Marcel the great! said:
huh? no, Andrei is more talented, faster, has a way better shot then Sergei, is more imposing on the ice even if Sergei likes to hit alot more, Andrei would of torn up the OHL in half if he would of chosen to play in North-America, just like he did at the WJC 2 years ago on a very poor Belarus team.
I'm a big fan of Andrei and almost by default have taken an interest in Sergei. I've seen Andrei play a lot more often than Sergei this year and would like to comment on some of the things i've seen over the season (i know they are at different stages of their careers but I'll try to draw a comparison regardless, so take it for what its worth).
I didn't know anything about Sergei before the season, but the word on him at the start of the season was he is a quick skater who always plays with an edge, has an ok shot but is more known for showing his playmaking skills. In comparison to Andrei, I would say that the 2 attributes that Sergei has a clear advantage over Andrei in would be his speed and his consistency. In terms of pace, I'd say SK has better foot speed and better agility at top speed than AK. As far as consistency is concerned, I expect this will be obvious to a lot of people but you always have a good idea of what SK is going to do for you when the game is about to start. With AK, you don't know what to expect. In terms of consistency, AK plays a bit like Richard Zednik. He has slumps and sometimes doesn't make an impact on the game for a few matches in a row, but when he gets into his stride, you see him always on the scoresheet (G and A, not as much PIMS) and unlike Zed, has the ability to be the best player on the ice for a few games in a row.
The attributes I feel AK out-performs SK in by a noticable margin would be his stick-handling and his shooting. He has such a range of quality shots open to him, he can shoot it well from tough angles, from distance and he does so with a quick release and launches a heavy shot (my favourite this season would have to be that insane wrist shot from the point that went top corner a few months ago). His stickhandling can be a bit inconsistant (like other areas of his game) although I wouldn't say that he still always tries to do too much with the puck which was a criticism last season and at the start of this. Most of the time, he can do something effective with the puck and when he is really on his game, he can look a little bit like Kovalev out there. A few times this season I have seen him find the puck on his stick with either room to manouver or so little space you wouldn't expect him to do anything and find his way past several guys and hold on to the puck until he has an option. He doesn't just beat guys then throw the puck to the front of the net, he makes a pass to a teammates stick. Which brings me to passing...
I wouldn't say that either Kostitsyn is a better passer than the other, although I think that passing is more important to the way Sergei plays than the way Andrei plays. Both guys can make great tape to tape passes all over the rink. If i had to give the edge to either player, it would go to Andrei for the sole reason that he has done so (if only briefly) at the NHL level whereas SK, as yet, hasn't. Both guys can be deadly on the PP with the extra space and time and the puck on their stick. They can find passing lanes with little difficulty and if required, can make a difficult pass look fairly routine.
Finally, contact. Their isn't much between them on the condition that you assume Andrei is playing well. When he is, he brings the body and does it well. He can seperate a guy from the puck and when he wants to, he can really lay guys out. The thing with Andrei is he doesn't always bring that game and when he doesn't, he doesn't tend to get as involved in the game as a whole which can not be said for Sergei. He will always bring his body in a game and you know what to expect from him. Andrei, as i mentioned before, you don't always know what to expect of him. One thing i noticed over the course of the season, is that there is a sure fire way of getting the best out of him. Let the opposition hit him hard, it only has to be once. Several times this season, Ive seen AK start a game playing tentatively and not being overly involved in the game and then BANG, he gets hit - sometimes a great clean hit, sometimes cheap (late hits particularly seem to stir him). From that point on, he becomes that guy that people were talking about when he was drafted. He brings his body, he gets involved in ALL aspects of the game, he shoots, stickhandles, the whole lot.
As for the original question of what type of player SK could become in the future, it's difficult for me to say based on the limited amount of games i've seen him play this season, but based on what i have seen and the reports I've read, I wouldn't be suprised if he turned into a Dan Hinote type of guy (does this sound about right from people who have seen him regularly this year?). Can use his speed and his physical play to good effect on the forecheck, can really get in a guys face and cause some friction (don't know if this is the case, but i can imagine SK yapping a lot on the ice, would love it if someone put a microphone on him in a few years when his english is better, he seems to be a real character). He can also chip in offensively using the shot and passing that people have seen over the course of the season to be able to offer several aspects of efficiency. Thats how i see him turning out assuming he shows a fairly constant development, although obviously we will have to wait and see just how he goes in future years, but i can see him as a guy who will steadily improve instead of just tailing off short of the NHL becuase he seems to have such a passion for the game and loves to get himself invovled and he doesn't back down from a challenge, either on or off the ice.
Hope that is of some use to you, just hope you weren't wanting short, concise answers
