i have mentioned this before, but i don't see that much realistically separating palffy from lafontaine. but my caveat is unlike many i tend to see lafontaine as a very high HOVG.
lafontaine: 2.5 superstar seasons, finishing 2nd and 8th in points and 3rd in PPG in the abbreviated season
palffy: 4 seasons that look like he was a superstar in hindsight, though nobody really noticed him at the time, finishing 5th, 8th, 9th, and 10th in scoring
lafontaine: okay playoff record before his prime, almost no playoff record during his prime but had one excellent series and two good ones out of five in his prime (two of which he did not finish)
palffy: almost no playoff record, but two excellent series out of four total
lafontaine: 1013 points in 865 games, with all but his last year in the high scoring era
palffy: 713 points in 684 games, with all but 1.5 of his prime years in the DPE
the difference is obviously total points, one crazy spike season by lafontaine, what amounts to effectively two extra seasons played by lafontaine, and the fact that lafontaine got to 1.5 years out of his ideal situation (mogilny, hawerchuk on the point, andreychuk for most of it) while palffy got probably 80 games total out of the extremely injury-prone LAPD line, including only four in the playoffs.
beyond that, they were very similar i think. both injury prone guys, both smallish, both unbelievably fun to watch, both toiled for garbage islanders teams, both stepped into promising situations after leaving the island that were ultimately disappointing from a team standpoint (partially derailed by injuries to themselves and other key players). neither really brought anything beyond scoring, but both were extremely complete offensive threats: A+ playmakers who could also score goals with the best of them.
if it were up to me, it would go kariya > lafontaine > palffy, but with a lot less separating them than you would probably think. and all would be beneath my HHOF cut off line.
Doesn't Nilsson have a reputation of someone who was lazy and usually disappeared in the playoffs? I don't think either can be said for Pálffy.
Palffy was far better than Nilsson. Not even debatable.
The comparable is that they both were great players, that for some reason (if it's reputation of being lazy or something else) did not make a big lasting impact on the teams they played for. Not in the sense of being HHOFers or getting their jersey retired somewhere in the NHL.
Kent Nilsson:
NHL 553 GP 686 Pts (1.24 ppg)
Stanley Cup: 59 GP 52 Pts (0.88 ppg)
Cup-winner and still has the swedish record for most points in a season. Would be 2nd for slovakian players.
Zigmund Palffy:
NHL 684 GP 713 Pts (1.04 ppg)
Stanley Cup 24 GP 19 Pts (0.79 ppg)
No Cup and is 12th (5th player) for the record for single season in points for slovakian players. Would be 21st for swedish players.
Sure different eras but "not even debatable" to Palffys favour?
I disagree.
The comparable is that they both were great players, that for some reason (if it's reputation of being lazy or something else) did not make a big lasting impact on the teams they played for. Not in the sense of being HHOFers or getting their jersey retired somewhere in the NHL.
Kent Nilsson:
NHL 553 GP 686 Pts (1.24 ppg)
Stanley Cup: 59 GP 52 Pts (0.88 ppg)
Cup-winner and still has the swedish record for most points in a season. Would be 2nd for slovakian players.
Zigmund Palffy:
NHL 684 GP 713 Pts (1.04 ppg)
Stanley Cup 24 GP 19 Pts (0.79 ppg)
No Cup and is 12th (5th player) for the record for single season in points for slovakian players. Would be 21st for swedish players.
Sure different eras but "not even debatable" to Palffys favour?
I disagree.
You can't just dismiss the era like that. Nilsson benefited from the highest scoring era in modern NHL history, Palffy quite the opposite.
Adjusted points per HR:
Nilsson: 553 games - 546 points - 0.99 PPG
Palffy: 684 games - 784 points - 1.15 PPG
Obviously Lafontaine had the best peak season, but Palffy's prime was better for sure. Anything beyond 3 seasons is in Palffy's favour, Kariya was a bit better than both.
So which team do you think Palffy would have benefitted most if he had played for them? My vote goes to Colorado. Playing alongside Forsberg and Sakic. Palffy was more talented than Hejduk and even Hejduk managed to win a Rocket Richard. Palffy probably wins a few Cups and the Avs' legacy would be remembered as "Sakic, Forsberg, Palffy, Roy". A shoo-in Hall of Famer then.
So which team do you think Palffy would have benefitted most if he had played for them? My vote goes to Colorado. Playing alongside Forsberg and Sakic. Palffy was more talented than Hejduk and even Hejduk managed to win a Rocket Richard. Palffy probably wins a few Cups and the Avs' legacy would be remembered as "Sakic, Forsberg, Palffy, Roy". A shoo-in Hall of Famer then.
Was looking at his stats and saw how dominant he was when playing...
So which team do you think Palffy would have benefitted most if he had played for them? My vote goes to Colorado. Playing alongside Forsberg and Sakic. Palffy was more talented than Hejduk and even Hejduk managed to win a Rocket Richard. Palffy probably wins a few Cups and the Avs' legacy would be remembered as "Sakic, Forsberg, Palffy, Roy". A shoo-in Hall of Famer then.
how about Penguins in season 2000-01 with
Palffy-Lemieux-Jagr
Lang-Straka-Kovalev
Pálffy is probably the most skilled Slovak to ever play in the NHL IMO, but he just doesnt have the individual awards or playoff success to be in the HOF.
"Dominant" isn't how I'd describe Palffy at all. Really good and very productive, sure. Could have had a more illustrious career in another setting, no doubt. But I think Eliteprospects puts it best: "reliable goal/point scorer." Best player the Isles had, so every puck went through him, but not really enough of a player on his own right to actually dictate flow/pace of play the way "dominant" players do - even when not putting the puck in the net. I consider Lafontaine a more "dominant" player without hesitation, since he has been brought up.
Yeah it's probably between him Hossa and Gaborik. I think I would go Palffy>Hossa>Gaborik.