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Around the League - PLAYOFFS!?

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Evilhomer said:
I know everyone loves to laugh at me about it, and have at it, but I think it's a foregone conclusion that the Leafs (and the Panthers) will pass the Bruins. The bigger question for me is whether the Leafs can pass the Panthers, but that will take some real work. I think the most realistic outcome is a Toronto/Boston first round, with the Leafs having home ice advantage. I'll take it, but I sure would rather the Leafs play Tampa or Detroit in the first round with home ice.

I mentioned earlier that I wonder if Boston would have the balls, or the availability of a suitable return, to move Ullmark at the deadline as opposed to the off-season. Swayman's new deal presumably prohibits the Bruins from keeping both, and they could get a pretty serious return for Ullmark. I'm not sure it's realistically a deadline move given the limited number of teams that could pay the price for Ullmark, but it certainly will be a way for the Bruins to strengthen other parts of their team in the summer.


I believe the correct term is "Anti-Wagon".
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I think they can pass Boston, only if they take the remaining two games they have against them in regulation
 
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Jojalu said:
I think they can pass Boston, only if they take the remaining two games they have against them in regulation
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I think the Leafs will probably take 3 out of 4 points from those games. It's hard to imagine one of those games not going to overtime. That should easily be enough. The Bruins will probably finish with 107 or 108 points, which means the Leafs need 34 or 35 points in their remaining 25 games. I think that should be relatively easy for them to do, especially with Woll back.
 
Evilhomer said:
I think the Leafs will probably take 3 out of 4 points from those games. It's hard to imagine one of those games not going to overtime. That should easily be enough. The Bruins will probably finish with 107 or 108 points, which means the Leafs need 34 or 35 points in their remaining 25 games. I think that should be relatively easy for them to do, especially with Woll back.
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Haha.

Yes. It is almost impossible to envision those two playing without at least one going to OT.
 
Jojalu said:
I think they can pass Boston, only if they take the remaining two games they have against them in regulation
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I agree. I think if we win those two in regulation, we have a chance, but otherwise it will be difficult.
Interestingly, Toronto and Boston have similar strength of schedule remaining, and very similar opponents.
The only differences are that Toronto plays Arizona, Montreal, Detroit, Tampa, Buffalo x 2, and NJ x 3, while Boston plays NYI, St Louis, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Ottawa x 2.
 
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Evilhomer said:
I think the Leafs will probably take 3 out of 4 points from those games. It's hard to imagine one of those games not going to overtime. That should easily be enough. The Bruins will probably finish with 107 or 108 points, which means the Leafs need 34 or 35 points in their remaining 25 games. I think that should be relatively easy for them to do, especially with Woll back.
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Three of four points means they lose one game in OT so Bruins get 2 or worse, 3 of 4. Leafs need to win both in regulation to have a serious shot at overtaking them IMO.

No way old Leafs sweep Bruins. Let's see if these new Leafs do or if they even care to finish ahead of the Bruins. We will find out as soon as Sunday. NYR, BOSTON, BUFFALO, at BOSTON starting Saturday night.
 
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Both Boston and Toronto have better records on the road, than at home this year. Is there a home ice advantage to be had?
 
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Fogelhund said:
Both Boston and Toronto have better records on the road, than at home this year. Is there a home ice advantage to be had?
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Boston actually has equal home and road records. Toronto has a better away record right now, but I don't think there's much to extrapolate from that.
Toronto had a better home record last year and then went 1-5 at home in the playoffs. I don't think you want to give Boston of all teams home ice in a potential game 7.
 
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ToneDog said:
Three of four points means they lose one game in OT so Bruins get 2 or worse, 3 of 4. Leafs need to win both in regulation to have a serious shot at overtaking them IMO.

No way old Leafs sweep Bruins. Let's see if these new Leafs do or if they even care to finish ahead of the Bruins. We will find out as soon as Sunday. NYR, BOSTON, BUFFALO, @Boston starting Saturday night.
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Just based on the odds, it seems like a safe bet that at least one of the Leafs/Bruins games will go to OT.

Dekes For Days said:
Boston actually has equal home and road records. Toronto has a better away record right now, but I don't think there's much to extrapolate from that.
I don't think you want to give Boston of all teams home ice in a potential game 7.
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It's really not the same Boston team as in year's past. If anything, the roles have been reversed. The Leafs are now the "tough" team compared to this iteration of the Bruins. Let's see what each team acquires at the deadline, but I think even most Bruins fans would say that they don't expect much out of this year's team.
 
More than anything else, these last two games against Boston set the tone for the playoffs. Boston isn't at their best right now, and if we can help keep the momentum slipping away from them, it should be beneficial.
 
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ToneDog said:
No way old Leafs sweep Bruins. Let's see if these new Leafs do or if they even care to finish ahead of the Bruins.
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Old Leafs swept the Bruins in 2021-2022. Winning the next two this year would just mean going 2-0-2 against them. That's difficult, but doable.
 
They threw away too many games early in the year, they're paying for that now.

Interesting week coming up, lots of tough games on the schedule with an Arizona trap game in the middle of it.
 
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ACC1224 said:
Is this an example of every team goes through this?

IMO, they may be caught but it will be anything but easy.
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Boston benefited from a very soft schedule to start the season. To their credit, they took advantage of it. Since the new year, however, they have mostly been a middle of the pack team (and I think Marchand is starting to look his age), but that is what was expected of them based on their off-season personnel losses. They will get some cap relief next season, so I fully expect that they will add some decent pieces in the off-season, and they will likely get a good return for Ullmark, as well.
 
Evilhomer said:
Boston benefited from a very soft schedule to start the season. To their credit, they took advantage of it. Since the new year, however, they have mostly been a middle of the pack team (and I think Marchand is starting to look his age), but that is what was expected of them based on their off-season personnel losses. They will get some cap relief next season, so I fully expect that they will add some decent pieces in the off-season, and they will likely get a good return for Ullmark, as well.
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Yes, the Leafs squandered points against weak Teams while the Bruins didn't which will make it harder to catch them, that's what I said.
I'm not concerned with next season at the moment.
 
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Dekes For Days said:
They're still pacing for 105 points (8th in the league) since January 1st. They've dropped off a bit, but let's not exaggerate here.
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That's why I said "mostly". They had a good stretch in the middle of January, but have been an under .500 team since then.
 
ACC1224 said:
Yes, the Leafs squandered points against weak Teams while the Bruins didn't
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Boston squandered quite a few points against weak teams. We think it's unique to us, but it happens to most teams.
Evilhomer said:
That's why I said "mostly". They had a good stretch in the middle of January, but have been an under .500 team since then.
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I guess it would be more accurate to say they've been middle of the pack since the all star break, not New Years.
 
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