NHL 19 has started releasing some of their ratings for this season and before they even hit their top 30, we found out the rating for their cover athlete, P.K. Subban.
Subban was rated an 88, which we honestly thought was way too low for the Predatorsβ defenceman. Subban had one of his best years ever, finishing with a career-high in goals, put up 19 more points than he did the season before and led the Predators to a Presidents Trophy. With all of that, his rating stayed the exact same at 88.
We were expecting a higher rating, especially considering he is the cover athlete for the game. That cover athlete point then got us thinking, is he the lowest rated cover athlete in NHL history? Heβs not, but heβs not far off.
Out of 24 games with actual cover athletes (Before NHL 96 there wasnβt the same kind of cover athlete), only five games had someone on the front with a rating lower than 88. Some of the names will surprise you, some wonβt.
Here are the ratings for every NHL cover athlete from highest to lowest:
NHL 98 β Peter Forsberg - 100
NHL 2003 β Jarome Iginla β 96
NHL 99 β Eric Lindros β 96
NHL 2002 β Mario Lemieux β 94
NHL 2000 β Chris Pronger β 94
NHL 2005 β Marcus Naslund β 94
NHL 16 β Jonathan Toews β 94
NHL 18 β Connor McDavid β 93
NHL 17 β Vladimir Tarasenko β 93
NHL 07 β Alexander Ovechkin β 93
NHL 2004 β Dany Heatley β 91 / Joe Sakic β 92
NHL 06 β Vincent Lecavalier β 91
NHL 15 β Patrice Bergeron β 91
NHL 13 β Claude Giroux β 90
NHL 2001 β Owen Nolan - 90
NHL 08 β Eric Staal β 89
NHL 11 β Jonathan Toews β 89
NHL 12 β Steven Stamkos β 89
NHL 19 β P.K. Subban β 88
NHL 09 β Dion Phaneuf β 86
NHL 10 β Patrick Kane - 86
NHL 14 β Martin Brodeur β 83
NHL 96 β Scott Stevens β 83 / Steve Yzerman 83
NHL 97 β John Vanbiesbrouck β 82
John Vanbiesbrouck came in in dead last with his NHL 97 cover. We understand why he was on the cover after the Panthers Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final, but he never really should have been there.
Now to the real questions, who had the highest rated soundtrack?
