Pavel Datsyuk headlines this year’s Hockey Hall of Fame class, which will be celebrated throughout the weekend, with the Toronto Maple Leafs hosting the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night. There’s a natural tendency to reflect on Datsyuk’s two-way brilliance and Red Wings forward Patrick Kane was asked Friday morning if there’s anyone in the modern game that resembles the newest Hall of Fame inductee.
“I guess I could see Auston’s game in his,” Kane said Friday morning. “Maybe Auston’s more of a shooter, but as far as playing both ends of the ice and being able to strip guys of the puck and turn it into offense, I think that’s where they’re pretty similar. I don’t know if anyone — he’s a pretty unique player, you know? There’s not really anyone like him.”
Datsyuk was arguably the defining two-way player of his generation, winning three consecutive Selke Trophies from 2008-2010, four consecutive Lady Byng Trophies from 2006-2009, along with two Stanley Cups. He was voted as one of the 100 Greatest NHL players in 2017 and he was a defining part of the Red Wings’ two decades of excellence, after joining the team for the 2001-2002 season.
Matthews was nominated for the Selke Trophy last season and has developed into one of the NHL’s premier two-way forwards. He’s an offensive prodigy and his offensive profile certainly resembles both Datsyuk and Kane’s — he’s a better goal scorer than either player was, although Kane won three Stanley Cups by age 26, while Datsyuk’s defensive excellence made him the gold standard for several seasons. Matthews is ruled out of Friday’s contest due to an upper-body injury, so we won’t get a chance to see him square off against Kane, in a matchup of two American-born former first overall picks.
Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin also offered Kane as a similar player to Datsyuk.
“I just think how dynamic he is,” Larkin said, when asked about what he enjoys most about playing with Kane. “He’s a similar player to a guy who I was just talking about in Pavel (Datsyuk) and the way they think about the game, the way they want the puck on their stick.”
