Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice speaks to the media after Florida's 3-2 overtime win on Long Island on Jan. 27. Anonymous polls can be fun when it comes to professional athletes and sports. Allowing normally guarded athletes to take their names out of the equation and be completely open and honest usually provides some interesting and amusing information to come to light. On Wednesday, The Athletic posted the results of its latest anonymous player poll [https://theathletic.com/5239046/2024/01/31/nhl-player-poll-2024/], and there were certainly some notable and interesting Panthers connections. Let’s take a look: Best player in the league – Sasha Barkov received 1.1% of the vote, tied for sixth-most with Auston Matthews and Kirill Kaprizov, and behind Connor McDavid (first with 69.06%), Nathan MacKinnon (second with 16.02%), Nikita Kucherov (third with 7.18%), Sidney Crosby and Cale Makar (tied for fourth-most with 1.66%). Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAwNjE3OTM2NjIzMjQ4NDky/img_6014.jpg] It’s not a big surprise to see Barkov get a sliver of the vote, though it is to see Matthew Tkachuk left off the list. Perhaps his underwhelming first half of the season in the scoring department had something to do with that. Best goalie in the league – Sergei Bobrovsky received one vote of 183 that were cast. There were 12 goalies who received at least two votes, and six other goalies who received one vote, including Carey Price, who last played in the NHL on April 29, 2022 (ironically, a win over the Panthers). Most underrated player in the league – Barkov leads all players with 12.5% of the vote while Sam Reinhart received the second-most with 5.95%. It was also cool to see Cats defenseman Gus Forsling on the list, receiving 1.19% of the vote. Most overrated player in the league – Matthew Tkachuk tied for third-most votes, receiving 6.93% along with Jason Robertson. Only Trevor Zegras at 12.87% and Darnell Nurse at 7.92% had more. Player whose face you most want to punch – Nick Cousins was the overwhelming winner at 28.57%. Floridas’ Matthew Tkachuk was third on the list with 7.48% (Brad Marchand was second at 14.97%), teammate Ryan Lomberg was tied for eighth-most at 2.04% and Brandon Montour received one vote of 147 that were cast. Considering all the anti-Nick Cousins discourse this season and the overall attention surrounding the Panthers, none of this is terribly surprising. A couple recent and/or well-known former Panthers also made the list, with Radko Gudas, Erik Gudbranson, Frank Vatrano, Ben Chiarot and Mason Marchment all getting votes, as did Matthew Tkachuk’s brother Brady. Sunrise also received some love in the Favorite Road City to Play In category, earning 5.46% of the vote, or sixth-most, behind Vegas, New York, Montreal, Nashville and Vancouver. LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS - FLORIDA Looking back: Panthers enter All-Star break on four-game winning streak [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/looking-back-panthers-enter-all-star-break-on-four-game-winning-streak] Paul Maurice embraced by fans while leading Panthers to new heights, a stark change from last January [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/paul-maurice-embraced-by-fans-while-leading-panthers-to-new-heights-a-stark-change-from-last-january] Playing 'tight game' has Panthers leading NHL in road wins [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/playing-tight-game-has-panthers-leading-nhl-in-road-wins] NHL honors Matthew Tkachuk as superstar's hot streak has coincided with Panthers' run [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/latest-news/nhl-honors-matthew-tkachuk-as-superstars-hot-streak-has-coincided-with-panthers-run] Mackie Samoskevich returns to AHL, but for how long? [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/florida-panthers/features/mackie-samoskevich-returns-to-ahl-but-for-how-long] Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MjAxNjQxMjA5NjI4NzMxMDIz/unnamed.jpg]
