Samsonov=Afinigenov from 3 years ago...

[matter2003]

Samsonov reminds me a lot of Afinigenov from 3 years ago....really fast, shifty, but never accomplishes much of anything. Usually ends up running himself into the corner and loses the puck.

While Afinigenov still does some of this, he is also one of the most dangerous players in the league now because defenses have to back off of him so much and he has become tremendous at drawing players to him and passing to a wide open teammate...When the Sabres are not playing well, he still seems to try and do too much with the puck and it leads to some bad turnovers. However, I can't really fault him for this---Afinigenov is turning into more of a leader on the team, and he wants to try and spark them anyway he can, even if sometimes he tries to put it all on his shoulders. You can see what the team thinks of him now, as they gave him the "A" when Numinnen went out... Not to mention he can create scoring chances 1 on 5, which cannot be said for very many players in the NHL....probably only Crosby, Ovechkin, Kariya and maybe a few others....

[bob_sauve28]

He has been around for awhile now though. This is his third team I believe. I think he is a good fit in the new NHL and who knows he might break though, but he is on a down ward spriral. Max seems much stronger and controls the puck. Don't see Samsonov headman the puck like Max

[Doohicksie]

I agree with all that stuff. Given a choice between the two, I'm glad we have Maxim. I think Briere and Drury are the veteran leaders they are intended to be, but Maxim is becoming the heart and soul of the team (apologies to Briere on this point.... he is part of that too).

[Two or less]

Max is definetly the better player. But, Samsonov did go to a Sabres-type offense in Edmonton last season and had no problems getting into their style. He played 19 games, scored 5 goals and 11 assists. He isn't the sniper as Max is, but he definetly has alot of creativness in his game and opens up the play. I think if he ever starts to get his scoring touch as he was sopposed to years ago, he would be a awesome NHLer. Right now, and from the looks of it, he's a 2nd line player 20-24 goals and 30-35 assits... 50-60 point guy.

 

Max has 100 point potential.