Viktor Kozlov vs Evgeni Malkin

[littleHossa]

Viktor Kozlov vs Evgeny Malkin

I was looking through this year's eligible players and reading some of the articles on the internet and it struck me that Malkin is a very big playmaking center. Now there are a few playmakers or centers who are really tall, Lemieux, Allison, Sundin, Lecavalier... besides Sundin all of these players have a few faults.
I was thinking how high everyone is on Malkin right now, how his potential could even be higher than Ovechkin and such, but as we learn after a few years after the draft, you have at most 30 consistent NHLers and very few first liners. Malkin seems to have all the talent in the world, but he has already had an injury, and I can't help but think that he could turn out to be something like Viktor Kozlov, remember Gratton anyone? Very tall centers haven't had the best of luck, all of them seem to have something that holds them back, on top of that Kozlov and Malkin have some similarities.

Of course this is just one of the many possible situations that could happen, but few prospects have a very smooth transition to the NHL and perform up to their expectations.

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[DaveyCrockett]

I don't think there is a correlation between tall playmaking centres and injury/inconsistency. With any prospect, you can't really tell what kind of career they will have until they have played a few years in the nhl.

 

[Pwnasaurus]

Now there are a few playmakers or centers who are really tall, Lemieux, Allison, Sundin, Lecavalier... besides Sundin all of these players have a few faults.

 

[RiellyGood]

I believe he is referring to injuries/illness in Mario's case

 

[Pwnasaurus]

I believe he is referring to injuries/illness in Mario's case

Ah yes I can definitely see the correlation between his illness and his height as a centerman now.

 

[West]

I don't think there is a correlation between tall playmaking centres and injury/inconsistency. With any prospect, you can't really tell what kind of career they will have until they have played a few years in the nhl.

The taller you are the more likely you are to have knee and lower back issues earlier in life. Given that hockeys very hard on these joints to begin with it could be an issue with taller players.

Also the taller you are the worse your first step quickness (most world class sprinters are about 5'10) which means that if your probably going to get hit more than a smaller player or non-center (holding the puck more) which won't help matters.

So I would be a little surprized if their wasn't a correlation but it's nothing I'd worry about to much since you really only have a players rights will he's in his 20's.

 

[tom_servo]

Well, Sundin does have one fault -- he's not Lemieux.

HIYO!

 

[Gumby]

I was looking through this year's eligible players and reading some of the articles on the internet and it struck me that Malkin is a very big playmaking center. Now there are a few playmakers or centers who are really tall, Lemieux, Allison, Sundin, Lecavalier... besides Sundin all of these players have a few faults.
I was thinking how high everyone is on Malkin right now, how his potential could even be higher than Ovechkin and such, but as we learn after a few years after the draft, you have at most 30 consistent NHLers and very few first liners. Malkin seems to have all the talent in the world, but he has already had an injury, and I can't help but think that he could turn out to be something like Viktor Kozlov, remember Gratton anyone? Very tall centers haven't had the best of luck, all of them seem to have something that holds them back, on top of that Kozlov and Malkin have some similarities.

Of course this is just one of the many possible situations that could happen, but few prospects have a very smooth transition to the NHL and perform up to their expectations.

I had the exact same thought of him reminding me of Kozlov (check early in sharkies thread) when my interest in him started probablly 4-5 months ago. I really don't know why, but every time I thought of Malkin a picture of Kozlov would pop in my head. Then again though, Malkin isn't really any taller than Yashin, and with a reportedly much better head on his shoulders and a better attitude I think Malkin will be fine. Remember, Kozlov coulda been a great player if he had a better work ethic, something Malkin doesn't seem to have a problem with. As for guys like Gratton, not a good comparison because Gratton never had the offensive tools anywhere close to what Malkin can bring to the table, he just used hard work (something he lost when he got a fat contract) and size to get things done.

All in all though, considering his age and very thin frame (hell, I'm 6'4" and 185 and I couldn't imagine my body takin an NHL game) I think he's definitly gonna need to spend another year in Russia and add at least another 10-15 lbs before comin over.

 

[littleHossa]

Well, Sundin does have one fault -- he's not Lemieux.

HIYO!

Yeah, no one's saying anything wrong about Lemieux, but he is injury prone, which is largely due to his size and style of play.

Anyway, to get back on topic, doesn't anyone have any worry that with Malkin's size, and his position as a center, and with the fact he's supremly talenled ( see Kozlov, Lecavalier ) that maybe he won't have the career everybody is saying he will? It might be injuries, it might be inconsistency, but Malkin does have a lot of similarities with other players that failed, he just doesn't look like that can't miss prospect to me anymore. He even has the "power forward" label( just like Gratton ), that can't be good either, he'll probably fail on a few levels.

 

[Gumby]

Yeah, no one's saying anything wrong about Lemieux, but he is injury prone, which is largely due to his size and style of play.

Anyway, to get back on topic, doesn't anyone have any worry that with Malkin's size, and his position as a center, and with the fact he's supremly talenled ( see Kozlov, Lecavalier ) that maybe he won't have the career everybody is saying he will? It might be injuries, it might be inconsistency, but Malkin does have a lot of similarities with other players that failed, he just doesn't look like that can't miss prospect to me anymore. He even has the "power forward" label( just like Gratton ), that can't be good either, he'll probably fail on a few levels.

When you look at guys like Lecavalier and Yashin I think he compares quite well with those guys and their games are nothing to sneeze at (though both always seem like they could be better).
As for the injury thing, thats a legit point. While it's certainly not a certainty for Malkin, it is true that taller guys do have alot more injury problems and it somehow seems that it's the centers that are hurt more too....though that could just be a perception by me.

As for the "power forward" label, I think that was only said by one person on this board and somehow stuck for some people but beleive me it's pure BS. The kids a big,play-making finesse guy....not alot of bangin and crashin for him.

 

[Jacob]

Yeah, no one's saying anything wrong about Lemieux, but he is injury prone, which is largely due to his size and style of play.

No it isn't. I can't imagine how many injuries Lemieux would have suffered if he was average height. Lemieux's injuries have been a combination of overusage (playing whilst injured), poor training habits (eating cheese fries before games), and natural causes (cancer).

Anyway, to get back on topic, doesn't anyone have any worry that with Malkin's size, and his position as a center, and with the fact he's supremly talenled ( see Kozlov, Lecavalier ) that maybe he won't have the career everybody is saying he will? It might be injuries, it might be inconsistency, but Malkin does have a lot of similarities with other players that failed, he just doesn't look like that can't miss prospect to me anymore. He even has the "power forward" label( just like Gratton ), that can't be good either, he'll probably fail on a few levels

So what you're saying is that size is a disadvantage, and teams should instead go after the 5'10" and 5'11" guys, right? This thread doesn't make much sense.

Big guys fail, little guys fail.

 

[craig1]

As for the injury thing, thats a legit point. While it's certainly not a certainty for Malkin, it is true that taller guys do have alot more injury problems and it somehow seems that it's the centers that are hurt more too....though that could just be a perception by me.

Could you show me the statistical data on this please.....I'd really like to see this one for myself. Who did the study? When did they do it? Was it a sample population from a team, or did they do the entire NHL? Was it Binomial? What were they comparing (6'4" guys to 6'3" guys? or 5'11" guys? etc.)? Just curious.....

 

[AvengerK]

Malkin's only 6'3". Thornton is 6'4".

 

[AEKaki]

Malkin's only 6'3". Thornton is 6'4".

Malkin is 17 y-o

 

[Jacob]

Malkin's only 6'3". Thornton is 6'4".

Actually, Malkin checked in at the U18's at 6'4", 179.