Minnesota Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon, who set NHL career highs in goals (14), assists (29) and points (43) last season, received three votes to tie Couture for third place.
"I think he's hard to play against," Arizona Coyotes center Derek Stepan said of the 29-year-old. "I don't think he gets as much recognition because they have (Ryan) Suter there; he gets talked about more, and rightfully so. [Spurgeon] gets hidden a little bit."
Sixteen of the 22 vote-getters received a single vote, but each has a passionate advocate.
Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho says teammate Jordan Staal should be in the conversation.
"Look at him play, he's a beast, he's really good," Aho said of the 31-year-old center. "It's pretty easy to play with him. You don't have to worry about defense at all.
Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane said Golden Knights forward Mark Stone belongs on the list.
"You wouldn't watch him and be like, 'This guy's overly skilled or unreal,' or one specific thing," Kane said. "He's not an unbelievable skater, he doesn't have an unreal shot, but he's just really smart. And I think he's obviously so good defensively, good at stripping pucks, taking pucks away, so I would say he's pretty underrated."
Kane's teammate, center Jonathan Toews, also stayed in the Western Conference, making a case for Vancouver Canucks captain Bo Horvat.
"I like his game, I think he competes," Toews said of the 24-year-old center. "I just think he plays a really good two-way game; [he] doesn't seem to have the big name because he doesn't put up a ton of points yet, but I think he's a good player."
Most underrated player (37 total votes)
Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers 7; Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals, 4; Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks, 3; Jared Spurgeon, Minnesota Wild, 3; Roman Josi, Nashville Predators, 2; Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues, 2; Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins, 1; Jordan Staal, Carolina Hurricanes, 1; Michal Kempny, Washington Capitals 1; Brayden Schenn, St. Louis Blues, 1; Joe Pavelski, Dallas Stars, 1; Mark Stone, Vegas Golden Knights, 1; Bo Horvat, Vancouver Canucks 1; Jaden Schwartz, St. Louis Blues, 1; Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins, 1; John Klingberg, Dallas Stars, 1; Phillip Danault, Montreal Canadiens 1; Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars, 1; Cam Atkinson, Columbus Blue Jackets, 1; Kyle Connor, Winnipeg Jets, 1; Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators, 1; Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames, 1.