Ruutu vs. Frolov?

[Ensane]

With all the hype surrounding Ruutu, I figured I'd throw this one out, as I was thinking about it during my 3 hour history lecture today.

Many people thought Frolov would easily win the Calder and amass a nice amount of points for a rookie. I'm seeing parallels between their respective hype, just one year apart.

And please, to those answering ... please backup what you think. If I wanted a poll, I woulda added one to the thread.

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[Vlad The Impaler]

With all the hype surrounding Ruutu, I figured I'd throw this one out, as I was thinking about it during my 3 hour history lecture today.

Many people thought Frolov would easily win the Calder and amass a nice amount of points for a rookie. I'm seeing parallels between their respective hype, just one year apart.

There are similarities in hype, yes and no. Hype for both players came from abroad. I don't really trust what I don't see.

Hype for Frolov, unlike Ruutu, also came from his showing at the WJC. He was a man against boys and it impressed a lot of people but not me. Not saying Frolov ain't good but some were whispering "Jaromir Jagr" and that was just ridiculous.

Ruutu has not had one WJC where he truly was a notch above other prospects.

I see more parallels in hype between Pitkanen and Frolov, for instance.

And please, to those answering ... please backup what you think. If I wanted a poll, I woulda added one to the thread.

It's going tough to answer because you haven't asked a question. The whole "Player X VS Player Y" is becoming more frequent and I don't see a use unless there is a context.

All I can say at this point is that the minute I saw Ruutu, I knew he was the kind of guy who would do his all to elevate his game, I just wasn't sure he could elevate it all the way against the best in the NHL.

It's pretty much the opposite feeling I had when I saw Frolov. I knew the minute I saw him at that WJC that he had all the tools to play against the best. I'm just not that sure he'll elevate his game and become a top dog in the NHL.

Both will be fine. I think Ruutu will become a favorite, Frolov may be one day *perceived* as an underachiever but his talent will keep him around in this league, no doubt.

I don't think Ruutu on talent alone can become a superstar. Intangibles may get him there, however. Frolov on the other hand has the raw talent but I haven't seen him use it to its fullest so far, EVEN at the WJC.

Both should do great in the future. They have stuff every team is after:

Ruutu is one of the best combo of grit+talent+leadership+two-way play while Frolov is a potentially great offensive force with the size to boot.

They've just been advertised too much IMO, just like Ryan Miller and Zetterberg.

 

[psycho_dad*]

With all the hype surrounding Ruutu, I figured I'd throw this one out, as I was thinking about it during my 3 hour history lecture today.

Many people thought Frolov would easily win the Calder and amass a nice amount of points for a rookie. I'm seeing parallels between their respective hype, just one year apart.

And please, to those answering ... please backup what you think. If I wanted a poll, I woulda added one to the thread.

There are never people who will just "easily win calder". This year the competition will be tough. Lots of potential players and Ruutu is just one of them. He is the kind of player who will make fans love him and enemies will hate him. Might be the first time I disagree with Vlad, but I thought Ruutu was head and shoulders above everyone in WJC. He played sick, and when ever he was on the ice he simply dominated...with hits, with attitude and with skill. Man among boys. Pitkänen was the only one who was on the same maturity level.

The way Ruutu controls the puck in traffic reminds me of Forsberg....he can take huge hits and still control the puck all the time...actually in most cases he will knock the hitter off their feet and still have control of the puck. But he hits more than Forsberg, and harder. He is more defensive but definitely not in the same level offensively. I dont think he will ever score 100 points, but he will win awards (not lady byng though). If he stays healthy.

 

[Teemu]

With all the hype surrounding Ruutu, I figured I'd throw this one out, as I was thinking about it during my 3 hour history lecture today.

Many people thought Frolov would easily win the Calder and amass a nice amount of points for a rookie. I'm seeing parallels between their respective hype, just one year apart.

And please, to those answering ... please backup what you think. If I wanted a poll, I woulda added one to the thread.

I would compare his hype more to zetterberg than frolov. maybe this wasnt the reaction on these boards, but from what i saw, before zetts had even hit nhl ice, people started saying "he's gonna score 30 goals... 40 goals... 45 goals... 50 goals..."
then all of a sudden, "hey, he cant do that. i think he can his only 30 goals....25 goals.... 20 goals" etc.
Ruutu's 'stock' has been all over the place this summer, even more dramatically so that zetterbergs (thanks to the misprint by TSN)

 

[IGM]

I don't know why anyone would think that Frolov had anything other than a great first season. He led all rookies in +/- for the majority of the year and ended up 5th in scoring (or was it 7th, either or) on a team of mostly AHL players whose only chance of winning any games at all was to play a very D first system not allowing him to blossom.

Zetterberg is a great young player but to compare him with Frolov is unfair. Zetts played on a great team stacked with allstar talent. He had solid NHL linemates and even when he wasn't playing with the better players on his team you can't argue that with his special talent AND all of the other great players that it forces the opponents to spread their D against them.

Frolov was usually one of the better (top three or four) players on his team on most nights and with the D first style that the Kings played it meant that he was left without allot of hope on scoring chances.

That isn't to say that he was this budding superstar who only needed a chance last year and look out for him this year or anything like that. He was better than his stats showed last year and he will be provided with a better opportunity this year to silence his critics. I thought that he would be one of the top 5 finalists for the Calder last year without even considering that the Kings would have led the league in man hours lost (largely to it's key players) and he ended up in the top 5 (or 7) and not that far away from the top. He finished with a +/- of +11 and 31 points. I thought he had a great year all considered.

 

[Jebus]

There's ten times the hype surrounding Ruutu. IMO (this means "I mean" right?) Ruutu was considered the best player outside the NHL. I can only speak for Frolov though, having had the chance to watch him all year. At 20 he was nearly as strong with the puck as Allison in the corners. In my opinion he's sure to score 40 goals one of these upcoming years. But hey, I've also got money on Luc scoring 20 this year. Like IGM said, the kings D-system is perhaps holding him back a bit.

 

[King James]

I think anyone that tries to judge Frolov by last year season is a fool! Frolov played most of the season with the Los Angeles Monarchs! He was constantly surounded by crap! It's a hell of a lot easier to score when teams have to worry about Feds, Shanny, Luke, Brett and the rest of the Detroit all star team that led the league in scoring! To Compare Fro to Zetterberg it pure stupidity. They were different players in different situations! I'm not saying he is going to rule the world, but give the guy a break. It's not like he had a any help or supporting cast!

 

[MOOSE55]

I think anyone that tries to judge Frolov by last year season is a fool! Frolov played most of the season with the Los Angeles Monarchs! He was constantly surounded by crap! It's a hell of a lot easier to score when teams have to worry about Feds, Shanny, Luke, Brett and the rest of the Detroit all star team that led the league in scoring! To Compare Fro to Zetterberg it pure stupidity. They were different players in different situations! I'm not saying he is going to rule the world, but give the guy a break. It's not like he had a any help or supporting cast!

I second this! Duckies don't realize this when they try and tell people how Chistov is better than Frolov.

 

[zeppelin97]

I watched frolov quite a bit last season, being a kings fan, and he disappeared very often; so often its not even funny. I watched zetterberg in a couple games and i would say, points aside, zetterberg was a much better player.

I personally love frolov (one of my fave players), but i'm realistic: frolov could be the next viktor kozlov or yashin for all anyone knows.

If i had a choice between ruutu and frolov i would take ruutu because i like what i hear about his desire and competitiveness. I'm just not sold on frolov developing into a 35+ goal scorer. I'm caustiously optimistic about frolov, but optimistic with ruutu.