The Big Moose

[Northern Avs Fan]

If Moose is fully healthy this year... look out.

 

[Tralfamadore]

If he's healthy and plays well he'll be good.

 

[MaKarter]

I hope he has a great year. Having the solid second line behind Mikko and Mack should help them accomplish greatness.

 

[LOFIN]

Looking good so far. Being healthy, he is arguably a top-5 winger in the league today. Nah f*** that, top-3.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

Looking good so far. Being healthy, he is arguably a top-5 winger in the league today. Nah f*** that, top-3.

*When paired with Nathan MacKinnon.

 

[The Abusement Park]

*When paired with Nathan MacKinnon.

Who cares?

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

*When paired with Nathan MacKinnon.

MacKinnon’s been really good so far this year too, but Mikko’s been even better imo. When he’s healthy and playing like this, he’s one of the most complete wingers in the game.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

https://twitter.com/pr_nhl/status/1355727888897765376?s=21

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Rantanen is on pace for 45 goals and 89 points per 82 games.

He’s been the Avs best forward this season. I’m sure MacKinnon will take his crown back by seasons end, but Mikko is playing some great hockey.

 

[nightonthesun]

I've been critical of his game so far, but he's still Mikko Rantanen. Brings so much to the table - more than enough to outweigh his sometimes-costly mistakes.

No, he has not been better than MacKinnon.

 

[traffic cone]

I've been critical of his game so far, but he's still Mikko Rantanen. Brings so much to the table - more than enough to outweigh his sometimes-costly mistakes.

No, he has not been better than MacKinnon.

Care to explain further?

 

[nightonthesun]

Care to explain further?

I took a close look at the underlying stats and they're a lot closer than I expected, admittedly, having seen every game so far. I imagine both guys are thinking they haven't really been able to turn on the jets yet. Mack is more consistently an urgent threat and is always the primary focus of other team's defense every time the line's out, so that'd be my primary argument since neither guy's been too hot or cold, and neither guy is mistake proof -- although, Mikko's foibles appear to be more frequent and more costly (source: unreliable eye test). I'd also generally argue that Mack has had a more important impact defensively. What's the argument to the contrary?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Care to explain further?

It doesn't require further explanation...

 

[traffic cone]

It doesn't require further explanation...

Why?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Why?

Because if you're paying attention to the games you can clearly see Mack is the better player.


Quite frankly I think Mikkos year has been a disappointing one. The offensive production is ok, but he has struggled to generate much for himself this year.

He's definitely played like a passenger on this team this year.

 

[AvsCOL]

Because if you're paying attention to the games you can clearly see Mack is the better player.


Quite frankly I think Mikkos year has been a disappointing one. The offensive production is ok, but he has struggled to generate much for himself this year.

He's definitely played like a passenger on this team this year.

I agree, the points are there, but he's disappeared in a lot of games. It's like someone said, he's either a $9mil player, or a $2mil player, depending on the night.

When Mikko is at his best, he's right up there with MacKinnon. Unfortunately that hasn't happened enough this season.

 

[traffic cone]

Because if you're paying attention to the games you can clearly see Mack is the better player.


Quite frankly I think Mikkos year has been a disappointing one. The offensive production is ok, but he has struggled to generate much for himself this year.

He's definitely played like a passenger on this team this year.

PK Subban seems like a flashy player too.

I've watched enough of both forwards.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

PK Subban seems like a flashy player too.

I've watched enough of both forwards.

What's your point? Mackinnon isn't flashy, funny enough his defensive game is probably the biggest part of what makes him so much better than Mikko.


You're not even an Avs fan, I guarantee you've tuned into less than 5 Avs games this year.


Miklo has been very average all year.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Because if you're paying attention to the games you can clearly see Mack is the better player.


Quite frankly I think Mikkos year has been a disappointing one. The offensive production is ok, but he has struggled to generate much for himself this year.

He's definitely played like a passenger on this team this year.

You have to be kidding?

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

You have to be kidding?

Not even a little. He's been underwhelming.


Edit: Disappointing is maybe being too harsh. But I dont think he's been as good this year as he was last year in the playoffs or before the injuries. Or even the year before that.


I think the entire top line for that matter has been a step behind where they were previously.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I agree, the points are there, but he's disappeared in a lot of games. It's like someone said, he's either a $9mil player, or a $2mil player, depending on the night.

When Mikko is at his best, he's right up there with MacKinnon. Unfortunately that hasn't happened enough this season.

Yeah. Agreed on all fronts. Some nights he really shows up, other nights you wouldn't even know he was playing.

 

[nightonthesun]

PK Subban seems like a flashy player too.

I've watched enough of both forwards.

Lol I see I wasted my time.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Not even a little. He's been underwhelming.


Edit: Disappointing is maybe being too harsh. But I dont think he's been as good this year as he was last year in the playoffs or before the injuries. Or even the year before that.


I think the entire top line for that matter has been a step behind where they were previously.

Calling him a passenger doesn’t make any sense at all. He leads the team in goals by 4 and has the most points on the team.

He’s winning battles and disrupting on the forcheck.

I’m certainly not saying he’s better than MacKinnon, but he’s been better to start the year. To label him a passenger when he’s been the team leader offensively is weird, to me at least.

 

[AvsCOL]

Yeah. Agreed on all fronts. Some nights he really shows up, other nights you wouldn't even know he was playing.

Can't have that from a guy making $9.25 mil.

The reason people are so frustrated with him is that you can see how dominant he CAN be. If he could return to 2019 playoffs form, the Avs are gonna make a deep run.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

Here’s what doesn’t make sense to me.

Why is Rantanen taking more heat than MacKinnon this season?

MacKinnon is the franchise player and viewed by many as a top-2 player in the world. He hasn’t looked like anything close to that.

In a full season Rantanen’s production should be somewhere in the 80’s, or 90’s. That’s what he is. I’m not sure why the expectations for him are to be more than that, especially in a low scoring division.

Maybe it’s because of how these two guys are paid right now, I don’t know. Perhaps it changes when MacKinnon gets his extension and pay increase.