Anze Kopitar vs Patrick Kane

[Felidae]

Weird comparison but hear me out. I think most people in an all time sense would pick Kane over toews because the latter didn't have elite longevity and was no longer a superstar past 28..

Well, Kopitar is probably the closest comparable to Toews, except with the added bonus of having a lengthier prime.

So, who would you take at their peak (their absolute best), and who would in their prime (overall body of work as an elite player)


Kopitar

Award finishes

Selke: 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 6, 7, 9, 9, 12, 15

Hart: 3, 8, 8, 17


Stat finishes

Points: 7th
PPG: 9th

Career Stats
RS: GP 1405 G 429 A 819. P 1248
PO: GP 97 G 25 A 55 P 80

Career Average (82 game average)
RS: G 24 A 48 P 72
PO: G 21 A 46 P 67





Kane

Award finishes

Hart: 1, 6, 6, 7, 8, 15, 17

Pearson: 1


Stat finishes

Points: 1, 2, 3, 5, 5, 8, 9
PPG: 1, 3, 4, 4, 5, 9, 10
Goals: 2, 5, 5, 10
GPG: 2, 7, 8



Career Stats
RS: GP 1247 G 476. A 822. P 1298
PO: GP 147 G 53 A 85 P 138

Career Average (82 game average)

RS: G 31 A 54 P 85
PO: G 30 A 49 P 79

Click to read more...

 

[Connor McConnor]

Kane was a different tier from Kopitar. I love Kopitar but let’s not confuse longevity with prime. Kane had a healthy, elite prime

 

[LDX]

This is a bit sensitive, as I believe the answer to your question is Kane for Peak, Prime & Career - but that's not a slouch or any attempt to diminish Kopitar who was (and still is!) an amazing player on his own. Comparing two all-time greats does not mean the lowest player is any bad, Kopitar does deserve a lot of praise. Kane was just in a tier above him for most of their career.

 

[Coffee]

Super sensitive poll

 

[Felidae]

This is a bit sensitive

Super sensitive poll

I'm confused...

 

[Pablo El Perro]

Still early, but thought this would be closer.

 

[CokenoPepsi]

Hmm.

I think Kane clearly has it for peak and career.

Prime might be something else if Kopitar plays like this for a few more years

 

[x Tame Impala]

From 07/08 until 2016/17, Kane is 3rd in points behind only Crosby and Ovechkin, he's 10th in goals during that timeframe too. From 2016/17 until 2022/23, the last season he was healthy, he's 6th in points, playing in his 30's, hanging right there with Kucherov and Panarin by 10 or less points, and really only behind McDavid/Draisaitl/MacKinnon who are all phenoms in their prime years.

Point being the guy was consistently one of the most elite forwards in the game. He'll retire as the best or 2nd best american born player of all time. I have a ton of respect for the Kings and Kopitar specifically but there's no way I'd rather have Kopitar on the Hawks during those years than Kane.

 

[Our Lady Peace]

Kopitar has eaten the hardest minutes for 19 seasons and 1400 games night in, night out. Playing 200 feet while averaging 70 points in all but maybe a handful of seasons I think is quite hard to ignore. Especially when using the points argument

Both have a fairly comparable playoff PPG average (side note: was Kopi playing injured in 2013?)

Peak you can argue Kane for sure, but prime, well if I'm making a case for longevity and sustainability of their level of play, I'd say Kopitar. He has been the Kings engine up front for much longer than Kane was for Chicago. Toews was the engine from 2009-2015 was he not?

As an aside, for a guy who's played as long as Kopitar has, he has missed a grand total of 31 games in his career. That is staggering

 

[Hisch13r]

Kopitar’s better than both of them.

 

[hamzarocks]

Kane is easily the better player all time, peak, and prime

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Probably Kopitar. Chicago was not a very good team when Kane was their best player.

 

[Felidae]

From 07/08 until 2016/17, Kane is 3rd in points behind only Crosby and Ovechkin, he's 10th in goals during that timeframe too. From 2016/17 until 2022/23, the last season he was healthy, he's 6th in points, playing in his 30's, hanging right there with Kucherov and Panarin by 10 or less points, and really only behind McDavid/Draisaitl/MacKinnon who are all phenoms in their prime years.

Point being the guy was consistently one of the most elite forwards in the game. He'll retire as the best or 2nd best american born player of all time. I have a ton of respect for the Kings and Kopitar specifically but there's no way I'd rather have Kopitar on the Hawks during those years than Kane.

I actually checked how Kopitar ranked in the timeframe you used, and he's 10th in points. But he's also by far the best two way player in the top 10.

If you compare their 82 game average in that timeframe, Kopitar averages out at 72 points, while Kane at 83 points.

I'm not sure how significant a 10 point difference is, especially when we consider the massive gap in two way play.

And not that there isnt a clear gap.. but the top 10 finishes comparison also makes the offensive gap appear larger than it is. Yet I'm pretty sure Kopitar was in the top 20 multiple times.

 

[Bouboumaster]

Career in the end, maybe Kopitar

But peak and prime is easily Kane

 

[JaegerDice]

This is very close for me and kind of difficult to parse because of how different the players are.

Gun to head, I'll say Kane Peak and Kopitar Prime.

The biggest legitimate knock against Kane is that he required sheltering for the bulk of his career to have a significant positive impact. On the other hand, Kopitar was the opposite; he was the guy you threw to the wolves every shift, similar to Toews on the Hawks.

As far as a singular season or playoff run, I'm not sure Kopitar's peak quite measures up to Kane's, but as far as sustained on-ice impact over time, I think Kopitar probably out Kane.

Two first ballot Hall of Famers though. Can't go wrong with either.

Kopitar has eaten the hardest minutes for 19 seasons and 1400 games night in, night out. Playing 200 feet while averaging 70 points in all but maybe a handful of seasons I think is quite hard to ignore. Especially when using the points argument

Both have a fairly comparable playoff PPG average (side note: was Kopi playing injured in 2013?)

Peak you can argue Kane for sure, but prime, well if I'm making a case for longevity and sustainability of their level of play, I'd say Kopitar. He has been the Kings engine up front for much longer than Kane was for Chicago. Toews was the engine from 2009-2015 was he not?

As an aside, for a guy who's played as long as Kopitar has, he has missed a grand total of 31 games in his career. That is staggering

Toews and Keith were the twin engines powering the Blackhawks. Kane was the nitro boost.

 

[Frolov 6'3]

Kopitar has played the majority of his career for a boring defense team first while being much better defensively. No surprise he is still over a PPG now while not being elite defensively anymore and with a more wide open style of play in LA. That says enough, yes the NHL has changed too but he is not getting better or so.

Of course here…points and all time award voting. lol

I am a Kane fan, he had two incredible offensive seasons but in general this is Kopitar for prime and career.

 

[wetcoast]

This is very close for me and kind of difficult to parse because of how different the players are.

Gun to head, I'll say Kane Peak and Kopitar Prime.

The biggest legitimate knock against Kane is that he required sheltering for the bulk of his career to have a significant positive impact. On the other hand, Kopitar was the opposite; he was the guy you threw to the wolves every shift, similar to Toews on the Hawks.

As far as a singular season or playoff run, I'm not sure Kopitar's peak quite measures up to Kane's, but as far as sustained on-ice impact over time, I think Kopitar probably out Kane.

Two first ballot Hall of Famers though. Can't go wrong with either.



Toews and Keith were the twin engines powering the Blackhawks. Kane was the nitro boost.

This post sums up my views and I'm not surprised by the poll results but when you dig a little deeper like you do here it's not as clear.

Put another way, if I had to build a team from scratch and could pick these 2 players with their injury history ect I would pick Kopitar 8 days a week.

kane has better counting stats but when given context did he actually do more to help his teams win that Kopitar did overall?

Kopitar is also only 50 points behind Kane in career points and he brings more than just points and Kane has been sheltered most of his career.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Kane’s playoff impact can’t be understated either.

 

[DitchMarner]

If you go by things like top ten scoring finishes, Hart record, individual awards, Cups, Kane definitely looks better.

But when you consider Kopitar's superior two-way play, the fact that he had to face tougher opponents on a regular basis, the length and consistency of his prime and how long he's been an impactful player, I think you can argue he's been more valuable over his career than Kane (and depending on how you evaluate careers, maybe you can say he has a better career - some put more emphasis on peak seasons and hardware won than others).

Kane's 2016 season is definitely better than any of Kopitar's. But like guys like Sundin and Modano (and Crosby at a higher level), Kopitar's had so many seasons where he hasn't been that far from his best that it makes it difficult to determine exactly where his prime begins and ends.