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"You're a boring old man"
FWIW, Abel has 2 top 10s in assists as a LW, including what is probably his best season in assists (3rd in assists in 1941-42 without elite linemates), as well as a Smythe-calibre playoff run in 1943.
Re: Maltsev, I believe he played almost exclusively at C almost in the domestic league, but was RW a little more often than he was C on the international team.
I think Abel is perfectly fine as a LW in the ATD. He had an AS season there, solid offensive numbers overall and a very strong playoff run like you said. The only area where I personally will tweak my outlook when a guy moves of his primary spot is offensive production, so long as the positional adjustment is warranted, which is clearly the case for Abel. If some guy gets put on the W and never played there, obviously more than offense can be impacted.
For me, i drop Abel's 87.3 very slightly given his production there doesn't equal what he did at C being flanked by Howe and Lindsay. Beyond that, you're getting everything else out of him across the board (checking, physicality, leadership, etc, etc).
And honestly, I think Sakic has always been underrated as a playmaker, especially if you look at his consistent finishes in that department and I saw a lot of the back half of his career. He's certainly not Frank Boucher, but in no way should he be thought of as a goal dominant C.
I really like your top line! It checks off all the boxes one needs.
Re: Maltsev. That was my impression as well. Again, can he play RW? Sure. He almost always gets thrown out there in the ATD but when I made my comment upon drafting Martinec, was looking at pure value for the position and I simply don't think you can quite give Maltsev equal footing if we're talking about accomplishments on the wing. Overall, they're closely ranked in an all time sense, though I've got Vlad in front personally for his all around game and ability to produce in big games with a significantly less impressive cast around him.