Pre-Draft
Both were somewhat unwanted; the Whalers had professed their love for Bobby Carpenter, whom the Caps took a pick ahead; they settled for Francis.Couturier had been a glittering prospect. But leading up to the draft, scouts backed off of his size - he'd gotten mono and lost weight - and, of all things, his defensive ability - the QMJHL isn't known for producing strong defensive prospects. He fell to Philadelphia at No. 8, with a lot to prove.
Play
Numbers are of limited use here. Francis played in the pre-OG lockout, go-go '80s; Couturier is a defensive center first on the fourth line of a deep offense. Still, Philly's system is built for scoring; witness the increased production of new Flyers Wayne Simmons or Max Talbot (and, conversely, the decrease for, say, Mike Richards.)So what can numbers tell us?
Francis had 68 points in 59 games as a rookie, good enough to crack the top 80. (Gretzky had 212 points that year. The Flyers as a team scored 268 goals this season. Good night!) In 2011-12, he'd have been 25th in points.
Couturier had 27 points this year, but much more impressively, was plus-18 to Francis' minus-13.
Couturier obviously benefits from playing on a much better team than Francis. The Flyers finished third in points in the conference; the Whale of '81-'82 failed to even make the playoffs. Still, though, a lot of it is Couturier's own doing. His plus-minus, second-best on the team, came while he skated against the league's top scorers most of the season.
Smarts
Couturier has shown poise; I remember half-watching an end-of-game, empty-net faceoff in the defensive zone sometime around Christmas and being surprised to see Couturier take it. He won it, of course; he always seems to. He turned 19 in December; sometimes I think about what dumb things I was doing at 18, or, very unfairly, what my 18-year-old niece is up to. (Sample tweet: "Why does the school hallway always smell like fart?")Couturier, meanwhile, is containing the beast that is Malkin, attacking again and again. Never mind this very painful spear he took a couple months ago:
Now, I'd be a bit gunshy about going after the guy who did that to me. But that is why I don't play in the NHL. (That and I can't skate. Those are the only two things, though.)
Francis also quickly showed how smart he played. He is often described as "a quiet superstar," if there is such a thing, because of the very traits Couturier is noticed for: level-headed play, consistency, two-way play.
Other important comparisons
Hair
Couturier may moonlight in a Canadian boy band, I don't know for sure because America just steals Canada's best pop culture and repackages it as its own. Francis, well, it was the '80s:
Teeth
OK, Couturier is definitely not in a boy band:
Advantage: Francis
Nicknames
Cooter is the worst nickname I've heard for anyone, ever, and that includes a college friend who endured the childhood taunt Vagina Crust. It is worse than Boner. (When did Kirk Cameron find religion, anyway? "Boner" seems like something he'd object to.) Perhaps this will grow stale with age, and his teammates can start calling him, I dunno, Ol' Toothy, or Stringbean.Francis had the standard hockey deviation nicknames: Ronnie, Franny, Ronnie Franchise. Perhaps Couturier's best shot is to marry a lady with a last name that lends itself to an -er or -ee nickname and be a progressive dude who takes her name.
Bottom line
Jagr wasn't even talking about rookie Ron Francis when he made the comparison. He was talking about the Cup winner, franchis center, fourth-leading scorer all-time. And that guy, by the way, started his career on a struggling team. Couturier gets all the benefits of playing on a winner early on. They say he's playing beyond his years. Will he get better? Of course. Does he have to? Well, what comes after stopping the league MVP and getting a hatty in the same playoff game? A Selke or four?Sources: Hockey Hall of Fame, hockey-reference.com
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