Better Prime: Evgeni Malkin Or Leon Draisaitl?

[Three On Zero]

Malkin is a clear tier above Draisaitl for both career and prime. Malkin proved he was a clear cut #1 when Crosby was injured, Draisiatl hasn’t shown that away from McDavid(yet)

 

[Garbageyuk]

Draisaitl’s 2.0 PPG playoffs were not a complete run, it was only 16 games and he did not play in the SCF that year.

We saw how peak Draisaitl wilted in the SCF when he actually had to play there. Malkin on the other hand did very well in the 2009 SCF.

Might have something to do with playing through broken ribs. Just a theory.

 

[Midnight Judges]

Were it not for Ovechkin, Malkin would be a 3 time Hart winner. Draisaitl is a one time finalist. IMO that gives Malkin an edge here.

Draisaitl does have a case though.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Some would debate that Malkin at his absolute peak was the better player over Crosby. Not by a lot but by tiny bit

 

[Regal]

I will say that Draisaitl’s health has been exceptional. He’s only missed 9 regular season games since he broke out in 16-17.

 

[Duke74]

Might have something to do with playing through broken ribs. Just a theory.

And broken fingers.

All players are banged up by the SCF but there are many different degrees of "banged up" that Draisaitl's detractors seem to overlook. Some injuries you can play through and still look decent. Others are virtually impossible to play through.

 

[redwings86]

Draisaitl.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

I will say that Draisaitl’s health has been exceptional. He’s only missed 9 regular season games since he broke out in 16-17.

Sure but it's a much softer less vicious game nowadays. Even Crosby and Malkin have played 82 games each of the last two seasons. I can't remember the last time either got cheap shotted, whereas in their primes it was practically a nightly occurrence.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Might have something to do with playing through broken ribs. Just a theory.

And Malkin never played through injuries?

The point is that one guy has been dominant through the entire four rounds of a Cup run, the other has yet to do it, whatever the reason(s) may be.

 

[Three On Zero]

L

And Malkin never played through injuries?

The point is that one guy has been dominant through the entire four rounds of a Cup run, the other has yet to do it, whatever the reason(s) may be.

Was a singular broken rib that occurred in the 1st game of the 2nd round, not exactly debilitating

 

[redwings86]

The world-class German is doing better without the Oilers' greatest hockey player McDavid in the injury problem, a trade to Toronto, McDavid and Matthews are changing club addresses, the German is captain of the Oilers, the German is an upcoming 1C and Matthews 2C for the Oilers. The German center is currently playing better hockey than McDavid and the points average is starting to catch up in the NHL's top ten in the points league.

 

[Garbageyuk]

And Malkin never played through injuries?

The point is that one guy has been dominant through the entire four rounds of a Cup run, the other has yet to do it, whatever the reason(s) may be.

I don’t recall him ever playing through broken ribs and a hand/wrist injury simultaneously in the playoffs, that’s for sure.

 

[Ignatius]

Some would debate that Malkin at his absolute peak was the better player over Crosby. Not by a lot but by tiny bit

I am one of those, Peak Malkin is pretty much Russian Mario Lemieux on offense and extremely aggressive all over the ice otherwise. You just kinda can't stop him from picking pucks off of opposing players and doing whatever he wants in the offensive zone. He can take over games and has taken over a few playoff series and when he does nothing can stop him.

Sid is consistently great but if we're just talking about peak play, there are only a few players in the history of the sport that I may consider taking over Malkin. There are several games I can think of right off hand where he just blew up really good teams from Tampa, Carolina, etc as if they were beer leaguers.

 

[Canadiens Ghost]

I think Malkin is/was more talented but I would probably prefer having Draisaitl (if that makes any sense).

 

[Coffey]

Malkin is a clear tier above Draisaitl for both career and prime. Malkin proved he was a clear cut #1 when Crosby was injured, Draisiatl hasn’t shown that away from McDavid(yet)

Needed this jinx, thank you.

(Even though Drai won a Ross, Lindsay, Hart that year McDavid was injured for a bit lol)

 

[FissionFire]

Is Drai’s prime even over yet? Hard to evaluate until then at the very least.

 

[Spawn]

In terms of peak I’d say Malkin over Draisaitl.

In terms of prime though? I donno, Draisaitls health and consistency is quite a bit better than Malkins during their respective primes.

 

[Soundwave]

L
Was a singular broken rib that occurred in the 1st game of the 2nd round, not exactly debilitating

He played with broken fingers on top of that.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

L
Was a singular broken rib that occurred in the 1st game of the 2nd round, not exactly debilitating

Playing hockey with a broken rib?

yeah im sure thats not very debilitating.

 

[Soundwave]

You can't go wrong with either one here, if you have either player you are extremely lucky, if they happen to be not even the best player on your team, lol, wowza.

Though I have to say this has to be one of the craziest NHL stats ever, Leon Draisaitl did this in the playoffs with a high ankle sprain ... a terrible injury that generally knocks a lot of players out for 2 months

*17 points in 5 games* in 2022 playoff series vs. Calgary (highest PPG in an NHL playoff round ever).

On a freaking high ankle sprain. Unbelievable.

 

[the valiant effort]

Malkin had to work much harder against superior d and goalies compared to Draisaitl, which is not a knock on Drai at all.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Draisaitl is clearly ahead at their peaks. 55 goals vs 50 and 128 points vs 113.

He’s also ahead at their prime with 3 50 goal seasons to Malkin’s 1, and 5 100 point seasons to Malkin’s 3. Even if you try and use the benefit of the doubt with Malkin’s health, he still was only flirting with it at times, and nothing like the lockout season of Draisaitl where he paced for over 120.

Even playoffs doesn’t benefit the argument for Malkin as his career PPG (1.02) isn’t close to Draisaitl (1.46), and he’s never come close to being 2 PPG which Draisaitl did

How many of those seasons did Draisaitl achieve those totals without being glued to McDavid's hip the majority of his time?

I feel like this ignores context to just look at raw numbers. In his prime Malkin was putting up 100 points with guys like Fedotenko, Sykora, and Malone on his wing, while Draisaitl's racking up his 100 point seasons largely playing next to McDavid (go look up how much his production drops with and without McDavid).

I mean, Malkin literally ripped the league apart when Crosby missed 60 games. I'd like to see Draisaitl run away with the scoring title if McDavid misses 60 games.

 

[Nemesis Prime]

Drai AINEC.

 

[BertMcDrai]

I think career it's Malkin due to cups...other it's Drai for peak and prime.

He is just ramping up his game again like always when McD is out...he is 2ppg without McD in the lineup over the last 5 years. (Small sample size but it is what is is)
And his playoffs numbers are insane and dont forget he has broken Gretzky records in his playoffs run during the last three years and this while beeing heavy injured in two of those runs.

He is the kind of player which gets better when the pressure is on (Malkin had also one great run of this kind).
Drai is still in his prime, we will see what the future brings...if he is ending up with a cup than he could/should be above Malkin.

 

[Foppberg]

Geno, not a difficult choice in my mind. He was unreal in his prime, but a lot of kids here didn't get to see that.