey Price	MTL	G	Team just isn't giving him support.	46
47	Henrik Zetterberg	DET	L	9 goals in 52 games? Come on.	35
48	Kari Lehtonen	DAL	G	Has not regained the same level of play since returning from injury.	43
49	Johan Franzen	DET	R	The old mule is slowing down a bit.	49
50	Dion Phaneuf	TOR	D	Why does he always look so angry?	45

On the bubble:
Mikhail Grabovski (TOR C), Brad Marchand (BOS C), Alex Pietrangelo (STL D), Dennis Wideman (WSH D), Duncan Keith (CHI D), Dany Heatley (MIN L), Alexandre Burrows (VAN L), Jamie Benn (DAL L), Milan Michalek (OTT L), Jordan Eberle (EDM R), Michael Ryder (DAL R), Blake Wheeler (WPG R), Cam Ward (CAR G), Brian Elliott (STL G), Martin Brodeur (NJD G), Miikka Kiprusoff (CGY G), Tuukka Rask (BOS G)

Now for the best part - tell us what you think of our rankings. We know you won't agree with us on everything, but we hope we got some right. Let's hear your comments!