A Tale Of Two Wingers
October 27th, 2009 by SteveConsider the following players:
Marco Sturm, Tuomo Ruutu, Milan Michalek, Jiri Hudler, Erik Cole, Chris Drury, and Mike Modano.
They are the only forwards in the NHL to average between 0.68 and 0.70 points per game and play at least 60 games over the course of a season for the past two years.
Now consider the fact that Niklas Hagman has averaged 0.685 points per game as a Leaf, and Jason Blake has averaged 0.698 points per game as a Leaf. Basically they each represent the closest thing the Leafs have to top line forwards when Phil Kessel isn’t in the line up. Alexei Ponikarovsky theoretically joined the group last season, but over the past 4 years his average is 0.635 points per game, so he’s a bit further down the production scale.
The strange thing is, Blake was brought in as a goal scorer, while Hagman is generally thought of as more of a defensive winger with some decent scoring ability. Ironically, Hagman has been scoring goals to the tune of 0.384 per game, or better than a goal every 3 games, while Blake only produces 0.243 per game, or less than a goal every 4 games. Examined in that light, Hagman has been a better finisher, and Blake is producing more assists.
Hagman is costing $1 million less against the cap than Jason Blake. Hagman is 29, Blake is 36. Hagman has 8 points this season and is only a -1 after 8 games, with a hat trick in the Leafs only win against Anaheim. Blake has 4 points, with only 1 goal, and a -7 rating after 9 games this season.
Both players shoot the puck a lot, but in Jason Blake his 45 foot perimeter efforts engender raspberries from the fans, while Hagman gets applause for his laser beam wristers to the top corner from the top of the face-off circle. Hagman is seen as a leader amongst the forwards and he fits in well on any line. Blake is perceived as a malcontent, and the best synergy he has found as a Leaf came with Dominic Moore, who was traded away at the deadline last year.
Blake is the oldest player on the team, and he’s yesterday’s news, especially now that Kessel is approaching his Leafs debut. Brian Burke needs to find a way to deal with the Blake situation, and while waiving him might be a hard pill to swallow (financially if nothing else), it may be a necessary evil in the process to rebuilding the hopefully new and improved young Leafs.
More Hagman, Less Blake.
Posted in Player Analysis, Stat Analysis
10 Responses to “A Tale Of Two Wingers”
By lordosis
on Oct 27, 2009
great stuff Steve.
By glgbill
on Oct 28, 2009
Burke said he was ready to waive players, if necessary. We shall see.
By Colby
on Oct 28, 2009
As a Stars fan, I still cringe when I think about the day when we let Hags walk away. I think he’s one of the most underrated guys in the league!
By BCapp
on Oct 28, 2009
Great post as usual Steve
And I can happily say I have said all summer that Hags is my favourite Leaf!
By The Muppet
on Oct 28, 2009
Waiving Blake would only be painful to MLSE. Once in the minors they would still be cutting him $4M cheques, but I believe his salary would not count against the cap. Is that true?
By The Muppet
on Oct 28, 2009
Couldn’t agree more though! He was fricken awful in Anaheim and every other game for that matter.
By LeafFan1989
on Oct 28, 2009
Blake seemed to want to play last year and now hes back to playing like his first year. Its terrible to watch all those perimeter shots. I understand if your aiming for his pads in order to get rebounds but most of his shots simply hit the goalie square in the logo and gets either covered up or cleared. He needs to be benched. Hagman got benched and he’s played better than blake all season.
By BCapp
on Oct 28, 2009
Wanted to toss this out there somewhere…
We just had our first 1st period of the season, where we did NOT let in the first goal!
By Clark
on Oct 29, 2009
2nd. The Leafs did not allow a goal in the 1st against Ottawa.
By BCapp
on Oct 29, 2009
I stand corrected.