TheDevilMadeMe
Registered User
Fetisov vs Kasatonov in the NHL (gp, points, +/-):
NJD:
1989-90: 72 42 + 9 vs 39 21 +15 --Both scored at similar ppg
1990-91: 67 19 + 5 vs 78 41 +23 --Kasatonov about twice as many pts, and better +/-
1991-92: 70 26 +11 vs 76 40 +14 --Kasatonov clearly the better scorer
1992-93: 76 27 + 7 vs 64 17 + 4 --Fetisov slightly more ppg
TOT Fet: 285 114 +32
TOT Kas: 257 119 +56
So Kasatonov, known for being better defensively than offensively, actually outscored Fetisov, and had clearly better official +/-
If just comparing the 3 seasons where they were of same age (Fetisov is one year older), we get:
1989-92: Fet 209 87 +25
1990-93: Kas 218 98 +41
Here the two score about as much, with Kasatonov having slightly better ppg and slightly better official +/-.
Conclusion: The stats so far suggest Fetisov and Kasatonov might have been about equally good.
Then the got to play on different teams:
1993-94: 52 15 +14 vs 63 24 + 3 --slightly higher ppg for Kasatonov. +/- no longer that applicable.
1994-95: 18 15 + 1 vs 44 16 - 2 --Fetisov now in DET, producing at far higher ppg than before (14 pts in 14 gp)
Kasatonov apparantly chosen by ANA to play in the all star game
1995-96: 69 42 +37 vs 19 01 + 1 --Kasatonov no longer NHL calibre, though still solid defensively, and got to play next season for CSKA
Fetisov played another two years in the NHL, winning two Stanley Cups on a loaded DET team.
So judging their NHL career stats alone, the two actually looked about equally good.
Having seen them play more than 100 times in the 1980s, and hearing what commentators and experts used to say about them, I recall the two as being considered about equally good and valuable. Sometimes Kasatonov was considered the better one, and more often Fetisov. Overall, Fetisov usually was considered slightly better, as well as the one who scored more points, while Kasatonov often was a little more defensive minded.
We also have the Soviet league, which I didn't follow, but where apparantly Fetisov usually was considered the clearly better one of the two. (Someone like Theokritos likely knows this subject better than me/most.)
But... To separate the two by 100 places..?
Have you guys watched games with them from the 1980s and compared them to each other, and to the Canadian and other defensemen the played against?
Fetisov sucked in NJ big time. Being better than him wasn't exactly a great accomplishment.
In retrospect, there is a sense that Kasatonov had an easier time adjusting to the NHL because he played a simpler game. Remember that during Fetisov's late career rebirth of sorts in Detroit, Bowman had them playing what was (at the time) an unprecedented European style.