Comments for Jamie Benn vs. Evander Kane at http://hockey.dobbersports.com , comment 1 to 5 out of 5 comments http://hockey.dobbersports.com Tue, 18 Jun 2013 03:32:40 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/4223-jamie-benn-vs-evander-kane#comment-18527 Well like I said, if the upside and pure point production is the same then I do favour the goal scorer if for no other reason than goals are often a H2H tiebreaker but my main point was that Benn is going to get you so many more assists that it is not worth it to go for Kane and his goal advantage. But again, from a pure categorical standpoint goals are just as valuable as assists so there is some team specific needs-based analysis that needs to take place but in a vacuum there is no difference. Interesting on Enstrom. I really did not even think about that impact. I guess I just forgot because the Jets offense started the year stagnant with him and then got rolling without him. My assumption is there will not be too much of an improvement as the Jets are middle of the pack in scoring and power play performance and should most likely stay there. Enstrom is one of my favourites but it is really interesting to see how well the team did in his absence. The impact of Goligoski was easy to include because his absence has had a well-documented and significant impact. As I said in the outset of the article, breakouts are very hard to read. If I thought Kane would keep it up and keep pace with Benn my article would probably have been inconclusive but I just do not think Kane is keeping up with Benn. Not short term. Not long term. His goal advantage is nice but if I am looking at a 10-20 point separation without a massive peripheral advantage one way or the other then I am taking the points. - steve laidlaw Thu, 22 Dec 2011 04:55:18 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/4223-jamie-benn-vs-evander-kane#comment-18522 Steve, The implication in your response is that my argument is inconsistent. Firstly I understand Benn shoots. He's no Thornton in that regard, so the drop off, Kane to Benn is not great. Secondly, my point about goals is a general one, not specific to this cage match. IMO if you want to win a league with a set-up similar to the standard ESPN league that I play, then you will want to do well in goals. No argument there I hope. Where do your goals come from? Your forwards, even the best Dmen are assist heavy. So rightly or wrongly I always look to draft forwards that score over forwards that assist. I figure I can get assists from a solid blue line, so I don't draft assist heavy forwards unless they have other things going for them. I'd never take H.Sedin in the first round for example. So I don't think I'm being inconsitent. One further thing on the match, you talk about Goligoski's impact. No mention of Enstrom's absence so far this season. Will Kane get better with Enstrom back? more PPP? Again, small sample size, hard to tell. Overall though, thought provoking cage match which is what it's all about. - ktox Wed, 21 Dec 2011 21:09:59 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/4223-jamie-benn-vs-evander-kane#comment-18504 Ktox, I find it interesting that you would argue the categories argument and then also argue that goals should be worth more than assists. Assists are a category just like goals and carry the exact same weight in the standings. Now if we are talking pure points here then a heavy goal guy with less points is actually giving you less in PPP and Plus/Minus so there is a very solid reason to favour an assist guy if he is reaching higher scoring totals. If the upside is the point production is the exact same for both players I would understand a goal scorers advantage but that's not the case in this Cage Match. Kane needs to hit his upside to make that argument and he's still not close. Also re-SOG. Remember that Benn is no slouch here either. He's on pace for 250. Kane has him beat but let's see what happens if/when the missed games and slow down come. Kane has yet to prove he's an 82 game player so I refuse to treat him like one. Do so at your own risk. A 75 game season puts Kane under 300 SOG and that's a manageable difference considering what Benn is giving you in other categories. PIM are still a wash. Benn has not been a huge PIM producer thus far in his career but neither has Kane. Over two and a half seasons Kane is only holding a 21 PIM advantage. That's not enough to be decisive. You can hang onto Kane hoping he continues to grow both mentally and physically and you could prove right but I'm putting my money on the guy who is there right now. - steve laidlaw Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:17:51 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/4223-jamie-benn-vs-evander-kane#comment-18497 The analysis is good as always. I have Kane. There is no way I would swap him for Benn. Fantsy hockey is a game of categories, and as mentioned 300+ SOG is gold dust. Kane could win that category for you. Benn may be a bit better all around, but he is unlikely to impact a single category like Kane can. + Kane's extra fisticuffs, and stronger goal/assist ratio really help out too. As a general point, when comparing forwards, I don't think assists should be given the same weight as goals. A winning fantasy team should get a lot of assists from the blue line. The forwards have to score goals. Kane scores more goals. (depends on your league set-up obviously) - ktox Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:39:31 +0100 http://hockey.dobbersports.com/index.php/columnistsarticles-mainmenu-77/laidlaw/4223-jamie-benn-vs-evander-kane#comment-18495 Awesome job. I drafted Benn in my 3 leagues this year so I'm a bit biased. He definitely seems to have "it". I freaking love players that can do it all. Last year Benn scored at a 67 point pace but missed some games and finished with 56 in 69. Impressive. He's on pace for 71 in 81 now, so there's no reason he can't follow Grioux's path of last year when he finished with 76. My fingers are crossed that Benn can get to 80-85 points this year. - shaun b Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:35:13 +0100