Supplemental Prospect Rankings: Kaapo Kakko

[TheDirtyH]

How do you figure? We replace Hank with someone like idk Jonas Hiller and then add another Marian Gaborik or Rick Nash and you think we make the finals in 2012 or 2014? I don't.

Jonas Hiller isn't a good goalie.

Replacing Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello with Corey Crawford and Artemi Panarin in 2015 makes us a better team.

If you need elite goalies to win cups, how come we have seen Antti Niemi, Matt Murray, Cam Ward, Chris Osgood, Braden Holtby and Jordan Binnington win cups?

That list of winners isn't really a testament to not needing an elite goalie since basically all of those goalies played at an elite level throughout their respective cup runs. And Crawford was 6th in vezina voting that season, so how is he not elite?

On the flip side I like the Rangers odds in any of their peak years if Nash or Gaborik are scoring at career high rates throughout the postseasons.

If Gaborik has 13 goals instead of 5 in 2012, if Nash had 13 instead of 3 in 2014 or 10 instead of 5 in 2015, I think our odds increase substantially.

Every player at every position is going to swing in their output, run hot or run cold. An elite player is someone you can reliably count on for good to great results. I think you need good to great goaltending to win a cup, just as much as you need good to great scoring.

 

[Amazing Kreiderman]

You don’t need them necessarily but one elite forward doesn’t have more impact than one elite goalie. All those goalies played on great all around teams.

Bingo

 

[CasusBelli]

Behind Laf and Shesty. Maybe even behind Nils. I would call that a draw. His rookie season was just atrocious — whether you use statistics or the “eye test.”

 

[CasusBelli]

Jonas Hiller isn't a good goalie.

Replacing Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello with Corey Crawford and Artemi Panarin in 2015 makes us a better team.

If you need elite goalies to win cups, how come we have seen Antti Niemi, Matt Murray, Cam Ward, Chris Osgood, Braden Holtby and Jordan Binnington win cups?

Goalie needs to be hot — and even a great goalie can’t always carry a team. In what universe is any of those goalies superior to Luongo?

 

[kovazub94]

Replacing Henrik Lundqvist and Mats Zuccarello with Corey Crawford and Artemi Panarin in 2015 makes us a better team.

My problem with this thought process is that the second time around we can't count on Crawford putting up the same performance level. With Hank we got elite performance every year of his prime.

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Behind Laf and Shesty. Maybe even behind Nils. I would call that a draw. His rookie season was just atrocious — whether you use statistics or the “eye test.”

He was 18. He still scored double digit goals in 66 games. I wonder how great Nils and Shest would have been in the NHL at 18..his potential is off the charts.