What does it take to be a good agitator in today’s NHL? Obviously, you must have the ability to get under the opponent’s skin, but you don’t want to be consistently putting your team at a disadvantage by taking silly penalties. You have to be able to annoy your opponent on the scoresheet as well, and you certainly can’t be a waste of a roster spot.
Some players have mastered the art of toeing the line between illegal and legal to find a way to get their opponents off their games. Here are the five best at it in the entire NHL.
Nazem Kadri
For better or worse, Nazem Kadri has been one of the biggest pests in the NHL for quite some time. He isn’t afraid to play a physical game, but that comes with a cost. He’s faced six suspensions by the NHL since 2013 for behavioral issues, with his most recent one coming during the 2021 NHL playoffs against the St. Louis Blues, when he received an eight-game ban for a hit to the head of Justin Faulk.
But when Kadri isn’t acting up, he’s a very effective two-way forward. That’s why the Colorado Avalanche took a chance on him when they acquired him for Tyson Barrie and Alex Kerfoot in July 2019. He averaged 51 points per 82 games over the previous three seasons and was an efficient five-on-five scorer, giving the Avalanche a boost as their second-line center behind Nathan MacKinnon. Ultimately, he helped them win a Stanley Cup.
There’s no doubt his current team, the Calgary Flames, is better with him in the lineup. Kadri quietly had an excellent 2024-25 season, totaling 35 goals and 67 points in 82 games. The Flames are retooling/rebuilding, though they did total 96 points a season ago. Still, with Elias Lindholm no longer on the team, Kadri is their first-line center, and that should lead to him producing on the scoring sheet while still being annoying to play against.
It’s also worth noting that while Kadri is a pest, he’s cut down on the illegal hits, so it appears he’s learned how to be a pest within the rules of the game.
Travis Konecny
Like the Flames, the Philadelphia Flyers are in the middle of a rebuild/retool, but they also have one of the most annoying players in the NHL. Travis Konecny is not afraid to stir it up with his opponents, but he’ll also light the lamp and fill the scoresheet. He’s been the Flyers’ most consistent scorer over the last three seasons, totaling 30-plus goals in two while being close to a point per game.
Konecny has been one of the Flyers’ most efficient five-on-five scorers over that stretch, averaging 2.16 points per 60 minutes. He excels at creating offense off the rush, and the Flyers generally control play when he’s on the ice. The difference between Konecny and someone like Kadri is that Konecny generally avoids calls from the league’s Department of Player Safety.
Still, Konecny will find ways to get under his opponent’s skin. Remember when he slashed New Jersey Devils defenseman Brendan Smith, which caused Smith to retaliate and get suspended for two games? Or when Montreal Canadiens blueliner Kaiden Guhle slashed Konecny and received a one-game suspension himself? That’s what Konecny has a knack for doing while being one of his team’s most productive scorers, making him the ideal pest for the NHL in 2024.
Brady Tkachuk
The Ottawa Senators have finally gotten out of a long rebuild and have come away with one of the NHL’s biggest pests in Brady Tkachuk. While he’s not the scorer his brother is, he’s consistently produced for a Senators team that has struggled with offensive consistency in recent years.
Tkachuk has come into his own over the last three seasons, averaging 35 goals and 74 points per 82 games. He’s been one of the league’s better five-on-five goal scorers, averaging 0.99 goals per 60 minutes, a top-50 rate among forwards with at least 1,000 minutes logged since the start of the 2022-23 season. And his offensive impacts are consistently among the best league-wide.
Not only does the younger Tkachuk brother put up points, but he’s not afraid to cause havoc. He’s totaled over 100 penalty minutes in each of the last three seasons; his 134 PIMs in 2023-24 were second league-wide to Utah HC’s Liam O’Brien. He’s a player that pretty much any NHL GM would covet, given his offensive production and knack for annoying his opponent.
Matthew Tkachuk
Are you shocked to see the other Tkachuk on this list? Matthew Tkachuk is not afraid to get into the dirty areas and cause havoc around the net. While he doesn’t find himself in the penalty box as often as his brother, he’s still one of the league’s penalty leaders; he racked up 88 PIMs in 2023-24, a top-20 rate league-wide.
Tkachuk has also faced a handful of suspensions, including one for elbowing Drew Doughty in 2017. Doughty has not been shy in his feelings about Tkachuk, going as far as to say, “[he’s] a guy that kinda thinks he’s really good but isn’t.”
Related: Matthew Tkachuk Is an Elite Agitator
Though Doughty does not like Tkachuk, it’s clear that Tkachuk is now a standout two-way forward among the league’s top scorers. He does a bit of everything, making him one of the best young players in the league. Add the edge he plays with, and there’s a player who knows how to get under his opponent’s skin quite well.
Sam Bennett
Is it a coincidence that there are two Florida Panthers here after they won their second consecutive Stanley Cup? You could even argue there should be three since Brad Marchand is now a Panther, but Sam Bennett has taken the reins from Marchand as one of the five best agitators in the NHL.
It’s not that Marchand isn’t a good hockey player anymore. He is, but eventually the torches pass to the next generation. Though Bennett re-signed with the Panthers this summer for eight years and $8 million per year, let’s not forget the insane rumors that he could have gotten as much as $10 million per year if he hit the open market.
Where did that come from? His playoff performances, especially this past season, when he scored 15 goals in 23 games and earned the Conn Smythe as playoff MVP. Bennett plays a brash game but also has a bit of scoring upside; he has totaled 20+ goals in each of the last two seasons. The NHL is a copycat league, so it’s no wonder GMs were lining up to sign him if he hit the open market on July 1.
I do think the Panthers will regret the eight-year contract extension they signed him to this offseason somewhere down the road, but this isn’t about contract evaluations. Right now, Bennett is one of the best agitators in the NHL, and it’d be hard to argue otherwise.
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