Neither of them are a playmaker on Thornton's level.
Thornton made Jonathan Cheechoo a 56 goal Rocket winner. Kessel scored 37 twice with Tyler Bozak as his center. Prime Kessel stapled to Thornton's hip scores 50 and wins Rockets
Crosby is not a playmaker on Thornton’s level? If he isn’t, it’s by a pretty slim margin.
Look man, it’s not because Kessel scored 37 with Bozak that he would score 50 with Thornton, that’s not how it works. He never scored over 34 goals with the Penguins, but he racked up 58 assists on a line with Malkin.
Kessel is a playmaker first, the bulk of his production was always in assists, not goals.