Let’s be honest, NHL players are some of the best athletes on the planet. They combine speed, strength, balance and hand-eye coordination in ways that make almost everything they do look easy. So it got us thinking… what if they never picked up a hockey stick in the first place?
Would Connor McDavid be chasing Grand Slam titles? Could Cale Makar run an elite soccer midfield? Would Alex Ovechkin be launching shot puts into another postal code? There’s only one way to find out. Here are 10 NHL stars and the different sports we’d bet they’d dominate if hockey had never entered the picture.
Connor McDavid – Tennis
Connor McDavid on a tennis court would be downright unfair. Blink for a second and he’d already be returning a shot that looked impossible to reach. His ridiculous speed, effortless footwork and ability to change direction on a dime make him look like he was secretly built for Centre Court all along.
Opponents would spend entire matches wondering how every winner somehow came back over the net. Throw in McDavid’s ice-cold composure under pressure and it’s not hard to imagine him lifting Wimbledon trophies just as often as NHL hardware.
Cale Makar – Soccer
Watching Cale Makar play hockey sometimes feels like watching a world-class midfielder who accidentally wandered onto an ice rink. He always seems to know where everyone is, threading perfect passes through traffic and gliding past defenders without breaking a sweat.
Swap his skates for cleats and Makar would be pulling the strings from midfield, picking apart defences with pinpoint passes and making the game look far easier than it has any right to. He’d be the player fans barely notice until they realize he quietly controlled the entire match from start to finish.
Sidney Crosby – Decathlon
If there were an award for being ridiculously good at everything, Sidney Crosby would probably win that too. That’s exactly what makes the decathlon the perfect fit. Rather than mastering one event, he’d embrace the challenge of mastering all 10.
Speed, strength, endurance, technique and mental toughness are all part of the job description, and Crosby has spent his entire career proving there isn’t much he can’t do on the ice. He might not take first place in ever event, sure, but don’t be surprised if he ends up with the highest score when it’s all over.
Matthew Tkachuk – MMA
There’s a reason opponents hate playing against Matthew Tkachuk. He’s physical, relentless and somehow always finds a way to get under someone’s skin. Put him in an MMA cage and those same qualities would make him an absolute handful.
Tkachuk would wear opponents down, frustrate them, stay in their face and make every second of the fight miserable. When the bell rings, you know opponents would be just as mentally exhausted as they were physically beaten. That’s classic Tkachuk.
Nathan MacKinnon – Rugby
Nathan MacKinnon doesn’t just play hockey, he attacks it. He plays every shift at full throttle, whether he’s exploding through defenders or chasing down a loose puck like it’s the last one he’ll ever see. That’s exactly the kind of mentality rugby thrives on.
MacKinnon would be the player nobody wants to tackle and somehow never seems to run out of energy. He’d bulldoze through defenders, keep the play alive when everyone else is exhausted and still be charging around the field long after the final whistle should’ve blown.
Alex Ovechkin – Shot Put
Some athletes are built for speed. Others are built to hit things as hard as humanly possible. That’s where this one becomes an easy choice. Few players have unleashed more powerful shots than “The Great Eight”, making shot put feel like the perfect alternate career.
Forget finesse, he’d step into the throwing circle, launch an absolute missile and casually wait while officials searched for where it landed. Breaking records is a theme throughout his hockey career. Don’t be surprised if the shot put world record is next on the list.
Auston Matthews – Golf
Pressure doesn’t seem to bother Auston Matthews. Whether it’s overtime, a breakaway or a must-score moment, he rarely looks anything but calm. That’s the kind of mindset that separates great golfers from everyone else.
You can picture him standing over a putt to win the Masters with the same expression he has lining up a wrist shot from the slot. No panic, no overthinking, just complete confidence in his ability to deliver. Golf rewards precision and patience, two qualities Matthews has in abundance.
Connor Hellebuyck – Cricket (Wicketkeeper)
Spending hours locked in, reacting in a split second and rarely getting a moment to switch off sounds like a pretty familiar job description. That’s exactly why Connor Hellebuyck makes perfect sense behind the stumps as a wicketkeeper.
Every deflection and awkward bounce would be another chance to show off his lightning-fast reflexes. While everyone else was focused on the bowler, Hellebuyck would be pulling off impossible catches and making them look routine. It’s not the flashiest position on the pitch but it might be the most important.
Tom Wilson – Boxing
Standing across the ring from Tom Wilson sounds like a nightmare most people would gladly avoid. Wilson’s got the heavyweight build, not to mention the edge he brings to the game, and he’s not shy about throwing his weight around, making boxing the obvious choice.
Wilson would stalk his opponent, absorb a few punches without blinking and look for an opening to end the fight with a single punch. Love him or hate him, his combination of power and toughness would make him downright dangerous in the ring.
Quinn Hughes – Figure Skating
Watching Quinn Hughes skate sometimes feels like watching someone who’s forgotten the laws of physics. He glides through traffic, changes direction without losing speed and somehow stays on his edges no matter how impossible the angle looks.
Swap the stick for sequins and Hughes would still have crowds on their feet. His effortless balance and graceful movement would fit right in on Olympic ice, with judges handing out perfect scores instead of opposing forwards trying to catch him.