To be clear these players are all still good NHL players. But they're for various reasons treated by much of fandom/media as if they're great (or in some cases perhaps they're great but treated like they're elite)

Some of the likely controversial ones:

Pesce:
Went from being the unknown darling who was criminally underrated, to talked about so much he some how became overrated

Demko: Demko is a good starting NHL goalie. But frankly thats it. Thats not bad. You can win with a good goalie. They'll go on runs sometimes and be unbeatable. But in the end thats all he's been. I hear people talk about him like he's this ace in the hole for the 'nucks, like stud NHL goalie. But he's not. He's just a good goalie. Thats great. A lot of teams would kill to have a good reliable guy, paid fairly. But he's not like a perennial vezina favourite or something....

Toews is a hall of famer, quite possibly a first ballot one. The only reason he may not be a first ballot hall of famer is because he declined a little early for a super star (normal time for an average player), and that leads to why he's here. People still think he's a high end player. Today, he simply isn't.

*I was really tempted to put Gaudreau, not because he isn't awesome (he is), but because people seemed devestated to lose him, like hes the best winger in hockey, and kind of ignored how Huberdeau is better (frankly they're the better comparisons of each other)

**LA: This category was made for the latter portion of Dustin Brown's career. Dude was a great player, but in the latter half of the guys career, I think a lot of people were seeing his name and style of play and thinking he was still 29. Obviously he has since retired
With that being said Quick is still around

NHL fans: MAF is 37... 3/4 years he's been essentially a league average NHL goalie (a little better or a little worse). I get that that other year was a well deserved vezina year, but age is a real thing
Marcus Foligno: He is NOT here for Minni fans: fans are supposed to love heart and soul players. But for non Minni fans, he's a heart and soul third liner, lets not exaggerate who he is

Dvorak: we know habs paid a first for him, and depending on the market he may one day get similar. But in the end he is like many other guys a solid middle six player who can play any position there competently but won't really excel. Very useful player but not special, nor exceptional (hey Copp, same goes for you). Also hint for Leafs haters, that kind of explains Kerfoot too...

Edmundson: This seems to just be Habs fans. He's solid, but he is not the least bit special.

Aside as I go through the league: Nashville has done a good job at finding value good but not great players that others didn't want so didn't have to over pay for (Neiderreiter, Granlund, etc)

**NJD: a couple years ago I would have put Wood

**Philly: I would have put Hart here a couple years ago. Kind of Demko esque but younger. He was too highly rated for just being solid (Frankly I would have put Oettinger in but he's having quite the start to the year, good on him)

Couture: okay bare with me. I like Couture. But I feel like his whole career he's been treated like he's a tier better than he is. People used to talk about him like he was a franchise level stud when he was more a all star threat every year. And now nobody mentions him as the 55ish point good second line center making good first line money (also side note, why did San Jose want to make Hertl into the same thing in the very near future with his contract)

Martinez and Reilly are here for team building not fan reasons: Why the heck did Vegas resign Reilly, they didn't have to make the Patches give away without it. Also why did they not consider moving Martinez? Dude is fine, but just that

Mantha is purely here because I think Vrana is better and the first went with Vrana

Wilson: okay relax the majority of Washington fan base, I am NOT saying Wilson is a bad player, nor ignoring he is a quite good one. I also recognize he brings a unique element that intimidates opposing teams and also makes them do stupid things when they're angry at him. He is purely here because some fans seem to treat him like he is a super star. He's a good power forward who at times is a very good one. Important player for the caps. But the love just gets out of hand from some

**WPG: none this year. In past I almost would be tempted to put Connor/Ehlers simply because they got all the love and left none for Scheifele. But they are that good so /shrug. UNtil this year I likely would have put Wheeler for the last 2 years as he aged, but frankly media/fans caught up to that when management did their captain removal

The reason why Pesce is here is that he’s worth more to the Canes than his trade value. What is the value you can place on a player you can carve in stone onto your 2nd pairing and not worry about who’s next to him?

The 1st on the Mantha trade was to dump Panik, which was reported by Friedman. Even if it was a 1st with Mantha, I don't understand how that makes Mantha overrated, especially as he gets tons of hate even from his own fanbase for basically nothing.

As for Wilson, I'm just not sure I get what you're getting at. Would you mind explaining it a bit more? Is it a matter of how fans value him in potential trades, his point totals, or something else?

Pesce still has the reputation of an elite shutdown defenseman but his defense has really dropped off the last few years