Olivier Shares His Opinion On Who The Toughest Player In The NHL Is

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier was on the Cam & Strick Podcast on Monday. One of the questions he was asked was who he felt was the toughest guy in the NHL.

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Andy Strickland surprisingly asked rather than former NHL enforcer Cam Jansen. However, Olivier did give himself some props but still had a list of players he felt were tough.

Q: “Are you the toughest guy in the league?”

A: “I’m up there. I still think that there are some guys in the league that are really, really tough. I think [Nicolas] Deslauriers is up there. I think [Ryan] Reaves has still got it. Obviously, he’s been doing it for a while and is still there. [Arber] Xhekaj is a tough kid. Ross Johnston, for me, doesn’t get enough credit for how tough he is. I’m sure I’m forgetting a few. Marcus Foligno—those are guys that are really tough.”

“So whenever you can hang with those guys, then yeah, I think you’re a tough guy. But those guys are still there.”

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Olivier did mention five names, but one player stands out the most: Ryan Reaves.

Reaves and Olivier had what many consider to be the fight of the year back on Jan. 22, 2025, when their respective teams met.

If you asked around the NHL, many fans would list Olivier as a top-three toughest player in the league, hands down.

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