Silver Nuggets: Which is More Likely Series: Malkin vs Stamkos

As was discussed yesterday, I will try to alternate Ottawa Senators themed WIMLs with league wide WIMLs for the next little while.

Yesterday I asked whether you thought the Ottawa Senators would win more games than last season, or whether the Binghamton affiliates would make the playoffs. With about 70% of the vote, the community picked Bingo to make the playoffs with players like Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad adding some offence to the group. Very few comments backed the Bingo side though, but luckily Peter put it nicely:

I voted for Binghamton

I think just about everything went wrong last season, and there’s a lot working in their favour this year. The losses of Locke and that veteran defenceman they lost (what’s his name?) will be significant, but their blue line reconstruction project will give Lehner a lot of help, and he’s reportedly been a jorts-sporting beast this off-season. Add in a couple of high-calibre forwards and you’ve got a very good mix on that roster.

Ottawa, on the other hand, could go either way. I think there’s a good chance that they will win more games than last season, but they could also take a step backwards.

Thank you Peter!

Today we look at two players who tore up the league last season: Steven Stamkos and Evgeni Malkin. Both were in the mix for the scoring title and MVP honours and Malkin took both, but Stamkos put up 60 goals to run away with the Richard trophy. Here is today's question:

Which is more likely? That Steven Stamkos puts up over 50 goals this season OR that Evgeni Malkin puts up over 100 points?

Stamkos: This guy can score goals. In the past three seasons he has put up 156 goals. That is just silly. He has played a full 82 games in each though, so if he suffers an injury or if teams find a way to key in on him better, there may be a chance he doesn't quite reach 50.

Malkin: The reigning MVP of the league made the rest of the league look like little boys last season. In just 75 games he put up 109 points and centred one of the best lines in the game. With a healthy Sidney Crosby taking some pressure off of Geno and feeding him on the power play, can Malkin eclipse 100 points again? Or will we see a regression like the last time he had a great season?

Which is MORE likely?

A few links after the jump.

Sens News:

• Mark continues to put out super articles to get the discussion flowing here in the middle of August, and he's killing it. Here he is with the idea of trading Sergei Gonchar to the injury-depleted Philadelphia Flyers. [SSS]
• As a reward for your excellent article, here is a photo gallery of the best of Zack Smith for you Mark! Oh and anyone else who likes that sort of thing. [Sens]
• Amelia continues her history lesson "Sens by the Numbers" series, with #10. [SSS]
• Yost looks at trading for Jay Bouwmeester, something that has been talked about around these parts. He looks at some advanced stats to make his argument. [HB]
• Nichols does some "rosterbating" and looks at the idea of Guillaume Latendresse on Jason Spezza's wing and Milan Michalek with Kyle Turris and Daniel Alfredsson. Interesting. [6thSens]
• Today's 30 teams in 30 days on NHL.com features the Columbus Blue Jackets. The x-factor player they highlight? Nick Foligno. Ya. [NHL]
• Hockey News loved the two 3rd rounders Ottawa took in this year's draft. [THN]

Which is more likely?