Should Crosby Still be #1?

[Legionnaire]

Oh there's very little doubt that there'll be steady improvement. But some of the posts on this thread make it seem like Crosby is going to be hitting 200 points in his prime, while playing goalie, D, driving the zamboni AND selling hot dogs in the stands. I mean come on, better than Ovechkin and Malkin combined? Statements like that are what I was targeting mainly.

p.s. Ovechkin's hot dogs are plumper than Crosby's. I teed it up, someone hit it outta the park.

So girth is really important to you as a gay man?

 

[SneakerPimp82]

So girth is really important to you as a gay man?

as a man in general it's important.

my hot dogs are plumper than SC and AO's combined.

 

[MarMarSab3]

far more?
No way.
There's a small gap right now, and I bet in ten years it's still a small gap, either in Sid's favour or Alex's.

Ovechkin but's the fear of god into people when hes on the ice much like Jagr used to do.

 

[Rico Fatastic]

Has anyone tried to compare each player at WJC levels. U18, U20...?

The WJC's are too short to be of very much significance.

 

[pavel13]

The question isn't "is doing what Crosby has done at 18 more impressive than what Ovechkin is doing at age 20?" That's basically just as short-sighted as saying that because Ovechkin's current NHL accomplishments are more impressive than Crosby's, he's the better prospect.

It seems that so many people are assuming that Crosby, because he's younger, necessarily has more potential than Ovechkin or will improve more than Ovechkin, neither of which is true.

Somebody was saying (or implying at the least) that because Ovechkin has more pro experience (RSL) this should be counted against him. What? Because he's been put in a more ideal situation for his game to improve, his accomplishments are less impressive? Well, maybe I should be the number one prospect, cause if I had had years and years of practice for all my life, I'm sure I could be a good hockey player. Right? No. Better situation/coaching/physical attributes = better hockey player (potentially) = better prospect.

The way I see it is, if I were given a choice to pick either Crosby or Ovechkin to start a team (or add to my current team), I would choose Ovechkin. I consider this a better way to rate prospects than accomplishments divided by age.

 

[Le Golie]

Is he still considered the best prospect in the world, with the "breakout" of Ovechkin and Malkin?

Yes. He is still the best prospect in the world. He's already an impact player and knocking on the door of superstardom in the NHL at 18. That is unheard of. Not taking away anything from the others, but Crosby is still #1 in my books and I strongly believe most real hockey people in positions of influence would agree.

 

[pavel13]

I think that the fact that they are entering the league at the same time is perhaps more important than the age difference between them. When overage European players enter the league, do they not improve? Lubomir Visnovsky was not near the lead in scoring among defensemen in his rookie season.

But you could also argue that because Crosby is playing in the NHL at a more critical developmental period, he may be more likely to reach his potential.

 

[kingpest19]

Yes. He is still the best prospect in the world. He's already an impact player and knocking on the door of superstardom in the NHL at 18. That is unheard of. Not taking away anything from the others, but Crosby is still #1 in my books and I strongly believe most real hockey people in positions of influence would agree.

Its not unheard of. Gretzky did it at 18 Lemiuex and Lindros did it at 19. Hes is clearly not the best prospect in the world by anything bigger than the tiniest of margins. But thats just my opinion

 

[ShadowFax]

Its not unheard of. Gretzky did it at 18 Lemiuex and Lindros did it at 19. Hes is clearly not the best prospect in the world by anything bigger than the tiniest of margins. But thats just my opinion

The league was completely different back then. Oh and ya Gretzky and Lemiuex's careers were terrible....

 

[borro]

According to the hockey news, future watch edition, ovechkin and crosby are no longer considered prospects, their lists were compiled in late november and early december.

Malkin is the #1 consensus prospect, with Jack Johnson being #2.

The only cap on it is Eric Fehr at #30

Mark Andre Fleury is # 6 and the pens also have another one there too, can't remember offhand who it is.

Great read throughout, breaks down the top 50, as well as the top 5 for each team, some are in the NHL now, and rank lower than other prospects in the organization (brooks laich for the caps for example, caps fan so using them as my point) but its based on overall potential so fehr, chris bourque are rated above them.

Worth buying, good story on the state of american hockey, and the grassroots struggles of getting people into hockey too.

Article about phil kessel and a 2007 draft future watch bit about Angelo Esposito (no relation to the other espositos)

Incorrect, Semin is at #11. Malkin should be here for years unless the Pens fork out $'s to pay for Malkin's transfer fee. Don't look for him in '06-07.

 

[kingpest19]

The league was completely different back then. Oh and ya Gretzky and Lemiuex's careers were terrible....

Completely different or not ,the fact is , is that it isnt unheard of. And where did i say their careers were terrible?

 

[Flames Draft Watcher]

I still believe Crosby has the highest upside of the 3.

 

[jmelm]

I just think it's pretty awesome to have 3 guys who all have the potential to be not only the best player in the league, but also among the best ever.

I think it's very rare -- and not since Gretzky and Lemieux in the late 80s and early 90s -- that that happens. Usually there has been one guy at a time who was clearly ahead of anyone else: Gretzky, then Lemieux, then Jagr, based on their relative ages.

Now, we've got a chance to see 3 young guys who are all around the same age to develop and mature together.

And I've got two of them on my team!