The skill sets that makeup star players in the NHL today would be borderline unrecognizable to those who marveled at the speed of a Guy Lafleur, the cannon shot of an Al MacInnis or the brawn of a Clark Gillies. It’s extremely rare today that one player is good enough at one thing, or even two things, to where it allows us to say “that’s the one raw ability that makes that player better than everyone else.” There are exceptions, but they’re few. The full list: McDavid’s speed, Ovechkin’s one-timer, maybe Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara’s shot, though I’d argue their shots weren’t even considered their most important attributes for their given teams during their prime years. Every player today is so good at everything, that being elite in one or two of the basics of the game is no longer enough to earn status as an elite player.

-Justin Bourne of The Athletic where you can read more on this topic.