Leon Draisaitl vs Nikita Kucherov: Who is the Best European Forward?

[BurnabyJoe7]

Why not 50 games instead of 50 points? Oh, that's right...

The thread is comparing players and not the teams they play for

 

[SillyRabbit]

Fair or not, Draisaitl will be under more scrutiny because he plays with one of the most dominant players of all time.

I’d take Kucherov because he’s shown he can drive an offense by himself in both the regular season and post season.

Draisaitl won an Art Ross and Hart of his own but it’s not the same as someone like Malkin, because McDavid played most of the season.

Numbers wise, it’s very close but I give the edge to Kuch.

 

[Dust]

This is actually a good poll, and it's close like expected. Both guys are fantastic, in both the playoffs and regular season. I took the center (and the fact that Leon is excellent on faceoffs) as my tiebreaker.

 

[Canovin]

"Draisaitl plays with McDavid"

Also forgetting Kucherov plays in Tampa

 

[Felidae]

View attachment 669598

You conveniently omitted the fact that Draisatl has 36 games in the postseason while Kucherov has 136 games played.

Draisatl is great. But I think it's more impressive to continually produce great numbers in deep runs throughout multiple postseasons than having a single postseason of excellence, even if said playoff performance is better than any of Kucherov's individual runs.

 

[Duke74]

Kucherov outscores the opposition by double at ES, Drai floats and comes out even.

Kucherov plays in front of Hedman and Vasilevsky while Draisaitl plays in front of Nurse and Campbell. Two of those things are not like the other.

 

[Three On Zero]

Kucherov by quite a healthy margin

 

[ManofSteel55]

I don't think you can give the "but he plays with x" argument for either of these guys. Drai might play with the best in the world, but Kucherov plays with 2 or 3 elite players most of the time. Point/Stamkos, Hedman.

I voted Draisaitl, but its close.

 

[BudBundy]

I’m biased but in my honest opinion, it’s Draisaitl. He’s a physical load to handle, consistently scores more goals, plays the more demanding spot on the ice, and hasn’t played on an absolutely stacked Lightning team. Four 100 point seasons, will shortly put up his third 50 goal season. Manages to handle the abuse and mostly stay healthy. For me, it’s Drai and the fact that he plays with McDavid a lot makes him get far less respect than he should. This is the first year he’s been on a team with depth on the wings and he’s never had a dominant goalie or defense behind him. He’s done his part. That is why he doesn’t have a Cup yet, nothing to do with him.

 

[Felidae]

Drai is a better goalscorer and playmaker

Definitely a better goal scorer.

But on what basis is he a better playmaker?

Because statistically Kucherov has the edge.

Kucherov

Assists: 1, 2, 6, 8

APG: 1, 2, 4, 8, 10, 10


Draisatl

Assists: 1, 2, 6, 9

APG: 2, 3, 8

Kucherov is more consistently finishing top 10 in APG.

 

[TheBeastCoast]

Kucherov. Not even going to attempt to knock Drai's production, he just rarely is all that impressive to watch but then he ends the game with 3 points lol so I went with the player that impresses me more often.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

The thread is comparing players and not the teams they play for

Sample sizes and results still matter. Scoring 5 or 6 points while your team loses in 4 games doesn't make you a good playoff performer.

 

[KoozNetsOff 92]

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.

Hedman isn't some star offensive Dman. Stamkos isn't a line driver. Point is an average offensive player without Kucherov. It's not a coincidence the last 3 regular seasons that Kucherov was dealing with injuries Point was below PPG in all 3. Now that Kucherov is back Point is PPG again. Kucherov is the straw stirring the drink offensively in Tampa.

I think Drai is a top 5 player but he hasn't proven anything on his own. McDavid missed 7 games that season, that proves absolutely nothing.

 

[BurnabyJoe7]

Sample sizes and results still matter. Scoring 5 or 6 points while your team loses in 4 games doesn't make you a good playoff performer.

Again, this thread is comparing players and not the team they play for. One player had Nurse as their #1 D and Mike Smith as their starter last year while the other has Hedman and Vasi.

You must think Marchand is having a better year than Tage Thompson too.

 

[hamzarocks]

Hedman isn't some star offensive Dman. Stamkos isn't a line driver. Point is an average offensive player without Kucherov. It's not a coincidence the last 3 regular seasons that Kucherov was dealing with injuries Point was below PPG in all 3. Now that Kucherov is back Point is PPG again. Kucherov is the straw stirring the drink offensively in Tampa.

I think Drai is a top 5 player but he hasn't proven anything on his own. McDavid missed 7 games that season, that proves absolutely nothing.

This

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

I'm learning so much in this thread!

- Hedman isn't a star offensive Dman
- It's impressive when Kucherov produces in the playoffs while injured, but not when Draisaitl produces at a better rate while more injured
- Having one great teammate is a huge advantage, but having multiple great teammates is not
- Points scored don't count if your team doesn't win

For me, it's too close to call. They are remarkably evenly matched, and both step up like few can in the post season. Great poll. Questionable responses.

 

[Connor McConnor]

Lmaoooooo. Kuch the same guy Tampa won at same clip when he misses a seasons worth of games?

 

[ghostingtaro]

kucherov, drai is a pee pee specialist at best

 

[BudBundy]

Hedman isn't some star offensive Dman. Stamkos isn't a line driver. Point is an average offensive player without Kucherov. It's not a coincidence the last 3 regular seasons that Kucherov was dealing with injuries Point was below PPG in all 3. Now that Kucherov is back Point is PPG again. Kucherov is the straw stirring the drink offensively in Tampa.

I think Drai is a top 5 player but he hasn't proven anything on his own. McDavid missed 7 games that season, that proves absolutely nothing.

Wow. Username checks out.

 

[BurnabyJoe7]

Hedman isn't some star offensive Dman. Stamkos isn't a line driver. Point is an average offensive player without Kucherov. It's not a coincidence the last 3 regular seasons that Kucherov was dealing with injuries Point was below PPG in all 3. Now that Kucherov is back Point is PPG again. Kucherov is the straw stirring the drink offensively in Tampa.

I think Drai is a top 5 player but he hasn't proven anything on his own. McDavid missed 7 games that season, that proves absolutely nothing.

What absurd statements. I understand the need to occasionally exaggerate when making arguments but that's overkill.

I'm sure Kucherov has a large impact on the star players around him, and draisaitl does it too with often average linemates (it was always average linemates when he wasn't playing with McDavid prior to last year). Not to mention Edmonton hasn't had a puck moving dman in forever. I think we can both agree that having a 5 time Norris candidate who put up 85 points last year is beneficial to scoring goals.

 

[LemonSauceD]

Draisaitl

 

[authentic]

Fair or not, Draisaitl will be under more scrutiny because he plays with one of the most dominant players of all time.

I’d take Kucherov because he’s shown he can drive an offense by himself in both the regular season and post season.

Draisaitl won an Art Ross and Hart of his own but it’s not the same as someone like Malkin, because McDavid played most of the season.

Numbers wise, it’s very close but I give the edge to Kuch.

He sure has a lot of help from Point and Hedman and Stamkos on the powerplay.

 

[J T Money]

View attachment 669598

Now look up numbers of games played. Huge difference being that consistent for that long.

 

[authentic]

Hedman isn't some star offensive Dman. Stamkos isn't a line driver. Point is an average offensive player without Kucherov. It's not a coincidence the last 3 regular seasons that Kucherov was dealing with injuries Point was below PPG in all 3. Now that Kucherov is back Point is PPG again. Kucherov is the straw stirring the drink offensively in Tampa.

I think Drai is a top 5 player but he hasn't proven anything on his own. McDavid missed 7 games that season, that proves absolutely nothing.

Draisaitl has more points per game than McDavid or anyone else in the playoffs so far and I think you seriously underestimate how much Hedman and Point drive the play allowing Kucherov to set up in the offensive zone more and having a finisher like Stamkos on the powerplay to work with. I don't think there's a clear correct answer here but really many of the reasons given don't make much sense and Draisaitl has also consistently been the far better goal scorer and clearly better offensive producer for the last 3 seasons now.

 

[AddyTheWrath]

Now look up numbers of games played. Huge difference being that consistent for that long.

Also speaks to the quality of team Kucherov has played on compared to Draisaitl