Mikko Koivu Or The Capitals' Nicklas Backstrom?

its extremely hard to tell. In one case, you have a young talented playmaking center paired with a probable future hall of famer, and will be named amongst the greats in NHL history (just saying, he has at least 13 years ahead of him and look what he’s done already). The other winger is probably talented as well (don’t know who the 3rd person on the line is)

On the other hand, you have two-way playmaking Koivu, paired with a slow, complimentary playmaer (skilled, but lets face it, Brunette isn’t going to create offense on his own) and Miettinen, who can’t hit the net.

You can’t compare them, saying one is better than the other. Not only are they is different situations, they both have strengths in different areas. Backstrom’s strength is his playmaking offensive skills. Koivu’s strengths is his two-way game, his ability to play in his zone excellently while versatile enough to provide some offense.

I’m not saying Backstrom is purely a product of the line or the Cap’s system, but lets face it, every player stats is very dependant to the team’s success. For example, our own Niklas Backstrom, a good goalie, but is he really a Vezina regular candidate? Past years, he seemed to be, but once we changed systems, you could see the flaws. Whats not to say that won’t happen to Nicklas Backstrom if he were to play in Minnesota instead of the Capitals? Still, does it really matter? Backstrom is signed for a long time and we’ll be AO’s twin for pretty much his entire career so you don’t have to worry if he’s just a product because he’ll just keep racking in his 100 point seasons at a cheap contract. Thats all that matters.

But to answer you questions, I believe Koivu is a very good #1 center. Probably not elite, named amongst Datsyuk or Thornton, but still a very very good one. He is underrated, yes because of the benefits that others enjoy, but mainly because his strengths are leadership, defensive play, faceoffs, ability to protect the puck, hockey IQ to know where to be at the right times etc etc. stuff that won’t show up on the stat sheet. Like Bryan and Russo mentioned, if you don’t pay attention to Koivu on the ice, you won’t notice these things. The reason why Wild fans are able to see it, is because on Koivu’s line, he is the most entertaining to watch so we keep our eyes locked on him, so we notice the little things he does.