steelhammer wrote:mikey287 wrote:I mean, you're matching Karlsson's lone peak season vs. Letang's entire body of work...Letang has a 6th and 9th place Norris and a "third" team all-star...so it's not like Letang is so far out there that Karlsson is off in the distance...
Randy Carlyle has a Norris and Scott Stevens doesn't...
They're both top-10 d-men in the league and since I usually base my opinions on players over a longer stretch of time, I'd still say they're pretty close. If Karlsson puts up another historically good season and Letang becomes the 2nd best d-men on the Penguins, then ok, you got something...but I'd like to see what Karlsson can do next season before I start annointing anyone king of the world...
Just because 2 players are top 10 at their position does not mean they are necessarily close. Jason Spezza was one of the top 5 centers last season. Was he even close to Malkin? The difference between Karlsson and Letang is much less disparaging, but both being top 10 d-men isn't a qualifier that puts them as near equals. Just to clarify, I don't think Letang is several notches below Karlsson, but Karlsson is decisively better.
One further note, possibly unrelated, but I am a huge fan of Letang and worry that this "defensive pipeline" we've created is going to point to Letang being the player that is traded is the near future. Hope I'm wrong, but the mythical pipeline only works when trading coveted d-men that have already established themselves and Letang is the only one that fits this bill now and in the near future.
Yes, not necessarily do two "top 10" players become close. However, in this case, they do. Unless you believe in the "what have you done for me yesterday" way of evaluating talent, Karlsson certainly isn't the best d-man in the league. So, I mean, just speaking in the abstract, you got Chara/Weber as top two, in either order. Then, what? Karlsson/Letang/Doughty/Boyle/Pietroangelo as a cluster of some sort...? Suter/Seabrook/Campbell/Enstrom coming up after that...? Karlsson having a Norris and then having another Norris-type season this year would certainly help to vault him ahead of the cluster and he probably heads it up already, but...
Your argument started as: "Karlsson, and it's not close."
Now it's: "I don't think Letang is several notches below Karlsson"
It's not disagreeable that Karlsson might be "decisively better" but only if it's proceeded by "fairly close", as in "it's fairly close, but Karlsson is better" - or "Karlsson is decisively better, but it's still pretty close." ...it might sound like nitpicking on my part - and for that, I do apologize - but I think it's worth picking at...Karlsson is "[better] and it's not close" than Letang...how does it apply to Chara/Weber? The cluster (if it's agreeable) that they share? Maybe some context outside of Karlsson/Letang would help me understand your point of view a little better, if you care to share (and hell, why not, it's the offseason and Shero is on vacation...

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