Pierre Engvall is having himself quite the season for a 23 year old rookie and former 7th round pick just called up from the Marlies. Now, with 22 games under his belt, he’s at 7 goals and 5 assists. Don’t tell Katya I pulled the “on pace for” card, but that’s an 82 game pace of 26 goals and 44 points for a third liner who gets no PP time.
Funnily enough, that’s pretty much what Andreas Johnsson did as a 24 year old winger and former 7th round pick last season.
In fact, Pierre Engvall is already better than many NHLers this year. In terms of goals, he has as many or more in his 22 games than:
- Kappo Kakko - 7 goals in 37 games
- Nick Suzuki - 7 goals in 43 games
- Nikita Gusev - 7 goals in 38 games
- Connor Sheary - 7 goals in 36 games
- Patrick Marleau - 7 goals in 40 games
- Josh Leivo - 7 goals in 36 games
- Mikael Backlund - 6 goals in 44 games
- Jordan Staal - 6 goals in 42 games
- Jack Hughes - 6 goals in 36 games
- Vincent Trochek - 5 goals in 35 games
- Jesperi Kotkaniemi - 5 goals in 27 games
- Sidney Crosby - 5 goals in you know we don’t need to talk about how many games he’s played it’s not important
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not saying that Pierre Engvall, a former 7th round pick, is better than former top 5 picks like Kotkaniemi, Hughes, Kakko, and Suzuki.
However, I asked four NHL scouts who they think is the better player in the NHL. 420 said Engvall, the other 69 didn’t specify, but they did say this: “Suzuki and Kotkaniemi can’t score. They will struggle with everything. Engvall is better than both of them”.
I will not be taking any questions about my sources don’t @ me.
ONTO THE LINKS
Maple Leafs make too many mistakes on defense in 6-4 loss to Edmonton Oilers | by Hardev
The Leafs are in a playoff spot: How secure is it? | by Katya
Why I Believed In Mike Babcock Too Long | by Fulemin
2020 World Juniors Recap: Rasmus Sandin Named Top Defenseman of the Tournament, Nick Robertson impresses, Team Canada Wins Gold | by Kevin Papetti
Leafs prospects Rasmus Sandin and Mikko Kokkonen endure a weird bronze-medal experience | by Scort Whiler at the Athletic
You... love to see it?
lmao mikhail abramov has more goals than the second highest scorer on his team has points pic.twitter.com/bZd6pXPMJx
— dylan (@dylanfremlin) January 5, 2020
AROUND THE NHL
Predators announce firing of head coach Peter Laviolette | by Sportsnet
Countdown to TradeCentre: Pageau a hot commodity | by TSN
DGB weekend power rankings: Penguins and Sharks remind us of the two ways a veteran contender can go | by Down Goes Brown
Some international confusion about the result of the World Junior gold medal game...
Funny story about today's #WorldJuniors final. Lots of posts on Russian internet today celebrating victory, congratulating the Russian team with gold, very celebratory, very patriotic, all taunting hapless Canadians. Why, do you ask? Well, here is the reason...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020
At one point the score of both games was 3-3, adding to the confusion. So, while many fans saw the actual game end 4-3 in Canada's favor, many others saw a 5-3 win for Russia, never realizing they were watching something that happened nine years ago...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020
So, as the final siren blew in both broadcasts, the ones who watched Channel 1 sulked and logged off, but the ones who watched Match TV flooded the interwebs in jubilant gloating. "Thank you, lads! You've ripped Canada again!" Some prominent Russians were among the revelers...
— Slava Malamud (@SlavaMalamud) January 6, 2020
Have a happy Tuesday everyone!
Who is the better player?
| Pierre Engvall | 165 |
| Nick Suzuki | 2 |
| Jesperi Kotkaniemi | 0 |
| Jack Hughes | 8 |
| Kappo Kakko | 3 |
| Sidney Crosby | 103 |
