Stepan vs Couture

[knoble]

I asked a similar question about Tarasenko vs Kane. Another owner asked if I was interested in trading Couture for Stepan. With Joe back for another year, will that impact Couture? Will Stepan find another level being the #1 centre this year in Arizona?

Goals and assists are 1 point each, with a bonus point for power play points.

[FinnishFlash]

I'd prefer Couture. Stepan is what he is, a reliable 55 point asset.

Couture has higher upside.

[StuntMan12]

Couture has the higher upside but is often injured. Stepan may not be the flashy pick here but he is as reliable as they come. I go with Stepan. Couture probably has the higher fantasy value so if it were ME I would say I want Stepan +

[knoble]

He has offered to throw in a pick to make it happen. I am dealing with 2 gm's at the moment, the other being about Patrick Kane. Seeing if the extra pick I get in a Stepan trade will be enough to entice the other owner to trade me Patrick Kane and Pietriangelo for Tarasenko and Carlson. I doubt it, but throwing it out there to him. lol

[gogoayane]

I would go with Couture - great multi-stats and SJ tends to score across 3 lines. Stepan could be a good surprise too with a young dynamic team but Couture is safer.

[StuntMan12]

Couture has missed 44 games in the past 4 years
Stepan has missed 25 games in the past 7 years
Out of the past 5 years Stepan has outscored Couture 4/5

Stepan is also a year younger and has a bigger role on a young team. Either way I doubt their point margin will be much.

I have them down for the same amount of pts but Stepan ranked 2 or 3 spots above Couture

GP/G/A/PTS/FLOOR-CEILING
Derek Stepan (ARI) 78-20-38-58-50/65
Logan Couture (SJ) 75-26-32-58-50/65

[lucafen4]

Couture has missed 44 games in the past 4 years
Stepan has missed 25 games in the past 7 years
Out of the past 5 years Stepan has outscored Couture 4/5

Stepan is also a year younger and has a bigger role on a young team.

I'd also go Stepan... add in that he's now off a team that scores by committee and I can see a 60pt season coming

[Fighting_Emu]

I dont think a pick will drastically impact the Kane/Tank talks (also can you clarify who youre sending/getting in that one? Brain fried from fantasy hockey threads but would like to weigh in accurately on your conundrum).

I think Stepan will finally break out this year- had an opportunity for him and I missed him. Couture Im not as stoked on- hes more reliable but I like the big wind up swing on Stepan here...

[Axeman33]

I prefer Couture to Stepan but with Stepan moving to the desert, things could change for him (could be for the better but could also be for the worse).

I'd stick with what I know in Couture personally.

[havanablast21]

I'd prefer Couture. Stepan is what he is, a reliable 55 point asset.

Couture has higher upside.

Nothing more than I can add that FF didn't cover. Fully agree. Couture > Stepan my a fair margin

[hockeyrobot]

Couture has the higher upside but is often injured. Stepan may not be the flashy pick here but he is as reliable as they come. I go with Stepan. Couture probably has the higher fantasy value so if it were ME I would say I want Stepan +

I like this take and would especially prefer Stepan if this is for a draft where you can probably get him 3-4 rounds later than Couture.

[Pengwin7]

I'm only taking Stepan if a league is "full year points" and you can't sub for a guy while injured... and I'm a lock for top three if my team is healthy.
Couture has 65pt upside... and he paces for 60+ over 82gp.
In most leagues, you can swap guys out when injured and need hope/upside to win.
The team(s) that win(s) league(s) usually has good years from his players with upside.

And Stepan is changing places here... and while some people have a tendency to always expect better things when changing places...
Going from NYR (w/Kreider/Zucc last year) to whatever wingers he gets in Arizona - is just a considerable downgrade, IMO.

Couture here, for me.

[knoble]

Seems somewhat split here. Good points made for both players. There are 2 ir slots in this league so yes, if couture is injured, I can place him on ir and grab someone to replace him. Because it's split, I'm debating about making the trade but either asking for a 3rd round pick be included or try to swap my 2 4th rounders (picks 31 and 33) for his 2 3rd rounders (picks 25 and 27).
Draft includes all recent NHL draft picks plus all non-keepers.

[RizzeeDizzee]

I prefer Couture to Stepan but with Stepan moving to the desert, things could change for him (could be for the better but could also be for the worse).

I'd stick with what I know in Couture personally.

This pretty much sums up where I'm at too. It's closer than you might first think, and I wouldn't sleep on Stepan this season. The other issue with Couture is a lot of his value stemmed from being on PP1, but I think the Sharks PP will struggle without Marleau, so there's that.

[PenguinHunter]

Nothing new here....

If Couture can stay healthy he is the better player for fantasy hockey.

But if you want safety in reliability you want to go with Stepan and hope you are right that Couture ends up missing significant time again.