5 – Vitaly Vishnevski (2001-2006)
The 1998 first round pick of the Mighty Ducks (15th overall), Vitaly Vishnevski, cut an impressive figure on the ice at 6 feet, 2 inches, and 215 pounds. In doing some research for this piece, adjectives such as nasty, hard-hitting, and tough were tossed around when describing him. Once he made it to the NHL, Vishnevsky gave opposing forwards fits.
Indeed, when Alex Ovechkin was interviewed by the O.C. Register last spring, one of his favorite moments playing against Anaheim, was him leveling Vishnevski with a hit. Younger Anaheim Ducks fans can think of him as a slightly smaller Josh Manson. If a player had a different color jersey on and had the puck (sometimes without it) they were fair game for a bone-jarring check.
You might have missed it, but Vitaly Vishnevski officially retired from hockey last week. He has been playing in the KHL since leaving North America in 2008. The last time Ducks fans heard from him was as a training camp invitee back in the summer of 2015.
He was not a big scoring threat during his playing days, putting up 11 goals, and 37 assists in 465 games with Anaheim, he left his impression in other ways. Logging 403 penalty minutes in six seasons, that impression was most often black and blue marks on his opponents.