2022-2023 Around The League

[expatriatedtexan]

Nightmare fuel

Flip that 'W' in WIN upside down and I'd be even happier.

 

[The Merchant]

Goddammit, Avs

 

[Linds]

Funny how the narrative here has went from "New Jersey f***ing sucks, no chance they're a playoff team next year" earlier in the summer, to now its "Nah they're great but they're soft, easy out in the playoffs"


When will people simply recognize they are a really, really strong team that is a goaltender away from being a contender. The soft stuff is so far out of left field as well... Half that teams is well North of 6'0. Not a single Dman is below 6'0.

They're a very good team. Will be a contender for years to come and if they solve goaltending concerns this year, they're a contender today.

I mean they should probably make the playoffs and win a round or 2 before we call them a contender. But yes they have a solid team

 

[Linds]

It's weird how much HFboards try to downplay Makar when actual players/coaches can easily see how special he is after watching him. MacKinnon knew he was special as soon as he saw him in practice in the Calgary series

Makar's goal tonight probably gave Pete D some feelings

 

[Pokecheque]

My God, the Canes gave up like 20 breakaways tonight.

 

[Chiarelli]

Jesper Bratt is mini Kucherov.

Are their play styles really similar? I thought Bratt was more speed north south type but I don’t watch the devils often

 

[Vaslof]

Devils 13 wins in a row with Graves playing top minutes!

 

[Metallo]

Devils 13 wins in a row with Graves playing top minutes!

I'm confident that he'll f*** up at the most inopportune time for them.

 

[JoeSakic13]

7 Norris trophies but he wasn't generational? Lol

He played for the Red Wings. That automatically makes all accomplishments moot.

 

[Balthazar]

Look at who's #30, and #31. Eliminated from the playoff race by Thanksgiving despite all the roster moves by Ottawa and an exceptional month of October by Buffalo. Unbelievable.

It's almost like if you lose for too many straight seasons it becomes nearly impossible to get out of there regardless of how much talent you have on the team.

 

[redacted]

Look at who's #30, and #31. Eliminated from the playoff race by Thanksgiving despite all the roster moves by Ottawa and an exceptional month of October by Buffalo. Unbelievable.

It's almost like if you lose for too many straight seasons it becomes nearly impossible to get out of there regardless of how much talent you have on the team.

With how brutal the east is, there is very little margin for error.... but all Ottawa needs is some average goaltending. When you give up 4-5 goals with regularity, it is hard to win consistently. I don't think Talbot can provide that, but if he can, they can turn it around. Buffalo is just not quite there and are also getting terrible goaltending.

That said, deliberate tanking breeds a culture that is hard to get out of. I think we will see it with Chicago in a few years too.

On the surface, I think Anaheim is the most disappointing team by a decent margin. They need to get rid of Eakins ASAP. He's a terrible coach.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[Avs_19]

Sens are in the conversation for biggest disappointment in the league. All the moves they made, money they spent, hype they got, etc and they're terrible. Everyone's going in on Smith but Dorian should be right there with him in sharing blame. They refused to address their two biggest needs, which were D and G, and here we are. Some people were really having a legit discussion about who'll be the best team in Ontario this season.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

Devils 13 wins in a row with Graves playing top minutes!

Graves their top defenseman? Tough to believe this streak would continue more than regular season.. sounds like Roy Avalanche. Imo. Playoffs their defense will be exposed.

 

[Gumballhead]

Again, generational is not something that I would consider Lidstrom. I mean multiple times he either won a Norris and had a teammate finish runner up or vice versa where a teammate won and he finished runner up. He played with loads and loads of talent around him.

That's not to say he isn't one of the greatest players of all time, but not someone I'd consider generational. I think if you took players like Gretzky, Lemieux, Orr, Crosby, etc and placed them on any team in the league they would still have the same affect, statistics, and hardware. I'm not so sure the same would be said about Lidstrom playing for a team other than Detroit.

But that's not what happened, so we go with what did. As much as I hate the Wings, I could recognize he was head and shoulders above his peers. Just on defense alone. I didn't start watching hockey until the 1980s but he has to be top 3 all time from a purely defensive standpoint. As some have mentioned, he played in a violent and brutal era and was smart and elusive enough to be a shut down guy against any team's best, and he did it for a really long time. He was the gold standard and he passed all the tests for things that are valued in a hockey player.

When Makar does clever things on defense, I immediately think of Lidstrom. I don't see how any Avs fan who watched all those years of battles with Detroit doesn't come out thinking he was one of a kind. There still hasn't been anyone like him. If Makar becomes generational (certainly should), it will be mostly because of his unearthly skill, which is most noticeable on offense. Cale's probably already made more mistakes in his career than Lidstrom did in an entire career. OK, that's hyperbole but it ain't too far off. Lidstrom was so steady and smart that you noticed him, and that's a rare thing. Usually that takes some flash. Cale is kind of like Steph Curry, a smaller player who changed a whole league without having to be a monster. That's really really hard to do.

Jagr I would call a generational scorer but not a generational talent. His size certainly helped him a lot, I don't think he's nearly as dangerous if he was an average sized player, especially the era he played his prime in.

How can a player that has completed 3 NHL seasons labeled generational?

If there are injuries and regression that is no longer even a conversation. Makar has to be better than any Dman for quite some time or he is not generational. Saying that he has the potential sounds reasonable, but saying that he flat out is generational is too much.

Well we are getting mired in semantics. There is no doubt that his skating and skill are generational - he's the first and only of his kind. When you hear Hall of Fame players fawning over it, you can trust at least that part of it.

 

[Pokecheque]

Sens are in the conversation for biggest disappointment in the league. All the moves they made, money they spent, hype they got, etc and they're terrible. Everyone's going in on Smith but Dorian should be right there with him in sharing blame. They refused to address their two biggest needs, which were D and G, and here we are. Some people were really having a legit discussion about who'll be the best team in Ontario this season.

People waaaaay overhyped the Sens, as you said the defense and goaltending were not really upgraded, and that's been their Achilles heel. Plus, I like their forward mix but there isn't an elite, gamebreaking talent anywhere in that mix.

Dorion IMO is pretty damned good at drafting and developing talent. He falls short when it comes to the other aspects of GMing, especially when it comes to hiring coaches.

 

[Pokecheque]

Speaking of generational talents, I think it's safe to say that Patrice Bergeron is the best two-way forward ever.

Okay, he's at least in the top five.

 

[Bender]

Ohhhh the dreaded US Thanksgiving checkpoint and the LOILERS are out of a playoff spot??

Such a shame, you hate to see it.

 

[LOFIN]

You would have to imagine something needs to happen with the Sens. But it's a tricky situation with the team having no ownership. You would imagine the GM doesn't get to fire his 2nd coach in 3 years, he would have to go as well. But who has the authority and the balls to make that decision with the team looking for a new owner?

Dreger has said it AFAIK that Dorion still has full authority to make whatever hockey decisions he deems necessary. Then if I'm Dorion, I'm making moves right now. Because if this ship doesn't get righted now, no effin way he's continuing in his post under new ownership.

 

[UnkleKraker]

Ohhhh the dreaded US Thanksgiving checkpoint and the LOILERS are out of a playoff spot??

Such a shame, you hate to see it.

 

[Ceremony]

I was strictly going by numbers

Excuse me.

 

[redacted]

Graves their top defenseman? Tough to believe this streak would continue more than regular season.. sounds like Roy Avalanche. Imo. Playoffs their defense will be exposed.

Graves is their 4th best defensemen (Hamilton is their #1). He's getting top 4 minutes and paired with Marino. He's in a lower role there than he was when he was paired with Makar here. Graves gets a lot of undeserved hate... he's a legit 4 and in that role he's very effective.

The pairings in New Jersey are:

Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Graves-Marino
Smith-Severson

They Siegenthaler has turned himself into one of the best shutdown defensemen in the game, and Hamiltion while not an elite 1 is a pretty solid 1. Graves and Marino are pretty solid middle pairing guys. They get exposed when they play above that, but as a middle pairing, very solid. Severson is a top 4 capable guy where the depth on the team has pushed him down, he's very good and somebody is going to sign him this summer to be a 2/3 RD.

 

[dahrougem2]

Graves is their 4th best defensemen (Hamilton is their #1). He's getting top 4 minutes and paired with Marino. He's in a lower role there than he was when he was paired with Makar here. Graves gets a lot of undeserved hate... he's a legit 4 and in that role he's very effective.

The pairings in New Jersey are:

Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Graves-Marino
Smith-Severson

They Siegenthaler has turned himself into one of the best shutdown defensemen in the game, and Hamiltion while not an elite 1 is a pretty solid 1. Graves and Marino are pretty solid middle pairing guys. They get exposed when they play above that, but as a middle pairing, very solid. Severson is a top 4 capable guy where the depth on the team has pushed him down, he's very good and somebody is going to sign him this summer to be a 2/3 RD.

This just doesn't make any sense to me. Washington just lets this guy go for nothing? The f*** was wrong with them?

 

[AegonLeConqueror]

Graves is their 4th best defensemen (Hamilton is their #1). He's getting top 4 minutes and paired with Marino. He's in a lower role there than he was when he was paired with Makar here. Graves gets a lot of undeserved hate... he's a legit 4 and in that role he's very effective.

The pairings in New Jersey are:

Siegenthaler-Hamilton
Graves-Marino
Smith-Severson

They Siegenthaler has turned himself into one of the best shutdown defensemen in the game, and Hamiltion while not an elite 1 is a pretty solid 1. Graves and Marino are pretty solid middle pairing guys. They get exposed when they play above that, but as a middle pairing, very solid. Severson is a top 4 capable guy where the depth on the team has pushed him down, he's very good and somebody is going to sign him this summer to be a 2/3 RD.

Was Marino always, at best, a 2nd pairing defenseman? If I recall, he played first pairing minutes in Pittsburgh and did pretty well, no?

 

[LOFIN]

Graves is their 4th best defensemen (Hamilton is their #1). He's getting top 4 minutes and paired with Marino. He's in a lower role there than he was when he was paired with Makar here. Graves gets a lot of undeserved hate... he's a legit 4 and in that role he's very effective.

The problem with Graves here was that he simply didn't understand what he's capable of and what role he needed to play. All he had to do was be a safety net for the pair when Makar/Girard goes on offence. Instead, he tried to pull off some of the same stuff Cale routinely did, and usually it didn't work. And it was infuriating to watch. No Ryan, you are NOT taking a shot from the point (and hitting the first opponent) when you can pass it to Cale, Mikko, Nate or Gabe.