Zetterberg - Forsberg - Alfredsson Or M. Tkachuk - Malkin - Rantanen?

[GMR]

It's Matthew...

Matthew is only 26 and could end up higher than Zetterberg but looking at his career numbers, in higher scoring era, I don't consider him better. I'd imagine Zetterberg could score a lot more in today's era than back in his peak (2008-2010). He's also a better two-way forward.

Regarding Forsberg vs. Malkin, the latter is the superior goal scorer. Forsberg was better defensively and passing the puck. Forsberg's last full season was in 2003 when he was 29 years old. You were lucky to see him play a game into his 30's. After Malkin turned 30, any comparison of these two players becomes harder to make. I'm picking Forsberg in his 20's over Malkin though.

 

[Frobbo]

Foppa was a beast in the playoffs. 64G/107A in 151 games. Malkin was 67G/113A in 177 games. Malkin was +6 while Forsberg was +54. I am taking Forsberg over Malkin all day.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

Uhh, the point isn't really about Malkin's "Dip" in production but about the dip you don't get in Forsberg's production because he didn't play those years.

Not to mention scoring was slightly higher in Forsberg's 21-29 year old seasons compared to Malkin's and in his 116 point season he was 5th in scoring and not close to Lemieux, who was first. To his credit, his 106 point season he was on top of the league.

Where did you find the guarantee that Forsberg's production dips if he plays until he's 36 or 37? This is the guy who had 14 points in 9 games at 34, playing on two destroyed ankles. If he's healthy enough to play 70+ games every year in his 30s, I'm assuming he'll contend for the Hart, Ross and Selke every year, especially with the rules after the lockout.

And where do you think Malkin would line up against Forsberg's peers? Would his 113 point season be better than Lemieux's 161 point season? Equal? Would he be better than Jagr's 149? Sakic's 120? Francis' 119? Lindros' 115? Or do you just think that winning is always better, even if it's against much lesser competition?

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

hopefully a Swede or two will pop up on here and chime in.

I know I saw them once together and mentioned on here that they were really lacklustre, or.... disappointing. Like, don't get me wrong, they owned the puck and were defensively nearly impenetrable. They just didnt create any offence, neither one being a true goalscorer might not have helped. They both like to own the puck, drag defenders to them and open up chances for teammates. (Alfredsson IS one of the best sniping Swedes ever, so maybe Im wrong about the line overall)

Anyways, I remember bringing it up then, and a few Swedes jumped on to say that they had always been bad together. I think this was 2010... so, Forsberg was all but done, but I was still really let down. Its probable that Z let Pete take the reigns out of respect, but should have actually been the driving force at center at that point.

I think there might be something to your take, the “Forsberg-lite” and so on. I don’t know how much they would have played together however, and if it starts and ends with 2010 then it seems too late to place much weight on. The way I remember it was Forsberg being used as a spare part in Vancouver, and clearly a ghost of his former self. I think Zetterberg was on a line with Samuelsson and Holmström in Turin.

Digging a bit, I think it’s the 2004 World Cup is very likely where a Forsberg - Zetterberg line was put to definite test and perhaps didn’t meet expectations. Modin - Sundin - Alfredsson was the standout first line with a combined 19 points in four games. Then Näslund - Forsberg - Zetterberg is the second line, and put up a combined 8 points. According to eliteprospects, Forsberg was a -6 for the tournament but there aren’t numbers for any other Team Sweden players.