Around the League - Stanley Cup Edition

[Daisy Jane]

McDavid and Draisaitl regular season scoring leaders #1 and #2, and Tyson Barrie #1 in Dmen scoring ..

Swept in 4 in round #1, by the underdogs in the series.

Now who keeps saying "Offense win Championships", because I'm simply not convinced?

Until Edmonton learns how to play Defense, and how to defend they're never going anywhere despite having the Art Ross Trophy winner on their team.

Oh just stop.

A: it was the 2nd and 3rd seed in the division, Winnipeg wasn't the "underdog" of the series.

B: as @Gallagbi said they were 10th/11th in GA so there goes your whole "woo, defense"

C: if you honestly are going to sit there and think you don't need a blend of offense, defense and goaltending to win a championship and just spout "Defense wins championships" then i honestly don't know what to say. You need all three to win. one isn't better than the other. If you can defend all the live long day and can't score a goal you're not winning much either.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Oh just stop.

A: it was the 2nd and 3rd seed in the division, Winnipeg wasn't the "underdog" of the series.

B: as @Gallagbi said they were 10th/11th in GA so there goes your whole "woo, defense"

C: if you honestly are going to sit there and think you don't need a blend of offense, defense and goaltending to win a championship and just spout "Defense wins championships" then i honestly don't know what to say. You need all three to win. one isn't better than the other. If you can defend all the live long day and can't score a goal you're not winning much either.

If defense wins championships, we would have won against Columbus. We were the much better defensive team. We gave them practically nothing but they were able to get some soft ones past Andersen and their goalie stopped some great chances (or our offense couldn't score for crap). Either way, it really was not their defense which killed us; it was our inability to convert and Korpisalo winning them some games.

Tampa-Florida is another example. Goaltending is much more important. You aren't winning the Cup with awful defense but you can cover it up for a few games if your goalie is great. If your goalie sucks, you aren't winning unless the other goalie sucks more.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Nazem Kadri could be fit for glaring Rangers need - New York Post

The question in front of Chris Drury — the Rangers’ president-general manager who is holding his coaching search open to accommodate candidates who might become available upon first-round defeats — is whether Kadri represents too much of a gamble on whom to make a short-term wager or whether the veteran’s profile fits the club’s needs to such an extent that the potential reward would be worth the risk.

Because in Kadri, who will be 31 at the start of next season and carry a $4.5 million cap hit, the Rangers would be getting the type of nasty, jagged-edged, checking-type center who can score — an average of 24 goals per 82 games over nine full seasons — and is proficient at faceoffs. The organization only has a crying need for that.

Of course the cost would be paramount in arriving at the ultimate decision. You wouldn’t recommend that the Rangers exchange any of their brightest prospects for a guy with one year left on his deal leading to free agency. That wouldn’t make sense. But not everyone under the age of 26 can be walled off, either, if the intent is to bolster the lineup.

Kadri has the type of unsavory on-ice reputation the Rangers seem to make a business of staying away from at least since Daniel Carcillo’s brief 2013-14 run. He may not be of the Tom Wilson grade when it comes to lack of conscience, but each one of Kadri’s six suspensions relate to some sort of an illegal blow to the head. That includes this current one for when he blasted St. Louis’ defenseless Justin Faulk into smithereens.

But the man sure has some value in the middle beyond — or that mitigates — his recklessness. His offense has dipped a bit in his two years in Colorado following seven in Toronto, with Kadri getting 32 points (11-21) in 56 games this season, and he was the only regular on the Avalanche to be on for more goals against than goals scored (29/31), but his possession numbers remained strong and so did his xGF%.

And so did his work at the dots, where Kadri won 52.8 percent of his draws this season and he ranks 26th in the NHL at 53.2 percent over the last four years among players taking at least 3,000 faceoffs. The Rangers rank last in the league over that span at 47.1 percent with Mika Zibanejad’s 49.2 percent the club leader.

And he can be a pain in the, uh, on the ice.

 

[saffronleaf]

looks like they might have run into an insane goaltender a la CBJ last year

 

[Menzinger]

Oh just stop.

A: it was the 2nd and 3rd seed in the division, Winnipeg wasn't the "underdog" of the series.

B: as @Gallagbi said they were 10th/11th in GA so there goes your whole "woo, defense"

C: if you honestly are going to sit there and think you don't need a blend of offense, defense and goaltending to win a championship and just spout "Defense wins championships" then i honestly don't know what to say. You need all three to win. one isn't better than the other. If you can defend all the live long day and can't score a goal you're not winning much either.

Yep.

It's a rare thing for these supposed defensive minded teams (the type who try to grind out 1-0 games) to win the cup.

You look at last year's cup winners top forwards and the first thing that would come to mind is "this guys an offensive juggernaut" too

 

[keonsbitterness]

Why the loliers fans shitting on the announcer?

Because he did what he was paid to do -- show emotion on winning goals.

 

[Menzinger]

Edmonton and Winnipeg were 10th and 11th in GA this year. Are we really going to paint the Jets as this defensive juggernaut?

They have a pretty subpar D core by any unbiased analysis

 

[Daisy Jane]

MCGuire was trending on twitter and i thought he passed away or something. No he was getting roasted for saying that McDavid should be given the Yzerman talk by Holland about becoming more defensively sound.

I don't get why McGuire is getting torn a new one for that. Matthews had the Yzerman talk to himself after the Washington series in his rookie year and that he wanted to be responsible in both ends on the ice.

 

[Menzinger]

MCGuire was trending on twitter and i thought he passed away or something. No he was getting roasted for saying that McDavid should be given the Yzerman talk by Holland about becoming more defensively sound.

I don't get why McGuire is getting torn a new one for that. Matthews had the Yzerman talk to himself after the Washington series in his rookie year and that he wanted to be responsible in both ends on the ice.

I think the issue is it shifts the blame.from the much larger problems with the team.

I agree McDavid earned legit criticisms of the team, but the issue here is I think this deflects focus/blame from the real reasons the Oilers lost. if they had a properly built team it would have been a different series. MCDavid playing better D can't make up for the fact that they need at least 2 more core forwards in that top 9 and a couple more top 4 D. And probably a more reliable starting goalie.

Even Crosby never carried a team on his back by himself (though no argument he's a exponential by better playoff performer than McDavid)

 

[The Podium]

MCGuire was trending on twitter and i thought he passed away or something. No he was getting roasted for saying that McDavid should be given the Yzerman talk by Holland about becoming more defensively sound.

I don't get why McGuire is getting torn a new one for that. Matthews had the Yzerman talk to himself after the Washington series in his rookie year and that he wanted to be responsible in both ends on the ice.

I think everyone has to recognize how much of a unicorn Matthews is. Other teams think we overrate him, but in reality he is just so unique that his contributions go well beyond gaudy offensive numbers that guys like McDavy, Draisaitl and MacKinnon* are putting up.

McDavids defensive game, or lack thereof, is a real criticism.

 

[7even]

I've never for a second thought McDavid would leave Edmonton, too much of the good old Canadian boy star archetype who toils in mediocrity their entire career out of loyalty to the franchise that drafted them because that's how it "should" be done. But hot damn did that guy look 1000% over it last night.

 

[Daisy Jane]

I think the issue is it shifts the blame.from the much larger problems with the team.

I agree McDavid earned legit criticisms of the team, but the issue here is I think this deflects focus/blame from the real reasons the Oilers lost. if they had a properly built team it would have been a different series. MCDavid playing better D can't make up for the fact that they need at least 2 more core forwards in that top 9 and a couple more top 4 D. And probably a more reliable starting goalie.

Even Crosby never carried a team on his back by himself (though no argument he's a exponential by better playoff performer than McDavid)

again, I don't think so.
No one is saying that the team is good and it's McDavid's fault. No one is saying they don't need help. But like i said. absolving McDavid from all blame isn't healthy either. When you are on the bench making faces that a goal is scored based off a turn over on your teammate - and then your own turnover ends the series (when your two turnovers the game before ended the game too) then also have problems

that series was close, and Edmonton could have won. But saying that McDavid could have been better, and better defensively shouldn't be a crime and doesn't ignore the fact Edmonton needs help. Again.

 

[Daisy Jane]

I've never for a second thought McDavid would leave Edmonton, too much of the good old Canadian boy star archetype who toils in mediocrity their entire career out of loyalty to the franchise that drafted them because that's how it "should" be done. But hot damn did that guy look 1000% over it last night.

if you looked up the word "Done" in the dictionary, you'd see a picture of McDavid's faces from last night

 

[The Podium]

Edmonton got goalied. They were the better team, but Hellebuyck was the difference maker.

We know how it feels after the Columbus series. However, that doesnt absolve the rest of Edmonton from blame.

Holland needs to surround McDrai with a real team, Edmonton's goaltending is trash, and McDrai need to sacrifice some offence to play the "right way".

 

[FlyingLeafus]

I think I actually feel worse for Mike Smith then McDavid in this situation, and I think he would make a great backup for Campbell next season on a 1 year deal if he wants to move on from Edmonton and the Leafs are unable to snag a higher tier UFA goalie.

 

[LaPlante94]

I've never for a second thought McDavid would leave Edmonton, too much of the good old Canadian boy star archetype who toils in mediocrity their entire career out of loyalty to the franchise that drafted them because that's how it "should" be done. But hot damn did that guy look 1000% over it last night.

I think he was over it this day but still gave them a chance. McDavid is like that person in a relationship who stays because he fears what'll happen to the other if he leaves so he stays and is miserable as hell until 1 day he just says f*** it and actually leaves.

 

[Isaac Nootin]

Edmonton got goalied. They were the better team, but Hellebuyck was the difference maker.

We know how it feels after the Columbus series. However, that doesnt absolve the rest of Edmonton from blame.

Holland needs to surround McDrai with a real team, Edmonton's goaltending is trash, and McDrai need to sacrifice some offence to play the "right way".

How does Holland go about surrounding him with talent? They have so many holes. Oiler fans keep saying they have cap space finally, but they have RNH due for contract, they have potentially Barrie (who won't be taking close to what he was this year), they don't have a goalie, and to top it off, at the end of next season, Nurse is due for a big contract as well.

 

[BertCorbeau]

How does Holland go about surrounding him with talent? They have so many holes. Oiler fans keep saying they have cap space finally, but they have RNH due for contract, they have potentially Barrie (who won't be taking close to what he was this year), they don't have a goalie, and to top it off, at the end of next season, Nurse is due for a big contract as well.

They also have to fill Larsson's spot and sign a goaltender as Smith is a UFA.

I bet they make a lot of noise in the off-season with UFA signings .. Need to show McDavid they want to win.

 

[The Podium]

How does Holland go about surrounding him with talent? They have so many holes. Oiler fans keep saying they have cap space finally, but they have RNH due for contract, they have potentially Barrie (who won't be taking close to what he was this year), they don't have a goalie, and to top it off, at the end of next season, Nurse is due for a big contract as well.

Going to be tough, probably not next season but the following year when Koskinen is off the books they can start rebuilding.

Move on from RNH and Barrie.

 

[sxvnert]

How does Holland go about surrounding him with talent? They have so many holes. Oiler fans keep saying they have cap space finally, but they have RNH due for contract, they have potentially Barrie (who won't be taking close to what he was this year), they don't have a goalie, and to top it off, at the end of next season, Nurse is due for a big contract as well.

You've answered your own question. Dont resign barrie & rnh, pay prospects/picks to take neal, kassian, koskinen and/or buyouts. THEN get to work building a team around him.

The organization needs to show mcd that they are doing everything humanly possible to improve the team as quickly as possible.

 

[3blizzard4]

Sweep...thanks for laughing at the Tavares injury, LOiLers fans...deserved your karma...funny, I read one of their guys saving further insult on the Leafs and Tavares' injury until the LOilers won a game against the Jets as if being magnanimous...woot, the LOilers didn't win a game, so he could keep his mouth shut.

There is one poster on there that absolutely loathes the Leafs. He creates their GTDs and basically hate posts the Leafs in their OFT thread.

 

[tmlms13]

If defense wins championships, we would have won against Columbus. We were the much better defensive team. We gave them practically nothing but they were able to get some soft ones past Andersen and their goalie stopped some great chances (or our offense couldn't score for crap). Either way, it really was not their defense which killed us; it was our inability to convert and Korpisalo winning them some games.

Tampa-Florida is another example. Goaltending is much more important. You aren't winning the Cup with awful defense but you can cover it up for a few games if your goalie is great. If your goalie sucks, you aren't winning unless the other goalie sucks more.

Wait.... you thought Toronto was a better defensive team than Columbus last year? Did you watch Seth Jones and Zach Werenski?

I don't think Seth Jones was on the ice for a 5v5 goal against the entire series. And if I remember correctly Werenski was injured when Toronto made that 3 goal comeback with the Empty Net.

 

[Gallagbi]

Wait.... you thought Toronto was a better defensive team than Columbus last year? Did you watch Seth Jones and Zach Werenski?

I don't think Seth Jones was on the ice for a 5v5 goal against the entire series. And if I remember correctly Werenski was injured when Toronto made that 3 goal comeback with the Empty Net.

Toronto was better defensively, but Columbus got better (incredible) goaltending.

 

[tmlms13]

Toronto was better defensively, but Columbus got better (incredible) goaltending.

Toronto's inability to score last year had a lot more to do with Columbus' defense.

 

[Gallagbi]

Toronto's inability to score last year had a lot more to do with Columbus' defense.

Yes and no, we had fewer chances than normal, but enough to generate better offense than we saw and our defensive stats were slightly better than CLB in the series. It's very logical to say our D outplayed theirs