#126 - Alexander Mogilny

Alexander Mogilny (Murillo Pyramid Rank = #126)

Adjusted Stats

1989-1990   Buf       67 GP   13 goals   24 assists   37 points     0.55 PPG
1990-1991   Buf       64 GP   27 goals   31 assists   58 points     0.92 PPG
1991-1992   Buf       69 GP   35 goals   41 assists   76 points     1.11 PPG
1992-1993   Buf       75 GP   63 goals   42 assists   105 points   1.40 PPG
1993-1994   Buf       64 GP   30 goals   44 assists   73 points     1.14 PPG
1994-1995   Buf       75 GP   33 goals   49 assists   83 points     1.10 PPG
1995-1996   Van      79 GP   54 goals   51 assists   105 points   1.32 PPG
1996-1997   Van      76 GP   33 goals   44 assists   77 points     1.01 PPG
1997-1998   Van      51 GP   21 goals   31 assists   52 points     1.03 PPG
1998-1999   Van      59 GP   16 goals   36 assists   53 points     0.89 PPG
1999-2000   Van/NJ*  59 GP  27 goals  22 assists  49 points    0.84 PPG
2000-2001   NJ        75 GP   48 goals   45 assists   93 points    1.24 PPG
2001-2002   Tor       66 GP   28 goals   39 assists   67 points    1.01 PPG
2002-2003   Tor       73 GP   38 goals   53 assists   91 points    1.25 PPG
2003-2004   Tor       37 GP   10 goals   26 assists   36 points    0.97 PPG
2005-2006   NJ        34 GP   12 goals   13 assists   25 points    0.75 PPG

Adjusted Playoff Stats

1989-1990   Buf        4 GP     0 goals     1 assist      1 point       0.21 PPG
1990-1991   Buf        6 GP     0 goals     5 assists     5 points     0.85 PPG
1991-1992   Buf        2 GP     0 goals     2 assists     2 points     0.87 PPG
1992-1993   Buf        7 GP     6 goals     2 assists     8 points     1.17 PPG
1993-1994   Buf        7 GP     4 goals     2 assists     6 points     0.84 PPG
1994-1995   Buf        5 GP     3 goals     2 assists     4 points     0.88 PPG
1995-1996   Van       6 GP     1 goal       8 assists     9 points     1.43 PPG
1999-2000   NJ*       23 GP   5 goals     4 assists     8 points     0.37 PPG
2000-2001   NJ         25 GP   6 goals     13 assists   19 points   0.75 PPG
2001-2002   Tor        20 GP   10 goals   4 assists     13 points   0.65 PPG
2002-2003   Tor        6 GP     6 goals     2 assists     8 points     1.39 PPG
2003-2004   Tor        13 GP   3 goals     5 assists     8 points     0.59 PPG
Career - 1023 GP, 488 goals, 591 assists, 1080 points, 1.06 PPG
Career-Highs - 63 goals (92-93); 53 assists (02-03); 105 points (92-93); 1.40 PPG (92-93)
Avg. (16 seasons) - 64 GP, 31 goals, 37 assists, 68 points, 1.06 PPG
Peak Avg. (90-98) - 69 GP, 37 goals, 42 assists, 79 points, 1.14 PPG, 0 Cups

Playoff Career - 124 GP, 44 goals, 50 assists, 91 points, 0.73 PPG
Playoff-Highs - 10 goals (01-02); 13 assists (00-01); 19 points (00-01); 1.43 PPG (95-96)

Accolades - Lady Byng
All-Star Teams - 2-time 2nd-team
1-time Stanley Cup Champion

Much like Pavel Bure, Alex Mogilny had a good career, but left one feeling as if he could have accomplished more. There's a reason the "Russians don't try as hard as they should" stereotype exists...because of players like Mogilny. He had seasons in which he seemed like the second-coming of Mike Bossy, and others in which he missed good chunks of time or seemed disinterested.

Mogilny wasn't a loafer on par with Alexei Kovalev...in fact, he averaged over a point-a-game for seven straight seasons. It's just that he was constantly beset by nagging injuries here and there, so even in his prime stretch he only averaged 69 games a season. It's one of the annoying "what-ifs" of late 90s hockey that Bure and Mogilny never seemed to be healthy together at the same time for Vancouver. In 1995-1996, Mogilny stepped up while Bure was absent, scoring 54 goals and 105 points while earning second-team all-star honours. But when Bure returned to health in 1997-1998, Mogilny was a no-show.

He'll be remembered for his stints with the Sabres and Canucks (it was with the Sabres that Mogilny scored 76 goals, 63 in adjusted terms). But Mogilny might have enjoyed the most team success later in his career. He was traded to the Devils in 2000 to give them scoring depth, and although the team won the Cup that spring, Mogilny disappeared in the playoffs, scoring a mere 8 adjusted points in 23 playoff games. In fact, one of the reasons he's a bubble guy for the Pyramid is that his career playoff numbers are quite disappointing. The next season, though, Mogilny provided the Devils with the scoring they had hoped for, scoring 48 goals and helping the team return to the Cup final.

A stint with the Maple Leafs didn't result in a Cup final appearance (how could it? It wasn't before 1967), but the team was in contention during Mogilny's stay there, no doubt because Mogilny was the only legitimate winger that Mats Sundin had had in a long time. Mogilny returned to the Devils after the lockout but was a shadow of his former self...Lou Lamoriello sooned realized his error and buried Mogilny in the minors.

Without 500 career goals, it'll be a struggle for Mogilny to get into the hall-of-fame. He only makes my Pyramid because of the Ciccarelli Rule...I'd rather have Mogilny's career with its flashes of brilliance and Stanley Cup ring than twenty years of above-average production. Like Bure, we'll always wonder how much could have been achieved with the combination of better luck (i.e. less injuries) and more motivation. What he accomplished was impressive, what was left on the table may have been much more so.