Just wanted to throw in that talking away powerplay points from Backstrom and Stepan leaves the two essentially even in points.
Just wanted to throw in that talking away powerplay points from Backstrom and Stepan leaves the two essentially even in points.
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Because rendering someone much less effective when they don't get powerplay opportunities is an issue
Because rendering someone much less effective when they don't get powerplay opportunities is an issue
Stepan isn't a #1 center that a team can rely on to carry a significant load. He's better categorized as a high-end 2C IMO.
I'm not saying PP points don't matter. Of course they do. I was trying to simply level the playing field in terms of Backstrom with more PP time and Stepan getting more PK time. They were deployed differently.
Points per minute, Backstrom was the better player at .049. Stepan was at .041. Not a massive difference.
They're different players. They're both Top-6 centers, but that's where the similarities end. Backstrom has great vision and is a very skilled passer. He's an elite playmaker. I've been a fan for a few years despite not being a Caps fan.
Stepan has good passing skills, but he's also slower and is typically playing more of a defensive role. Is he elite? No, but he's pretty damn good, too.
Do I think Backstrom is the better player? Yes.
But, like I said, I don't think the trade is one that would make much sense for either team, even if the Rangers would do it.
I suspect that you are not really aware that Backstrom is also better defensively than Stepan. That the reason he doesnt pk is entirely about trying to have some Backstrom left to use for the playoffs.
The Caps wont trade Backstrom. Not close. That much i agree on
Stepan is not a 2C.
Here are his PPG averages from the last 4 seasons among centers. 31st, 18th, 35th, 13th. The average of that is 24.25. He's also a very good defensive center. He's a top 25 center. I don't know how you get "top 10 2C" from that.
Giving Johansson a points advantage is crazy. Taking into account the last three seasons, Johansson averages less than 2 more points per game over an 82 game season, not to mention Johansson is mostly assists, Kreider has close to an even split. Kreider also doesn't get to leach points off of the best goal scorer in the league. Kreider also has a potential advantage. If he figures it out, he's one of the best players in the league. He hasn't figured it out yet, and he's a borderline top line player. This is probably Johansson's peak, so its crazy to give Johansson an advantage.
We don't care about Orlov's even strength points/60. He's not close to as good as McDonagh.