Current Players and the Past Players they remind you of

[The Panther]

Yeah, I know we've done this before, but let's do it again. Who are the current players who remind you of past ones? And who are the matching past players? Extra points if the two players play(ed) for the same franchise.

Y'all know I follow the Oilers. I was struck the other day by how much Evan Bouchard reminds me of Al MacInnis. Both right-shooting Dmen, both with the big shot on the PP. But even their skating styles are, like, identical. The way Bouchard skates in small turns and wraps the puck around in circles while skating is also exactly like MacInnis. Even the way they play defense is pretty similar.

Zach Hyman is having a big season. His style is not unlike a former Oiler (and Penguin / Sabre), Craig Simpson. Both right-shooting wingers of average size who scored 90% of their goals from six feet in front of the net. Hyman is a much better skater than Simpson was and he carries the puck a bit more, and Simpson had a bit 'softer' hands around the goal, but overall I find them fairly similar.

Who ya got?

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[Crosby2010]

Malkin is the closest to Mario style-wise. He could hang onto the puck like no one else, was hard to knock off the puck, looked tall on the ice, had the same sort of skating stride but could blow past people despite not looking like he is moving fast. Had the same sort of hands

Draisaitl and Phil Esposito are similar

 

[Ralph Malfredsson]

Discussed many times before - but McDavid reminds me so much of 91-94 Pavel Bure. I don't watch many Oiler games but when I do - man every McDavid rush gives me nostalgia from Bure's early years

 

[Craig Button]

McDavid reminds me of Bure

Marner reminds me of Mogilny

 

[The Macho King]

Brayden Point always reminded me of latter days Yzerman.

 

[buffalowing88]

Malkin is the closest to Mario style-wise. He could hang onto the puck like no one else, was hard to knock off the puck, looked tall on the ice, had the same sort of skating stride but could blow past people despite not looking like he is moving fast. Had the same sort of hands

Draisaitl and Phil Esposito are similar

Interesting Draisaitl/Esposito comparison. I definitely see it.

I always thought Malkin was a more physical Perreault. But then again, Mario likely shaped a lot of his game based off Perreault. The way that all three would just carve through a guy one-on-one rather than go around them and the graceful strides they took always stand out.

 

[RR44]

Direct comparison or similar style game/skillset:

McDavid...Fedorov
Mackinnon...Roenick or Bure
Kopitar...Larmer
Kane...Larionov
Matthews...Bossy
Stamkos...Yzerman
Aho...Sakic
Trochek...Trottier
Hedman...Potvin
Makar...Coffey
Doughty...Bourque
Josi...Niedermayer

I can't think of one player that I can match up with #99 or #66 so I'll say Gretzky...Lemieux simply for the petasdal they sit on

 

[RR44]

Brayden Point always reminded me of latter days Yzerman.

...great call on this!

 

[The Panther]

Mackinnon...Roenick

Yeah, I can see this.

 

[Crosby2010]

Interesting Draisaitl/Esposito comparison. I definitely see it.

I always thought Malkin was a more physical Perreault. But then again, Mario likely shaped a lot of his game based off Perreault. The way that all three would just carve through a guy one-on-one rather than go around them and the graceful strides they took always stand out.

It is the effortlessness of Malkin that makes me think of Mario, and I agree on the Perreault thing too. Come to think of it, I am not sure how much Mario patterned his game off of Beliveau, because Mario would be 6 years old when Beliveau retired, but the effortlessness is evident in Beliveau too.

 

[buffalowing88]

It is the effortlessness of Malkin that makes me think of Mario, and I agree on the Perreault thing too. Come to think of it, I am not sure how much Mario patterned his game off of Beliveau, because Mario would be 6 years old when Beliveau retired, but the effortlessness is evident in Beliveau too.

Effortlessness is the exact word I was looking for. And yeah, Beliveau probably indirectly was the archetype for that type of forward and then Perreault was the next model and then Lemieux. Somehow Malkin is carrying on a legacy of tall, graceful French Canadien forwards haha.

 

[VanIslander]

Pasta is Foppa,... in his stickhandling.

Fun fact: the day Pastrnak was born, Forsberg scored the insurance goal in a 4-2 win over rival Detroit, his Avs going on to win Lord Stanley's.





That said, beside stickhandling, skating and resilience, Pastrnak doesn't have the passing chops of Forsberg at his height. Pasta is often like a more flashy, floppy version of Nieuwendyk.

 

[buffalowing88]

What would be a good one for Panarin? I want to say a rich man's Recchi but that may be selling him short?

 

[JianYang]

McDavid reminds me of Bure

Marner reminds me of Mogilny

Yep. I've been saying it alot as well. McDavid has that Bure electricity but in a bigger frame.

Bure had an underrated snarl to his game though, especially early on.... sometimes even dirty. But with the puck, you get the same feeling with both.

 

[Felidae]

Different positions but Quinn Hughes skating reminds me a bit of Denis Savard except in defenseman form. Both have that waterbug like quality to their skating.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

I love this thread because I often think in these terms.

Kucherov reminds me a lot of Alex Mogilny, though he's even better.

Kuznetsov skates a lot like Fedorov, their stride and posture is very similar. Even if Feds is far far superior overall.

Kopitar has always reminded me of a left handed Mats Sundin. So consistent, quietly wins the puck in every zone, and impossible to check down low.

Tage Thompson occasionally has flashes that remind me of Lemieux.

Pettersson when he's at his best reminds me a lot of Pavel Datsyuk. They both play the game super unconventionally and have super computers between their ears.
When I say unconventionally, part of the reason both are so effective at stripping opponents of pucks is that they find little moments to do the unexpected. For those of us who played hockey seriously, there are little schemas or scripts where you see where a puck is, where it's going, and where your opponent is, and you know through thousands of hours of drilled in hockey (playing and watching) what the 2 or 3 options your opponent might choose are.

But Petey and Datsyuk both will suddenly go for your stick and lift it when you have no weight on it because you were certain they would go for the puck, or hide behind a D man as he retrieves a puck only to appear on the unexpected side to pick up a reverse as if it was intended for them.

I find the Macinnis and Bouchard comparison a bit bizarre. Both have big shots and aren't/weren't the prettiest skaters.

But Bouchard is often lackadaisical and anemic defensively, while Macinnis matured into a legitimate Norris D man not only offensively but defensively.

If you're talking 80's Macinnis, then I can't speak to that as I started watching in 94. But Bouchard looks nothing like the Macinnis I watched.

 

[The Panther]

I find the Macinnis and Bouchard comparison a bit bizarre. Both have big shots and aren't/weren't the prettiest skaters.

But Bouchard is often lackadaisical and anemic defensively, while Macinnis matured into a legitimate Norris D man not only offensively but defensively.

If you're talking 80's Macinnis, then I can't speak to that as I started watching in 94. But Bouchard looks nothing like the Macinnis I watched.

Yes, I was talking 80s' MacInnis. Al MacInnis from the mid-1990s onward is not like the younger MacInnis (which is the one I remember better) defensively. 80s' MacInnis was a fairly 'soft' player (by the era's standards, anyway), who rarely threw checks or got strong body position. His effective defense was almost entirely by quick puck-handling and nimble skating out of trouble -- just like Bouchard.

But seriously, if you did a silhouette of Bouchard carrying the puck out his zone and skating it around a bit, it would be indistinguishable from MacInnis. Very, very similar skating / puckhandling styles. (Which gives me hope that Bouchard will become a rock-solid defender when he's older!)

 

[VanIslander]

But Bure lacked hockey vision.
He was a dog with a bone.
He didn't dish off even when he should.
He was Forsberg minus elite passing ability (and less grit)

 

[VanIslander]

In 20 years of all-time drafting i've never drafted Pavel because he is the opposite of a force multiplier. He's in no way a leader and he's not one who makes those around him better. An NHLer told me personally, "He's not Linden." The convo was about energy in the locker room when trailing after the first period.

 

[GlitchMarner]

But Bure lacked hockey vision.
He was a dog with a bone.
He didn't dish off even when he should.
He was Forsberg minus elite passing ability (and less grit)

Yeah, I don't think McDavid is all that similar to him at this point.

Bure was fast and could handle the puck skillfully, but he wasn't as multi-faceted as McDavid.

McDavid controls play these days. He's like a masterful conductor. The PP runs through him. He dictates the play until he can fire a pass across to Draisaitl for an easy one-time goal or set Hyman up for a goal near the net or snipe one himself.

 

[GlitchMarner]

I've made this comparison before...

Corey Perry is your modern-day Dino Ciccarelli.