GDT: Around The League 24/25. Parity, blessed parity.

[syz]

Leafs fans and media all started talking about how the team was different this year... not the same choker Leafs because Berube has them playing the right way... instant losing streak, like clockwork.

 

[bellagiobob]

Leafs fans and media all started talking about how the team was different this year... not the same choker Leafs because Berube has them playing the right way... instant losing streak, like clockwork.

Nothing has changed. Their goalies were playing way, way above a sustainable level, and are now coming back to expected. Was quite telling after the last game listening to Berube, who said they played like crap, while Mitchy thought they played great. Same old.

 

[TheNumber4]

Nothing has changed. Their goalies were playing way, way above a sustainable level, and are now coming back to expected. Was quite telling after the last game listening to Berube, who said they played like crap, while Mitchy thought they played great. Same old.

They are so hyped over there that they are a "defensive team" now. Sure they've reduced GA from 134 Last year at this time to 128. But their offence has also taken a hit, 136 GF this year vs. 148 last year. They were +14 for Goal differential at this time last year, now they are only at +8 lol. If anything they are worse this year but can't see it cause of the Berube goggles.

 

[TheNumber4]

Wow, really haven't been paying much attention to the Berube era Leafs. Looks like Leafs nation is finally figuring out what Oilers nation has always known about Matthews, never thought I'd see the day the worm would turn on Matthews in Toronto. Comments by Leafs fans:

Matthews is an extremely uninspiring player.

The team looks to their leader. Matthews is so soft he has zero pushback. Sitting on the bench making 12 million less why would I go to battle when you hide behind someone

Matthews scored so he's happy with tonight.

Kinda ready for the Matthews-Marner-Nylander-JT era to be over.

Matthews fears his own shadow. It has nothing to do with injury. He’s never stood up for himself or his teammates.

Auston Matthews just needs to appear in a few more commercials and I'm sure that'll turn the season around. He's already wearing McDonalds earrings. Pathetic. This is the captain of the Maple Leafs

 

[Paralyzer]

I'm actually loving the fact the 3 teams I dislike the most (Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary) all are struggling, and they all are getting a heavy dose of humility right now. So easy to throw back at the Oilers and saying we are pretenders, but we always seem to find ways to win, and we don't back down. That's been a long life lesson for the Oilers over the last 15 years. But they are now proving to those franchises, we have what it takes to win it all.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

I'm actually loving the fact the 3 teams I dislike the most (Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary) all are struggling, and they all are getting a heavy dose of humility right now. So easy to throw back at the Oilers and saying we are pretenders, but we always seem to find ways to win, and we don't back down. That's been a long life lesson for the Oilers over the last 15 years. But they are now proving to those franchises, we have what it takes to win it all.

just look at the captains of the respective teams

Quinn Hughes - great D-man, Norris-trophy winner sure...but is he a great leader? he got dummied by Bouchard in last year's playoffs and now can't keep the fraud between JT Miller and Skinny Pete under wraps
Mikael Backlund - career 3rd liner...mid player for a life-long mid team going nowhere, perfect reflection of the franchise
Auston Matthews - prima donna, more concerned about hitting 70 goals than winning games in the playoffs...can't wait to see how much he makes on his next 5-year deal

Connor and Leon bring the heat in big games...it's a proven fact and we are lucky to have him lead this team

 

[Shanahanigans]

I understand he’s incredibly talented but Lane Hutson being 5’9 , 160lbs will make it difficult for him to be a franchise Dman that so many are crowning him as. Can he withstand playoff abuse ? Stakes become so much more different then. Even Norris winner Quinn Hughes was rendered less effective by the physicality of Kane and Draisaitl last playoffs, and he’s bigger than Hutson.

 

[CupofOil]

Leafs are still leading their division even after their bad slump. That division is becoming a snail race

The east is weaker than years past.
Washington has a great record but how good are they really? Leafs, Panthers, Lightning, Bruins, Rangers are all worse, the Canes don't seem quite as good either. The Devils are much better and some of the bottom feeders are a lot better but I'm not seeing any elite teams there outside of the defending Cup champs and possibly Carolina and New Jersey.

Meanwhile in the west it's a bloodbath. The Knights, Oilers, Stars and Avs are all beast teams with lengthy playoff winning pedigree, might be the 4 best teams in the NHL. The Jets and Wild are having great seasons albeit with less pedigree than the aforementioned 4 but are right in the mix with those 4 and the Kings are always a pain in the pass, really good regular season team. The west is where the strength of the league is this year.

 

[K1984]

One of the King Trolls here (Three On Zero) was basically calling me an idiot when I questioned the Hoglander extension lol.

"Teams don't just trade cost controlled young 20 goal scorers" LMAO

Guys also don't just continue shooting more than double their average shooting %

Nucks have 13 double digit shooting % players still. Edmonton with 7 double digit % shooters.


COL comes back and wins. Mack up to 70 points. He has 3 GWG. Drai 9. Drai an ES monster and plus minus league leader. Guy gets no respect

I love reading those idiot's posts expressing confusion about how nobody is scoring as much.

The best is when they blame Tocchet. "He isn't coaching to produce offence." lol. They simply can't accept that they rode a wave of good fortune.

 

[K1984]

I understand he’s incredibly talented but Lane Hutson being 5’9 , 160lbs will make it difficult for him to be a franchise Dman that so many are crowning him as. Can he withstand playoff abuse ? Stakes become so much more different then. Even Norris winner Quinn Hughes was rendered less effective by the physicality of Kane and Draisaitl last playoffs, and he’s bigger than Hutson.

Every year the teams that have smaller star/driver players realize that the size deficits that they insist don't matter in the regular season (but skill!) end up mattering in the playoffs.

I don't think the Devils will ever be a concern, for example because outside of Meier any player worth their salt at forward and defence is at most 5'11. You can out skill size in the regular season, but can't in playoffs.

 

[K1984]

The east is weaker than years past.
Washington has a great record but how good are they really? Leafs, Panthers, Lightning, Bruins, Rangers are all worse, the Canes don't seem quite as good either. The Devils are much better and some of the bottom feeders are a lot better but I'm not seeing any elite teams there outside of the defending Cup champs and possibly Carolina and New Jersey.

Meanwhile in the west it's a bloodbath. The Knights, Oilers, Stars and Avs are all beast teams with lengthy playoff winning pedigree, might be the 4 best teams in the NHL. The Jets and Wild are having great seasons albeit with less pedigree than the aforementioned 4 but are right in the mix with those 4 and the Kings are always a pain in the pass, really good regular season team. The west is where the strength of the league is this year.

It's getting to the point where someone could legitimately question if the East has a single team you would rank in the top 5 contenders. I feel like if you dropped any of the Oilers, Stars, Avalanche, Jets, or Knights in the East any of those teams would be 1st in the Conference and have a 6-8 point lead on 2nd. The "contenders" over there are kind of just farting along with about the same amount of points as the Western teams, except the East teams get to play against garbage almost every night. I don't know if a team like the Devils would even be in the playoff picture out West.

Even the Panthers seem to be pretty uneven. Lately they've been losing to any team that could loosely be considered good, and they seem to have some trouble scoring goals.

 

[Da McBomb]

I'm actually loving the fact the 3 teams I dislike the most (Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary) all are struggling, and they all are getting a heavy dose of humility right now. So easy to throw back at the Oilers and saying we are pretenders, but we always seem to find ways to win, and we don't back down. That's been a long life lesson for the Oilers over the last 15 years. But they are now proving to those franchises, we have what it takes to win it all.

tbf... as much as I hate Calgary... I wouldn't group them with Vancouver and Toronto right now. They're playing way above what most people thought they would be right now... so I'll give them credit for that. I keep waiting for them to slide but they continue to win one.. lose one.. but remain in the picture.

 

[Shanahanigans]

Wow, really haven't been paying much attention to the Berube era Leafs. Looks like Leafs nation is finally figuring out what Oilers nation has always known about Matthews, never thought I'd see the day the worm would turn on Matthews in Toronto. Comments by Leafs fans:

Matthews is an extremely uninspiring player.

The team looks to their leader. Matthews is so soft he has zero pushback. Sitting on the bench making 12 million less why would I go to battle when you hide behind someone

Matthews scored so he's happy with tonight.

Kinda ready for the Matthews-Marner-Nylander-JT era to be over.

Matthews fears his own shadow. It has nothing to do with injury. He’s never stood up for himself or his teammates.

Auston Matthews just needs to appear in a few more commercials and I'm sure that'll turn the season around. He's already wearing McDonalds earrings. Pathetic. This is the captain of the Maple Leafs

Their analytics are the worst they’ve been in the Matthews era , they’re being propped up by unbelievable goaltending from Stolarz. I also think Bérubé is incredibly overrated as a coach . He wants them to play dump and chase, which worked in St Louis because they had guys like Schenn, O’Rielly, Perron, Parayko, etc- that team was built to grind you down. The leafs are the furthest thing from that.

 

[Paralyzer]

tbf... as much as I hate Calgary... I wouldn't group them with Vancouver and Toronto right now. They're playing way above what most people thought they would be right now... so I'll give them credit for that. I keep waiting for them to slide but they continue to win one.. lose one.. but remain in the picture.

Well, I'd argue they are, because their fanbase wants them to lose badly, but the team is playing so mediocre enough that they will NEVER improve. I call that a win in itself LOL.

 

[94 Oil Drops]

Please Conroy, do it! Who needs adding valuable prospects and high picks for your rebuilding team when you can potentially sign Andersson to a lucrative long term contract. Anything to remain mediocre. Cook Conroy Cook.

Even more perpetual mediocrity for the Calgary Flames?

Sí, por favor. You sign that deal Rasmus.

 

[Stoneman89]

Canucks were called out last year by several astute posters on here for their unbelievable and unsustainable shooting %, and it has come to pass this year, as they slip back to the norm.

 

[oXo Cube]

Canucks were called out last year by several astute posters on here for their unbelievable and unsustainable shooting %, and it has come to pass this year, as they slip back to the norm.

There is always one team every year that has a run like this (this season it's Washington) and the fans of that team always insist that everything is fine because 'Our players only shoot from good areas' and/or 'the elite coach has everyone bought in and it's paying dividends.'

Those fans are always wrong.

 

[mcdingdong]

There is always one team every year that has a run like this (this season it's Washington) and the fans of that team always insist that everything is fine because 'Our players only shoot from good areas' and/or 'the elite coach has everyone bought in and it's paying dividends.'

Those fans are always wrong.

So true. Washington this year, Vancouver last year, Seattle the year before, Calgary in 21/22...but people fall for it Every. Dang. Year. Drives me crazy when people post constantly about how 'their' team is the exception for whatever reason, and then it's crickets the next season when their team inevitably falls off.

 

[CantHaveTkachev]

So true. Washington this year, Vancouver last year, Seattle the year before, Calgary in 21/22...but people fall for it Every. Dang. Year. Drives me crazy when people post constantly about how 'their' team is the exception for whatever reason, and then it's crickets the next season when their team inevitably falls off.

hell, the Oilers of 16/17 had a drop off the next 2 years after getting to Game 7 of the 2nd Round

 

[OilerTyler]

So true. Washington this year, Vancouver last year, Seattle the year before, Calgary in 21/22...but people fall for it Every. Dang. Year. Drives me crazy when people post constantly about how 'their' team is the exception for whatever reason, and then it's crickets the next season when their team inevitably falls off.

It's funny how the Jack Adams Award voters never realize it either. They're more than happy to vote for a bad coach that got extreme luck over a genuinely good coach producing sustainable results.

 

[K1984]

There is always one team every year that has a run like this (this season it's Washington) and the fans of that team always insist that everything is fine because 'Our players only shoot from good areas' and/or 'the elite coach has everyone bought in and it's paying dividends.'

Those fans are always wrong.

The Jets are right there too. It's cooled down a bit, but they didn't miss a shot for the first month and a half of the season it seemed.

It's funny how the Jack Adams Award voters never realize it either. They're more than happy to vote for a bad coach that got extreme luck over a genuinely good coach producing sustainable results.

Lol last year I got lambasted on the mains for posting something along the lines of "Tocchet will just join the long list of coaches that win the Jack Adams riding insane PDO, then get unceremoniously fired the next year when the PDO train stops running."

That obviously resulted in an assault of Nuck fans dutifully explaining why this time was different. Fast forward a year and those same fools are starting to call on him to be fired.

Like clockwork.

 

[oXo Cube]

The Jets are right there too. It's cooled down a bit, but they didn't miss a shot for the first month and a half of the season it seemed.

The Jets get more leeway because PDO isn't really perfect and genuinely elite goaltending does give you a bigger buffer, but yeah they aren't this good either.

Seattle got brought up for 2 years ago and that's not entirely unfair but the real answer is Boston. Their pedigree gave them more benefit of the doubt/less critical inspection, but in hindsight it's not really a surprise that squad crashed out hard.

 

[K1984]

The Jets get more leeway because PDO isn't really perfect and genuinely elite goaltending does give you a bigger buffer, but yeah they aren't this good either.

Seattle got brought up for 2 years ago and that's not entirely unfair but the real answer is Boston. Their pedigree gave them more benefit of the doubt/less critical inspection, but in hindsight it's not really a surprise that squad crashed out hard.

Ya the goaltending side is definitely real for them, but on the shooting side they're riding a wave for sure.

Career year (by a mile) pacing for all of Connor, Scheifele, Vilardi, and Morrissey.

 

[CupofOil]

It's getting to the point where someone could legitimately question if the East has a single team you would rank in the top 5 contenders. I feel like if you dropped any of the Oilers, Stars, Avalanche, Jets, or Knights in the East any of those teams would be 1st in the Conference and have a 6-8 point lead on 2nd. The "contenders" over there are kind of just farting along with about the same amount of points as the Western teams, except the East teams get to play against garbage almost every night. I don't know if a team like the Devils would even be in the playoff picture out West.

Even the Panthers seem to be pretty uneven. Lately they've been losing to any team that could loosely be considered good, and they seem to have some trouble scoring goals.

The Panthers are probably just bored with the regular season. For a team that returned the entire core of a Cup winning team and a Cup finals team the year before they have to be considered an elite team still. Other than that, I don't see much in the east in terms of elite teams. The west has 4-6 depending on what one thinks of the Jets and Wild.

 

[Mr Positive]

The east is weaker than years past.
Washington has a great record but how good are they really? Leafs, Panthers, Lightning, Bruins, Rangers are all worse, the Canes don't seem quite as good either. The Devils are much better and some of the bottom feeders are a lot better but I'm not seeing any elite teams there outside of the defending Cup champs and possibly Carolina and New Jersey.

Meanwhile in the west it's a bloodbath. The Knights, Oilers, Stars and Avs are all beast teams with lengthy playoff winning pedigree, might be the 4 best teams in the NHL. The Jets and Wild are having great seasons albeit with less pedigree than the aforementioned 4 but are right in the mix with those 4 and the Kings are always a pain in the pass, really good regular season team. The west is where the strength of the league is this year.

Oddly enough, I think this may be the Leaf's year to go deep. Imo they are playing worse than last year, but on paper they have improved in defense and goaltending. I still don't believe in that core, but it's like you say where it seems the rest of the conference has fallen off.

That is kind of funny because that's what it took for the Raptors to win it all too