Judging by the stats you provided, I would guess that player B played for a vastly superior team throughout his career - thus his superior +/-.  I would also note that they’ve both played a lot of games and are near the end of their careers.  With the second point in mind, I would discount the career stats because who cares what these players did 10 years ago?  I would see if the players could still play, and look at the current years stats.  Then I would choose player A.

Posted by Jerry from Prague on 02/15/10 at 03:08 PM ET

Jerry, I can understand where you are coming from but Kozlov has been watching most of the recent games from the press box.

Could he still perform at a NHL level is the question that needs to be asked.  One thing on Kozlov’s side, he has always been a great performer in the playoffs and that should be the reason both of these players are acquired, how they perform in the playoffs.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/15/10 at 03:17 PM ET

A prime example of numbers without context.  We can all agree that this current years production comparison is frankly not comparable.

As far as plus/minus goes:
Whitney played for 2 brand new expansion teams in San Jose and Columbus
Kozlov played for the 90’s Red Wing regular season juggernaut but has been a minus player in Atlanta for 5 out of 7 years

Playoff points:
Whitney played on playoff teams in Carolina and Florida…hardly offensive powerhouses
Kozlov played for the Redwings with players like Stevie Y, Fedorov, Coffey, Larionov, Primeau and Lidstrom i.e with players that won every major trophy in the sport

Numbers are largely irrelevant without context

Posted by eerodynamic from columbus oh on 02/15/10 at 03:18 PM ET

Nice try, Paul, but it’s not their careers that mean anything right now. It’s all about “what have you done lately.”

In the past five years, Slava has 108 goals, 188 assists and is -17. Whitney has 117 goals, 207 assists and is -10. Not that far apart, but it casts Whitney in a far better light vs. Salva than his career stats do.

And when you look at just this year’s stats, they’re not even close. Slava is 8-16-24 and -16. Whitney is 19-29-48 and -1. And that, IMHO, is the reason Whitney is being pursued and Slava isn’t.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 02/15/10 at 03:19 PM ET

OTC, all I am saying is if a team feels Kozlov still has something left, he could be a very good bargain pick-up.

I will still stand by his playoff performance and playing for a team that has a chance to win the Cup, just may motivate him to find his game again.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/15/10 at 03:24 PM ET

Jerry, I can understand where you are coming from but Kozlov has been watching most of the recent games from the press box.

I’m not sure I understand this.  Your piece seems to be in support of Kozlov.  Ok, fine.  What I don’t get is that you’re using the fact that he’s been a healthy scratch recently as a reason teams should be interested in him…

Posted by Garth on 02/15/10 at 03:44 PM ET

Having seen both in the playoffs,  Koz still does his best work when the game has to be elevated.  Somewhat injury plagued,  he seems to play in the tournament when he is falling apart.

Posted by bobbo from Romeo, Michigan on 02/15/10 at 03:46 PM ET

Stats are great for twisting and shaping any perspective you want to take. If you look at career stats… there’s plenty of old players in the twilight of their careers with great looking career stats. Realistically though it’s more of a “what have you done for me lately” scenario when teams are looking for good add-ons for playoff runs.

Posted by Darren from NZ on 02/15/10 at 03:52 PM ET

To answer the question Paul asked, I would take Kozlov before Whitney in a trade scenario.  I agree with those who talk about more recent stats and that Kozlov is more risky, but he’s a proven playoff performer who would do little to upset a contender’s locker room pecking order (not to say he’s not a leader or that Whitney is some sort of cancerous loudmouth, just that I think Kozlov would be a great addition to a team where the leader’s are set and all he’s expected to do is perform).  This year’s numbers do explain why Whitney is being more closely pursued than Kozlov, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see some sneaky GM grab him up under the radar and get a better return for cheaper.

Also, while Kozlov’s salary is $300,000 higher, his cap hit is only $116k higher.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 02/15/10 at 04:08 PM ET

Behindthenet.ca does a great job of extrapolating statistics into a much better context.  As mentioned above, the glaring difference here (at least for the regular season) is the plus/minus.  Behindthenet shows plus/minus against team plus/minus.  For 2009-2010; Kozlov : -1.57, Whitney: +0.89.

http://www.behindthenet.ca/2008/basic_5_on_5.php?sort=7
This site is usually stat overload, but some interesting things can be found nonetheless.

Posted by Forrest from Boston on 02/15/10 at 04:39 PM ET

Jerry, I can understand where you are coming from but Kozlov has been watching most of the recent games from the press box.

Could he still perform at a NHL level is the question that needs to be asked.  One thing on Kozlov’s side, he has always been a great performer in the playoffs and that should be the reason both of these players are acquired, how they perform in the playoffs.

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/15/10 at 03:17 PM ET

Kozlov last played in the playoffs for the Red Wings in 2001.  Since then he has 1 goal in 8 playoff games.  In the same timespan, Whitney has 33 points in 54 games including being a key piece of the 05-06 Cup winning team.  So if you want to compare them as playoff performers, I’d also take Whitney in a heartbeat.

If your point was that Kozlov could be a bargain free agent pick up, you could have said just that.  But this stage in their careers, Whitney is the far superior player.

Posted by Jerry from Prague on 02/15/10 at 04:41 PM ET

The concern about Kozlov is that he’s been a healthy scratch recently, and more than that he’s been a healthy scratch on a team that’s in the thick of the playoff race.  Doesn’t that have to throw up some red flags?

The other thing is that you’re looking for him as a final puzzle piece, and do you want to risk throwing off your team chemistry for a guy who could be a decent contributor but might just as well end up being a press box spectator?

Posted by Garth on 02/15/10 at 04:43 PM ET

I’m with you Paul.  I’m a KOzlov fan.

he has something left.

Whitney proved his “worth” in Detroit for one season.  He was a friggin’ 4th liner…  on a bad team he’s good, on a good team…. not so much.

Posted by Primis on 02/15/10 at 05:03 PM ET

I would choose option C: Keeping the assets you’d move to get either player A or player B, because there’s about a 1% chance either guy has enough in the tank to be anything approaching an upgrade over your current second line forwards.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 02/15/10 at 05:18 PM ET

So you would take Keith Tkachuk HIHD?

Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 02/15/10 at 05:21 PM ET

Um… no.  Exactly how many times does a guy like Keith Tkachuk have to be acquired at a cost of fairly valuable picks and end up being almost without impact for teams to figure it out?

I mean, seriously… how often is a trade deadline-ish acquisition a big factor for a team in the playoffs?  1 time in 4?  5, maybe?

Stuart was a good pickup for Detroit back in 2007, but it’s not something that happens all too often.

Posted by HockeyinHD on 02/15/10 at 05:29 PM ET

I’d argue that Guerin was equally important for Pittsburgh last year.

It’s always a high-risk concept as they only way for it to look good in hindsight is if the team goes on to win the cup.  I have a feeling that in the post-lockout NHL, where it’s so much harder to stack a team in the offseason, deadline acquisitions will actually start showing the value they were always supposed to have had.

Posted by J.J. from Kansas on 02/15/10 at 05:36 PM ET

The concern about Kozlov is that he’s been a healthy scratch recently, and more than that he’s been a healthy scratch on a team that’s in the thick of the playoff race.

I don’t think its that much of a concern. Unless he has changed dramatically since his Detroit days, which he may have, Kozlov contributes in streaks and is susceptible to long, pointless droughts. Bowman used to bench him a game or three and it usually worked as he’d go out and score a couple of goals the next few games.

Posted by UMFan from Denver, Colorado on 02/15/10 at 07:26 PM ET

Unless he has changed dramatically since his Detroit days, which he may have, Kozlov contributes in streaks and is susceptible to long, pointless droughts. Bowman used to bench him a game or three and it usually worked as he’d go out and score a couple of goals the next few games.

Fair enough, but he’s almost 9 years older than when he last played in Detroit, and his production is on the downslope already, so do you want to take a chance that he ends the season or spends your team’s entire playoff run on one of his long, pointless droughts?

Especially when the price for rental players, even non-core players, is as high as it is?

Posted by Garth on 02/15/10 at 07:42 PM ET

After seeing Whitney play here the one season in Detroit, no question Kozlov was the better player, regardless who they played with over the course of their careers. At this point you have to ask who has more left in the tank ?? Since both play in the East, we here in Detroit don’t see much of either player much anymore (unless you want to feed your cable company oodles of $$$ for the NHL package) but my sentimental pick would be Kozlov. Hmmmmm ... makes ya wonder what a Datsyuk Franzen Kozlov line would look like.

Posted by Hockeytown Wax from Detroit on 02/15/10 at 11:07 PM ET

OTC, all I am saying is if a team feels Kozlov still has something left, he could be a very good bargain pick-up.

I get what you’re saying, Paul. My only point was the one that a number of others made. Looking at career statistics probably isn’t the best indicator of two guys’ worth when they’re both getting close to the ends of their careers.

But I guess the real determining factor probably is what the buying team is looking for. If they need an offensive-minded forward who could play on their second line, Whitney’s the guy. If they need a heart-and-soul guy who can play some “hard” minutes on the third or fourth lines, then Slava’s their guy.

Personally, I hope Slava gets another shot at a Cup before he quits. As for Ray, eh, not so much.

Posted by OlderThanChelios from Grand Rapids on 02/15/10 at 11:17 PM ET

I agree Kozlov would be a great, bargain pick-up by a team that could use a little extra offense. There’s no doubt he’s still got the hands and the mind that has allowed him to be a dominant clutch player in the past.

But Whitney is definitely the better player right now. If you get your pick of the two, all other things equal, you’ve got to take Whitney.

But considering Kozlov isn’t as prized, and might come quite a bit cheaper, I’d go after him instead while everyone was looking at paying a first round pick for Whitney.

Posted by Nathan from the scoresheet! on 02/16/10 at 08:39 AM ET