Scott Nierdermayer vs Drew Doughty

Who is the better player?


  • Total voters
    121

Frolov 6'3

Unregistered User
Jun 7, 2003
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Doughty in the 2012 and 2014 playoffs was better than Niedermayer in his Smythe year
I wont say anything about that but it is hilarious that people constantly come up with trophees to make a point.

These trophees are handed out based on votes of human beings.

For the 55th time, get rid of these trophees or just view them as entertainment, nothing more.
 
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wintersej

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Nov 26, 2011
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Their Norris finishes in the top-10. Doughty is the longer list and he's 28yo.
Niedermayer was great for 3 years, but Doughty looks like he will be great his whole career.

Well part of that is who Niedermayer played with. Playing with Stevens and Pronger is going to get you fewer Norris votes.
 

AngelDuck

Rak 'em up
Jun 16, 2012
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Lot of people voting in this thread who live on the east Coast and watch Doughty play 5-10 times per year maybe.

As someone who has followed Doughty's career very closely, he will end up with the better career than Scott. What Scott has right now is the peak. He was more dominant than Doughty has ever been for that 3 year period from 2004-2007 IMO. Even strength is similar but Scotty was a magician roaming around on the power play during that time in a way that Doughty never has been really. He is one of the only defensemen I have ever seen be elite on the power play WITHOUT a big shot from the blueline
 
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AngelDuck

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Jun 16, 2012
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What is really interesting is that Scotty's peak was from age 30-33.

For those saying Doughty is going to start declining now, I am not sold at all. He is probably going to need to reinvent himself a bit, but for someone as talented as he is, that can definitely be done.
 

Raccoon Jesus

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What is really interesting is that Scotty's peak was from age 30-33.

For those saying Doughty is going to start declining now, I am not sold at all. He is probably going to need to reinvent himself a bit, but for someone as talented as he is, that can definitely be done.

Yeah, he had arguably his best all-around season last year, hard to see a more 'unleashed' Doughty regressing right this moment.

I do think he'll be able to play at least Vlasic-style game into his late 30s though. He's too smart not to. Might not try the end to end rushes as some point, but certainly has at least a few years of those left...not at all seeing where this 'decline' talk is coming from other than the hope from a few people who are still grouchy about his trophies.
 

AngelDuck

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Yeah, he had arguably his best all-around season last year, hard to see a more 'unleashed' Doughty regressing right this moment.

I do think he'll be able to play at least Vlasic-style game into his late 30s though. He's too smart not to. Might not try the end to end rushes as some point, but certainly has at least a few years of those left...not at all seeing where this 'decline' talk is coming from other than the hope from a few people who are still grouchy about his trophies.
I didn't follow Scott's career that much with the Devils, so I don't know how much he really changed his game. But I will say, his career with the Ducks was less about rushing the puck up the ice and stick handling through guys. I mean he still did that, but it was more about always making the right pass and always being in the right spot. He was a guy who could play 30 minutes and look like he didn't exert himself much.

I think Doughty is fully capable of becoming that type of player.
 
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Regal

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Mar 12, 2010
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Well part of that is who Niedermayer played with. Playing with Stevens and Pronger is going to get you fewer Norris votes.

I don't think it affected anything. Niedermayer wasn't close to Norris level until the 2003 playoffs, then won the Norris the following year with Stevens on his last legs, was 2nd the next without Pronger and 2nd again with Pronger. He came back halfway through the next year so understandably lost votes and the lsst two years of his career were good but not Norris worthy and finished 9th in voting Pronger's last year there while getting no votes the next.

There's really nothing to suggest that his teammates took votes from him unless you think he deserved regular votes before 2004, which I don't even think most Devils fans at the time would agree with, or that Pronger prevented him from winning in '07, but considering Lidstrom's stranglehold on the trophy at the time, I doubt it. Also, unlike the Hart, Norris voting has regularly seen teammates both finish high in voting
 

Sojourn

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Nov 1, 2006
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Doughty in the 2012 and 2014 playoffs was better than Niedermayer in his Smythe year

And I’d argue that neither were as good as Niedermayer in the 2003 playoffs. Tied for the NHL lead in scoring, during the dead puck era, while playing more minutes than anyone else on the team.
 

authentic

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Jan 28, 2015
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Career will be Doughty, but as mentioned I think peak Niedermayer may have a slight edge. Niedermayer to me is like the Fedorov of defensemen, sometimes his peak regular seasons and playoffs get projected throughout his career, when each of them were really only at that superstar level for 3/4 years.
 

StoneHands

Registered User
Feb 26, 2013
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Well part of that is who Niedermayer played with. Playing with Stevens and Pronger is going to get you fewer Norris votes.
It also makes it pretty easy to look good when you played the majority of your career with first ballot Hall of Famers who happen to be two of the best actual defenders of their generation.
 

The Macho King

Back* to Back** World Champion
Jun 22, 2011
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Hmmmm... I'll have to put some thought into this. My instinct is to have them at around a coin-flip.
 

newfy

Registered User
Jul 28, 2010
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Doughty, pretty easily.

he actually leads his defense, not the guy who plays next to the man

I dont know if I would say pretty easily but I agree its Doughty. Part of the appeal with Neidermeyer is that he won everything, but now hes up against a guy thats basically won everything as well, and he did it as the go to guy. I wonder how much of Neids appeal disappears if hes the number one dman on those devil teams and dont win any cups.

Really high peak, but was a 2/3 dman a lot of his career but won a lot so Canadian media pumps him up more than he should be. Doughty is likely better all time already and hes just hitting what should be his prime since hes a dman
 

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