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Joe Sakic - best modern day comparable?

CartographerNo611 said:
Was going to post this. Biggest difference is Mathews doesn’t have the leadership and it factor so far in his career. Their shots are pretty similar.
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I also think of Sakic as a more elusive skater, and much more of a passing playmaker than Matthews. Sakic was also a lot smaller (not that he was small, but Matthews is pretty big for a forward).

The biggest similarity is their shot release, that ability to snipe if given any space at all. They kind of occupy the same “role” in the league if that makes sense.

Sakic was so deadly because he was a very smooth skater — not a burner like McDavid or Bure, not a spectacular dangler like Kane — just quick and elusive like maybe Aho or Giroux. Give a guy like that one of the best wrist/snap shot releases of all time, and add a willingness to pass the puck and carry his weight on D, plus that Bergeron/Lidstrom style of quiet leadership, and you have one of the best hockey players ever. There’s really not a guy quite like that in the league at the moment.
 
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Islay1989 said:
Joe Sakic of course.
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Why would comparing Draisaitl to Joe Sakic be insulting?

:/ I mean Drai has a Hart and is leading the NHL in scoring.


And at the same point in his career, Sakic played in 6 playoff games missing them 7 times, and also played on the basement dwelling laughing stock.
 
Perfect_Drug said:
Why would comparing Draisaitl to Joe Sakic be insulting?

:/ I mean Drai has a Hart and is leading the NHL in scoring.


And at the same point in his career, Sakic played in 6 playoff games missing them 7 times, and also played on the basement dwelling laughing stock.
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One is a laughably bad defensive player, the other is Joe Sakic. Joe also didn't have a McDavid as his sidekick in his early days.
 
tarheelhockey said:
I also think of Sakic as a more elusive skater, and much more of a passing playmaker than Matthews. Sakic was also a lot smaller (not that he was small, but Matthews is pretty big for a forward).

The biggest similarity is their shot release, that ability to snipe if given any space at all. They kind of occupy the same “role” in the league if that makes sense.

Sakic was so deadly because he was a very smooth skater — not a burner like McDavid or Bure, not a spectacular dangler like Kane — just quick and elusive like maybe Aho or Giroux. Give a guy like that one of the best wrist/snap shot releases of all time, and add a willingness to pass the puck and carry his weight on D, plus that Bergeron/Lidstrom style of quiet leadership, and you have one of the best hockey players ever. There’s really not a guy quite like that in the league at the moment.
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This is well said. While everyone knows Sakic had a hard and accurate wrist shot, I always found he had an uncanny ability to create enough space for himself to get it off quickly, and to effectively use screens and timing to catch goaltenders off-guard. Velocity + accuracy + release + deception. His power play goal against New Jersey in game 7 of the 2001 Cup finals, when he came off the boards, faked a slapper, paused, went through Stevens' legs and top corner on Brodeur was one of my favourite goals of all-time and basically demonstrates what Sakic was all about.
 
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I don’t really see a modern day comparable. Maybe Carter in his prime was a (very) poor man’s Sakic with far lesser playmaking skills but that’s about it. A lot of posters are comparing Drai and Matthews because of their shots but neither skated the way Sakic did and Sakic passed the puck much more frequently and at a much higher level than Matthews does.
 
I was his biggest fan growing up.

Honestly, nobody compares to him. You can say Forsberg and Draisaitl are similar, but Sakic... can't think of anybody.

The best I can think of in today's game that's as close as it gets is Sidney Crosby. One guy I see having the same potential as him might be Trevor Zegras.
 
Seriously can’t think of a player that’s comparable. There’s a reason why he’s considered one of the best to play the game. There’s like maybe 2-3 players you could combine that were like him.
 
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If any of these modern players ever puts up a 100 point season as a 37 year old in their 18th season, or comes close to scoring 8 playoff OT goals, I'll call them a comparable.
 
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Hard to compare. Sakic has done so much. But I would say Braydon Point's style is close to Sakic's
 
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