The Macho King
Back* to Back** World Champion
- Jun 22, 2011
- 48,797
- 29,331
Yeah if I had to guess today who will be better, I'd choose Draisaitl too. For the purposes of the poll, I could see either choice.
There's also a question as to how much of a gap there is between the players. "Better player first" is nice and all, but if you're talking a minimal difference in impact (say 2-5 points in a given season?) then maybe the 2 million is the difference between keeping the core together or losing a key piece.
And of bobholly's examples, the only two that are compared that actually *are* as close as Pasta and Drai would be Kucherov and Tarasenko in my mind. If you're talking at Kucherov at 9.5 (for example) and Tarasenko at 7.5 over similar terms, even if you rank Kucherov slightly higher (and no one would rank him more than slightly higher even as a huge Kucherov fan), the balance may be in favor of taking Tarasenko.
Hedman/OEL, Stamkos/Tavares (depending on when you date it from) don't have that same degree of "well they're both about the same".
I don't think Drai's contract is bad though. It's a risk, but he plays an important position and has produced well to date. But I think Pasta is a bargain.