Evaluating the place in history of current Russian NHLers...

[Hardyvan123]

I think that's pushing it a bit. We have the Canada Cups to show a small sample size:

1981 Canada Cup
Bossy - 11 points 25
Makarov - 9 points 22

1984 Canada Cup
Bossy - 9 points 28
Makarov - 7 points 26

Bossy outpoints him there. Not the best sample size but it's a start. What we don't know is how Makarov would have fared outside of the KLM line. How dominant is he if he doesn't have those two? Now, I think we saw enough of him to know the guy was a dominant player in his own right, no question. But does he produce at the level of Bossy? 9 seasons of 50+ goals is insane and we know Bossy did that, but could Makarov? Bossy was very much like Makarov, he was a surgeon with the puck, especially when he shot.

Ages added in bold and in 88 when Makarov was 29 he had a 9-7-8-15 line.

Bossy was great but Makarov was better IMO.

 

[Big Phil]

Ages added in bold and in 88 when Makarov was 29 he had a 9-7-8-15 line.

Bossy was great but Makarov was better IMO.

I don't want to nitpick but Bossy was born in 1957, just a year older than Makarov. They are pretty much the same and broke in right around the same time (albeit in different leagues). I think it is almost impossible to know how Makarov would have done in the NHL in comparison to Bossy. We are really just guessing here because we actually know what Bossy did. Bossy is very much a player that was considered the best in the world outside of #99. I don't know, I don't want to downplay Makarov at all but it is hard to imagine him hitting that peak of Bossy. Gretzky couldn't even do 50 goals in 9 straight years.

 

[Rhiessan71]

I don't want to nitpick but Bossy was born in 1957, just a year older than Makarov. They are pretty much the same and broke in right around the same time (albeit in different leagues).

Beat me to it
I was like...wait a minute heh

 

[TheDevilMadeMe]

I don't want to nitpick but Bossy was born in 1957, just a year older than Makarov. They are pretty much the same and broke in right around the same time (albeit in different leagues). I think it is almost impossible to know how Makarov would have done in the NHL in comparison to Bossy. We are really just guessing here because we actually know what Bossy did. Bossy is very much a player that was considered the best in the world outside of #99. I don't know, I don't want to downplay Makarov at all but it is hard to imagine him hitting that peak of Bossy. Gretzky couldn't even do 50 goals in 9 straight years.

I don't think it's hard to imagine at all, considering Makarov was probably the third best forward in the Canada Cups behind Gretzky and Lemieux.

I truly wish we could have found out. Makarov is the one player that I love who isn't in the HHOF that I wish hadn't been shut out of the NHL by the Soviets. Instead of speculating and guessing we would know this by now how he'd have done in 80 game seasons over the 1980s year in and year out. I personally don't think he fares any worse than Kurri. But then again, speculation............

Yeah, it would have been great to have seen him play against NHLers on a regular basis, that's for sure.

 

[Big Phil]

I don't think it's hard to imagine at all, considering Makarov was probably the third best forward in the Canada Cups behind Gretzky and Lemieux.

What I mean is that it is hard to know whether or not he could have clipped Bossy's totals. There is no doubt he was a player and would have almost certainly thrived in the NHL. I think we saw enough of him to know this. It is just that Bossy hit some very high peaks with no valleys whatsoever. He averaged 57 goals a year, he had 85 playoff goals. Personally I would hesistate before we assume he would be as good as Bossy, and I have great respect towards Makarov, just simply because Bossy was so darn good.

 

[Hardyvan123]

What I mean is that it is hard to know whether or not he could have clipped Bossy's totals. There is no doubt he was a player and would have almost certainly thrived in the NHL. I think we saw enough of him to know this. It is just that Bossy hit some very high peaks with no valleys whatsoever. He averaged 57 goals a year, he had 85 playoff goals. Personally I would hesistate before we assume he would be as good as Bossy, and I have great respect towards Makarov, just simply because Bossy was so darn good.

Well we saw what Makarov could do when he had a compatible center at 35 with San Jose and there is plenty of evidence to support the theory that he could have done as well as Bossy in the NHL, albeit perhaps not exactly as a 9 year consecutive goal scorer.

 

[Big Phil]

Well we saw what Makarov could do when he had a compatible center at 35 with San Jose and there is plenty of evidence to support the theory that he could have done as well as Bossy in the NHL, albeit perhaps not exactly as a 9 year consecutive goal scorer.

He had a 30 goal 68 point season. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think that is the best time to measure where he ranks with Bossy. Bossy retired at 30, we have no basis to see what he did at 35 years old. You are better off using Makarov's 1990 season where he registered 86 points in a year where he would have been adjusting to life in the NHL. I always use that year and then go backwards to try and make a projection. Because he was 31 then. Bossy was 29 in his last year where he had 75 points in 63 games while fighting back issues. That's a better measure in my opinion.

 

[Hardyvan123]

He had a 30 goal 68 point season. Nothing wrong with that, but I don't think that is the best time to measure where he ranks with Bossy. Bossy retired at 30, we have no basis to see what he did at 35 years old. You are better off using Makarov's 1990 season where he registered 86 points in a year where he would have been adjusting to life in the NHL. I always use that year and then go backwards to try and make a projection. Because he was 31 then. Bossy was 29 in his last year where he had 75 points in 63 games while fighting back issues. That's a better measure in my opinion.

I think a better measure is using their entire careers and the fact that Makarov had a compatible center at age 35 in San Jose.

You want to use just his rookie year instead that's fine or just his 1st 2 CC but I will use all 3 and his entire career to make an assessment about him.