MacKinnon vs... absolutely nobody from this era

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Comparing Eichel vs McDavid to Seguin vs Hall is ludicrous. During the lottery of the 2015 draft they had McDavid there in studio and when the Oilers won they asked how he felt to go to the Oilers. That was well before the actual draft lol. There was no debate. There was an "Eichel would be a 1st overall on nearly any other year except this one" type discussion, which was pretty much true.

Except there WAS debate.

I vaguely remember replying to someone (Tinordi I think) who said they preferred Eichel.

[CSharp]

Say what you will, but MacKinnon's first few years weren't that spectacular with crappy teams. The leadership is lead by Landeskog. Definitely when the Avs picked up other pieces, like Rantenen and Makar and the team started to become a playoff contender, McKinnon also matured along with that. It was last year or 2 years ago when MacKinnon threw a fit that everyone seem to have forgotten, but it's something that can be forgiven if you're a franchise player. The forgotten player out of all of this is Landeskog, IMO. He's the one guy that's left from the rebuild. If the Flames can land him in the lineup, that'll be a game changer.

[The Yen Man]

I feel like the McKinnon really took off after Duchene and O'Reilly were gone. Maybe the added leadership role really helped him. And instead of being thrust into a captaincy role, Landeskog was able to shield that part for him while he was still developing. Definitely all the right pieces fell in place for the Avs for sure.

[Knut]

Mackinnon also spends all summer working out with Crosby and trying to glean as much from him as he can. That likely rubs off on him in a positive way.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Except there WAS debate.

I vaguely remember replying to someone (Tinordi I think) who said they preferred Eichel.

Crosby vs Brule was a debate as well.

Also which talking head back in like 81 said some Soviet was better than Gretzky lol?

The Earth's curvature is also debated then, doesn't mean we need to listen to every idiot.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Comparing Eichel vs McDavid to Seguin vs Hall is ludicrous. During the lottery of the 2015 draft they had McDavid there in studio and when the Oilers won they asked how he felt to go to the Oilers. That was well before the actual draft lol. There was no debate. There was an "Eichel would be a 1st overall on nearly any other year except this one" type discussion, which was pretty much true.

Maybe not by the lottery, but that year, certain media types definitely tried to make it into a contest. They failed, and by the time of the lottery it was obvious.

Matthews v. Laine and Puljujarvi was a thing for a little while too, though it was pretty obvious Matthews was number one. I remember quite a few articles claiming Puljujarvi was the most "NHL-ready" of the three.

[Oling_Roachinen]

I'm pretty sure the only person of note saying Eichel would be better than McDavid leading up to the draft was Eichel himself. People had already called the 2015 draft the McDavid sweepstakes long before the 2015 season started. He had been hyped for years.

Matthews vs Laine (vs Puuliulujuluklujujarvi) I think is much more fair.

[Enoch Root]

there were people on CP saying it

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

there were people on CP saying it

Sure, but I suspect a lot of it was more wishful thinking after knowing the Oilers were going to get McDavid. I know I was crossing my fingers Eichel would be better.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Oling_Roachinen

Crosby vs Brule was a debate as well.

Also which talking head back in like 81 said some Soviet was better than Gretzky lol?

The Earth's curvature is also debated then, doesn't mean we need to listen to every idiot.

Not just anyone Soviet. Makarov. He was ours and he was glorious.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

My recollection was that MacKinnon was the clear favourite going into that draft year. As usual, nits are picked and other guys get more mentions, but I still think MacKinnon would have been the favourite.

Jones was interesting, because he did have a ton of hype, started to drop and then was picked by the one franchise that arguably didn't really need him (Preds).

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Not just anyone Soviet. Makarov. He was ours and he was glorious.

I thought it was Larionov they used to say that about.

[powderjunkie]

This includes the 3 meaningless seeding round games last year, though he only put up 3 pts in those games...so his legit playoff totals are even higher.

Only 14 of these games have been in the 2nd round, and none later.

MIN = 10/7 (rookie year)
NAS = 6/6
CGY = 8/5 ; SJ = 5pts/7gp

ARI = 10/5 ; DAL = 12/7
STL = 9/4


He good.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by GioforPM

I thought it was Larionov they used to say that about.

Pretty sure it was Makarov. Wasn't he called the Russian Gretzky?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by CSharp

Say what you will, but MacKinnon's first few years weren't that spectacular with crappy teams. The leadership is lead by Landeskog. Definitely when the Avs picked up other pieces, like Rantenen and Makar and the team started to become a playoff contender, McKinnon also matured along with that. It was last year or 2 years ago when MacKinnon threw a fit that everyone seem to have forgotten, but it's something that can be forgiven if you're a franchise player. The forgotten player out of all of this is Landeskog, IMO. He's the one guy that's left from the rebuild. If the Flames can land him in the lineup, that'll be a game changer.

I really like Landeskog, but definitely not at his price tag. He is easily going to clear $9.0 m on a long-term deal, and I just don't think he will be nearly as good removed from his situation in Denver.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I really like Landeskog, but definitely not at his price tag. He is easily going to clear $9.0 m on a long-term deal, and I just don't think he will be nearly as good removed from his situation in Denver.

Landeskog might be worth it. Flames need top 6 players that play with sandpaper, and some additional leadership (especially given that Giordano is leaving) might be worth it.


I think you are right, however, in anticipating a reduction in point totals. Definitely a high risk signing, but he does fill a few important holes at the same time. I am on the fence, but I think he gets re-signed anyway before becoming available.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

Pretty sure it was Makarov. Wasn't he called the Russian Gretzky?

They did. But I also heard them say it about Larionov during the KLM days - since he was the centre.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

Yeah, Jones was highly thought of too (but the other guys weren't close)

Just goes to show once again - always take the C

Interesting thread - were we predicting how it would go, or were we making our own rankings? I clearly was under the the weather that day! Or hacked!

Context is key here too.

There was a lot of discussion leading into the draft that Colorado would take Jones who was childhood Avs fan, and that had ties to the community since his dad played for the Nuggets.

So since this was predictions it might not be that people thought Jones was better, just that there was a lot of noise around the draft about Jones to Colorado.

[tvp2003]

So why was Mackinnon so average (and the Avalanche so mediocre, if not bad) from 2014 to 2017, after he won the Calder?

Did he just need to mature a little bit? Work on his strength? Get better teammates? All of the above?

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

So why was Mackinnon so average (and the Avalanche so mediocre, if not bad) from 2014 to 2017, after he won the Calder?

Did he just need to mature a little bit? Work on his strength? Get better teammates? All of the above?

Coaching might have had something to do with it. He started his career playing for Joe Sacco and Patrick Roy.