If Bob Dylan played hockey: center, rated 78

Bob Dylan as a hockey player: scouting report

Bob Dylan grew up in Hibbing, on Minnesota's Iron Range, a part of the country with deep hockey roots, and he would play center. The reason is simple: few songwriters have handed more great material to other people. The Byrds took Mr. Tambourine Man to the top of the charts and Jimi Hendrix turned All Along the Watchtower into one of his signature recordings. Passing is the best mark on his card, and a center who keeps setting up his teammates for hits is the center every winger wants to play with.

His goaltending mark comes next, and it says he reads the game patiently, from a distance, the way a goalie does. He has rarely done what anyone expected, from going electric at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 to touring almost nonstop for decades, and a center who refuses to be predictable is very hard to defend. His skating and defense are solid and level with each other, so he can play a full two way game and take his share of defensive zone draws. In 2016 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, which suits a player who sees patterns others miss.

Physical play is the weakest part of his card, and his shooting is modest, so he will not win many board battles or score much from distance. Put a big, physical winger and a pure finisher on his line and let him thread passes between them. Goalie is his next best spot, close behind his center rating, and right wing is a distant third. He has spent decades rearranging his own songs on stage, so expect him to find new ways to run the same play. Draft him as a second line playmaker and enjoy the assists.

Plays like A pass first center who makes every linemate better

Put Bob Dylan in your lineup

8 rolls, a starting six and a bench, 82 games. Can you go 82-0? Free, no account.