In a redraft - who do you take first? Crosby/Malkin vs McDavid/Draisaitl vs Hedman/Kuch/Vasi vs Mack/Ranta/Makar?

[bobholly39]

All players are 18 years old. The year is 2025. You are given the option to draft one of the below four options - knowing what you know about how good the players turn out. In this hypothetical - injuries are luck of the draw, though it's fine if you think one player or another is more injury prone and more likely to have issues than another - just don't assume the exact same injuries happen at the exact same time, as this is a redraft scenario.

Who do you draft, and why?

Option 1 - Crosby/Malkin. The power duo that won Pittsburgh 3 cups - and made a 4th final. Also had a run of ~17+ years of making playoffs. With better luck (better goaltending some years?) and better health - maybe they do even better? Either way - both are definitely proven in the playoffs and regular season.

Option 2 - McDavid/Draisaitl. We saw how good they are as a duo too - also in playoffs. No cup yet that's true, but they both have put forth tremendous performances. Is McDavid better than Crosby in a redraft scenario? What about Drai vs Malkin, and moreso, duo vs duo? With better luck/team management - could the Oiler duo themselves have won multiple cups?

Option 3 - Hedman/Kucherov/Vasi. The trio who made the finals 3 years in a row and won 2 cups - and made the final a 4th time. In my opinion, they form the strongest core in the cap era. Also - 3 players vs 2, and unlike the other duos of 2 forwards, you get 1 forward, 1 goalie and 1 defenseman. All 3 are tremendous both in the regular season and playoffs.

Option 4 - MacKinnon/Rantanen/Makar. Also 3 players vs two. Also 3 tremendous playoff performers. Are they better than the Tampa trio? Makar vs Hedman - who do you take? Kuch vs Mack? And then Ranta vs Vasi a goalie, is a goalie worth more or less? Lots of ways to look at it.

Which option do you pick first? Which do you pick 2nd and 3rd and whose last?

Click to read more...

 

[NyQuil]

I would go 1,2,3,4.

 

[jigglysquishy]

3 is the clear winner

Superstar forward, defenseman, and goalie.

Every other spot has some weakness and relies on needing to get great players elsewhere.

 

[NyQuil]

Every other spot has some weakness and relies on needing to get great players elsewhere.

I think "great" is overstating it a bit.

This poll really comes down to your relative confidence in surrounding fewer players with sufficient support.

 

[Skolman]

Avs trio, no brainer.

 

[I am not exposed]

Tough choice between the trios. Went for Tampa as that covers 1D, 1W, and 1G. And that 1W is one of the best players in the game.

 

[Staniowski]

With good health (better health than what actually happened), it's easily Crosby and Malkin.

Ideally, you'd like to have multiple positions (especially goalie, defenseman, forward), but obviously it depends on who the players are.

Go back to Gretzky and Messier....this is what fundamentally gave the Oilers the biggest advantage. They were sometimes the two best centres in the NHL, sometimes the two best players (or very close to it). It wasn't good enough to focus on, and contain, one of them. They probably could've won eight Cups if they stayed together.

The same with Crosby and Malkin. They could be the two best players in the world. It's difficult to counter that. They didn't have the depth that Gretzky and Messier had, but it's still a formidable foundation.

It's easier to shut down the other three groups.

 

[NyQuil]

With good health (better health than what actually happened), it's easily Crosby and Malkin.

Ideally, you'd like to have multiple positions (especially goalie, defenseman, forward), but obviously it depends on who the players are.

Go back to Gretzky and Messier....this is what fundamentally gave the Oilers the biggest advantage. They were sometimes the two best centres in the NHL, sometimes the two best players (or very close to it). It wasn't good enough to focus on, and contain, one of them. They probably could've won eight Cups if they stayed together.

The same with Crosby and Malkin. They could be the two best players in the world. It's difficult to counter that. They didn't have the depth that Gretzky and Messier had, but it's still a formidable foundation.

It's easier to shut down the other three groups.

I agree with the general idea, but the Oilers also had Coffey for awhile. And Kurri who is probably Rantanen level at least.

Pittsburgh is a more interesting case because Letang and Kessel were probably their best supporting players aside from their interchangeable wingers.

 

[banks]

Crosby/Malkin

I strongly considered the Lightning trio, since they check the defense and goalie boxes. But I think the 1-2 center punch of Crosby Malkin is just about impossible to beat.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

I want Cups. I'm Riding the Lightning.

 

[Video Nasty]

McDavid and Draisaitl, since they’ll have better management architecting the team.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I had to think about it but went with option 4. One injury to those players means they will still make the playoffs.

4, 1, 3, 2

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I want Cups. I'm Riding the Lightning.

If that's your only criteria, then the Crosby/Malkin duo has won more Cups than the Lightning trio.

 

[bert]

With good health (better health than what actually happened), it's easily Crosby and Malkin.

Ideally, you'd like to have multiple positions (especially goalie, defenseman, forward), but obviously it depends on who the players are.

Go back to Gretzky and Messier....this is what fundamentally gave the Oilers the biggest advantage. They were sometimes the two best centres in the NHL, sometimes the two best players (or very close to it). It wasn't good enough to focus on, and contain, one of them. They probably could've won eight Cups if they stayed together.

The same with Crosby and Malkin. They could be the two best players in the world. It's difficult to counter that. They didn't have the depth that Gretzky and Messier had, but it's still a formidable foundation.

It's easier to shut down the other three groups.

They had Letang and Fleury there is no guarantee they have that in this scenario. The Tampa trio guarantees elite players in all the core positions.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

They had Letang and Fleury there is no guarantee they have that in this scenario. The Tampa trio guarantees elite players in all the core positions.

Except center. There's no guarantee that Lightning trio has Point/Stamkos down the middle.

 

[OrrNumber4]

The Penguins duo won Pittsburgh 3 cups; not much more left in the tank there.
The Oilers duo is cupless; there's still some time, but 3 cups is extremely improbable.
The Avalanche trio has a cup; there's a long runway left; two more cups are still possible.
The Lightning trio has two cups; there's a chance, but not a good one.

Ultimately it's hard to envision any other group winning 3 cups, much less 4. I have to go with the Penguins duo.

 

[DingerMcSlapshot]

If that's your only criteria, then the Crosby/Malkin duo has won more Cups than the Lightning trio.

3x2=2×3

 

[bambamcam4ever]

They had Letang and Fleury there is no guarantee they have that in this scenario. The Tampa trio guarantees elite players in all the core positions.

Is Fleury supposed to be a positive? And Letang didn't play in one of their cups and was the #5 D for another.

I feel there's a lot of scenarios out there where Crosby/Malkin wins 4 cups with better support and injury luck.

 

[centipede2233]

I don’t think it’s the Tampa trio, goalies are voodoo and vasi hasn’t been great the last 2 years and to me was more of a product of the players in front of him. Also kucherov being the best player of the trio is a winger.

Edm duo lacks the playoff hardware so far, so not them.

Colorado trio is tempting, but they have 1 cup. As good as Mack and makar are, adding rantaanen doesn’t make up for a prime Crosby and malkin who delivered 3 cups with less then impressive supporting cast.

Pitts duo wins here

 

[wetcoast]

3 is the clear winner

Superstar forward, defenseman, and goalie.

Every other spot has some weakness and relies on needing to get great players elsewhere.

Sure but the OP stipulated the know what we know now and both Hedman and Kuch took a while to hit their peaks.

I took the Pittsburgh duo as they basically transformed the Pens into a SC contender and then winner very quickly.

 

[wetcoast]

3x2=2×3

It's not the same thing though as 3 SC is more than 2 SC.

 

[dgibb10]

They had Letang and Fleury there is no guarantee they have that in this scenario. The Tampa trio guarantees elite players in all the core positions.

the Tampa trio does not guarantee you elite players in all the core positions.

In fact it leaves you looking for an elite player in THE core position.

1C.

There's no guarantee Tampa gets McDonagh Point and Stamkos again.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Crosby and Malkin has worked out the best imo

 

[Video Nasty]

I feel there's a lot of scenarios out there where Crosby/Malkin wins 4 cups with better support and injury luck.

Or there’s a lot of scenarios out there where they win less. Murray being lights out was the reason they won back to back Cups. Keep Fleury in or anyone giving a lesser performance, and we’re talking about how disappointing it was that Crosby and Malkin won only one Cup 15 years ago. Can’t only project roses all the time.

 

[bambamcam4ever]

Or there’s a lot of scenarios out there where they win less. Murray being lights out was the reason they won back to back Cups. Keep Fleury in or anyone giving a lesser performance, and we’re talking about how disappointing it was that Crosby and Malkin won only one Cup 15 years ago. Can’t only project roses all the time.

Murray was good but they 2016 Penguins were pretty unlucky in the playoffs and still won the cup because they were so dominant. When the team plays well the goalie tends to put up good numbers. See: the next year when both Fleury and Murray had good stats.