To help celebrate NBC Rivalry Night, NHL.com will look at a rivalry within the rivalry of the featured game on Wednesday nights. For this week, we are trying to determine how close Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier is to the two-way standard set by Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews.
Going into the 2006 NHL Draft, Jonathan Toews already was considered a plus-defensive player, earning rankings of "very good" or "excellent" in all seven categories on NHL Central Scouting's checklist.
Since being taken by the Blackhawks with the third pick, he's emerged as the Blackhawks' franchise player, captain, two-time Stanley Cup champion and the 2013 Selke Trophy winner as the League's top defensive forward.
Toews also is dependable in the offensive zone and recognized as one of the best all-round players in the NHL.
Could the Philadelphia Flyers' Sean Couturier be traveling the same path?
Like Toews, Couturier earned accolades for his defensive play, earning "excellent" rankings in the four categories Central Scouting had for defensive play prior to being selected by the Flyers with the eighth pick of 2011 NHL Draft. He also was a big scorer in junior hockey, and his recent strong play has provided a glimpse of those days.
Toews is the benchmark for all-zone excellence; how far is Couturier from joining him? Let's look at the gap and decide:
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J. Toews |
S. Couturier |
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In two seasons at the University of North Dakota, Toews gave everyone a glimpse into his all-round ability. He had 22 goals and 39 points in 42 games as a freshman, and after he was drafted by the Blackhawks in 2006 he had 46 points in 34 games and earned a spot with Canada at the 2007 IIHF World Championship. |
Couturier was a known commodity heading into the 2011 draft. He had back-to-back 96-point seasons with the Drummondville Voltiguers of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. But as good as he was offensively, his defensive skills were considered just as strong. |
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The verdict: With an enviable trophy case, and a frontrunner to add more hardware with Canada's 2014 Olympic team, there's no question Toews ranks as one of the elite players in the NHL. And the gap between Toews and Couturier is a big one. "I think that if [Couturier] can get to within an arm's reach of Jonathan Toews, I think Sean Couturier has a pretty healthy career in the NHL," Olczyk said. However, the seeds are there for Couturier to at least emulate for the Flyers what Toews does for the Blackhawks. "I still think it's a work in progress," Olczyk said. "I still think the body of work, it's not enough to make an assessment that he's going to be a certain type of player. Looking at him and watching him, it's there, now it's just finding that consistency. This is what they expect and they need that consistency. If he's not scoring, is he able to do those other things that elite two-way centermen can do? It looks like everything is all there, now it's just a matter of having it happen more consistently. That's the difference between the good players and the great players, that consistency aspect, night in and night out." |
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