Why John Tavares will be no Sidney Crosby

[Reddawg]

I\'ve been saying the same thing for the past year, nice to see someone with much more FH credibility than I possess backing my personal view of him.

If nothing else, I\'d like to see Tavares lead the OHL in scoring before we automatically throw him into the NHL All-Star game, just seems like a player who\'s expected to do amazing things at the NHL level should be doing them at the OHL level first, not finishing 40 points behind Patrick Kane\'s #\'s from the season before.

[Crazynuck]

I\'m also under the belief that he matured quicker than others his age. But you can not take away the fact that he scored 134pts at the age of 16 and was only 11 pts behind Kane in the scoring race. You can argue that Kane played less games but he also had the likes of AK and Gagner to play with. He finished 6 pts out of the scoring lead this year but this whole talk about 40 less pts than Kane doesnt apply as there was less scoring this year.

Next year will tell the story but I don\'t see Tavares as the next Crosby/AO/Malkin. I would like to see how he preforms next season before making any predictions. He might also be without MacLean.

[Sin Bin]

DAW wrote:

I think 2009 draft will look like 2006 draft were we had Kessel and Johnson... Kessel was hyped to be as good as crosby.. but in the end Johnson went first and kessel dropped all the way to 5th... I really think we will have to wait and see how 2009 draft will lay out.. does tavares get better? or does Hedman dominate 2009 wjc and zambonies the rink with tavares?

As I was reading this I was thinking of the Kessel/Johnson comparison too.

[Dobber]

Other hyped 16-year-olds off the top of my head:

Kessel
Samsonov
Cleary
Spezza
Lindros
Crosby
Ovechkin
Lemieux


It seems to be about 50-50

[Cartman]

Dobber wrote:

Other hyped 16-year-olds off the top of my head:

Kessel
Samsonov
Cleary
Spezza
Lindros
Crosby
Ovechkin
Lemieux


It seems to be about 50-50

50-50 is pretty good odds on being #1 though. Any takers? I\'ll give you 2-1 at $25...

[doulos]

Keep these threads up. I want people to pass on this guy so that I can get him!

I suspect this is Dobber\'s Master plan as well - using the website to deflect the attention away from the kid so he can swoop in and steal him in his hockey pools!

[lanky522]

Bottom line (which somebody already brought up), is that Tavares will go first. Of the top two/three teams in the draft, someone will want him. Ergo, even if the top team doesn\'t, they can trade down to the second or third pick, still get their man and some extra sweetness.

Also, as drafts are being discussed quite a bit right now in the united states (with the NFL draft close in the rearview mirror)... you HARDLY EVER know until 3-7 years down the road what team did well in the draft, and what player was \"worth\" the high pick.

Tavares could come into the league and score 200 points his rookie year, demand 10 million dollars a year after his entry level contract is up, and then stop trying (ala yashin)... would you then say 20-30 years from now that he was even on the same page as the ovechkins, crosbys, and malkins? NO.

We won\'t know who will become the best player until it happens... teams draft largely based on level of potential, and even if Hedman does have a better year next year... i think that the amount of potential will make tavares the first (even if a team ends up trading to take him first)...

Ten years from now, I PROMISE that hockey analysts (and every one of us hockey nuts) will look back at the 2009 draft and pick someone else as the \"best\" hockey player from the draft. Tavares will be great, but if you don\'t try, and you\'re just looking for a payday, your success at the highest level will be limited (especially once you get your payday).

Who here thinks that Tavares will be like Iginla? Ie, who thinks that Tavares will put up career numbers the year AFTER he gets a nice big contract? I sure don\'t. Tavares will be remembered for his skill when everything\'s said and done, but I don\'t think he\'ll be remembered as a \"great\" player like malkin, crosby, ovechkin, sakic, iginla, etc. will be.

[lanky522]

doulos wrote:

Keep these threads up. I want people to pass on this guy so that I can get him!

I suspect this is Dobber\'s Master plan as well - using the website to deflect the attention away from the kid so he can swoop in and steal him in his hockey pools!

It\'s not a matter of passing him up in fantasy pools (any player with 100 point potential is worth owning in fantasy circles), it\'s a matter of warning that he won\'t be as tremendous as some may have predicted.

He\'ll still be a fantasy force... he just might not be fun to watch live or on t.v.

[Cartman]

lanky522 wrote:

Bottom line (which somebody already brought up), is that Tavares will go first. Of the top two/three teams in the draft, someone will want him. Ergo, even if the top team doesn\'t, they can trade down to the second or third pick, still get their man and some extra sweetness.

Also, as drafts are being discussed quite a bit right now in the united states (with the NFL draft close in the rearview mirror)... you HARDLY EVER know until 3-7 years down the road what team did well in the draft, and what player was \"worth\" the high pick.

Tavares could come into the league and score 200 points his rookie year, demand 10 million dollars a year after his entry level contract is up, and then stop trying (ala yashin)... would you then say 20-30 years from now that he was even on the same page as the ovechkins, crosbys, and malkins? NO.

We won\'t know who will become the best player until it happens... teams draft largely based on level of potential, and even if Hedman does have a better year next year... i think that the amount of potential will make tavares the first (even if a team ends up trading to take him first)...

Ten years from now, I PROMISE that hockey analysts (and every one of us hockey nuts) will look back at the 2009 draft and pick someone else as the \"best\" hockey player from the draft. Tavares will be great, but if you don\'t try, and you\'re just looking for a payday, your success at the highest level will be limited (especially once you get your payday).

Who here thinks that Tavares will be like Iginla? Ie, who thinks that Tavares will put up career numbers the year AFTER he gets a nice big contract? I sure don\'t. Tavares will be remembered for his skill when everything\'s said and done, but I don\'t think he\'ll be remembered as a \"great\" player like malkin, crosby, ovechkin, sakic, iginla, etc. will be.

+1 I had two shots at trying to say that. Good job lanky.

Tavares may be driven to be the best or he may be driven by payday. Time will tell. Right now it looks like the latter. It\'s like watching the difference between Michael Jordan\'s and Vince Carter\'s career paths .

Michael and Vince both started off with the same kind of hype and potential out of NC but sometime during their second seasons, it was clear the MJ cared more about winning (and winnning and winning) while Vince cared more about $$ and popularity. Once Vince got his fat contract, he was happy to be just a good player. He didnt care about rings. Michael was ruthless on the court and would do anything to win - like score 45 pts with a fever of 102 while on IV.

I think Tavares needs to sit down and stop dreaming about the $ and lifestyle because that\'s a no brainer. He should be dreaming about legacy. That\'s what seperates true greatness from being great.

[angus]

Do we know Tavares is only after the money? He does seem like a lazy player, but I don\'t watch him that much, and maybe he is just bored with the competition.

Lots of baseless assumptions, but I guess that is what message boards are for, right?

It seems we already have a career path lined up for a 16/17 year old junior hockey player.

[doulos]

angus wrote:

Do we know Tavares is only after the money? He does seem like a lazy player, but I don\'t watch him that much, and maybe he is just bored with the competition.

Lots of baseless assumptions, but I guess that is what message boards are for, right?

It seems we already have a career path lined up for a 16/17 year old junior hockey player.

Good call!

[ultrawhiteness]

ya, no doubt.

i\'m not taking anything away from tavares, or suggesting that he is lazy or wants $$$ (where did that even come from?).

my point is that many NHL GMs, supposing their team had an equally mediocre set of forwards and defencemen, would choose the franchise defenceman in the draft before a dobberite tier 2 goal scoring center with unspectacular size and skating.

[fzusher]

What, nobody thinks goalie Olivier Roy is taken first overall?

[Crazynuck]

ultrawhiteness wrote:

would choose the franchise defenceman in the draft before a dobberite tier 2 goal scoring center with unspectacular size and skating.

:laugh:

[Dobber]

doulos wrote:

Keep these threads up. I want people to pass on this guy so that I can get him!

I suspect this is Dobber\'s Master plan as well - using the website to deflect the attention away from the kid so he can swoop in and steal him in his hockey pools!

He will go first overall. Zero doubt about it. But I think we are looking at a Spezza and not a Crosby or Gretzky. As I said. He is still worth targeting heavily in all fantasy leagues. But if someone is competing with me for him and he pays a Crosby ransom for the honor, I will step back and let him win. I will only pay a Spezza ransom.