Looking Back…at the rankings from September of 2009

Darren Kennedy

2014-09-03

Kopitar

Looking back to September of 2009, when we thought the BIG four was about to become the BIG five.

There was a time where we thought, at least for a moment, that Anze Kopitar might push himself into the top group of fantasy assets. It would have been Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Stamkos, and yes, Kopitar.

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When watching Kopitar you can still see the makings of a top six or seven player. He has all of the physical gifts you could possibly ask for. If he can somehow shake Darryl Sutter and that system then maybe there's hope. But coming off of two Stanley Cup rings it's unlikely that a coaching change is imminent. Assuming Sutter has bought himself two or three more years of immunity then we're now looking at 2018 or 2019 before there is a reasonable shot at a new coach. By that point Kopitar will be in his early 30s and approaching decline.

It's an odd juxtaposition. A player who might go down in history as one of the most talented two-way forwards ever, winning two (maybe three? Four?) Stanley Cups during his prime years, may also be seen as one of the greatest fantasy let downs.

In 2009 there was so much potential, so much excitement around what he was about to become. Sadly, it appears to have been for naught.

Darren Kennedy (@fantasyhockeydk) is a writer for Dobber and McKeen's Hockey