2022-2023 Around The League

[Murzu]

Why do the Canucks hate defense so much? They have no one supporting Hughes and they've drafted no one.

Keeps games interesting!

 

[PAZ]

The Oilers are a real threat.

Their defence is flawed, but with McDavid and Draisaitl they can win the same way the Penguins did the year they were without Letang. Campbell should give them reliable goaltending too.

Their forward group is one of the best in the league. Better than the Avs.

They also have more young guys on the rise (Holloway, Broberg, Bourgault) than Colorado. They’re legit. I think they’ll be facing off again in the West Final next season.

I actually think the Oilers are going to be tougher than most of the top teams in the East.

I guess we’ll see, I think they’ll be a great regular season team, but they’re going to have issues against Vegas if they’re healthy.

End of the day they’re a still the McDrai show, and a team like Vegas is going to abuse them every chance they get. They’ll have no issues playing dirty to win.

 

[Northern Avs Fan]

The only way that happens is if their defence becomes middle of the pack at minimum. It doesn't matter how good your forward group is if you can't transition the puck. We have seen this with older versions of the Avs. The Defense would have to be exceptional if they want to beat the Avs. Losing Keith was actually good for them but I still can't look at that group and say they will even be mediocre, unless alot of things go right. Campbell has had 1 good season so while it is an upgrade, we can't tell how significant it is yet. Leafs were pretty solid in front of him and I can't say the same about the Oilers. They are only going to be as good as their defense allows them to be.

I think their defence is actually quite good at transitioning the puck.

Nurse, Kulak, Barrie, Bouchard. Those are all guys who can move the puck well. I think their defensive play is where that group can be exploited a bit, though it’s mitigated somewhat by their improved team structure.

Very good team imo. Not without flaws like pretty much every team, but they’ll be a tough out.

 

[Richard88]

 

[JLo217]

Dear NHL... there is something called Docusign. It's been around and used by realtors as early as 2010 or something. And in general my experience with realtors... they serve almost 0 purpose to society other than taking 3% for standing in your kitchen while people walk through your house.

 

[jimmysheva]

Sharks are interviewing Joe Sacco for the head coach position

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Sharks are interviewing Joe Sacco for the head coach position

Obviously the Sharks want a coach that will get the team to start on time.

 

[Balthazar]

Don't know how succesful they'll be long term but that's pretty cool to build around 2 young centers

 

[Richard88]

 

[Richard88]

 

[John Mandalorian]

I think their defence is actually quite good at transitioning the puck.

Nurse, Kulak, Barrie, Bouchard. Those are all guys who can move the puck well. I think their defensive play is where that group can be exploited a bit, though it’s mitigated somewhat by their improved team structure.

Very good team imo. Not without flaws like pretty much every team, but they’ll be a tough out.

St Louis is a better team than Edmonton. They (Edmonton) have a lot of forwards who float and then their defense isn't all that. Not only that but because they have 9 million tied up in a slightly good D, they have problems filling out the rest of the defense.

If a team wants to compete with Colorado, it's most likely path is to do what St Louis does and not try to out-Colorado Colorado.

The thing that's impressive about St Louis isn't that they have 9 forwards scoring 20 goals but that every single forward is committed to the defensive end on top of having 9 of them scoring 20 goals.

The St Louis model is more realistically attainable for teams than what Colorado does/has done.

 

[Richard88]

St Louis is a better team than Edmonton. They (Edmonton) have a lot of forwards who float and then their defense isn't all that. Not only that but because they have 9 million tied up in a slightly good D, they have problems filling out the rest of the defense.

If a team wants to compete with Colorado, it's most likely path is to do what St Louis does and not try to out-Colorado Colorado.

The thing that's impressive about St Louis isn't that they have 9 forwards scoring 20 goals but that every single forward is committed to the defensive end on top of having 9 of them scoring 20 goals.

The St Louis model is more realistically attainable for teams than what Colorado does/has done.

It was a while since I had head that St. Louis had 9 20 goals scorers. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[John Mandalorian]

It was a while since I had head that St. Louis had 9 20 goals scorers. Thanks for reminding me.

No problem. I know you've probably been really busy chasing every ball that hench throws.

 

[Pokecheque]

St Louis is a better team than Edmonton. They (Edmonton) have a lot of forwards who float and then their defense isn't all that. Not only that but because they have 9 million tied up in a slightly good D, they have problems filling out the rest of the defense.

If a team wants to compete with Colorado, it's most likely path is to do what St Louis does and not try to out-Colorado Colorado.

The thing that's impressive about St Louis isn't that they have 9 forwards scoring 20 goals but that every single forward is committed to the defensive end on top of having 9 of them scoring 20 goals.

The St Louis model is more realistically attainable for teams than what Colorado does/has done.

Not every single one of their forwards was committed to the defensive end of the ice. Kyrou is a dynamic young talent but he’s downright lousy defensively. Pretty sure he played a not-so-small part in missing coverage on the play that led to the series-winning goal by Helm.

Ya wanna know another forward who’s not good defensively? Our old friend Brandon Saad.

The Blues were NOT good in their own end last year, which is still puzzling as hell to me. Even ROR put up some not-great underlying numbers. They tightened things up in the postseason but that’s not what got them there. They were oddly a bit of a run and gun team that got scoring from everywhere. Even goddamned Barbashev somehow scored 20.

Anyway, STL probably has a better overall roster than EDM but their margin for error is nil. You don’t need to methodically build a roster when you have 97/29 at the top of it. That’s why it’s amazing the Oilers have been stuck in neutral for so long. Dynamic talents make team building insanely easy in most cases.

 

[dahrougem2]

It was a while since I had head that St. Louis had 9 20 goals scorers. Thanks for reminding me.

Running joke but if we're speaking about them honestly I think the Blues are the other team in the West along with Calgary that could fall off the face of the earth next season. A lot of things working against them:

- No Ville Husso to bail out Jordan Binnington when he inevitably sucks
- Lost David Perron for nothing
- Ryan O'Reilly turning 32 mid-season, already not the best skater and had a down season offensively last season relative to his teammates. Just lost his running mate Perron
- Vlad Tarasenko still wants out
- Ivan Barbashev and Brayden Schenn were both top-10 in shooting %
- Compare the percentages to the Avs, the Blues had 9 players shoot above 12%. The Avs only had 6. Yet they were neck and neck in goals scored.
- Their defense is still a mess, especially after committing to Nick Leddy

Just seems like a team that could have a random bad season next year and get passed by Minnesota/Dallas.

 

[Pokecheque]

Ohhh yeah I forgot they locked down Leddy. Oof. Dude can still skate…but that’s about it.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Not every single one of their forwards was committed to the defensive end of the ice. Kyrou is a dynamic young talent but he’s downright lousy defensively. Pretty sure he played a not-so-small part in missing coverage on the play that led to the series-winning goal by Helm.

Ya wanna know another forward who’s not good defensively? Our old friend Brandon Saad.

The Blues were NOT good in their own end last year, which is still puzzling as hell to me. Even ROR put up some not-great underlying numbers. They tightened things up in the postseason but that’s not what got them there. They were oddly a bit of a run and gun team that got scoring from everywhere. Even goddamned Barbashev somehow scored 20.

Anyway, STL probably has a better overall roster than EDM but their margin for error is nil. You don’t need to methodically build a roster when you have 97/29 at the top of it. That’s why it’s amazing the Oilers have been stuck in neutral for so long. Dynamic talents make team building insanely easy in most cases.

You've named one player who wasn't committed to playing defense. Fine. It's significant enough that it was better than the other teams the Avs played. Is that better? This reply doesn't really change the overarching idea that the Blues are more of a grind it out team than most everyone. I don't pretend that I'm always right. But that's the impression I have.

 

[Ararana]

This is the summer from hell for Calgary fans



Are teams stuck with players for 12 months after arbitration, or is that only offer sheets? Because they're priming themselves to lose Tkachuk for nothing next summer.

 

[LOFIN]

This is the summer from hell for Calgary fans

Are teams stuck with players for 12 months after arbitration, or is that only offer sheets? Because they're priming themselves to lose Tkachuk for nothing next summer.

Only offer sheets. Basically what this does is expedite the process, even if it causes the Flames to pay slightly more than the current QO. A very logical move by the Flames here TBH.

 

[Bill Peckerskull]

 

[flyfysher]

Sharks are interviewing Joe Sacco for the head coach position

BUTT UGLY!

 

[dahrougem2]

Johnny Gaudreau on Spittin Chiclets says he was basically signed with New Jersey when Columbus called at 4:00pm and he told his agent to get a deal done with the Blue Jackets.

 

[Pokecheque]

You've named one player who wasn't committed to playing defense. Fine. It's significant enough that it was better than the other teams the Avs played. Is that better? This reply doesn't really change the overarching idea that the Blues are more of a grind it out team than most everyone. I don't pretend that I'm always right. But that's the impression I have.

Just FYI, I literally named two: Kyrou and Saad.

Tarasenko isn't good defensively either. In fact his defensive numbers were objectively horrid this year. Even Ken Hitchcock, who basically browbeat Mike Modano into a two-way player the whole time he was in Dallas, knew to just let Tarasenko do his thing.

Penalty box camera nemesis Brayden Schenn was also laughably bad defensively.

And it wasn't just the forwards. Justin Faulk was merely "okay" defensively. He's never been known for play in his own end anyway--his game is predicated on offense. He's basically a modern-day Ed Jovanovski. Bortuzzo has somehow stuck around despite being pretty meh defensively and abominable offensively. And somehow, inexplicably, Armstrong re-upped Nick Leddy for four years despite the fact that he's actually horrible at BOTH ends of the ice. I'm actually delighted about that signing.

Again, the Blues overall were bad defensively this year. They just kept getting timely scoring from everywhere in the lineup and Husso bailed their asses out after Binnington crashed and burned. The good defense came from O'Reilly (even then his numbers took a hit), Buchnevich, and, surprisingly, Perron.

I agree though, they are a grind-it-up team, absolutely. But there's a vast difference being a team that plays a grinding game and one that's actually good defensively. The two are not mutually exclusive. The Flyers just loooooove being "hard to play against" and post some of the worst defensive numbers in the league every year. The Avs are almost the complete opposite of a grinding team and are also one of the best defensive teams in hockey.

 

[redacted]

Don't know how succesful they'll be long term but that's pretty cool to build around 2 young centers

I think they'll be quite successful... two very good, but shy of elite 1Cs is a very solid start to a franchise. But they gotta pick a defensemen high next year...

 

[Balthazar]

I think they'll be quite successful... two very good, but shy of elite 1Cs is a very solid start to a franchise. But they gotta pick a defensemen high next year...

Pretty sure that was the plan this year