Leon Draisaitl vs Nikita Kucherov: Who is the Best European Forward?
- Thread starter BlueBull
- Start date
-
Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
Stive Morgan
Stive's Two Dads
Not that Draisaitl's not incredible as well, but easily Kucherov imo
I Hate Blake Coleman
Bandwagon Burner
Kucherov when he's banged up is capable of putting up 30 in the post-season and he doesn't have the benefit of the best player on his line or team. Draisaitl is good but Kucherov is better.
Forgot About Drai
Dr Drai the Second
When Kuch is healthy and playing its him but Drai isnt far behind.
McPoyle
Start breaking bricks wet nips
They both have put up 30 while hurt in the post season. One did it in fewer games with a better teammate. The other did it with a much better team.
Drai is a better goalscorer and playmaker
VanillaCoke
Registered User
- Oct 30, 2013
- 26,932
- 13,806
North Cole
♧ Lem
- Jan 22, 2017
- 11,857
- 13,541
Too close to call for me, both won major individual trophies and seem to be at the top of the league offensively every year. If there was a gun to my head I think I would go Kucherov.
The nice thing about a Drai vs Kucherov comparison, is that we don't need to wade through posts going on and on about how X player is better than Drai because despite being destroyed offensively, X player is gets the nod for "2-way" play. Not only are they neck and neck offensively, they both leave much to be desired defensively.
Drai has also put up 30 when banged up, regardless of adjustments for your bias. Or is the implication that TB doesn't win 2 cups if they substitute in Drai for Kucherov?
The nice thing about a Drai vs Kucherov comparison, is that we don't need to wade through posts going on and on about how X player is better than Drai because despite being destroyed offensively, X player is gets the nod for "2-way" play. Not only are they neck and neck offensively, they both leave much to be desired defensively.
Duke74
Registered User
- Jan 13, 2018
- 3,031
- 3,730
Draisaitl put up 32 points in only three playoff rounds last year while playing on a busted ankle.
- Jul 30, 2016
- 3,245
- 3,545
Kucherov for me. Draisaitl is lucky enough to have the best player in the world working with him on the PP and sometimes on the same line. I know he can drive his own offense but he definitely racks up points with McDavid that he wouldn't on his own. And with all that, Kucherov is putting up basically the same numbers. It's probably closer than I think but I feel like Draisaitl gets a bit overrated sometimes
I agree with most of this. I do think Kucherov gets a little underrated defensively because he's the only player on TB with a permanent green light to make plays and make mistakes. But when D becomes essential, Kuch plays a reasonably responsible game. I'm not sure if it matters in this discussion because most of the time he's trying to make whacky plays that can easily cause turnovers, but he does have a more reserved gear where he's about average or a little above defensively.
The early part of his career he was a pretty responsible defensive winger, though I wouldn't go farther than "responsible." But he was better defensively than your average scoring winger.
Martin Skoula
Registered User
- Oct 18, 2017
- 12,388
- 17,462
Kucherov outscores the opposition by double at ES, Drai floats and comes out even.
canuckking1
Registered User
- Feb 8, 2015
- 12,958
- 14,114
Zwui21
Registered User
- Aug 31, 2019
- 2,445
- 3,067
AddyTheWrath
Registered User
PuckG
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2015
- 4,528
- 6,539
Draisaitl is underrated at this point. People are quick to point out the McDavid impact all while ignoring the vastly superior team that Kucherov plays for.
IWantSakicAsMyGM
Registered User
Nemesis Prime
Registered User
KlefDown
I adore Soli
- May 2, 2014
- 10,194
- 8,942
wtf is this, as if Kuch doesn't play with Hedman, Point, Stammer and company
KoozNetsOff 92
Hala Madrid
- Apr 6, 2016
- 8,567
- 8,237
Playoff runs (pts)
Drai: 32, 16, 6, 5
McDavid: 33, 9, 9, 4
MacK: 25, 24, 15, 13, 10, 6
Rantanen: 25, 21, 14, 13, 4
Kucherov: 34, 32, 27, 22, 19, 17, 2, 1
Despite their amazing runs last year, it was still just one run. Oilers duo are still the worst playoff performers of this group. I expect that to change though, especially for McDavid.
You can use that same argument against Kucherov. He plays on the best team over the past half decade (and arguable one of the best teams ever assembled) so he sure as hell wouldn't be putting up the numbers he does on Anaheim or without Hedman, Stamkos and Point. Drai won the hart when McDavid was injured so he's proven he can do it on his own.
There are good arguments for both players. One plays on one of the best teams while the other plays with the best player. I think if both players swapped teams they would be just as successful as they are now as they are very similar in style.
