STATS: Lemieux vs. Giroux

Jaromir Jagr took to Twitter after last night's game with this tweet:

@28CGiroux3+3=6 points in one playoff game. beginning of the year i called u little Mario- now i can scratch out the little.
— Jaromir Jagr (@68Jagr) April 14, 2012

This tweet got me thinking. Now assuming Giroux played in the same time period as Lemieux, how similar would their statistics be? Is Giroux an appropriate player to be called "Mario Jr" according to Jagr? Here is a statistical breakdown of Lemieux in his first 3 seasons in the NHL and Giroux in his first 3. I calculated the NHL's goals per game in Lemieux's first 3 seasons and the NHL's goals per game in Giroux's first 3 seasons. From that, I multiplied Giroux's stats by the multiplier difference of goals per game per season. The last three columns are goals per 82 games, assists per 82 games, and points per 82 games. The Lemieux chart shows his actual stats. The first Giroux chart shows his actual stats while the second shows the adjusted stats.


Also, Giroux's PPG is 22nd of active players in their first 5 seasons. Hockey Reference