Around the NHL 2023-24 - playoff thread

[Bleedred]

I listen to too many podcasts with British people so I often say "sacked" instead of fired.

I actually had no idea that was a British phrase. I always just thought it came from football or something.

 

[TrufleShufle]

I actually had no idea that was a British phrase. I always just thought it came from football or something.

This is what it makes me think of.

 

[NJDevs26]

I’m not sure why you’re defending Lou here.

People are willfully blind. Isles have been getting lucky, have gotten unsustainable performances, have no future, have no talent, but continue to make the playoffs. But they’re stuck in no-man’s land. Much better to be picking top 10 than have lost in the first round.

God we suck.

The Isles are lucky and we aren’t, I’m tired of hearing that excuse both ways tbh. The irony is Lou would be perfect for a team like us tbh, young talent already in place but badly needs direction and a GM who doesn’t let friendship get in the way of being a ***** when you need to be one. Plus we’re past the point where we should actually care about first rounders as anything other than currency anyway and it’s not like Lou would trade Jesper Bratt for Joe Pavelski ffs. I’m tired of people saying we’re better off when we haven’t done **** all yet and we’re in a pivotal off-season.

Where I’ll agree with the haters is you really shouldn’t ask Lou to go to a last place team and make them a Cup winner at this point in his life, you can’t really microwave that in 3-5 years though he came closer than people want to admit with an Isles team that lost its best player when he walked in the door. Still you need everything to go right to pull that kind of magic trick off, realistically you need to actually be a team with some talent in place before you hire an 80+ win now president/GM

 

[njdevils1982]

I’ll always defend Lou Reed . The man was a NY music legend. I saw him open for Peter Gabriel at the Beacon in maybe 1994.

f*** yes.

the original wrapper was dope as shit!

 

[MartyOwns]

The Isles were in ruins for the better part of twenty years before he got there lol, almost a decade of being competitive with a couple of deep runs before they’re in ‘ruins’ again by 2028 or so any Islander fan would have taken seven years ago.

oh yeah they can be competitive, but that team is not built for a cup. it’s built for exactly what it is, that was my point. and in 2028 when they’re horribly depleted because lou doesn’t believe in rebuilding, they won’t have anything to show for it.

 

[tailfins]

oh yeah they can be competitive, but that team is not built for a cup. it’s built for exactly what it is, that was my point. and in 2028 when they’re horribly depleted because lou doesn’t believe in rebuilding, they won’t have anything to show for it.

I can’t believe people are talking about 2028.

How do you take anyone seriously when they speak definitively about what the world will be like during the next presidential election?

 

[njdevils1982]

stall a selke finalist is comical

 

[My3Sons]

stall a selke finalist is comical

Holding clutching grabbing and interference is apparently good hockey. Morons . All the guys does is cheat.

 

[ZachaFlockaFlame]

Holding clutching grabbing and interference is apparently good hockey. Morons . All the guys does is cheat.

Guy blew 2 A+ chances in this game today, lmao. God forbid if Nico did that in a playoff game

 

[My3Sons]

Guy blew 2 A+ chances in this game today, lmao. God forbid if Nico did that in a playoff game

Considering Staal is not even human I’d say he’s doing well.

 

[Bcap88]

Where is all this marner trade talk coming from?

Still under contract and no team is surely dumb enough to spend premium picks to aquire him and then on top of it give him 12 million dollars

 

[TrufleShufle]

Where is all this marner trade talk coming from?

Still under contract and no team is surely dumb enough to spend premium picks to aquire him and then on top of it give him 12 million dollars

The idea of "running it back" seems to be the worst thing anyone can say at this point to anyone Toronto related. Marner is the only option to move on from realistically. He would absolutely need a raise next year to keep him in Toronto given the contracts already handed out. Few reasons it makes sense.

Then you have stuff like refusing to talk to media after losing while wearing a letter and other storyline things through out the playoffs that people latch onto. How much of that is true or has a bearing on actual trade talk doesn't matter, it's fuel for social media.

I think the idea about the assets coming back, one of the biggest assets will be the cap space to build out a better team.

 

[Forge]

Where is all this marner trade talk coming from?

Still under contract and no team is surely dumb enough to spend premium picks to aquire him and then on top of it give him 12 million dollars

Its mostly just from the idea that they can't keep doing the same thing over and over.

The problem is that it's really not up to the leafs. I mean, if Marner doesn't want to leave, he's not going to. Same with Tavares. That's one of the reasons that if either of them get shipped out, its going to be a return that is far less than someone like Marner deserves

 

[JrFischer54]

really dont see the leafs trading marner or JT and they will probably end up running it back. how cant they? the team is a constant contender their "core" is legit and actually lived up to their contracts for the most part their entire lengths. if they shipped marner out they aren't going to get back anything remotely close to value for him and they certainly don't want draft picks in return for him. i said it before in a different thread this team is losing to really really really good hockey teams. 5 years in a row a team from their division made the finals maybe 6 if florida does it this year. its not like they are getting knocked out by the caps in the first round talk about really unfortunate timing for your window to open. they are coming off 3 105pt seasons as a team and you dont want to run it back? good luck with that

if i'm the leafs reup marner for whatever the ask is dont bring back JT after next year and use that money to fill holes elsewhere.

the mistake the leafs made was bringing in JT they didnt have to bring him in but man everyone in leaf nation wanted their hometown boy back and JT didn't do them any favors by not taking a home team discount thats for sure.

 

[njdevils1982]

really dont see the leafs trading marner or JT and they will probably end up running it back. how cant they? the team is a constant contender their "core" is legit and actually lived up to their contracts for the most part their entire lengths. if they shipped marner out they aren't going to get back anything remotely close to value for him and they certainly don't want draft picks in return for him. i said it before in a different thread this team is losing to really really really good hockey teams. 5 years in a row a team from their division made the finals maybe 6 if florida does it this year. its not like they are getting knocked out by the caps in the first round talk about really unfortunate timing for your window to open. they are coming off 3 105pt seasons as a team and you dont want to run it back? good luck with that

if i'm the leafs reup marner for whatever the ask is dont bring back JT after next year and use that money to fill holes elsewhere.

the mistake the leafs made was bringing in JT they didnt have to bring him in but man everyone in leaf nation wanted their hometown boy back and JT didn't do them any favors by not taking a home team discount thats for sure.

but think of all the pyjamas that kind of dough can buy!

 

[guitarguyvic]

really dont see the leafs trading marner or JT and they will probably end up running it back. how cant they? the team is a constant contender their "core" is legit and actually lived up to their contracts for the most part their entire lengths. if they shipped marner out they aren't going to get back anything remotely close to value for him and they certainly don't want draft picks in return for him. i said it before in a different thread this team is losing to really really really good hockey teams. 5 years in a row a team from their division made the finals maybe 6 if florida does it this year. its not like they are getting knocked out by the caps in the first round talk about really unfortunate timing for your window to open. they are coming off 3 105pt seasons as a team and you dont want to run it back? good luck with that

if i'm the leafs reup marner for whatever the ask is dont bring back JT after next year and use that money to fill holes elsewhere.

the mistake the leafs made was bringing in JT they didnt have to bring him in but man everyone in leaf nation wanted their hometown boy back and JT didn't do them any favors by not taking a home team discount thats for sure.

You can talk about how good their opponents were but the reality is that Toronto is never gonna go far in the playoffs with this weak D core they’ve been trotting out for almost a decade. It’s actually worse now than ever.

They need to completely rebuild their defense. How they do that, I’m not really sure. They are also allergic to scoring in the playoffs, and clearly their very expensive core hasn’t been able to carry that for them in the postseason.

Running it back as they currently are is not an option if they have plans to actually try to get better. Maybe they can defer a year until JT and marner contracts are done, but that’s banking exclusively on signing free agents to replace them and address their needs.

 

[MadDevil]

Okay, somebody needs to be fired...

 

[Saugus]

Okay, somebody needs to be fired...

Man, talk about a cursed image. I think we’d all be better served pretending that never happened.

 

[JrFischer54]

You can talk about how good their opponents were but the reality is that Toronto is never gonna go far in the playoffs with this weak D core they’ve been trotting out for almost a decade. It’s actually worse now than ever.

They need to completely rebuild their defense. How they do that, I’m not really sure. They are also allergic to scoring in the playoffs, and clearly their very expensive core hasn’t been able to carry that for them in the postseason.

Running it back as they currently are is not an option if they have plans to actually try to get better. Maybe they can defer a year until JT and marner contracts are done, but that’s banking exclusively on signing free agents to replace them and address their needs.

Adding by subtracting through ufa no less marner that’s a bold strategy cotton

 

[Bleedred]

If the Blues miss him so much they can have the legend back.

Legendary assistant GM

Both him and Rogalski

 

[My3Sons]

If the Blues miss him so much they can have the legend back.

Legendary assistant GM

Both him and Rogalski

He’s meant to be with NJ. Rogalski on the other hand.. …

 

[Triumph]

The Isles are lucky and we aren’t, I’m tired of hearing that excuse both ways tbh. The irony is Lou would be perfect for a team like us tbh, young talent already in place but badly needs direction and a GM who doesn’t let friendship get in the way of being a ***** when you need to be one. Plus we’re past the point where we should actually care about first rounders as anything other than currency anyway and it’s not like Lou would trade Jesper Bratt for Joe Pavelski ffs. I’m tired of people saying we’re better off when we haven’t done **** all yet and we’re in a pivotal off-season.

Where I’ll agree with the haters is you really shouldn’t ask Lou to go to a last place team and make them a Cup winner at this point in his life, you can’t really microwave that in 3-5 years though he came closer than people want to admit with an Isles team that lost its best player when he walked in the door. Still you need everything to go right to pull that kind of magic trick off, realistically you need to actually be a team with some talent in place before you hire an 80+ win now president/GM

The Islanders would've still had to win another round where they were still a huge underdog. Perfect team for COVID hockey, no fans, no energy, just grinding.

I agree that Lou or someone like him would be just fine for the Devils now, but he would never get a franchise to this point.

The Devils are so much better off than the Islanders. We're not in a pivotal off-season, that's the thing - the Devils can f*** up their coaching hire and their goaltending and still finish ahead of the Islanders if they are healthy. The Islanders don't have pivotal off-seasons, they just trade their 1st round pick and then try to re-sign everybody they already have. It's a race for 8th again next season.

 

[NJDevs26]

The Islanders would've still had to win another round where they were still a huge underdog. Perfect team for COVID hockey, no fans, no energy, just grinding.

I agree that Lou or someone like him would be just fine for the Devils now, but he would never get a franchise to this point.

The Devils are so much better off than the Islanders. We're not in a pivotal off-season, that's the thing - the Devils can f*** up their coaching hire and their goaltending and still finish ahead of the Islanders if they are healthy. The Islanders don't have pivotal off-seasons, they just trade their 1st round pick and then try to re-sign everybody they already have. It's a race for 8th again next season.

A huge underdog against barely .500 Montreal?! They would have beaten them too, maybe in 6 or 7 but I couldn't see them losing to Montreal after taking out Tampa and Boston.

It's a pivotal offseason/next season in terms of determining whether major surgery is needed to make this team a true contender or minor tweaks.

 

[My3Sons]

A huge underdog against barely .500 Montreal?! They would have beaten them too, maybe in 6 or 7 but I couldn't see them losing to Montreal after taking out Tampa and Boston.

It's a pivotal offseason/next season in terms of determining whether major surgery is needed to make this team a true contender or minor tweaks.

Hopefully they don't struggle with team health or bad goaltending so they can fairly evaluate what is going on. This season so much went wrong.

 

[Bleedred]

He’s meant to be with NJ. Rogalski on the other hand.. …

I have absolutely no attachment to Marty the management person or Marty the head of the goalie department.

I would throw him overboard as fast as anybody here.

Just like I have no emotional attachment to Scott Stevens the coach, who we still get calls to bring back every so often.