Around the League - 2024-2025

[All Mod Cons]

They now currently own the WC2 spot.

We'd better not finish 1st in the East then

 

[BallardEra]

7 points separate WC1 from dead last in the Conference:

 

[fahad203]

I remember when Patterson was better than Matthews

 

[Kennedys]

Everytime I see the Habs playing OT, they're on the PP. Must be nice.

The league want a canadian team to win obvioulsy

 

[Evilhomer]

Florida falling back to the pack. The leafs will run away with the Atlantic, so just need to pass Washington.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Thank you Colorado, very cool.

 

[LeafsNet]

What the hell happened to the rangers?

 

[LeafsNet]

Oh thank you Colorado….now the Leafs need to win in Philly to really REALLY make this count.

EDIT: And thank you Anaheim while we’re at it.

 

[stats1]

if I’m the Canucks management I would trade both Pettersson and Miller. You could get a nice haul of assets and press the reset button on that team. They aren’t winning anything as currently constructed.

 

[Jojalu]

if I’m the Canucks management I would trade both Pettersson and Miller. You could get a nice haul of assets and press the reset button on that team. They aren’t winning anything as currently constructed.

No Demko, Pettersson, Hronek and that was Hughes first game back from injury.

There is no need to trade both. I am not sure if Lekkerimaki will be enough to help for this year but they will have zero C depth if they trade both.

 

[BallardEra]

Breakout season for Protas this year. He's a force on the fore check. Caps also drafted his younger brother who is currently in the OHL. Big dude too.

 

[Dekes For Days]

It's pretty crazy how much the Eastern Conference and Atlantic division playoff teams have fallen off this year.

Average point pace of top-8 Eastern Conference teams
2016-2017: 103.8 points
2017-2018: 103.4 points
2018-2019: 104.9 points
2019-2020: 103.6 points
2020-2021: 111.5 points
2021-2022: 110.4 points
2022-2023: 107.6 points
2023-2024: 103.6 points
2024-2025: 99.2 points

Average point pace of top-4 Atlantic Division teams
2016-2017: 97.8 points
2017-2018: 106.5 points
2018-2019: 107.8 points
2019-2020: 103.1 points
2020-2021: 111.3 points
2021-2022: 113.5 points
2022-2023: 109.0 points
2023-2024: 104.8 points
2024-2025: 97.3 points

Sucks that the Leaf's peak aligned with the peak of the division and conference, but we have a great opportunity this year. East seems wide open.

 

[Fogelhund]

It's pretty crazy how much the Eastern Conference and Atlantic division playoff teams have fallen off this year.

Average point pace of top-8 Eastern Conference teams
2016-2017: 103.8 points
2017-2018: 103.4 points
2018-2019: 104.9 points
2019-2020: 103.6 points
2020-2021: 111.5 points
2021-2022: 110.4 points
2022-2023: 107.6 points
2023-2024: 103.6 points
2024-2025: 99.2 points

Average point pace of top-4 Atlantic Division teams
2016-2017: 97.8 points
2017-2018: 106.5 points
2018-2019: 107.8 points
2019-2020: 103.1 points
2020-2021: 111.3 points
2021-2022: 113.5 points
2022-2023: 109.0 points
2023-2024: 104.8 points
2024-2025: 97.3 points

Sucks that the Leaf's peak aligned with the peak of the division and conference, but we have a great opportunity this year. East seems wide open.

Leafs peak in points was 21-22 with 115 points. That year, the bottom four in the Atlantic were on a 69.25 point pace. This year, the bottom four in the Atlantic are on a 80.0425 point pace.

Was the peak of the division when the bottom four were incredibly weak, so the top four teams picked up more points?

Or is the division on a peak now that there is far more parity in the division, and the bottom teams are much stronger, making it harder for the top teams to run away with the division?

 

[ACC1224]

Leafs peak in points was 21-22 with 115 points. That year, the bottom four in the Atlantic were on a 69.25 point pace. This year, the bottom four in the Atlantic are on a 80.0425 point pace.

Was the peak of the division when the bottom four were incredibly weak, so the top four teams picked up more points?

Or is the division on a peak now that there is far more parity in the division, and the bottom teams are much stronger, making it harder for the top teams to run away with the division?

This is how I would see it. More parity = tougher.

 

[nuck]

Nice turnaround for Colorado after apparently solving their epic tire fire in net. Nice deal for Blackwood after a pretty up and down history.

 

[LeafsNet]

Colorado and New York just went in opposite directions. I honestly didn’t even notice how far NYR had fallen off until I saw them last in the Metro, I was thinking….what year is this And then Colorado came out of nowhere.

It’s been a while where I’ve seen such huge drop offs and rises.

 

[BallardEra]

Sucks that the Leaf's peak aligned with the peak of the division and conference, but we have a great opportunity this year. East seems wide open.

I expect a few upsets come playoff time.

 

[Seath The Scaleless]

Colorado and New York just went in opposite directions. I honestly didn’t even notice how far NYR had fallen off until I saw them last in the Metro, I was thinking….what year is this And then Colorado came out of nowhere.

It’s been a while where I’ve seen such huge drop offs and rises.

What's crazy is that the Rangers couldn't even squeeze out any overtime losses during this skid. 6-16-0 since the 12-4-1 start

They're still in the mix for a WC spot and are likely better than most of the teams ahead of them. However, they've struggled to beat good teams all year - only 4 wins against teams currently in a playoff spot. I wouldn't put any money on them

 

[ULF_55]

Everytime I see the Habs playing OT, they're on the PP. Must be nice.

That was a fun game to watch.

Canucks defence look good and bad depending on the shift.

Canadiens played well, and have some good young talent.

It was a pleasure to watch how some defenders skate so effortlessly, with no fridges on their backs.

 

[All Mod Cons]

That was a fun game to watch.

Canucks defence look good and bad depending on the shift.

Canadiens played well, and have some good young talent.

It was a pleasure to watch how some defenders skate so effortlessly, with no fridges on their backs.

Yeah, they're in their free-flowing, nothing really matter phase. We've had years of fridgeless defenders. Time for the fridge, sink, oven, coffee machine and microwave to be strapped to our dmen (sans morgan).

 

[ULF_55]

Yeah, they're in their free-flowing, nothing really matter phase. We've had years of fridgeless defenders. Time for the fridge, sink, oven, coffee machine and microwave to be strapped to our dmen (sans morgan).

Don't need a full defence of sprinters, even 1 can make a difference.

Mind you if the coach won't employ them doesn't matter.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Leafs peak in points was 21-22 with 115 points. That year, the bottom four in the Atlantic were on a 69.25 point pace. This year, the bottom four in the Atlantic are on a 80.0425 point pace. Was the peak of the division when the bottom four were incredibly weak, so the top four teams picked up more points? Or is the division on a peak now that there is far more parity in the division, and the bottom teams are much stronger, making it harder for the top teams to run away with the division?

Are the bottom teams "much stronger"? How have you concluded this if you are dismissing points? Are they just getting more points because the top teams in their division are weaker? Goes both ways. Divisional games only make up a portion of a team's overall record. There was only one season where games were isolated within division, and the top 4 of the Atlantic - split between 3 different divisions of different teams - still paced 116, 113, 110, and 107 points. The Atlantic as a whole had 5 playoff teams, both cup finalists, and the cup winner.

Divisional games also include games against both the bottom of the division and the top of the division. Are you really trying to argue that the Atlantic, overall, was a below average quality division? Because otherwise, your argument doesn't work. For the record, in 2021-2022, the top 4 Atlantic division teams had a combined 113.5 point pace against the Atlantic. Against the rest of the league, they had a... 113.5 point pace. Doesn't seem like those bottom teams impacted them at all.

I'm not sure why you think parity makes a division stronger. In the 6 years since 2018, the Atlantic has had 4 President's trophies, 7 Cup finalists, and 3 Cup winners. That seems like a peak to me. I wasn't even talking about the division as a whole anyway. I don't really care about irrelevant teams at the bottom. I care about the playoff teams, and the difficulty of our path. Which is why I looked at the top 4 of the Atlantic and top 8 of the conference. Our path is among the weakest it's ever been in the Matthews era, and that presents an opportunity that I hope we don't waste.

 

[Fogelhund]

Are the bottom teams "much stronger"? How have you concluded this if you are dismissing points? Are they just getting more points because the top teams in their division are weaker? Goes both ways. Divisional games only make up a portion of a team's overall record. There was only one season where games were isolated within division, and the top 4 of the Atlantic - split between 3 different divisions of different teams - still paced 116, 113, 110, and 107 points. The Atlantic as a whole had 5 playoff teams, both cup finalists, and the cup winner.

Divisional games also include games against both the bottom of the division and the top of the division. Are you really trying to argue that the Atlantic, overall, was a below average quality division? Because otherwise, your argument doesn't work. For the record, in 2021-2022, the top 4 Atlantic division teams had a combined 113.5 point pace against the Atlantic. Against the rest of the league, they had a... 113.5 point pace. Doesn't seem like those bottom teams impacted them at all.

I'm not sure why you think parity makes a division stronger. In the 6 years since 2018, the Atlantic has had 4 President's trophies, 7 Cup finalists, and 3 Cup winners. That seems like a peak to me. I wasn't even talking about the division as a whole anyway. I don't really care about irrelevant teams at the bottom. I care about the playoff teams, and the difficulty of our path. Which is why I looked at the top 4 of the Atlantic and top 8 of the conference. Our path is among the weakest it's ever been in the Matthews era, and that presents an opportunity that I hope we don't waste.

The Atlantic has more points against the other divisions, and it's not that close. 261 points, to 251, 247 and 247.

The Atlantic teams have the best record against other division teams.... Seems right now it's the strongest division in the league, still...

 

[Dekes For Days]

The Atlantic has more points against the other divisions, and it's not that close. 261 points, to 251, 247 and 247.

That's because they've played more games outside of their division than the other divisions have. If you actually look at the combined records of the divisions, Atlantic is last, at 0.541. Metro is 0.547. Central is 0.553. Pacific is 0.560. Though again, I was discussing playoff teams and paths; not the records of bottom feeders.

 

[windycity]

You're forgetting to add back in the present value of the 50% that is deferred.

They don't get to write off the whole 50%. They have to calculate what that money would be worth in today's dollars and that is added back on to determine overall AAV. Depending on factors like what rate of interest and inflation they use and the number of years it's deferred over it is still likely to be a pretty large number.

Probably closer to 75% than 50% of the AAV without deferral.

I'd add that the 10 year deferral payout period Vatrano took is for state tax reasons. A State can't go after deferred compensation if you have left that state and take the payments out over 10 years. So California can't go after that money if he moves to say Florida that has no state income tax. So it wouldn't have worked tax-wise if it was less than 10.