hawksfan50
Registered User
- Feb 27, 2002
- 14,189
- 1,993
Interesting stats--they both have played 32 games so far this season...
Kessel has taken slightly over double the number of shots than Toews has (159 vs. 74) --Kessel has 14g and Toews 16g (of course Kessel has way more assists: 22 to just 8 for Toews) ---but it is those glaring shooting % differentials that stand out : just 8.9% for Kessel to 21.6% for Toews...so it seems a valid statement that Kessel is far more creative but not really a sniper (he just generates so many shooting chances--or one might also say he wastes a lot of shots which are ineffective) whereas Toews is more of a sniper and has to improve to get more shots off (imagine how many goals he'd score if he even got to 3/4 of Kessel's shot total...
What I cannot determine is the % of shots Kessel takes on the PP vs. 5x5
and the same for Toews--the difference in the relative PP dominance for Minnesota vs. for North Dakota could also play a big part in this...
One might speculate as to what better goaltending and defense at the NHL level
will mean to the two--but my bet is on the player with the much higher shooting% to weather that increase in difficulty better in terms of becoming a top goal scorer...the better shooter is also liable to survive best (as a goal scorer)should his linemates at the NHL level not be very good (both these kids will be going to bottom feeder teams inthe draft) ...one could argue that the better playmaker (Kessel) might not continue in that advantage if his NHL linemates have trouble finishing after he sets them up...conversely,if the problem was that the team picking Kessel has finishers but no playmakers--then he might help them a lot
(this assumes Kessel's playmaking on the PP has not been inflated due to the Potulny/Irmen excellence) ...
In short--NHL GM's will need to decide if they want a more dynamic and perhaps dominant player (Kessel) or a more efficient goal scorer (Toews),and whose abilities will translate better at the next level playing in the NHL...
Kessel has taken slightly over double the number of shots than Toews has (159 vs. 74) --Kessel has 14g and Toews 16g (of course Kessel has way more assists: 22 to just 8 for Toews) ---but it is those glaring shooting % differentials that stand out : just 8.9% for Kessel to 21.6% for Toews...so it seems a valid statement that Kessel is far more creative but not really a sniper (he just generates so many shooting chances--or one might also say he wastes a lot of shots which are ineffective) whereas Toews is more of a sniper and has to improve to get more shots off (imagine how many goals he'd score if he even got to 3/4 of Kessel's shot total...
What I cannot determine is the % of shots Kessel takes on the PP vs. 5x5
and the same for Toews--the difference in the relative PP dominance for Minnesota vs. for North Dakota could also play a big part in this...
One might speculate as to what better goaltending and defense at the NHL level
will mean to the two--but my bet is on the player with the much higher shooting% to weather that increase in difficulty better in terms of becoming a top goal scorer...the better shooter is also liable to survive best (as a goal scorer)should his linemates at the NHL level not be very good (both these kids will be going to bottom feeder teams inthe draft) ...one could argue that the better playmaker (Kessel) might not continue in that advantage if his NHL linemates have trouble finishing after he sets them up...conversely,if the problem was that the team picking Kessel has finishers but no playmakers--then he might help them a lot
(this assumes Kessel's playmaking on the PP has not been inflated due to the Potulny/Irmen excellence) ...
In short--NHL GM's will need to decide if they want a more dynamic and perhaps dominant player (Kessel) or a more efficient goal scorer (Toews),and whose abilities will translate better at the next level playing in the NHL...