If Tupac Shakur played hockey: right wing, rated 87

Tupac Shakur as a hockey player: scouting report

Tupac Shakur plays right wing, and he plays it with speed and purpose. Skating is the best mark on his card, so he is the winger who takes the puck wide, turns a defender around and drives to the net. He moved often as a young man, from New York to Baltimore to Marin City in California, and a forward used to adapting to new surroundings is comfortable with whatever the game throws at him.

In Baltimore he studied acting, poetry and dance at the Baltimore School for the Arts, and that mix shows up in his game: footwork from the dance studio, timing from the stage and a poet's feel for rhythm. His goaltending mark sits right behind his skating, which means he reads plays as they develop and gets into lanes, and his defense is strong enough that he backchecks hard. He worked as a film actor in Juice and Poetic Justice, and the double album All Eyez on Me showed how much he could produce in a single burst, the same energy a winger brings to a hard shift.

Physical play is the weakest part of his card. He gets to open ice and creates chances with speed rather than going through bigger defensemen, so he needs a gritty center to retrieve pucks for him. His shooting is good but not elite, so the best version of him gets to the net for rebounds and quick finishes off the rush. Goalie is his next best spot, close behind his wing rating, and center is a reasonable third. Draft him as a top six winger with speed, pair him with a heavy playmaker, and let him push the pace every time he hits the ice.

Plays like A dynamic speed winger who plays with total commitment

Put Tupac Shakur in your lineup

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