Sebastian Aho vs. Kirill Kaprizov

[heksagon]

... and that's silly, because centers collect more points due to their position on the ice.
If offensive production is similar, the winger is better - at least offensively.

That is not how it works. There are many players who have switched from center to wing and vice versa over their careers, and there is no statistical proof that players would produce more as centers. In fact some players see their production dip while playing center, because they focus more on center's defensive duties and can't cherry pick or cheat as much. It depends on the player of course.

It is true that centers collect easy extra points from for example just winning offensive zone face offs, but they also lose potential points for having more defensive duties.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Kaprizov, he's a young Palffy.

 

[Narow]

Kaprizov has played 81 games so far and put up 37+46=83 points. That's better than peak Aho so far and Kaprizov is younger and seems to get better still. Kaprizov should be winning this right now. Or are you saying Kaprizov will lose to Pettersson as well?! I mean Kaprizov can't lose to Pettersson, can he?!

Aho had a 82 game 30 goals + 53 assists = 82 points in 18-19 seaaon.... the year after he had 68 games 38 goals (66 points)

Id say thats pretty even with Kaprisov...oh and i always wanted to say this, He's a center

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Aho was better than Panarin at that age too so what’s the point?

They also never account for that scoring is up considerably compared to when Panarin entered the league. If you adjust for scoring trends, it’s not that close between Panarin and Kaprizov.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

They also never account for that scoring is up considerably compared to when Panarin entered the league. If you adjust for scoring trends, it’s not that close between Panarin and Kaprizov.

Kaprizov is 5th in the league in points this year and Panarin finished 11th his second year in scoring. Obviously, the season isn’t over, but that arguement really only worked last year. And, when you took into consideration that Panarin wasn’t even the best player on his line those years, that arguement for them not being close falls apart as well.

 

[Mestaruus]

Oh well, it looks like Aho is more popular on HF than Kaprizov...

Aho is top-10 center in the league. Maybe you underrate him.

 

[tarheelhockey]

It's not just that Aho's a center, it's that he actually plays the defensive role expected of a 1C including heavy PK minutes. On a team with several players capable of being matchup Cs, he could easily get away with being an offense-only cherrypicker. Instead he keeps developing his all-round game, including a steady improvement from 45% to 54% on faceoffs since 2018.

It's a shame we don't get to see this matchup tonight because COVID.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Kaprizov is 5th in the league in points this year and Panarin finished 11th his second year in scoring.

Fair point. I was more referring to their first seasons. We’ll see how Kaprizov tracks over many seasons, but raw points per game is not how it should be assessed.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

Close but I'd go with Aho

 

[The Abusement Park]

It’s close. But I’d take Aho over Kiril purely for because Aho is a better defensive player and C. But that’s not a slight on Kiril in any way, shape, or form. Both are elite talents.

 

[16thOverallSaveUs]

Fair point. I was more referring to their first seasons. We’ll see how Kaprizov tracks over many seasons, but raw points per game is not how it should be assessed.

Agreed. And, Id still take bread man, I just don't see how there's as wide a gap as people try to say there is.