Big Phil
Registered User
- Nov 2, 2003
- 31,703
- 4,144
Inspired by the career so far of Mitch Marner. Traditionally a right winger and he's played that in his brief NHL career but he is a pass-first winger. I mean pass-first in the mold of an Adam Oates or Doug Weight type. I am not saying he is the playmaker Oates was, I just mean in the discrepancy of goals to assists they are comparable. Marner is always looking (and finding) the open man. Did so in his junior days, piled up a ton of assists and yet has the skill to score if need be.
Yet he is not a center. We expect this from Oates and other lesser ones like Weight or Janney and even other HHOFers like Francis who put up far more assists. But they were centers. What wingers did this?
I am not talking about someone like Lafleur or Jagr who were supreme passers in their own right because they both put up huge goal totals too. Both cracked 60 goals in a season. I am talking about wingers that routinely had far more assists year after year and were generally considered to be better passers than scorers.
I am going to throw a couple names to get the ball rolling. Martin St. Louis, Daniel Sedin and Patrick Kane in modern terms. All of them I would consider better passers and definitely pass-first wingers, yet none of them even did it to the extent of Marner. I just have never seen it quite like this and perhaps I am missing someone all-time who is comparable.
Yet he is not a center. We expect this from Oates and other lesser ones like Weight or Janney and even other HHOFers like Francis who put up far more assists. But they were centers. What wingers did this?
I am not talking about someone like Lafleur or Jagr who were supreme passers in their own right because they both put up huge goal totals too. Both cracked 60 goals in a season. I am talking about wingers that routinely had far more assists year after year and were generally considered to be better passers than scorers.
I am going to throw a couple names to get the ball rolling. Martin St. Louis, Daniel Sedin and Patrick Kane in modern terms. All of them I would consider better passers and definitely pass-first wingers, yet none of them even did it to the extent of Marner. I just have never seen it quite like this and perhaps I am missing someone all-time who is comparable.