Who would you rather have in their primes? Sakic-Forsberg or MacKinnon-Makar?

[Foppa2118]

Health aside Forsberg was absolutely the best if not in contention for the best player in the league from like 02-06. As for Sakic he was most definitely in the conversation most of his career? I mean I think Mackinnon is in just as muddy waters for 2nd best player(which I’m not sure that he is) in the league as Sakic.

Yeah I think that's accurate.

 

[missionAvs]

its really not even close and considering how soft the league is now in comparison. Imagine what a healthy foppa would do in todays league. It would be like lebron playing in the wnba (joking joking)

Foppa would just manhandle the NHL if he were in his prime and healthy today.

 

[McMetal]

I'd say Sakic/Forsberg as of now, but I disagree with the AINEC comments, especially with Makar being so young. If he becomes the perennial Norris favorite we all think he can be, that starts to tip the scales a little bit. Our very own Lidstrom on the back end would be nothing to sneeze at. Too early to say right now on that front.

 

[Foppa2118]

I'd say Sakic/Forsberg as of now, but I disagree with the AINEC comments, especially with Makar being so young. If he becomes the perennial Norris favorite we all think he can be, that starts to tip the scales a little bit. Our very own Lidstrom on the back end would be nothing to sneeze at. Too early to say right now on that front.

Yeah I think it has the potential to be close.

This is the same problem we have whenever we compare this era Avalanche vs the past. We're comparing the full careers and trophies and Stanley Cups to guys like Nate and Cale who are in the beginning to middle stages of their career.

Cale is a very special defenseman. I've always maintained that and I've never set any sort of ceiling for him whatsoever. Nate could potentially win more Hart trophies than either Joe or Peter did, and Cale could win multiple Norris trophies and be the best defenseman of this generation. It could end up being a close call when we're able to compare the full careers of everyone.

It's also kind of a tricky question to answer, because its 2 centers versus a center and a defenseman.

 

[henchman21]

Until MacK and Makar win a Cup, don’t think you can vote otherwise. Sakic was a top 5 center and Forsberg was arguably the best player in the world who could also play center. Just like Crosby/Malkin… 5 Cups between those pairs and it is hard to argue that.

 

[jabubenice]

Foppa would just manhandle the NHL if he were in his prime and healthy today.

exactly...

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

I'd say Sakic/Forsberg as of now, but I disagree with the AINEC comments, especially with Makar being so young. If he becomes the perennial Norris favorite we all think he can be, that starts to tip the scales a little bit. Our very own Lidstrom on the back end would be nothing to sneeze at. Too early to say right now on that front.

I agree here. I mean MacKinnon might go down as the best player ever to never win a major individual award. The guys has had some crap luck in that regard, but he’s been widely regarded as a top-5 player for several years now and has some incredibly impressive playoff stats. I wouldn’t be surprised if his postseason numbers end up just as strong as Sakic and Foppa when it’s all said and done.

Makar is just getting started. Who knows what he’s going to do. There’s a legit argument to be made that he’s already the best defenceman in the game.

I doubt this Avs group gets two cups, but I could see them getting one.

Safe money is definitely on the old guard, but I doubt it will be as lopsided as some think.

 

[Jazzguitar]

Maybe I’m this much of a homer for Forsberg but if it were between just Foppa or the two of them it wouldn’t be an easy decision for me.

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

This is a troll thread right?


From the laughable premise to the thread to the OP proceeding to suggest neithrr of Sakic/Forsberg were ever among the 2/3 best players in the league...

I'm assuming this is a troll thread.

 

[TruePowerSlave]

Pointless question, AINEC for now

Nobody even knows for sure what is Makar's peak

 

[Ararana]

Man I don’t know. C has always been the most important position and if you have 2 C’s that are good enough you can drag around just about any D core. Such as the Pens that won B2B.

The pens had Letang for their entire stretch. I've always been a fan of well balanced teams, look at Toronto or Edmonton for examples of poor defense crippling an offensive juggernaut. The Blues won because they finally got a ROR playing like an elite 1C and Binnington had a miracle year to add to Pietro on the blue line.

IMO a team needs to have a 1C, 1D, and a 1ish goaltender to realistically shoot for a cup. It's the reason Vegas is never going to win a cup with the current aging core they have, they lack the biggest of the three required pieces, though I'd argue Lehner is one step back from them lacking two.

 

[5280]

This is a troll thread right?


From the laughable premise to the thread to the OP proceeding to suggest neithrr of Sakic/Forsberg were ever among the 2/3 best players in the league...

I'm assuming this is a troll thread.

Yeah, the dude seems like he just likes to watch things burn.

 

[SoundwaveIsCharisma]

This thread seems really early. We know what Pete and Joe were able to do. We've got a good idea of MacKinnon's peak, but Makar is two years into his professional career. Who knows, ten years from now we may be talking about how it's not even close in favour of MacK and Mak

 

[henchman21]

The pens had Letang for their entire stretch. I've always been a fan of well balanced teams, look at Toronto or Edmonton for examples of poor defense crippling an offensive juggernaut. The Blues won because they finally got a ROR playing like an elite 1C and Binnington had a miracle year to add to Pietro on the blue line.

IMO a team needs to have a 1C, 1D, and a 1ish goaltender to realistically shoot for a cup. It's the reason Vegas is never going to win a cup with the current aging core they have, they lack the biggest of the three required pieces, though I'd argue Lehner is one step back from them lacking two.

Kinda... Letang wasn't a 1D in the first run (Gonchar was their 1), and of the last 2 runs he was only a part of all of it once. I do think you need a 1D or close to it (or absurd top 4) to win a Cup.

 

[5280]

This thread seems really early. We know what Pete and Joe were able to do. We've got a good idea of MacKinnon's peak, but Makar is two years into his professional career. Who knows, ten years from now we may be talking about how it's not even close in favour of MacK and Mak

Yeah, I agree about Makar. It’s a bit too early to tell. He’s shown flashes of complete dominance when Mackinnon is out and he’s not deferring to him all of the time. Hopefully this will come out more as he gets more mature.

 

[The Abusement Park]

The pens had Letang for their entire stretch. I've always been a fan of well balanced teams, look at Toronto or Edmonton for examples of poor defense crippling an offensive juggernaut. The Blues won because they finally got a ROR playing like an elite 1C and Binnington had a miracle year to add to Pietro on the blue line.

IMO a team needs to have a 1C, 1D, and a 1ish goaltender to realistically shoot for a cup. It's the reason Vegas is never going to win a cup with the current aging core they have, they lack the biggest of the three required pieces, though I'd argue Lehner is one step back from them lacking two.

You definitely need a 1D. But we're seeing currently that even with as stacked a defense as we do currently that our C core isn't good enough to get the job done. Look at what MTL just did. It's somewhat flukey but that C core they had last year is the main reason they were able to make the finals.

 

[5280]

You definitely need a 1D. But we're seeing currently that even with as stacked a defense as we do currently that our C core isn't good enough to get the job done. Look at what MTL just did. It's somewhat flukey but that C core they had last year is the main reason they were able to make the finals.

*C core without Kadri. Hard to say how influential he would have been.

 

[The Abusement Park]

*C core without Kadri. Hard to say how influential he would have been.

Top to bottom MTL's C depth was still better than ours with Kadri

 

[henchman21]

*C core without Kadri. Hard to say how influential he would have been.

Suzuki would have ate Kadri alive...

 

[5280]

Top to bottom MTL's C depth was still better than ours with Kadri

Yeah, but they didn’t beat us, they beat Vegas. I do get what you are saying, though.

 

[5280]

Suzuki would have ate Kadri alive...

You think Montreal would have beat us? I’m no so sure, myself. Those things are hard to project, though.

 

[henchman21]

You think Montreal would have beat us? I’m no so sure, myself. Those things are hard to project, though.

Yeah... better goaltending and much, much better depth up front especially at center. I think people severely underestimate how important center play is in the playoffs, and the Avs lack it even with Kadri. Then consider how crappy Kadri was last season, I just don't see him being a key piece to change things.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

I'm not a big fan of Kadri but he would have certainly help.

Let's not forget Gru's role in our exit to Vegas. He won us game 2 but after that he sh*t the bed big time. If he provides goaltending at the level he did during the season we might have taken the series and then who knows against the Habs.

 

[AvsGuy]

Really? I'm surprised since Mac has been in the conversation as #1 or at least #2 in the league. Makar is in the same conversation for dmen.

Neither Sakic or Forsberg have ever been top 3 in the league even though they are great players.

What? Badly incorrect. There was a several season stretch in the late 90's-early 00's where the two players primarily in discussion for best in the league were Jaromir Jagr and Peter Forsberg.

 

[henchman21]

What? Badly incorrect. There was a several season stretch in the late 90's-early 00's where the two players primarily in discussion for best in the league were Jaromir Jagr and Peter Forsberg.

You could add to that too that Sakic's 00-01 season was arguably the best season of any player in the clutch and grab era.