How skilled was Paul Kariya?

[BraveCanadian]

Kariya was very skilled. One of the top in the NHL at his best.

Slightly better than Selanne at their peaks and I think Kariya was still improving.

Great speed, great shot, great passer, great vision. Plus Kariya had "it".

Too bad Suter gooned him..

 

[gretzkyoilers]

According to Wayne, if it was 1982, records would be broken:

 

[BraveCanadian]

According to Wayne, if it was 1982, records would be broken:

Yeah, but according to Wayne 100 people have been poised to break his records.

Pretty sure he once told me that I was the best hockey player he had ever seen too. (no he didn't - I am terrible - but it is almost to that point witht he number of people he has said that about)

 

[The Panther]

I'd certainly say Kariya had the better skill-set than Selanne, overall. From 1995 -- 2000, I'd say Kariya was the better player. (Of course, when considering career as a whole, Selanne has the edge.)

Kariya was almost a uniquely skilled player because he was all-world (like, top-3) in skating, passing, shooting, and stickhandling from 1995 -- 2000. Selanne was not as good a passer or stickhandler. Lindros was not as explosive a skater, and not as good a stickhandler. Sakic was closest to Kariya in style, maybe, but even then I think Kariya was a better passer/playmaker.

Really, Kariya was the heir-apparent to Gretzky/Lemieux in the mid-/late-90s. He ended up being more of a Sakic (with a shorter prime) than a Gretzky/Lemieux, obviously, but that's nothing to apologize for. Still, there is a lingering sense of his having underachieved a bit after that 5-year prime.

 

[gretzkyoilers]

Yeah, but according to Wayne 100 people have been poised to break his records.

Pretty sure he once told me that I was the best hockey player he had ever seen too. (no he didn't - I am terrible - but it is almost to that point witht he number of people he has said that about)

I know...I just wanted to see if anyone caught Wayne once again saying play X is the Next One....

 

[HalifaxforNhl100]

Perhaps he had capacity to dominate Nhl long after Suters assault like hit in 98, at least two 60 goal seasons and at least one two or three seasons over 120 points i would have hoped for

 

[MadLuke]

hit in 98, at least two 60 goal seasons

For the 10 years (9 seasons) in the nhl from 97-98 to 06-07 included there was no 60 goals seasons.

Bure giving it all on the panthers got close 59-58, excluding Bure the highest in the dpe were:
Sakic: 54
Bondra: 52
Jagr: 52
Selanne: 52
....

there was only ten 50 goals season from 98 to 04 and Kariya would have been 31 when hockey restarted.

For season over 120 pts, from 1998 to 2004 there was only 2 of them, and one of those was Jagr playing with Lemieux in 2001.

Not saying impossible, but those are really high mark for that era, having 2x60 goals season 2-3x120 points season in the dpe, that could have put him as the leader of the best non Orr-Lemieux-Gretzky offense generator of all time at the minimum near the top of it (if you are clearly > Jagr there is not much room to go).

 

[Sampe from the 2000s]

It's unfortunate that Kariya missed so many games in 1997-98, as both Paul and Teemu peaked during the 22 games he did play:

Kariya 22.17+8+6=31.23+12 (25 primary points; 14+12=26 even strength points; 18 hits, 6 blocks)
Selänne 22.15+13+2=30.12+9 (28 primary points; 13+14=27 even strength points; 11 hits; 2 blocks)

Art Ross winner Jagr scored 35+34=69 primary points and 28+36=64 ES points in 77 games....

I always found Kariya to be more skilled and much more fun to watch than Selänne. Yet somehow, someway, Teemu managed to be just as effective. Even without Kariya, he scored 51 primary points in as many games that season. Peter Forsberg (72.25+46/7.6+5) was the only other player who could match that pace in '97-98.

 

[bobbyking]

most overrated player in history people actually said he'd be competing for the Ross today

 

[Johnny Engine]

most overrated player in history people actually said he'd be competing for the Ross today

Is that the impression you get from reading this thread, or are there other people whose opinions we need to consider here?

 

[bobbyking]

Is that the impression you get from reading this thread, or are there other people whose opinions we need to consider here?

seen it on this forum many times

 

[surixon]

He was kinda like Bure and Gretzky molded into one from 95-2000 - so he was skilled to the extreme. Him and Selanne were as entertaining as the sport of hockey can get.

Good comp. He tailored his game after Gretzky but had the all world skating of Bure.

He also had a fearlessness to him prior to those concussions that really pushed him into that upper end of his generation.

It's too bad the NHL didn't care about head injures as much as they do now. We were probably robbed of even better careers from the stars of those years.

 

[authentic]

Good comp. He tailored his game after Gretzky but had the all world skating of Bure.

He also had a fearlessness to him prior to those concussions that really pushed him into that upper end of his generation.

It's too bad the NHL didn't care about head injures as much as they do now. We were probably robbed of even better careers from the stars of those years.

I would say there’s a good chance he would’ve been even better today than in the dead puck era as the game is perfectly tailored to his style of game and speed and skill. Yeah, I don’t think it’s outlandish to believe he had Art Ross potential.

 

[Staniowski]

most overrated player in history people actually said he'd be competing for the Ross today

Definitely would be a top scorer today. He was a great all-around offensive player, excellent goal-scorer, playmaker, skater, and great hockey sense.

He was one of the very best scorers of his era...probably along with Jagr, Forsberg, and Lindros (not far behind were several other great scorers). Kariya, Forsberg, and Lindros were greatly affected by injuries, but any of them would be great scorers today, and Kariya might benefit the most from the current game.

 

[Johnny Engine]

seen it on this forum many times

Ah, well I'll tell many times that someone said their opinion is bad.

Anyway, I'm with Staniowski is saying that "he'd be a top scorer today" is about right. As for the Art Ross, if it's a season where McDavid is winning by 25 points over his own teammate and 40 over the next guy then no, I don't think you can parachute a prime Kariya in there and have him keep pace with that. Other years? Yeah, why not, he'd be in the mix.