Quote:
Originally Posted by PatientlyWaiting
Really Seph? Hejduk was a great player before Duchene, and Duchene hasn't resurrected or given Milan any sort of career year. Tavares turned Moulson into a 30G, household name for the Isles and helped Parenteau earn 50+ points in his first full year in the NHL.
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Keyword here is "was" a great player, and even then his numbers largely hinged on the play of centerman Joe Sakic (which neither Tavares or Duchene are nearly the caliber of yet). Not saying Hejduk was a leech, but Sakic was certainly a factor in him hitting the numbers he did. But ever since the lockout, Hejduk has consistently been a 20-30g 50-60pts player, the only exceptions being Sakic's 100 pt season where Hejduk hit 35g 70pts. And yes, I think Moulson could replicate those numbers playing with Stastny and Sakic.
But numbers aside, just watch the two play. It doesn't really matter who they were in the past, because what I am comparing is Hejduk and Moulson's play right now. Hejduk's lost a step from his prime and these days overall is a pretty similar player to Moulson. Their skillsets are very comparable, Hejduk being a bit more skilled and Moulson being a bit bigger/stronger. Both thrive on knowing where to go on the ice and having good hands and shot selections to bury the puck. Neither are notably strong playmakers, and neither is the kind of player that really boosts his linemates' numbers significantly as they don't really create chances for others. They mostly are just guys that excel at finishing the chances their linemates set up. I do think Hejduk is a slightly better playmaker, but I also think that minor advantage is negated by him playing fewer games.
Then again, the meat of this disagreement may be that I also don't think Moulson's numbers are exclusively a product of Tavares' play. Not saying Tavares doesn't help his numbers, because he does, but he's not giving Moulson a career. In their rookie seasons, when Tavares hit his cold streak and only put up 3 goals and 6 assists in 37 games, Moulson put up up 10 goals, which projects to 22g over 82 games. Which is less, of course, but still legit top 6 numbers and pretty much dead equal to what Hejduk put up each of the last two seasons. And if he is in fact purely a product of Tavares, then we overpaid significantly on Moulson's new contract.
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