Professional Players Are, For The Most Part, Big, Athletic People. Even Though There Are Smaller People In Sports That Don’t Require As Much Physical Strength, Most Of The Time, If You Want To Be A Professional Athlete, You Need To Be Bigger Than Normal.
But In This Post, I’ll Talk About NHL Players Who Are Not Only Taller Than Most People, But Also Bigger Than Most People In The Game.
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How Big Is The Average NHL Player?
A Normal NHL Player Is Between 6’1 And 6’3 Tall And Weighs Between 200 And 210 Pounds. People Like Columbus Blue Jackets Forward Johnny Gaudreau, Who Are Much Smaller Than This, Do Well In The NHL Today. But They Don’t Happen Very Often.
Most Players Will Need To Be This Size Or Bigger To Get Into The League Without Having To Beat The Odds A Lot. Most Of The Time, The More Skill You Have, The More You Can Use It To Make Up For Being Small.
In The NHL Playoffs, When The Games Get More Rough, Size Is Often Looked For As Well. Even Though It’s Not As Common As It Used To Be, Hockey Teams Still Use Goons To Scare And Physically Play The Other Team.
How This List Of The NHL’s Best Players Was Made?
For This List, I’ll Choose Players Who Have Been In The National Hockey League For A Long Time And Haven’t Changed Much.
Last Year, There Were Some Newbies Who Were Very Tall. But I’d Like To See Them Play Full-Time For A Few Years Before I Think Of Them As Regular NHL Players.
So, Let’s Talk About The Best Players In The League Right Now. From Biggest To Tenth Biggest, The List Is Below.
I Used A Mix Of Height And Weight To Describe “Size.”
One Last Thing: I Didn’t Put Goalies On This List. Especially At The NHL Level, Goalies Are Usually Much Bigger Than The Average Hockey Player.
This Is Because The League Has Moved Toward Bigger Goalies Who Can Better Cover The Net. If I Were To Put Goalies On This List, 90% Of The Options Would Be Goalies.
Tyler Meyers
Myers Is One Of The Biggest Players In The NHL. He Is 6 Feet 8 Inches (203 Cm) Tall. In The Beginning Of His Career, Myers Was Known For His Size, Speed Skills, And Ability To Score Goals.
But As His Career Has Gone On, He Hasn’t Been Able To Score As Much, And Now He’s More Of A Defender Who Stays At Home.
Myers Won The Calder Trophy In 2009-2010. In His First Season, He Scored 48 Points, Which Was One Of The Best Scoring Seasons Ever For A Rookie.
Myers Is Tall And Heavy, Weighs More Than 230 Pounds. He Is Also 6 Feet 8 Inches Tall. On The Ice, He Stands Out, That’s For Sure.
He Plays For The Vancouver Canucks Right Now. But The Buffalo Sabres Picked Him As The 12th Player Overall In The 2008 Draft. He Was Sent To Winnipeg In 2015, Where He Finished Out His Deal. In 2019, He Signed With The Vancouver Canucks.
Logan Stanley
Even Though Logan Stanley Is Only 6 Feet 7 Inches Tall, Which Is An Inch Shorter Than Myers, He Weighs 245 Pounds, Which Is A Lot More. Stanley Is A Defender, And He Has Only Scored One Goal In Each Of The Last Three NHL Seasons.
This Means That He Won’t Help You Score Much. But You’ll Get A Tough Defenseman Who Can Protect And Hurt The Other Team’s Players.
Because Of This, The Winnipeg Jets Took Him With The 18th Pick In The First Round Of The 2016 Draft.
Stanley Got 42 Points In His Last Ohl Season With The Kitchener Rangers. We Haven’t Seen All Of Stanley’s Offensive Potential Yet. He’s Only 25, So He Should Still Have A Few Years To Grow.
Overall, His Size And Ability To Defend Should Allow Him To Have A Long Career As A Bottom-Pairing Defender In The National Hockey League.
Jamie Oleksik
In Terms Of Size, Jamie Oleksiak Is One Of The NHL’s Biggest Defensemen. He Has Played In The NHL For More Than A Decade, Since The 2012-2013 Season. He Was A Very Good Prospect, And The Dallas Stars Took Him With The 14th Pick In The 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Oleksiak Is 6 Feet 7 Inches Tall And Weighs 256 Pounds. At The Time That This Story Was Written, He Was By Far The Heaviest Defenseman In The NHL. Nikita Zadorov Is The Next Biggest Player On This List. He Weighs 248 Pounds.
Oleksiak Isn’t Known For Being Good At Offense, And Given How Big He Is, It’s Not Strange That He Moves A Bit Slowly. Because Of This, He Was Left Vulnerable In The Expansion Draft. The Seattle Kraken Picked Him Up, And He Now Plays For Them.
But Don’t Get Me Wrong, He Is A Great Defender Who Has Shown He Can Play Well And Consistently As A Middle-Pairing Defenseman.
Hedman Victor
Victor Hedman Is The First NHL Player On This List. He Is A Top Player In The Game And May Be One Of The Best Defensemen Right Now. He Is 243 Pounds And Stands 6 Feet 7 Inches Tall.
Hedman Is One Of The Best Offensive Defenders, But The Offense Has Been Limited By The Fact That The Biggest Players In The League Are Above Him On This List. You Will Often See Him Have 50-Point Seasons, And In The Past He Has Even Hit 70 And 80 Points.
In 2009, The Tampa Bay Lightning Picked Him With The Second Pick Of The Draft. Since Then, He Has Become One Of The Best Players In The League.
He Has Helped Tampa Bay Win Multiple Stanley Cups, And Even Though He Is In His 30s, He Plays 25 Minutes Or More Every Night And Could Still Be Called The Best Defender In The NHL.
Nikita Zadorov
Nikita Zadorov Is Another Defenseman Picked In The First Round Of The NHL Draft Because Of How Tall He Is. He Was Chosen By The Buffalo Sabres With The 16th Pick In The 2013 Draft, Mostly Because Of His Size And His Ability To Score Points.
He Is 6 Feet 6 Inches Tall And Weighs 248 Pounds, Making Him The Second Biggest Player On This List.
Over The Years, He Has Turned Into A Tough Defender Who Can Play On The Middle Pair, Score Some Goals, And Get A Lot Of Penalty Minutes. He’s A Scary Presence On Defense, Which Has Helped Him Have A Fairly Long And Steady NHL Career.
He Has Played For The Buffalo Sabres, The Colorado Avalanche, The Chicago Blackhawks, And Now The Calgary Flames In The NHL.
Power Owen
Owen Power Is A National Hockey League Star On The Rise. He Is Big, But Not So Big That It Makes It Hard For Him To Skate. He Is 6 Feet 6 Inches Tall And Weighs 220 Pounds.
Because Of This, People Expect Him To Become An All-Star Defender With A Lot Of Offensive Skills As He Gets Older.
He Had A Great Last Season At The University Of Michigan And Was Picked First Overall By The Buffalo Sabres In The NHL Entry Draft Of 2021. He Would Finish His First Season In Buffalo With 35 Points In 79 Games, Which Was A Good Showing For A Newbie.
It Will Be Interesting To See How Power Does As He Moves Up In The NHL. But There Is No Question That He Will Stay On This List As One Of The NHL’s Best Players For A Long Time. As I’d Expect Him To Get Bigger As He Grows Up.
Aliacksei Protas
Aliaksei Protas Is Different In A Number Of Ways From The First Five Players On This List. One Thing About Him Is That He Is The First Person On This List Who Is Not A Defenseman.
This Makes Sense, Since Defensemen Are More Valued For Their Size Than Forwards, And A Defenseman Can Often Make It In The League Just By Being Bigger Than A Forward, Who Usually Has To Add To The Offense In Some Way.
He Is Also The First Player On This List Who Wasn’t Picked In The First Round Of The NHL Entry Draft. In 2019, The Washington Capitals Picked Protas In The Third Round.
He Joined The League In 2021–2022, And His Role As A Checking Line Center For The Capitals Has Only Grown Since Then.
Protas Has A Lot Of Shooting Skill In The Western Hockey League. In His Last Season, He Scored 80 Points In 58 Games. But His Scoring Skills Haven’t Shown Up In The NHL Yet. But Because He Is Still Young, He Has A Lot Of Time To Do That.
Kevin Bahl
Kevin Bahl, Who Plays Defense, Is 6 Feet 6 Inches Tall And Weighs 230 Pounds. He Was Picked By The Arizona Coyotes In The Second Round Of The 2018 Draft, But He Never Played A Game For Them.
Instead, He Was Part Of A Huge Trade That Sent Taylor Hall To The Arizona Coyotes And Sent Bahl And Many Other Players To The New Jersey Devils. Over The Next Few Years, He Would Be In And Out Of The Field. His Big Year As A Rookie Would Be 2022-2023.
Bahl Is Known For His Tough, Physical Play And His Ability To Win Puck Fights In The Corners And In Front Of The Net. He Probably Won’t Ever Be A Big Scoring Player In The NHL.
Still, From What I Can Tell, He Is Becoming An Excellent Middle-Pairing Defender And One Of The Biggest In The League.
Alexei Toropchenko
Alexey Toropchenko, Who Plays For The St. Louis Blues, Is A Right Winger. He Is 222 Pounds And Stands 6 Feet 6 Inches Tall. He Was Picked By The St. Louis Blues In The Fourth Round Of The 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
Toropchenko’s Career Is Just Getting Started, And He Often Splits His Time Between St. Louis And The Springfield Thunderbirds, The Ahl Team For The Blues.
But Because Of His Size, Strength, And Ability To Play As A Power Forward, He Will Probably Stay In The National Hockey League As A Middle Or Lower-Level Forward For A Long Time.
Milan Luci
Milan Lucic Has Been In The NHL For A Long Time. Since His Time In The NHL Is Almost Over, I Was Thinking About Not Putting Him On The List At All.
But There’s No Question That He’s Still One Of The Best Players In The NHL And Has Been For His Whole Career. You Can Watch A Recording Of His Best Fights In The League Down Below.
Milan Lucic Is Only 6 Feet 3 Inches Tall, But He Is One Of The Bigger Players On This List At 240 Pounds. During His Time In The National Hockey League, He Has Been One Of The Best Fights.
Even Though He Doesn’t Do Much Now, He Was A Big Deal When He Was Younger, Especially When The Boston Bruins Went To The Stanley Cup Final Multiple Times.
In His Later Years, He Played For The Los Angeles Kings For One Season Before Making A Huge Deal With The Edmonton Oilers To Play With Hero Connor Mcdavid. A Few Years Into The Deal, He Was Traded To The Calgary Flames.
Ovechkin Alexander
Alex Ovechkin Is Likely To Go Down In History As The Best Goal Scorer Of All Time (Yes, Even Better Than Gretzky). He Is Also A Big Man, Which Is A Plus.
With A Height Of 6 Feet 3 Inches And A Weight Of 238 Pounds, He Is The Same Size As Milan Lucic, But He Is Much More Skilled.
He Won Three Hart Trophies, Which Are Given To The NHL’s Most Valuable Player During The Regular Season. He And Sidney Crosby And The Pittsburgh Penguins Were Fierce Rivals For A Long Time.
Ovechkin Was Picked First Overall By The Washington Capitals In 2004. He Is Well On His Way To Breaking Wayne Gretzky’s Record For Goals Scored. Even Though He Probably Won’t Do It Next Year, If Ovechkin Stays Fit, It Will Almost Certainly Happen The Year After That.
At The Time This Was Written, He Only Needed 72 Goals To Tie Wayne, And It’s A Safe Bet He’ll Get There Since He’s Scored 40 Or More Goals In All But One Of His 20-Plus Years As A Player.
It’s Rare For Someone To Be As Tall And Talented As Ovechkin, And Capitals Fans Have Had The Pleasure Of Seeing Him Score Goals For Nearly 20 Years.
Who Was The Biggest Player In NHL History?
Zdeno Chara Is The Biggest Player The National Hockey League Has Ever Had. He Stands At 6 Feet 9 Inches. He Was So Big That The National Hockey League Made An Exception To The Rule About How Long A Stick Could Be.
Chara Was Taken By The New York Islanders In The Third Round Of The 1996 NHL Entry Draft, And He May Be One Of The Best Deals In Draft History. In The End, He Played 1680 Games And Got 680 Points.
But With The Islanders, He Wouldn’t Really Reach His Full Promise. Instead, He Was Moved To The Ottawa Senators In A Deal That Included Alexei Yashin. There, He Did Much Better, And The Deal Was Worth The Franchise Level.
During The Best Part Of His Career, When He Played For The Boston Bruins, He Would Often Play More Than 25 Minutes A Night And Get More Than 50 Points A Season. For A Long Time, He Had The Hardest Shot In The National Hockey League.
In 2011, 2013, And 2019, He Would Lead The Bruins To The Stanley Cup Finals. In 2011, He Would Win The Stanley Cup With The Bruins.