Backstrom (Was) vs Kopitar...

[Kid Tonka]

Points only, goals worth 2 points, which one would you keep?

[Daves_a_Mess]

It\'s a tough one but i\'d go with Kopitar... he\'ll always get more goals then Backstrom and IMO LA will (eventually) be a real good team with all that young talent, and Kopitar being their main player will see big time points... also Backstrom relies too much on OV for production. If anything happens (injury, trade etc) you\'ll see his overall production slide big time.

[andrewklassen]

I don\'t think Backstrom relies on OV at all. It\'s simply that when you couple Backstrom\'s excellent playmaking ability with the goal scoring prowess of OV you have a potentially elite combination.

Backstrom had 14 goals in 69 points last year [his goal totals are roughly 20% of his point totals]. Even if his upside is only 100 playing with OV he\'ll put up roughly 20 G and 80 A = 120 points.

Kopitar put up 32 G in 77 points [roughly 42% goals to points ratio]. Let\'s say he tops out at 95 points that would give him an estimated 40 G and 45 A = 125.

The point totals are so similar overall that I think I\'d go with Backstrom as I think his goal percentage may climb slightly and he\'ll play with one of two superstars [OV or Semin].

It\'ll be hard to make a bad choice between these two though.

[andrewklassen]

j_mauti wrote:

... also Backstrom relies too much on OV for production. If anything happens (injury, trade etc) you\'ll see his overall production slide big time.

Injuries can happen to anyone and neither Backstrom or Kopitar has injury history at this point. Federov and Nylander are no longer the franchise C they once were. Backstrom is the face of the WAS franchise at C every bit as much as Kopitar is in LA [and Kopitar won\'t line up alongside OV or Semin].

[mblava]

Just for the goal category....I would keep Kopitar, but both are good players!

[Phaneuffan]

I would Keep Backstrom becasue of the Ovechkin factor. It\'s still close and in my opinion Kopitar is more talented