Canadiens' Alex Newhook nominates $80,000,000 Florida Panthers star as NHL's most underrated player 

Montreal Canadiens forward Alex Newhook shared his thoughts on the NHL's most underrated player in the NHL today.

Newhook's pick might surprise some, as he named none other than Florida Panthers' captain Aleksander Barkov. The Finn, who has an eight-year, $80 million contract, has led the Panthers to back-to-back Stanley Cup victories.

Speaking at his charity golf event, Newhook said:

"I feel like it's been Barkov the past few years, but now that he's won, I think he's probably getting a little bit more of the credit that he deserves," (Timetsamp- 1:24:05 onwards). "Obviously, winning, carrying that team there, he's definitely getting a lot more credit than he has probably in years previous. He's a guy that's hard to play against on both sides of the puck. He's good defensively. He's big. He's fast. I would go with him, probably," he added.

The host then pointed out that Barkov is already a first-team All-Star.

Former player Chris Nilan, who was also part of the panel, offered a different perspective. He suggested Colorado's Artturi Lehkonen could be considered one of the most underrated players in the league.

"I look at a guy like Artturi Lehkonen, who was here in Montreal and had a decent career there, and then he went to Colorado and just took off," Nilan said. "We saw a whole different player there, a 200-foot player, but added to the offense. So, I would say a guy like Artturi Lehkonen."

Lehkonen spent the first six seasons of his NHL career with the Canadiens before being traded to the Avalanche.

Canadiens’ defenseman Jayden Struble's take on NHL's most underrated player

Jayden Struble shared his take on who might be the NHL’s most underrated player. He admitted it’s a tough call, noting that plenty of guys around the league don’t get the same spotlight as the big-name stars.

“There's a lot of stars that everyone knows, and then you know there's guys that have just been in the league for like 10, 15 years, and they're just, you know, they don't do anything special, but I mean that's hard enough as it is to just kind of stay and play every night," Struble said (Timetsamp- 1:25:30 onwards).

Struble believes longtime NHL players deserve credit for consistently staying in the league, even without flashy plays.

Who do you think is the league's most underrated player? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

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Edited by Veer Badani