How would an NHL superstar do in the AHL?

[The Macho King]

Didn't seem to hurt McDavid's totals in the OHL.

Quality of competition is rather different.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

What the heck kind of thread is this? Sidney Crosby dominates NHL competition, he would decimate guys in the AHL.

Any superstar player would destroy the AHL, and I would expect them to score somewhere around 30% more points down there.

Might as well really have fun and ask how Crosby would do in a local adult rec league.

 

[jw2]

ask heatley

 

[lwvs84]

I think regular season scoring would "only" go up between 20-40 points. Playoff scoring would probably double. Guys that are that much better will lead their teams to home ice advantage early and coast toward the end. Then step it up in the playoffs and absolutely dominate, probably close to doubling their point per game because of smaller sample size and more to play for.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

ask heatley

He's a F****n all-star! Even in his poor state at the end of his career, he had a stretch of 13 points in 18 games with San Antonio. Imagine what he would have done in the AHL in 2005-2007

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Over a hundred points but not like 150

Keeping in mind that he'd be playing with AHL'ers as well as against them, this sounds right.

Now, if we just put the whole Penguins team in the AHL, then I don't think 200 would be out of the question.

 

[end]

Look at how having a single Kopitar changes the fortunes of the Slovenes.

 

[Los Patos de Anaheim]

Frank Vatrano had 36 goals in 36 games in 2015-16. Imagine Tarasenko, Ovechkin, or Stamkos.

 

[Silver Tuna]

But how hard is Crosby trying though?
If you told him you'd give him 100k for every point he put up I think he'd get like 160.
If he's just down there to play hockey he'd probably put up like 120

 

[Elvs]

Frank Vatrano had 36 goals in 36 games in 2015-16. Imagine Tarasenko, Ovechkin, or Stamkos.

All three would have a very hard time scoring 36 in 36.

 

[HockeyThoughts]

There's only so many points one can score in any league. The increase wouldn't be overly significant.

Wayne Gretzky disagrees.

 

[Crosbyfan]

What the heck kind of thread is this? Sidney Crosby dominates NHL competition, he would decimate guys in the AHL.

Any superstar player would destroy the AHL, and I would expect them to score somewhere around 30% more points down there.

Might as well really have fun and ask how Crosby would do in a local adult rec league.

I imagine he would be second in scoring, right behind his linemate, me, the one with the wild imagination

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Leon Draisaitl had 2 points in 6 AHL games the same season he had 51 NHL points.

Who really knows? So many factors - time on ice distribution, how a coach matches lines, linemates, puck luck, division (AHL can be highly divisional, think 2010-ish southeast division vs other divisions), and overall team quality.

"AHL" is a league but every team has its own unique context and every player thrives in different situations.

 

[VoidCreature]

NHLe rates AHL production at .44. McDavid had 100 points in 82 games, or 1.21 points/game. According to NHLe, In the AHL, he would have scored 2.77 points/game, or 210 points over 76 games.

 

[lawrence]

NHLe rates AHL production at .44. McDavid had 100 points in 82 games, or 1.21 points/game. According to NHLe, In the AHL, he would have scored 2.77 points/game, or 210 points over 76 games.

can't further away from the truth. There are a ton of players that rarely produced at the AHL then right to the NHL they produced at a higher rate.

example are guys like Eric Staal, Shea Weber out of the top of my head.

he would have scored 2.77 points/game, or 210 points over 76 games.

AHL is no bush league. nice stats but I doubt he would have produced at that rate. My guess 130 points, because there is only so much time he is given, not to mention the quality of line mates also matter.

Troy Stecher also didn't even post a single point but was a better player in the NHL. The same with Horvat.

 

[PunkRockLocke]

The elite level skill and talent of the NHL would light it up to a degree, say 130 pts or so. But I don't think too many guys would fall into the category. He AHL gets underrated for its overall level of game play, defensively sound players, speed etc. There is a lot of depth there. There are a lot of really good hockey players fighting for a spot in the NHL

 

[Stive Morgan]

Probably 150 points. I mean, even Rene ****ing Bourque was point-per-game as a 32 year old plug when we sent him to Hamilton back in 2014-15.

 

[Real Smart Sens Fan]

Probably 150 points. I mean, even Rene ****ing Bourque was point-per-game as a 32 year old plug when we sent him to Hamilton back in 2014-15.

I mean, that was 4 games. Andrew Hammond was 7-13-2 with a .898 svp and 3.51 gaa in the AHL that season, and then he posted a 20-1-2 record with .941 svp and 1.79 gaa in the the NHL.

And then he was just meh again.

 

[Canada4Gold]

2 points per game. You have top prospects coming up transition leagues as the only real comparables who are of a high level in both leagues. Nylander for example was a 1.18 ppg player in the AHL and then came to the NHL same year and was 0.59 ppg over a 22 game sample. It's never going to be linear of course for a whole load of factors, diminishing returns being one of them but Nylander halved his pace during the transition. I think a PPG NHL player could come pretty close to doubling it to 2 ppg.

 

[VoidCreature]

can't further away from the truth. There are a ton of players that rarely produced at the AHL then right to the NHL they produced at a higher rate.

example are guys like Eric Staal, Shea Weber out of the top of my head.



AHL is no bush league. nice stats but I doubt he would have produced at that rate. My guess 130 points, because there is only so much time he is given, not to mention the quality of line mates also matter.

Troy Stecher also didn't even post a single point but was a better player in the NHL. The same with Horvat.

It's definitely not a perfect metric, but it's the best attempt at one I've been able to find.

 

[Hynh]

Not nearly as dominant as many would think.

Maybe around 1.5 ppg.

Erik Karlsson was exactly one point per game in Liiga, which is comparable level to AHL. This was Karlsson in 12-13 before Cooke injured him btw.

Karlsson was

• 1st in points
• 1st in assists
• 3rd in goals
• 4th in shots
• 10th in +/-
• 88th in games played (half as many GP as the second highest point scorer)

Plus I have no doubt in my mind that Karlsson was holding back and protecting himself for the NHL season, if it ever started.

 

[armyjoe]

What type of player would gain most from inferior opposition? I think prime ovechkin would feast on AHL level defence and goaltending.

 

[Sempiternal]

Hall, Eberle and Schultz lit up the AHL during the lockout.

 

[SotasicA]

Everyone would take runs at him.