If Yzerman were drafted today

[Dtybur]

To my fellow Red Wing fans here. In your opinion, where would Steve Yzerman rank with the skills and skating ability of his prime, rank amongst today's superstars?.
Thanks for your input.

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[norrisnick]

To my fellow Red Wing fans here. In your opinion, where would Steve Yzerman rank with the skills and skating ability of his prime, rank amongst today's superstars?.
Thanks for your input.

Right there in the conversation with McDavid. You'd hope the medical care from his '86 injury would be a bit better 35 years later. Mid-20s Yzerman was no joke.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

To my fellow Red Wing fans here. In your opinion, where would Steve Yzerman rank with the skills and skating ability of his prime, rank amongst today's superstars?.
Thanks for your input.

Impossible to tell because the league is just different. I feel he'd be way way up there, because he was a legitimate superstar in the late 80s. But how is his top speed compared to guys now? I mean, teams used to have roster room for sentient boxing gloves on skates.

 

[kliq]

If you combined Yzermans talent with todays training advancements, I think he would be right up there with McDavid.

 

[Henkka]

Yzerman prime from 1986-87 to 2001-02

So we should find a modern day player, who would play over 1000+ games, and will score 500+ goals and scores 1.25 points per game.

I think there's only one comparable who would fit, and that's Sidney Crosby.


Yzerman prime 15 years (21 to 36-year old)
1151 games, 575 goals, 869 assists, 1444 points, +218. 1,25 points per game.

Crosby last 15 years (20 to 35-year old he is now, 1 year younger than Yzerman data)
1155 games, 540 goals, 926 assists, 1466 points, +207. 1,27 points per game.

 

[norrisnick]

Yzerman prime from 1986-87 to 2001-02

View attachment 641930

So we should find a modern day player, who would play over 1000+ games, and will score 500+ goals and scores 1.25 points per game.

I think there's only one comparable who would fit, and that's Sidney Crosby.


Yzerman prime 15 years (21 to 36-year old)
1151 games, 575 goals, 869 assists, 1444 points, +218. 1,25 points per game.

Crosby last 15 years (20 to 35-year old he is now, 1 year younger than Yzerman data)
1155 games, 540 goals, 926 assists, 1466 points, +207. 1,27 points per game.

Yzerman's prime which includes the post-96 Final Bowman lock-down doesn't really do him justice. Look at his peak '87-'94 (basically between his two big injuries) to see what he was capable of.

 

[Henkka]

Yzerman's prime which includes the post-96 Final Bowman lock-down doesn't really do him justice. Look at his peak '87-'94 (basically between his two big injuries) to see what he was capable of.

View attachment 641948

Too much of 80's hockey.

Merging high-scoring 80s and low-scoring 90's together will make this comparison equal for modern day production.

Yzerman got pretty fair taste of both during his prime (mostly point per game seasons)

High-scoring era 86/87 to 92/93 - 7 years
Low-scoring era 93/94 to 01/02 - 8 years

 

[Steve Yzerlland]

I love Yzerman. He would would be one of the best players in the world. Not "up there with McDavid" McDavid is like 2.0 Gretzky and Lemieux and that is an extra tier above prime Stevie....

Too much of 80's hockey.

Merging high-scoring 80s and low-scoring 90's together will make this comparison equal for modern day production.

Yzerman got pretty fair taste of both during his prime (mostly point per game seasons)

High-scoring era 86/87 to 92/93 - 7 years
Low-scoring era 93/94 to 01/02 - 8 years

And the defense and goaltending was a lot worse.... especially in the 80's

 

[ricky0034]

can I borrow the magical player time travel transporter after you guys are done playing with it?

I really want to know how many points per game current day Zadina would put up playing against 10 year olds in the 1920s

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

can I borrow the magical player time travel transporter after you guys are done playing with it?

I really want to know how many points per game current day Zadina would put up playing against 10 year olds in the 1920s

Like 0.25. Those guys are tough to score on. But Zadina's defensive play would greatly improve.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Looked at McDavid's stats... holy f***, dude has 89 points and is like 1.8 ppg and he's a +1.

I know plus/minus is not that great a stat, but holy shit, Edmonton. One would think it would have to be higher simply because to score 89 points, you've got to possess the puck a hell of a lot.

 

[Sentinel]

Impossible to tell because the league is just different. I feel he'd be way way up there, because he was a legitimate superstar in the late 80s. But how is his top speed compared to guys now? I mean, teams used to have roster room for sentient boxing gloves on skates.

Yzerman was 1AST center and a Selke winner in 2000-01. That's a 36 year old in the middle of the DPE.

 

[Lil Sebastian Cossa]

Yzerman was 1AST center and a Selke winner in 2000-01. That's a 36 year old in the middle of the DPE.

Right I'm just saying that I don't know how Yzerman's top end speed and skill compare to McDavid. Overall talent level in the NHL is higher in 2023 than it was in 1988

 

[norrisnick]

Right I'm just saying that I don't know how Yzerman's top end speed and skill compare to McDavid. Overall talent level in the NHL is higher in 2023 than it was in 1988

Relative to the league at the time? About the same.

 

[Henkka]

Looked at McDavid's stats... holy f***, dude has 89 points and is like 1.8 ppg and he's a +1.

I know plus/minus is not that great a stat, but holy shit, Edmonton. One would think it would have to be higher simply because to score 89 points, you've got to possess the puck a hell of a lot.

It funny mathematics.

McDavid has 44 power-play points. So only 45 of his 89 points will get a plus.

But, he has been on-ice for 52 power-play goals, and 3 goals against. Those 44 points on the PP (and goal differential 52-3), will give him -3.

And that even-strength or other strength scoring with 45 points in 46, will give him +4.

There comes the seasonal +1 at the moment.

At 5-on-5 scoring chances, McDavid is +105 chances at this season. 472 for, 367 against.+105 in chances, only +1 in goals. The possession is just fine at 56,2%.

Mostly, at same time, his linemates won't finish well and their goalies are poor.

 

[GMR]

One of the league's better forwards. Remember that he played in a tough era physically where smaller guys would get picked on. Today's game has less bruisers and slashers.

McDavid is currently playing a different sport than everyone else but Yzerman would likely be right after him.

 

[tabness]

Yzerman was ranked the top pick from the OHL in 1982-1983, but generally, his draft year was considered a slight disappointment compared to the year before. Some of that was the Peterborough Petes system holding his numbers and icetime back though. He was ranked first by The Hockey News draft preview and third by NHL Central Scouting (behind Lawton and LaFontaine). The biggest issue with Yzerman (and LaFontaine) was generally considered size and strength, Lawton was bigger and stronger at that age, and American highschoolers had previously entered the league in the early eighties to great success so there was a bit of hype for Lawton.

Those concerns would obviously be obviated in this soft ass league context, and I think Yzerman in today's league would be right behind McDavid. I also think he'd start out the gate faster, the issue with Yzerman in his early years is that he was generally clutched and grabbed to oblivion, and his ascent to superstardom was due to him working on his strength a lot starting in 1986-1987 (the year before he dropped weight to like 160ish, to become even quicker, and yeah, in a league where clutching and grabbing started to become big during the mid eighties, it worked out poorly lol).

Also, Yzerman's major knee injury happened early in his prime, and it did rob him of some of the top end speed he had before, but again, very unlikely that injury occurs today with the way the net moorings are.

Honestly though, it would really be his peer Pat LaFontaine that would benefit so much from today's league, he seemed to have that last bit of top end speed that even pre injury Yzerman at least didn't showcase as much, and he also played a more north to south game which is exactly what the rules and systems allow and encourage in a way they didn't in the eighties and nineties. LaFontaine was fearless and always drove to the net, and today, he'd simply not get rocked as much and could do it like McDavid. Whereas in today's league, I said Yzerman would be just behind McDavid, I think LaFontaine would definitely challenge McDavid for league's best player.

Scouting report on Yzerman in his prime:

 

[K1900L]

I would have him ranked behind McDavid and Crosby, maybe in a tier with Ovie and a little ahead of Draisaitl (yes, I do rank him higher than AM or NMcK).

 

[PelagicJoe]

Yzerman would be a top 5 player in the league.

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Impossible to tell because the league is just different. I feel he'd be way way up there, because he was a legitimate superstar in the late 80s. But how is his top speed compared to guys now? I mean, teams used to have roster room for sentient boxing gloves on skates.

The training and equipment was inferior compared to today.

An ultra competitive guy like prime Yzerman is a top 3 or top 5 player in the league.

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

Right there in the conversation with McDavid. You'd hope the medical care from his '86 injury would be a bit better 35 years later. Mid-20s Yzerman was no joke.

And the post would've come off the moorings like it's supposed to and along with better equipment at least reduced the extent of the knee injury.

 

[norrisnick]

The training and equipment was inferior compared to today.

An ultra competitive guy like prime Yzerman is a top 3 or top 5 player in the league.

I mean, he was top 3 in a league that featured prime Gretzky and Lemieux. I feel like he could hang with the guys of today.

 

[jkutswings]

If Yzerman were in his prime today, I feel like it would be a matter of time before he managed to get Marchand to injure himself in much the same way that he did with Pronger.

As talented as McDavid? Not quite. But oodles of skill coupled with the unstoppable determination of a tank, which would be fun to watch in any era.

 

[simonedvinsson]

There is some homerism in my assessment to be sure, but if I had that magic time machine, I would rather have Steve Yzerman in his prime than Connor McDavid. Stevie's offensive output not be as high (debateable), but he's a more complete player.

 

[Oddbob]

Too much of 80's hockey.

Merging high-scoring 80s and low-scoring 90's together will make this comparison equal for modern day production.

Yzerman got pretty fair taste of both during his prime (mostly point per game seasons)

High-scoring era 86/87 to 92/93 - 7 years
Low-scoring era 93/94 to 01/02 - 8 years

People always bring up the really high scoring, but there were still only a handful of guys who put up those lofty totals. The top guys were still a lot better than those below them. The scoring being higher was because it was easier for the average guys putting up 60-80 instead of 40-50 and plugs to put up 30-50 pts a season rather than 15-20.

The top guys guys who averaged the 1.5 PPG were less than 10 guys even with the major high scoring.

Offensively Yzerman put up pts like none other than Gretz and Lemieux and Yzerman in the 80s wasn't playing with guys like Coffey and Kurri. By the time Yzerman got extended time with HOF'ers was when he had both been injured and decided to play more two way hockey, during the dreadliest time in hockey the dead puck era.