For the best 20 even strength players last season, we saw a lot of players on playoff teams, or the teams that just missed out. Not surprising, since teams carrying a bunch of dead weight aren’t going to prosper, while teams that do, must be doing something right, whether the players are much heralded or not.
For the 20 worst even strength players, you have your expected Islanders, Rangers, and Stars, as well as a few fourth liners. You also have one of Dale Tallon’s favorites, a Niedermayer brother who has seen better days, and a couple of others that sniffed a few playoff games.
Even Strength Total Rating, Regular season 2008-9
| Rank | Name | Team | Pos | ESTR |
| 1 | Colton Orr | NYR | RW | -1.60 |
| 2 | Chris Stewart | COL | RW | -1.53 |
| 3 | Brendan Witt | NYI | D | -1.52 |
| 4 | Kris Draper | DET | RW | -1.45 |
| 5 | Kyle Turris | PHX | C | -1.32 |
| 6 | Thomas Pock | NYI | D | -1.32 |
| 7 | Darroll Powe | PHI | C | -1.29 |
| 8 | Jay Pandolfo | NJD | LW | -1.27 |
| 9 | Patrick Lalime | BUF | G | -1.26 |
| 10 | Fredrik Sjostrom | NYR | RW | -1.25 |
| 11 | Travis Moen | SJS | LW | -1.22 |
| 12 | Dustin Boyd | CGY | C | -1.20 |
| 13 | Boris Valabik | ATL | D | -1.20 |
| 14 | Matt D’Agostini | MTL | RW | -1.12 |
| 15 | Samuel Pahlsson | CHI | C | -1.09 |
| 16 | Andrew Hutchinson | DAL | D | -1.08 |
| 17 | Greg de Vries | NSH | D | -1.08 |
| 18 | Rob Niedermayer | ANA | C | -1.08 |
| 19 | Chris Neil | OTT | RW | -1.06 |
| 20 | Vernon Fiddler | NSH | C | -1.06 |
Anyone remember how celebrated Colton Orr was during the first two weeks of 2008-9? That’s small sample set for you…