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It's funny, I think I have the opposite view on the Kopi thing. I think Doughty and Quick are fine where they are. I would put Kopi in the top 15 somewhere. There are a lot of great centers in the league and some outstanding wingers as well. For our recipe for success, no question, Kopi over most except for Crosby, Malkin etc. I know here on HF, there's always the argument about the importance of or how overrated two-way play is, but as the Kings and Bruins have proven over the last 2 years is that elite two-way play >> elite offense on its own or elite defense. That's the type of game where Kopi shines. If you have a player capable of playing 200 feet, then you utilize him that way. If Kopi played for Philly, I bet he would've hit 90 points in a season already.
Who is a better goaltender than Quick? Lundqvist arguably? Of course this list about right now. Why wouldn't it be? Polls are conducted all of the time because opinions change from day to day, week to week, etc. Quick just put on a display as good as or better than any goaltender in recent years. Lundqvist just completed his best regular season AND playoffs by far and Quick was BETTER. An original six team gets more hype than here? Not surprising. Quick's trajectory has been on the rise every year he's been in the league. This is the one ranking where there should the least amount of argument, bar none. Of course Lunqvist has a better track record. He's 4 years older than Quick and has been a number 1 goaltender twice as long. Quick has 4 years to prove that he's the undisputed king at his position and he wouldn't even have to be as great as this year, as Lundqvist was never as good as he was this year.
As far as Doughty, I couldn't find the article online and don't know there reasoning, but I wouldn't trade him for any defenseman in the league. All Doughty did during this postseason run was remind the world how great he is. On the biggest stage, this kid has "It". There's absolutely no denying that now. Olympics, playoffs, whatever, he comes to play. His stock always skyrockets after he plays in events that are watched by the most people. Drew still needs to grow up some, he's just 22, and we'll see if this Cup motivates him to separate himself from the rest of the league. During the playoffs he said to the press that he needed to be the best defenseman on the ice each night for the Kings to win the Cup. Well, he was. Better than the Canucks defenders, Pietroangelo, OEL, Yandle and that assortment of spare parts in NJ. It's too bad we didn't get the Rangers because it would've been fun seeing him outplay their d-men too. That to me is showing maturity. To tell everyone he has to be the best and then to go out and do it. I wouldn't be surprised if GMs think he is a top 10 talent in the league. Shea Weber? Great regular season performer, but Drew's playoffs stats absolutely dwarf Weber's. I thought Drew was better than Weber in the Olympics too. Drew has some crazy dynamic that's hard to quantify, but when you watch him play, it's readily apparent. I love Scuderi, but Ryan Suter is better than he is and we'll see what Weber does without him.
So yeah, let's bask in the glory that fans of Stanley Cup champions do and let the main board go into an uproar over how overrated all Kings are since winning the Cup. It won't change the fact that the Kings went 16-4 and donkey-punched the league. That will never change. It was domination, no squeaking by like some champs did. People act like the Kings went 16-12 and won in a nailbiter. +27 goal differential in 20 games. Mindblowing stuff.
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