Filatov2Kovalev2Bonk
Effortless sexy.
Going to take Foppa here. His two-way play and edge tweak past Malkin's offensive edge and health.
How is it easily? Forsberg has more games played, more points and points per game in the regular season and playoffs at this point. He was also more physical and quite a bit better defensively.
In 12 seasons Malkin has played 70+ 4 times, and 3 of those were his first 3 seasons... Forsberg had 5 in 12 seasons (not including the 9 and 2 games at the end of his career if you are counting those then I could see where you're coming from). Forsberg also played less than 60 games 3 times, and the same for Malkin. Forsberg also did however play 47 of the 48 games in the lockout season.
As far as more well rounded, I don't think you ever watched Forsberg play. He was better defensively and more physical than Malkin. Malkin was a better goal scorer and that's about it. Everything else they are fairly comparable in.
Going to take Foppa here. His two-way play and edge tweak past Malkin's offensive edge and health.
Yes but going forward Malkin will play many more total games than Forsberg, it's different types of injuries. Malkin's are things you heal up from and get back, Forsberg's we're career ending.
Not to mention different eras where Forsberg probably played through many minor things and today a player sits out with any small tweak.
Malkin can play 1000 games.
I take the guy who's 4th all time i assists per game, 8th in points per game, 9th in playoff ppg, 12th in playoff game winners and 4th in adjusted reg. season ppg. All time!
The only thing Malkin really has over Forsberg is a second Art Ross and a hugely dominant playoff performance that resulted in a Cup win.
Those things can weigh in as much as you want them too.
"Minor things"? Ok, I think we're done here
Malkin slight edge in prime and bigger edge in career. He's the more well rounded and durable player.
But they're certainly a good comparison in terms of skill and roster situation. I just think Malkin is a bigger driver of the league narrative than Forsberg was.
Malkin slight edge in prime and bigger edge in career. He's the more well rounded and durable player.
But they're certainly a good comparison in terms of skill and roster situation. I just think Malkin is a bigger driver of the league narrative than Forsberg was.
Can any Avs fan shed light on Forsberg's quality of linemates? I tend to take Geno in a lot of these because he's one of a very select few in the history of the game to dominate, win two scoring titles and a Smythe while mostly carrying his line.
Here's an excerpt of a post I wrote in June:
At this point, I think Malkin and Forsberg are quite comparable... Statistically they're very close. They're virtually even in games played (Forsberg ahead 708-706), and Forsberg has outscored Malkin by 53 points (6%). Their eras were, overall, roughly even in terms of levels of offense. Malkin finished 1-1-2 in scoring (never again in the top ten) while Forsberg was 1-2-4-5-9. I generally don't like per-game arguments, but both players were injured often, and have similar placings in PPG (1-1-2-4-5-6-6-9 for Forsberg, 1-2-2-3-3-4-7-8 for Malkin). It's remarkably close.
Both players spent most of their careers (or all, in the case of Malkin) sharing ice time with an even better center. I believe Forsberg generally got tougher matchups than Malkin.
Awards? Both were first-team all-stars three times (Malkin never really came close to making the year-end all-star team again, Forsberg had a year when he 3rd behind Lemieux and Gretzky). Both won a Hart, but Malkin was a runner-up twice (Forsberg never even again in the top five).
Playoffs? Pretty close. Yes, Malkin has an extra Cup and a Smythe. But both led the playoffs in scoring twice (and both have one more top five finish - 5th place for both of them). In two more games Forsberg has 14 extra points. Forsberg led his team in playoff scoring more often (6-4). Forsberg contributed a larger percentage of his team's offense but it's close (35% vs 34%).
Defensive play? Forsberg is clearly better.
As of today, I think Malkin and Forsberg should be nearly even in an all-time ranking. Malkin was probably a bit better at his very best (three years as a Hart finalist compared to one for Forsberg, and one truly historic playoff run). But he was also less consistent and lacked Forsberg's strong (though sometimes overrated) two-way play.