Confirmed with Link: Sheldon Keefe extended 2 years

[Zybalto]

Top team in division last year and I think they are deepest team in league upfront with all required skill sets to win

They were actually second in the division and got wrecked by the first place team (Hurricanes went 6-0-2 against them during the season)

Personally, I'm not gonna promote a team over the big three in the Atlantic just because they finished second in a covid division and lost in 6 games in the first round. Way too much of a "flavor of the month" vibe around the Cats for my liking and I really don't think the Leafs are too scared of them, not the least Matthews who has been so dominant over the Barkov/Huberdeau line the three years prior, the Panthers are going to be doing line swaps to keep Mr. Selke winner away from him.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

They were actually second in the division and got wrecked by the first place team (Hurricanes went 6-0-2 against them during the season)

Personally, I'm not gonna promote a team over the big three in the Atlantic just because they finished second in a covid division and lost in 6 games in the first round. Way too much of a "flavor of the month" vibe around the Cats for my liking and I really don't think the Leafs are too scared of them, not the least Matthews who has been so dominant over the Barkov/Huberdeau line the three years prior, the Panthers are going to be doing line swaps to keep Mr. Selke winner away from him.

Results will speak for themselves .. Canes are in Metro so I did not include them .. but I like canes to be top team in Metro again this year too

 

[kb]

Results will speak for themselves .. Canes are in Metro so I did not include them .. but I like canes to be top team in Metro again this year too

Naw.....

They have Freddy as #1, and they have a meh looking D core.

 

[Zybalto]

Results will speak for themselves .. Canes are in Metro so I did not include them .. but I like canes to be top team in Metro again this year too

I actually really like the Canes too but goaltending with probably be their downfall again.

Maybe I'm just a little peeved in the way certain teams are treated compared to others.

Barkov has made the playoffs twice with 0 series wins over 8 years and he and the Panthers are being treated as the next great team for some reason. You change the Cats to the Leafs and you would see 20 threads on how he is an undeserving Selke winner and the most overrated player in history including by our own fans for some bizarre reason.

I think they have gotten better with depth but the last memories I have of facing them was before the covid break and our injury decimated team beating them in the "biggest game of the year". Your right, lets see what results from the long layoff from real divisions.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Naw.....

They have Freddy as #1, and they have a meh looking D core.

Their D core is BY FAR deepest in NHL between both pro teams and draftees .. they have so much depth they can lose Hamilton and it affects them mildly .. Freddy will be found out like Gards and he won't play much

 

[zeke]

whole lotta things went right for the panthers last year.

Player PPG this season ranked for their careers:

Best Season

Duclair
Verhaeghe
Bennett
Weegar
Ekblad
Tippett
Forsling
Marchment

2nd Best season

Barkov #2 (.01ppg off #1)
Hornqvist
Acciari
Nutivaarra

3rd best season

Huberdeau #3 (.02ppg off #1)
Vatrano

 

[zeke]

Their D core is BY FAR deepest in NHL between both pro teams and draftees .. they have so much depth they can lose Hamilton and it affects them mildly .. Freddy will be found out like Gards and he won't play much

what?

Slavin
Pesce
DeAngelo
Bear
Cole
Skjei

 

[Zybalto]

Overall defensive numbers ranking since Keefe was hired in the league:

Fewest shots Against:
4. Carolina
10. Toronto

Fewest High Danger Chances Against:
8. Toronto
21. Carolina

Lowest Expected Goals Against:
5. Toronto
15. Carolina

Lowest Goals Against:
6. Carolina
10. Toronto

Team save%:
7. Carolina
19. Toronto (Thanks Freddie)

Carolina is a really good possession team that is really vulnerable to giving up high danger chances against which hasnt been great for them come playoff time (or even in regular-season clutch games). Reimer felt like a placeholder, Mrazek was decent for them but inconsistent with injuries and it looked like they might finally have a real keeper in Nedeljkovic (.923 last year and .920 in the playoffs, third in Calder voting) but instead threw money to sign Andersen coming off a sub .900 season. Bold move.

Toronto's D is tough to gauge sometimes with the below-average goaltending they received and some pretty big injury issues at points but even with those issues, they register as top ten in all the other categories.

 

[Zybalto]

whole lotta things went right for the panthers last year.

Player PPG this season ranked for their careers:

Best Season

Duclair
Verhaeghe
Bennett
Weegar
Ekblad
Tippett
Forsling
Marchment

2nd Best season

Barkov #2 (.01ppg off #1)
Hornqvist
Acciari
Nutivaarra

3rd best season

Huberdeau #3 (.02ppg off #1)
Vatrano

You don't think they may have taken advantage of being in a division with a collapsing Jackets team, continually fading Hawks and Preds teams, a hit rock bottom Wings team and a covid ravaged Stars team do you?

 

[zeke]

You don't think they may have taken advantage of being in a division with a collapsing Jackets team, continually fading Hawks and Preds teams, a hit rock bottom Wings team and a covid ravaged Stars team do you?

and a bolts team minus its best player.

 

[ottomaddox]

whole lotta things went right for the panthers last year.

Player PPG this season ranked for their careers:

Best Season

Duclair
Verhaeghe
Bennett
Weegar
Ekblad
Tippett
Forsling
Marchment

2nd Best season

Barkov #2 (.01ppg off #1)
Hornqvist
Acciari
Nutivaarra

3rd best season

Huberdeau #3 (.02ppg off #1)
Vatrano

It does seem like a statistical anomaly for FLA last year, but things can always flip can't they?

All the FLA 2nd and 3rd best seasons can be their best season.

Conversely many Leafs can have their worst season too.

I just think that you can't write of anyone. Toronto will likely make the playoffs, but there are surprises every season.

 

[Dekes For Days]

So in your mind the measuring stick for the team is winning a division that far and away the worst in hockey?

There's nothing to support the idea that our division was worse than anybody else's. It's just a baseless narrative used to downplay any accomplishment.

You think the quality of those teams is increasing or decreasing?

2 of the 3 teams we lost to under Dubas were cup finalists, for the record. The other lost to the cup champion.

 

[Racer88]

There's nothing to support the idea that our division was worse than anybody else's. It's just a baseless narrative used to downplay any accomplishment.

2 of the 3 teams we lost to under Dubas were cup finalists, for the record. The other lost to the cup champion.

So Montreal was that much better then the Leafs that you feel that they were really a cup finalist? All that and they have only 1 player making over 10 million dollars…….maybe there is something to that team model

 

[Dekes For Days]

So Montreal was that much better then the Leafs that you feel that they were really a cup finalist?

There is no feel about it. They were factually a cup finalist. That either means that Montreal is a great team, or it means that there is more to evaluating a team than contextless series outcomes. It's interesting that after dismissing regular season results in that division as meaningless and worthless to downplay the Leafs, Montreal's quality in the playoffs was labelled by their regular season results and not their playoff results on the way to the finals.

 

[The CyNick]

You should have asked Vegas after they got wrecked by the 4th place team from the North in the semis........and yea, the West division was the weakest IMO.

I'm guessing they were not happy with the season. But at least they had some playoff success. And beat quality teams along the way. Montreal had a cakewalk into the semis.

 

[The CyNick]

Those teams overall records the prior year were near identical to every division other than the East - and arguably the majority of the Canadian teams improved their rosters last year from the year prior.

So where would you rank the divisions last year in terms of quality?

 

[zeke]

So where would you rank the divisions last year in terms of quality?

The one division that seemed to stand out from the rest going in was the East.....but tbh, all those rosters were already kind of looking old and past it even then.

 

[Racer88]

There is no feel about it. They were factually a cup finalist. That either means that Montreal is a great team, or it means that there is more to evaluating a team than contextless series outcomes. It's interesting that after dismissing regular season results in that division as meaningless and worthless to downplay the Leafs, Montreal's quality in the playoffs was labelled by their regular season results and not their playoff results on the way to the finals.

No doubt they were factually a playoff team. The part I struggle with is how much more success they had then the Leafs.

 

[Dekes For Days]

The part I struggle with is how much more success they had then the Leafs.

They had more playoff success than 29 teams. Moving forward, we have a good chance at some playoff success.

 

[Racer88]

They had more playoff success than 29 teams. Moving forward, we have a good chance at some playoff success.

I sure hope so because the money they are spending on these guys they better start producing
If a team like the Habs can go to the finals our guys should be ashamed of themselves

 

[Leaf Fans]

If you surveyed the other teams in the league, which division do you think would have been voted as least competitive?

I think they will have different answers.

 

[The CyNick]

I think they will have different answers.

I'm sure it's possible, but you likely would get clear consensus that the North was the weakest of the four, and by a wide margin.

 

[zeke]

Wow. Hey, not all people were meant to agree.

Agreed.

19-20 records by 20-21 divisions:

EAST 98pts pace
WEST 90pts pace
CENTRAL: 89pts pace
NORTH: 89pts pace

And most observers thought most of the Canadian teams had improved over the offseason coming in.

 

[The CyNick]

Agreed.

19-20 records by 20-21 divisions:

EAST 98pts pace
WEST 90pts pace
CENTRAL: 89pts pace
NORTH: 89pts pace

And most observers thought most of the Canadian teams had improved over the offseason coming in.

So you provided stats to show North was the worst. Cool. Thanks.

 

[zeke]

So you provided stats to show North was the worst. Cool. Thanks.

Yup. Cool.