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(Puck Daddy presents its annual look back at the year in hockey. Check back every day through the New Year for our many lists and hot takes.)

We begin our look back at 2016 with the top 10 hockey players of the year.

This list is a combination of on-ice impact and what their performances meant in context. As you’ll see, this isn’t a Top 10 NHL players list, because that’s super boring – like all rankings in our Year In Hockey, we consider every league around the world. (Although for performance-based rankings like this one, we do weight the NHL quite heavily as the sport’s top league.)

Who was the player of the year in 2016? Glad you asked ….

10 – Alexander Radulov

Radulov finished the 2015-16 KHL season in typically dominant fashion: 65 points in 53 games for CSKA Moscow for a plus-28, and helping to lead his team to Game 7 of the Gagarin Cup final before falling to Metallurg Magnitogorsk.

He then left for the NHL, signing a deal with the Montreal Canadiens. There was immediate skepticism that Radulov still lacked the maturity to play in North America – doubts that lingered from his last disastrous stint with the Nashville Predators. But he put up 23 points in his first 27 games for the first-place Habs, while making curfew and keeping his temper in order. For his performance on and off the ice, it was a memorable season for Radulov.

9 – Erik Karlsson

Alas, Drew Doughty was predestined by the Canadian media to win his first Norris Trophy last season. So Karlsson had to make due with a point-per-game season as a defenseman (82 in 82), playing brilliantly in 2015-16. He had four points in four World Cup games. And in 2016-17, Karlsson again is near a point-per-game pace while playing over 27 minutes per night for the Ottawa Senators.

It’s the kind of performance that could garner him something more than Norris consideration – like Hart Trophy talk. Well, unless the Kings make the playoffs and the Canadian media decides it’s Doughty’s turn to win that one, too.

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8 – Brianna Decker

In the National Women’s Hockey League’s inaugural season, Decker scored 29 points in 17 games for the Boston Pride. That was good enough to beat out teammate Hilary Knight for the first NWHL MVP award. Decker also scored twice in the clinching game of the Isobel Cup to give the Pride the first NWHL championship. Alas, then she had to take a pay cut…

7 – Patrik Laine

Laine earned inclusion on this list well before he became a rookie goal-scoring sensation for the Winnipeg Jets.

In the Finnish Liiga, Laine set a rookie record for goals in the postseason (10, along with five assists) and won playoff MVP honors in leading Tappara to the championship. At the IIHF world championships, Laine scored seven goals in seven games to help lead Finland to the gold medal.

The kid simply can’t stop putting the puck into the net. Although, admittedly, he should probably double-check which net he’s putting it into.

6 – Braden Holtby

While the postseason ended in disappointment, as is tradition for the Washington Capitals, Holtby’s regular season was one of the best in franchise history. He equaled the single-season NHL record for wins in a season with 48, leading the Caps to the President’s Trophy. He became the seventh goalie in NHL history to have consecutive 40-win seasons. He posted a .922 save percentage and a 2.20 GAA in winning his first Vezina Trophy.

Story continues