Kharlamov - Hawerchuk - Hodge
vs
Nash - Francis - Jagr
Kharlamov vs Nash: Kharlamov is hard to peg since the legend is greater than the actual evidence. Interestingly people also feel that Nash is overhyped. That being said, it is safe to say that Kharlamov trounces Rick Nash in hockey history. Nash is on the first line here simply for his size, skating, puck possession and shot.
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Hawerchuk vs
Francis: This one is interesting but in the end an easy win for us. Francis outproduced Hawerchuk, produced longer than Hawerchuk, and was better defensively -- although Dale was still pretty decent when called upon to play that role like in the CC '87.
The boo birds here will say Francis benefited disproportionately while playing with Jagr and discount some of that offense.
Lets have a look:
Hawerchuk (Top 10 Adjusted seasons)
103, 101, 86, 85, 82, 81, 80, 79, 78, 77 = 85.2 pts/season
Francis (Top 10 Adjusted seasons)
115, 102, 100, 94, 88, 85, 84, 80, 79, 79 = ~ 90.6 pts/season
Now, lets completely discount Francis' top three seasons that people always question:
Francis (Top 4-13 Adjusted seasons)
94,88,85,84,80,79,79,78,73,69 = ~80.9 pts/season
So even completely removing Francis' three best seasons he is within about 4 adjusted points per season of Hawerchuk's peak offense.
I think this decisively demonstrates that Francis is a better career value offensively than Dale Hawerchuk if we give any credit to Francis for his 3 best seasons.
Francis' intangibles are also better.
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Hodge vs
Jagr: Here is we return the favour. Jagr trounces Hodge by a country mile. Hodge is a decent scorer and physical presence but he doesn't have Esposito and Orr on his team here (or even a reasonable facsimile) and Jagr is Jagr.
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I feel pretty confident that our first line is better overall than our opponents.
