I'm actually surprised at the level of thoughtfulness on both the optimism and pessimism side right now. It doesn't seem like a flame war. I think there is validity to both viewpoints. There is reason to believe they can turn it around, but enough very recent history to be reason for legitimate concern.
I think both sides are bringing up valid points and this board does a pretty damn good job not to get into their feels when discussing stuff from what I've seen. I've seen other subs turn into all out flame wars lol
Kovy isn’t an elite Dman but he’s played pretty damn elite hockey to start the year. You ride him while he’s hot. You don’t rotate him with the guy who has flat out been bad so far.
You do rotate if you're serious about developing a guy who will increase the potential for this team more than Kovacevic will. Not to say Nemec has to play every game over Kovacevic (or they can run 11-7) but its something that'll be beneficial in the long run. Also they have 4 games in 6 nights and they have a pretty condensed schedule coming up until Nov 16 so a d rotation to keep guys fresh would probably be beneficial.
Also it hasn't been the easiest ride for Nemec either so some grace should be given - 20 year old in his 2nd NHL season and under his 3rd NHL head coach already and started off the season paired with a right handed rookie defenseman.
There's also another option to keep both Kovacevic and Nemec in the lineup if Pesce could get up to speed quick and they're okay with trying a R-R pairing again with Hamilton: (either running 11-7 or taking Dillon out of the lineup):
You do not rotate arguably the best D for the guy who has been the worst D. That’s not f***ing serious. You wait for Kovacevic’s game to inevitably fall back down before rotating him with the guy who has not been good at all yet.
Also none of the coaches got wildly different results than previous seasons, Carbery had the biggest turn around in terms of points.
Not to say that points say everything.
Burnette certainly made the Preds more offensively dynamic (at during last season lol).
The Rags were very dependent on special teams & goaltending under Gallant and Laviolette has (unfortunately) improved the Rags overall game quite a bit.
Preds’ 23-24 Start (10/10/23-11/14/23)
Note: GD -8
Rest of the season: GD +29
21-22 (w/ Hynes)
45-30-7/ 5th in Central 97 points/ 1st Rd loss to COL (0-4)
22-23 (w/ Hynes)
42-32-8/ 5th in Central 92 points/ missed playoffs
23-24 (w/ Brunnette)
47-30-5/4th in Central 99 points/ 1st Rd loss to VAN (2-4)
The Caps 23-24 meh start was shorter as they had a 5 game win streak in mid-November. That streak was helped by a soft portion of Caps’ schedule that started with *sob* us.
Cap’s 23-24 start
10/13/23-11/8/23: GD -10
Rest of the season: GD -27 lol
Last 3 seasons for WSH: 21-22 (w/ Laviolette)
44-26-12/ 4th in Metro 100 points/ 1st Rd loss to FLA (2-4)
22-23 (w/ Laviolette)
35-37-10/ 6th in Metro 80 points/ missed playoffs
23-24 (w/ Carbery)
40-31-11/ 4th in Metro 91 points/ 1st Rd loss to NYR (0-4)
The Rangers had a great start but teams that win the Presidents Trophy tend to win a lot all year.*
They were helped by their special teams as usual. (And Quick’s weirdly great start helped.)
10/12/24- 12/3/24: +21
Then they improved 5v5 as the year went on.
GD: +33
21-22 (w/ Gallant)
52-24-6 / 2nd in Metro 110 points/ ECF loss to TBL (2-4)
22-23 (w/ Gallant)
47-22-13/ 3rd in Metro 107 points/ 1st Rd loss to NJD (3-4)
23-24 (w/ Laviolette)
56-23-4/ President’s Trophy 114 points/ ECF loss to FLA (2-4)
*For no particular reason, I will point out that 114 points is a little low for a Presidents Trophy winner.
*82 GP & Loser Point Era only*
23-24 NY Rags 56-23-4 114 pts 22-23 BOS 135 pts
22-21 FLA 122 pts
*
*
18-19 TBL 128 pts
17-18 NSH 117 pts
16-17 WSH 118 pts
15-16 WSH 120 pts
**Note: 15-16 OT goes 3v3** 14-15 NY Rags 53-22-7 113 pts 13-14 BOS 117 pts
* 11-12 Vancouver 51-22-9 111 pts 10-11 VAN 117 pts
09-10 WSH 121 pts
08-09 SJS 117 pts
07-08 DET 115 pts 06-07 Buffalo 53-22-7 113 pts 05-06 DET 124 pts
** Note: 05-06 End of ties as SO start** 03-04 Detroit 48-21-11-2 109 pts
02-03 Ottawa 52-21-8-1 113 pts 01-02 DET 116 pts
00-01 COL 118 pts 99-00 St Louis 51-19-11-1 114 pts
**Note: 99-00 Start of the OT loser point**
Also none of the coaches got wildly different results than previous seasons, Carbery had the biggest turn around in terms of points.
Not to say that points say everything.
Burnette certainly made the Preds more offensively dynamic (at during last season lol).
The Rags were very dependent on special teams & goaltending under Gallant and Laviolette has (unfortunately) improved the Rags overall game quite a bit.
21-22 (w/ Hynes)
45-30-7/ 5th in Central 97 points/ 1st Rd loss to COL (0-4)
22-23 (w/ Hynes)
42-32-8/ 5th in Central 92 points/ missed playoffs
23-24 (w/ Brunnette)
47-30-5/4th in Central 99 points/ 1st Rd loss to VAN (2-4)
The Caps 23-24 meh start was shorter as they had a 5 game win streak in mid-November. That streak was helped by a soft portion of Caps’ schedule that started with *sob* us.
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