Surprising Article on NHL.com about AO/Malkin

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Til the End of Time

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May 18, 2003
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There is an article up at nhl.com about the draft. But instead of talking about #1 overall, the article talks about the "dynamic due", AO/Malkin.

http://www.nhl.com/futures/2004draf..._duo061704.html

The article really says some surprising things, at least for me. I was ticked when my Penguins lost the lottery on April 6. I have heard alot of great things about Malkin, but I have been thinking we were clearly losers that day.

But this article compares AO to Iginla, as opposed to Lemieux or whomever. That still is a lofty comparison, but a far cry from calling him the best prospect in 20 years.

"Ovechkin is 11 months older than Malkin and will likely step into the lineup of the team that drafts him at the end of his first training camp. Malkin is a few years away from making the jump, but people expect him to wind up being Ovechkin's equal."

Instead of saying a few scouts prefer Malkin to AO, it says people, in general, think Malkin will be AO's equal. I was suprised to read this.

Now I know nhl.com isn't the greatest website for hockey news or opinions, but still, they talked about these two Russians as if they are nearly equal.

Perhaps the gap really has closed. Is anyone else surprised by how close the article makes them seem?
 

Dr.Sens(e)

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There have been several similar articles published in the last month or so. Malkin put on a pretty dominating performance at the U-18's, and it started there as I recall.

There are a lot of scouts who believe Malkin's upside is right there with Ovechkin. The real difference is AO has very little risk, where as Malkin's upside is much more projection. There is little to no chance AO will bust, and he is pretty much a lock to be a 20-goal scorer in the NHL - and that's worst case. It's been a long time since you could really say that definitively about a prospect.

Overall, I think AO is suffering from over-analysis. People have watched him for so long, they've forgotten how strong his strength's are. But at the same time, he is harldy "the next one". He's just a sure-fire NHL scorer, but it wouldn't be a shock by any stretch of the imaginiation if he never won an Art Ross or Richard trophy.

For the Pens, they aren't that big a loser. Chicago are the ones who really got burned at #3, because according to most scouts, the difference between #3 and #10 is much less than the difference between #2 and #3.
 

EroCaps

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Til the End of Time said:
There is an article up at nhl.com about the draft. But instead of talking about #1 overall, the article talks about the "dynamic due", AO/Malkin.

http://www.nhl.com/futures/2004draf..._duo061704.html

The article really says some surprising things, at least for me. I was ticked when my Penguins lost the lottery on April 6. I have heard alot of great things about Malkin, but I have been thinking we were clearly losers that day.

But this article compares AO to Iginla, as opposed to Lemieux or whomever. That still is a lofty comparison, but a far cry from calling him the best prospect in 20 years.

"Ovechkin is 11 months older than Malkin and will likely step into the lineup of the team that drafts him at the end of his first training camp. Malkin is a few years away from making the jump, but people expect him to wind up being Ovechkin's equal."

Instead of saying a few scouts prefer Malkin to AO, it says people, in general, think Malkin will be AO's equal. I was suprised to read this.

Now I know nhl.com isn't the greatest website for hockey news or opinions, but still, they talked about these two Russians as if they are nearly equal.

Perhaps the gap really has closed. Is anyone else surprised by how close the article makes them seem?

No. They're trying to stir the pot. The general opinion is that Ovechkin is 1, Malkin is 2, there are a handful of people who feel Malkin is a 1a.
 

Flames Draft Watcher

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This from a caps fan?

Sorry but pretty much every scouting service is saying that the gap has closed considerably. Redline for example says this about Malkin, "Would have made a great #1 overall in most years."
 

Til the End of Time

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I have seen some of the articles lately saying that the gap between AO/Malkin has closed, but I never really took them too seriously. I have heard that a few scouts prefer Malkin over AO, but I just figured that perhaps they wanted to make a bold prediction. I know at one point, Chistov was ranked ahead of Kovalchuk, and I was thinking this could be a similar situation.

But in the nhl.com article, the talk about AO/Malkin being close seems to be taken to a further extent than past recent stories about the two.

I don't want to debate AO/Malkin. I know AO is better. I just want to know if people are surprised at article, and how close it makes the two seem. I'm guessing alot of people read stuff at nhl.com, particularly casual hockey fans, and after that article, a casual fan may think the two are really close.
 

Steve Latin*

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I know I should probably ignore it as idle speculation, but whenever I hear talk about a kid having combined (positive) aspects of Thorton and Sakic I can't help but get a little excited!

S L
 

Rabid Ranger

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Feb 27, 2002
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Steve Latin said:
I know I should probably ignore it as idle speculation, but whenever I hear talk about a kid having combined (positive) aspects of Thorton and Sakic I can't help but get a little excited!

S L

I tend to get a little repulsed...........
 

Marshall

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Malkin's a fantastic talent. I think Handsome said it best when he said that Chicago got the short end of the stick with the Caps winning the draft.

I also have to say that I don't think there's anything subversive in the NHL.com article; Malkin has really come on, according to a lot of sources.
 

Jacob

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EroCaps said:
Money. You are aware of the fact that the NHL belongs to the Sports&Entertainment business?
Stirring the pot automatically equals money? Please connect the dots for me.
 

Jacob

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EroCaps said:
Why bother? You're going to refute everything I say.
It's called a discussion. That's what we do on here.

Would you prefer if I respond with a single smiley icon, like you do?
 

Chimaera

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Feb 4, 2004
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Well.... it would make sense promoting both players. 2 stars is better than one.


I mean, to pronounce this the "Year of Ovechkin" would undermine any interest in any other players, beyond the hard core fans of their own teams. Just like, I feel next year, you'll see people pushing Brule, and maybe a few other players to at least be legitimate as the number 2 pick. And maybe a few steps away from Crosby.


That said, Malkin's a heck of a prospect that any team would be lucky to have. Do I think he's equal to Ovechkin? no. the risk is just higher with him. But it'll be interesting to watch.
 

capman29

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Flames Draft Watcher said:
This from a caps fan?

Sorry but pretty much every scouting service is saying that the gap has closed considerably. Redline for example says this about Malkin, "Would have made a great #1 overall in most years."

You could be right but not in a draft with ovechkin in it.
 

EroCaps

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Jacobv2 said:
It's called a discussion. That's what we do on here.

Would you prefer if I respond with a single smiley icon, like you do?

It's not a discussion with you, it's a passive-aggressive, contentious and arbitrary argument, hence the ambiguity of a smiley. :)
 

Jacob

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That sounds like something someone would say that can't win an argument. :)
 
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