It is extremely natural for us sports fans to get into heated discussions about rankings, players we want to call better than another, and just about everything else, in the most concrete of terms. No objectivity exists in these debates while at its core, it is completely subjective — or, at least when it comes to some comparisons.
So, when some washed up player that has decided to take his turn and attempt a career in sports media takes his run at creating a viral clip by going on a long spiel about how San Jose Sharks rookie Macklin Celebrini is a better player than Philadelphia Flyers’ own Matvei Michkov; there’s an issue. Sure, in the entire clip there is an explanation about how Celebrini is a three-zone player and so far, Michkov has really excelled only in the offensive zone, but that’s just boring and lame to think about. We can him and haw about some player’s contribution in the defensive zone, but it simply comes to a point that that is not really Michkov’s job.
Celebrini, as a two-way center all through his time in college hockey at Boston University and so far in the NHL, is responsible for those things. He is expected to be able to backcheck and take on the tough competition from the other team as the all-around motor of his team. That’s just what he is and we can all appreciate him for doing that.
But when it comes to Michkov, he has never been held to that standard. He is an offensive creator — maybe one of the best we might see in the modern era — and that is just what he does and does exceptionally well. We have seen it already this season; Michkov pull off insane stunts when given just the smallest amount of time and space in the offensive zone, and he is trying his hardest to lift his teammates to his level. He is special, but we shouldn’t really compare him to a player like Celebrini.
It’s like expecting the nicest Ferrari, the top of the crop, maybe an F1 car if we were to be so bold (are they still called cars at that point?) — expecting it to be able to pull a 1,000-pound load behind it. There is just not enough torque. That machine is not built to do that. It is unnatural. But the most loaded-up 18-wheeler truck? Yeah, that’s possible. And now, would you call a giant truck a “better” vehicle than a Ferrari? Probably not. Can it do different things maybe more efficiently? Yeah. But does it have the same amount of speed in certain situations? Of course not.
Maybe it’s just us being ultra defensive about our precious rookie. But it just feels unfair to really look at Michkov, a player at the center of an offensively inept team that is trying to find his footing in the NHL, and try to determine who is better while comparing him to a completely different player, just dozens of games into both young careers.
We can appreciate both talents while not having to pit them against each other. They are expected to do different things and bring different attributes to their respective teams. Maybe later on in his career, Michkov can develop a more rounded-out game fueled by his fiery competitiveness, but that’s not it right now. To make sweeping statements of “better than” so early, is just irresponsible and we’re begging people to just think for maybe a second more about who they are comparing.
We’re not going to compare defensemen to forwards and say which player is better, so maybe we shouldn’t do it between two stylistically different forwards (who also play different positions, by the way). Don’t give into the temptation to compare and maybe generalizing statements, please.
