Jason Spezza or Kari Lehtonen?

Who will make a more dominant impact in the NHL? Next year and in the future?

 

Kari Lehtonen, no contest.

 

Now (as in next year): Spezza
Future (as in after next year): Lehtonen.

 

lehtonen
as a goalie, he wins games
spezza is only a piece to a bigger puzzle

 

yup...

 

lehtonen
as a goalie, he wins games
spezza is only a piece to a bigger puzzle

But don't forget that Spezza has the visionary ability to make the players around him better with his lethal set-up skills. That's not to say that Lehtonen won't have more of an impact than Spezza

 

Lehtonen has the ability to stop pucks and give his team more confidence to go on the offensive because he has the ability to make the saves with less help from a defensive team around him. So both players have the ability to make the players around them better BUT top goalies are mroe valuable than top centers.

 

Lehtonen.

 

Lehtonen you start from the net then up

 

lehtonen.

 

I agree with this. Its easier to with without a number one center than without a #1 keeper. I thinki both will be very good players, but the edge goes to the goalie.

 

Its true its true goaltenders are always the most important player on the team. But with all these rule changes im reading about the gap has been close in my opinion.

 

Who will be more dominant in an FHL?

 

Why do people make such dumb posts? You can't compare apples and oranges, no matter how hard you'd like to try.

Who would you rather have, Mario Lemieux or Patrick Roy? There's no real answer, you can argue back and forth for hours.

 

Its not that at all, I am trying to read peoples opinions on who will make a more dominate impact. Not who will get more goals or wins

 

Lehtonen will be more dominant.

 

Elite goaltenders (assuming Kari pans out and becomes one) is usually in more demand than a scoring center. I mean, how many goalies can you honestly say you'd rely on to win a Stanley Cup Game 7? Probably 3 or 4, tops. With centers, or any other position, you have lots of choices and you can usually replace them with a Free Agent signing.

This is not to say Spezza isn't any good though. In a couple of years, he'll be among the top scorers in the league, but when you compare Lehtonen with him, Lehtonen gets the nod.

 

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Lehtonen will have a bigger impact than Spezza next year.

 

Why do you make such a dumb post? There are lots of ways in which you can compare apples with oranges.
Apple julius? I don't think so. 1-0 oranges.
Orange pie? Yuk! That there evens it up 1-1.


You get the drift.

 

From a guy by the name of Captain Conservative Id expect a more conservative statement! WOW!

But really, I dont think Lehtonen will have more of an impact than Spezza, Spezza has alreayd had a huge impact as a young player. Karis impact might be measured as greater only because if he has a good performance as a goalie and Atlanta makes the playoffs it will be a bigger impact cause hes making a not so good team good whereas Spezza made a great team only a bit better.

Either way what I think this post is moreless about is not who will make a bigger impact next year but whos value is going to be greater after next year. He wants to draft the most valuable of the two in his hockey pool most likely.

 

That explains why only 2 goalies have ever gone 1st overall ever in the draft. I should trade Alexander Ovechkin for Lehtonen b/c as you all suggest goalies are better....

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and disagree with just about everything that was said here. I think that the way the NHL has been the past 10 years, you don't need a great goalie to win. The way the game has been played, you don't need a goalie capable of stopping 35 shots a night. Look at the last year they played, the difference between the #3 goalie and the #28 in GAA was less than half a goal a game, a total of 41 over a season. The difference between a great forward and a bottom tier one will be a good 50 points over the course of the season. Want further proof? We have had Arturs Irbe, JS Giguere, and Mikka Kipprusof carry their teams to the finals, while stars like Turco, Luongo, Kolzig, Belfour haven't. Point is, the way the game has been played the past few years, with so few offensive chances, you don't need a star goalie to keep goals down. On the other hand, few teams have managed to score without a true offensive star.

 

depending on my team, i may take that trade. I think Ovechkin is a little overrated, although he will still be a top 10 player, I dont think he will have as much of a positive influence when it comes to overall win %.

 

On the Senators, Spezza is one of many weapons, so his impact is automatically reduced.

Regardless of how hyped he is here, Lehtonen will be behind Nurminen when the season starts, and as hyped as Lehtonen is, Nurminen is no slouch, and deserves to keep his job.

The irony here is that, if they swapped teams, either one could have serious impact next year. As it stands, I give the short-term edge to Spezza, though I think he'll never be an elite center.

 

Lehtonen, maybe not as soon as next year since Spezza can already score 20-30 goals in a full NHL season but Lehtonen will be the best goaltender out there in a few years. Any prospect that's ranked ahead of him is a bit overrated in my books. Not even Ovechkin or Crosby.