Datsyuk - Bergeron - Hossa vs Kariya - Kopitar - Guy Lafleur

[tarheelhockey]

If the goal is to predict a 7 game series, playoff achievements matter a hell of a lot more than 90pt+ regular seasons. Kariya playing most of his career on the expansion Ducks lags in that department, but Kopitar and Lafleur more than make up for it.

It’s also worth noting, Kariya only had two substantial playoff runs in his career. The first, during his prime, he had 13 points in 11 games. The only other one was the run to the Finals in which his overall production was disappointing, but he did have the legendary “off the floor, on the board” moment.

When we say Kariya’s playoff record is lacking, we’re really putting a ton of weight on his playing mostly on non-playoff teams. And his failure to score a few more points while falling *checks notes* one point short of the team lead while making it to Game 7 of the Finals.

 

[authentic]

Sure but why are people equating careers with a 7 games series that the OP presented?

this is how it breaks down for me.

Line 1 at their peak

- Datsyuk back to back 97 point seasons around 15 points away from the art Ross with Selke winning defense), great in the circle on faceoffs and a takeaway monster.

-Bergeron, elite in the faceoff circle and another takeaway monster who scored quite well i his peak later years and in peak playoff years he could be just under a PPG with that elite 2 way play.

-Hossa solid 90-100 point (adjusted) guy 4 years straight again another takeaway monster and very good 2 way player.

Second group led by Kopitar

- Kopitar elite on faceoffs and stacks up very well with Bergeron offensively and I'd say he is probably a little bit better but perhaps slightly behind Datsyuk at his peak offensively

Then we go to 2 excellent offensive wingers but definitely 5th and 6th in terms of 2 way play here and the gap is large.

-Lafleur, elite offensively at his peak just dynamic and the best pure offensive guy here and probably plays like he did with Lemaire which was excellent offesnviely.

Kariya is definitely the weak link here in terms of defensive play and has the weakest playoff resume both overall and peak/prime. Has killer speed at his peak and certainly could score but in a 7 game series he is probably 6th easily on this list.

He was also 15 points off the Art Ross playing 2 minutes less per game on the powerplay than the scoring leaders. The idea that he was a fringe top 10 player like one poster mentioned is insane to me, he was in conversations for best player at his peak and top 4 at worst.