Soundwave
Registered User
- Mar 1, 2007
- 75,043
- 31,330
Agree with pretty much everything in this post.
I didn't want to match either, but I'm an IT guy, not a GM of an NHL franchise. I'm an idiot in this space, and the people that are paid millions to make decisions very clearly dramatically failed in their assessment. They have dramatically failed in pretty much every off-season move they made truthfully. None of the signings have really worked out, and the Ceci trade hasn't worked out either, on top of the non-match of the offer sheets. Just an absolute DISASTER of an off-season for the Oilers management group as a totality.
If I failed for an entire year in every IT decision I made, I wouldn't be employed anymore.
Most offensive players peak at around 25-27. Maybe McDavid is different, due to being generational and all that, but maybe not either. If I had to bet, I would certainly bet that the best offensive seasons are behind him for certain. Now, if you want to start talking "peak 200 foot game", I think that is a different age, and a different conversation.
Becoming less and less the case. Kucherov just had his career best year at 31. Hyman had his career best year at age 32. MacKinnon at age 29 and he could top those numbers. Marchessault at age 33.
Ovechkin is almost 40 years old and on pace for 50 goals, lol. A few years ago people felt like Ovy would be on his last legs and have to crawl to break Gretzky's record, he's going to easily cruise past it. He may well outperform the season he had at age 25 this year.
Nutrition, training, and longevity has changed sports wide, you see guys like Brady, LeBron, Djokovic, putting up big numbers well into their 30s, hockey was always likely to follow suit.