OT: Prime for prime, who do you take - Koivu or Ek?
- Thread starter Jbcraig1883
- Start date
Dr Jan Itor
Registered User
I don't think Ek is putting up 70 points with Brunette and Miettinen.
MK9
Registered User
Koivu for me. But that's not a slight to Ek at all. Ek is my favorite current Wild skater and, in my opinion, the lynch pin of the team.... but from a pure who's better it would be Koivu
Koivu for FOs. The d-zone games are about the same. It's the o-zone game where I take JEE. It's probably a stylistic/scheme thing more than a skill thing. I prefer the gritty netfront as opposed to the center high.
Angry Koivu would be the easy winner, but he didn't show up often enough.
Angry Koivu would be the easy winner, but he didn't show up often enough.
If you were to add in contracts, JEE is the run away winner. By cap % JEE's $5.25m x 8 (6.44%) is slightly less than Koivu's $3.25m x 4 (6.46%) that took him into UFA status. Then Koivu got his huge acontract $6.75m x 7 (11.36%), Kap's $9m x 5 is less than that (11.04%).
I wasn't taking contract into play, personally. If that factors in then, yeah, Ek all the way. He os grossly underpaid.
Don't get me wrong... I appreciate Ek, but Koivu had a level to his game where he could go into beast mode and will the team to victory.
Prime beast mode Koivu was a sight to behold!
This makes it ultimately, not really close for me. Mikko all the way.
Prime beast mode Koivu was a sight to behold!
This makes it ultimately, not really close for me. Mikko all the way.
BagHead
Registered User
Koivu:
Better offensively
Better face-offs
Better possession player
JEE:
Better goal mouth
Better goal scorer
Better agitator
Equals defensively, IMO.
If I were to weight those strengths for each of them by how important they are, I think it tips toward Koivu being better. I also think it's surprisingly close, though. I wish I could take both players and combine all their strengths. They'd be a generational talent.
Better offensively
Better face-offs
Better possession player
JEE:
Better goal mouth
Better goal scorer
Better agitator
Equals defensively, IMO.
If I were to weight those strengths for each of them by how important they are, I think it tips toward Koivu being better. I also think it's surprisingly close, though. I wish I could take both players and combine all their strengths. They'd be a generational talent.
I think I hold this against Koivu a little bit. I knew he had that extra gear, so most of the time it looked like he was couldn't find the clutch and was just coasting along.
EazyE1
Registered User
BagHead
Registered User
Probably Koivu, because of his better FO's and puck handling, even though JEE is a better skater and shooter. Love both, but later on Koivu's injuries slowed him down quite a bit from the player i thought he could be. I always thought he was a #1C held back(in his prime), by the team he played for.
I reserve the right to change my opinion. JEE is still relatively young, and it remains to be seen how his game will change as he ages. He might be one of those guys who's game breaks down early because of the heavy traffic he plays in(i.e Kirk Muller), or he could continue to get better like fine wine as he gains more experience.
I reserve the right to change my opinion. JEE is still relatively young, and it remains to be seen how his game will change as he ages. He might be one of those guys who's game breaks down early because of the heavy traffic he plays in(i.e Kirk Muller), or he could continue to get better like fine wine as he gains more experience.
JEE, because Koivu is the equivalent of Spurgeon. Good player, but left you wanting more, even in his prime. Koivu was a great defensive forward, but wasn't really offensively talented at all. People love pointing out that Koivu played with Brunette and Miettinen, but Ek played with Greenway and Kunin and Foligno and Greenway. I'd take Bruno and Mitts over those groups any day.
Ek was also forced into a very defensive role in his first couple of seasons, so while the results were beneficial, I see a lot of fans still thinking Ek is a defensive first forward. He's more two-way than defensive specialist like Koivu.
Honestly, Ek and Koivu are a bit different.
Ek was also forced into a very defensive role in his first couple of seasons, so while the results were beneficial, I see a lot of fans still thinking Ek is a defensive first forward. He's more two-way than defensive specialist like Koivu.
Honestly, Ek and Koivu are a bit different.
Going to take a sort-of cheap(ish) answer here and say I don’t think we’ve completely seen Ek’s prime yet. I believe there’s a regular 30-30 center in him, and if so, I ever so slightly tip the scales towards Ek for the goal scoring alone.
Along the lines of great “what-ifs”… I would’ve loved to have seen Koivu/Ek as the top two centers on this team. Whew. A lot to like there.
Along the lines of great “what-ifs”… I would’ve loved to have seen Koivu/Ek as the top two centers on this team. Whew. A lot to like there.
Dr Jan Itor
Registered User
Both Koivu's and Ek's (so far) best offensive seasons were their 26 year old seasons:
Koivu
73 points per 82 games
34 ES points per 82 games
20:45 per game
11th in Selke voting
#3 in goals, #1 in assists, #1 in points on the team
Eriksson Ek
64 points per 82 games
37 ES points per 82 games
19:00 per game
9th in Selke voting
#3 in goals, #2 in assists, #4 in points on the team
Higher scoring nowadays though.
Koivu
73 points per 82 games
34 ES points per 82 games
20:45 per game
11th in Selke voting
#3 in goals, #1 in assists, #1 in points on the team
Eriksson Ek
64 points per 82 games
37 ES points per 82 games
19:00 per game
9th in Selke voting
#3 in goals, #2 in assists, #4 in points on the team
Higher scoring nowadays though.
Last edited:
- Aug 9, 2011
- 3,053
- 1,976
Probably also worth considering scoring within the team. Koivu was the leading scorer by a decent margin, while Ek was "only" 4th.
Dr Jan Itor
Registered User
True.
I think the important thing to derive out of all this is that Eriksson Ek is definitely on track to get his number retired.
