Series Talk: Stanley Cup Playoffs 2024

[LOFIN]

Lol at Matheson

 

[AvsCOL]

Reminiscing on the absolute defensive CLINIC the Avs put on in the third period against Tampa in game 6. Stanley Cup on the line, and they held Tampa to 4 shots in 20 mins.

You'll never see a better defensive period of hockey.

 

[Grigowski]

Sucks for McDavid but I’m sure the Oilers will get back here, could easily see them winning next year.

Maybe.

But I dont see this happening.

Lets not forget:
It took a very lucky seeding, Vancouver on their 3rd string and a Dallas-Team that run out of gas after beating Vegas and Colorado in Round 1 & 2.

Dont get me wrong, i dont want to take anything away for them because thats how playoffs work and the fact they came within one goal in Game 7 after being down 3-0 is worthy of all honor, but i dont see this happening again next season.

I dont know why Florida let it came down to a game 7, but in the end they got it done.

 

[ABasin]

You either win or you lose. 97 lost. 0 points in games 6 and 7 when it mattered most. No one on Florida was spectacular but don't give it to a guy that lost and wasn't good at the end of the series when it mattered

I don’t get this take. On one hand, we have a team trophy (Stanley Cup). On the other, an individual one.

Dude was the best player over the course of the playoffs. Not a hard decision, IMO.

 

[lionsDen]

Did I warp into the oilers board. This is just odd


The con smith voting for is a disgrace and a black eye for the nhl

 

[ABasin]

Good for him, still has 0 cups. <snip> I think he rather win the cup than win the MVP in a losing effort.

Oh, that’s certainly true.

Doesn’t take away the fact that he was the best player in the postseason.

 

[Ararana]

McDavid is the king of winning individual awards yet becoming a no show when it matters most. That kid is never going to win a cup. What a p***y move giving him the Conns Smythe after that game 6 and 7. The NHL really wants him to, but he'll never live up to Crosby let alone Wayne.

Oilers got unbelievably lucky to get out of the west, I'll be shocked if they ever do it again with the direction that core is going.

This Oilers fan pretty much hits the nail on the head:

Is it me, or when the Avs won The Cup on ESPN in 2022 did they get about a third of this coverage after the game?

Feels like I had to tune into Altitude and Twitter to see much.

I have both the American and Canadian broadcasts recorded, they both give damn near an hour of cup celebration footage.

 

[henchman21]

Maybe.

But I dont see this happening.

Lets not forget:
It took a very lucky seeding, Vancouver on their 3rd string and a Dallas-Team that run out of gas after beating Vegas and Colorado in Round 1 & 2.

Dont get me wrong, i dont want to take anything away for them because thats how playoffs work and the fact they came within one goal in Game 7 after being down 3-0 is worthy of all honor, but i dont see this happening again next season.

I dont know why Florida let it came down to a game 7, but in the end they got it done.

Edmonton should be the clear favorite out of the West next season still. They have to sign 6F 2D and 1G with 10m in cap space. They’ll buy out Campbell to be at nearly 14m in cap space. Two of those positions (Broberg and Holloway) will come in really cheap. I’d expect backup goalie to be Picks and cheap. Leaving them with 5F (all bottom 6) and a 7D to sign for ~10-11m. The two forth liners and 7D should cost around 3m total. Leaving ~2.75m per for the 3rd line. Tight, but doable. If they can keep Henrique cheap it helps them a ton.

Now… after next season, it’s going to be very very tough. They are getting old, the contracts come due, and they don’t have any real prospect depth.

Lol at Matheson
View attachment 886915

Forsling getting a lot more love than I thought he would and it is very deserved.

 

[Grigowski]

You'll never see a better defensive period of hockey.

You`ll never see a more dominant ass-whooping than Game 2 either.....

 

[Grigowski]

Edmonton should be the clear favorite out of the West next season still.

They never were "the" favorite in the west this season. What makes you believe they are next season?

Vegas will bounce back. I think thats for sure. And Dallas very much has the same team next season.

I dont know if Vancouver can repeat their season next year and how the AVS will look.

Like some fans, even in Edmonton said: I fear this was McDavids and the Oilers big chance to win the cup.

 

[Chiarelli]

Don't know why everyone's complaining about Evan better than Makar Bouchard

 

[henchman21]

They never were "the" favorite in the west this season. What makes you believe they are next season?

Vegas will bounce back. I think thats for sure. And Dallas very much has the same team next season.

I dont know if Vancouver can repeat their season next year and how the AVS will look.

Like some fans, even in Edmonton said: I fear this was McDavids and the Oilers big chance to win the cup.

They clearly should have been (and they were a popular pick prior to the season). They took it to the Stars and clawed back in the finals. So the results are there that show it. Then once they made the coaching change, they were basically the best or top 3 team in the league record wise. Analytically, they had some of the best underlying in the league.

For next year, they lose depth and need to figure out their bottom 6 and especially 3rd line. They have a moderate amount of cap space to do that. Beyond that, they will return pretty much the same team up top. They gotta hope some guys like Ekholm hold on or Broberg takes a massive step forward. Still though, their path to being one of the favorites is clear. Dallas is likely up there too. From there it starts getting muddy in the West.

 

[Grigowski]

Dallas is likely up there too. From there it starts getting muddy in the West.

As it stands now:

Top-Dogs: Dallas, Edmonton
Maybe Top-Dog: Vegas (depends on what they do and how healthy they get and stay and how they circumvent the cap in March )

Top, but not top-dog anymore: Colorado, Vancouver

Questionmark LA, Winnipeg

The rest of the west is not good or really shit.

Thats how i see it, probably, playing out next season.

 

[Grigowski]

They took it to the Stars and clawed back in the finals.

They took it to a Dallas-Team out of gas, after having a fly-by with LA in Round 1 and Vancouver on their 3rd string goalie in Round 2.

There is nothing wrong with that. Thats how the playoffs work.

But lets not pretend they roll over the west like a juggernaut.

I dont know what on earth came into Florida, but this final should have never went to 7 (allthough it was really fun to watch).

 

[dahrougem2]

Lol at Matheson
View attachment 886915

Oh f*** off Clark. Always one idiot trying to outsmart everyone.

 

[Avs_19]

Matheson having his entire ballot be Oilers is hilarious and very much on brand.

 

[LOFIN]

Oh f*** off Clark. Always one idiot trying to outsmart everyone.

I have less of an issue with Clark voting for Bob over McDavid, than Matheson having only Edmonton players in his ballot.

 

[henchman21]

They took it to a Dallas-Team out of gas, after having a fly-by with LA in Round 1 and Vancouver on their 3rd string goalie in Round 2.

There is nothing wrong with that. Thats how the playoffs work.

But lets not pretend they roll over the west like a juggernaut.

I dont know what on earth came into Florida, but this final should have never went to 7 (allthough it was really fun to watch).

I don't buy that the Stars were out of gas. Edmonton simply outplayed them. They played below the goalline and Dallas had no answer to that. Edmonton wasn't like the Avs where they were pushed to the top of the zone and all you had to do was disrupt the entries. Vancouver is severely underrated here too. That's a very solid team.

As we look to next season, Dallas and Edmonton should be the clear pack leaders. Dallas loses more, but has more youth to step into roles and potentially break out. Edmonton is pretty much a run it back situation where a 3rd line needs to be built. After that you get into the Vancouver, Colorado and Vegas mix who all have some significant questions and could go in any order. Vancouver is the only one in that group on the upswing, Colorado and Vegas are just trying to hold on. The next group is ripe for a young team to take major strides... plenty of talent in the West to do so.

As it stands now:

Top-Dogs: Dallas, Edmonton
Maybe Top-Dog: Vegas (depends on what they do and how healthy they get and stay and how they circumvent the cap in March )

Top, but not top-dog anymore: Colorado, Vancouver

Questionmark LA, Winnipeg

The rest of the west is not good or really shit.

Thats how i see it, probably, playing out next season.

I don't have qualms with that, I just think Edmonton is clearly a notch a head of Dallas. I do think the West has teams like Utah, Chicago, and Anaheim that could suddenly take a jump too.

 

[NorthernAvsFan]

I don't buy that the Stars were out of gas. Edmonton simply outplayed them. They played below the goalline and Dallas had no answer to that. Edmonton wasn't like the Avs where they were pushed to the top of the zone and all you had to do was disrupt the entries. Vancouver is severely underrated here too. That's a very solid team.

As we look to next season, Dallas and Edmonton should be the clear pack leaders. Dallas loses more, but has more youth to step into roles and potentially break out. Edmonton is pretty much a run it back situation where a 3rd line needs to be built. After that you get into the Vancouver, Colorado and Vegas mix who all have some significant questions and could go in any order. Vancouver is the only one in that group on the upswing, Colorado and Vegas are just trying to hold on. The next group is ripe for a young team to take major strides... plenty of talent in the West to do so.


I don't have qualms with that, I just think Edmonton is clearly a notch a head of Dallas. I do think the West has teams like Utah, Chicago, and Anaheim that could suddenly take a jump too.

I don’t know about that.

They’re really banking on Ekholm and Hyman to not lose a step. It’s only a matter of time at their age.

The West will be pretty wide open imo, there’s 4/5 teams with a good chance to come out.

 

[Balthazar]

Oh f*** off Clark. Always one idiot trying to outsmart everyone.

To be fair he isn't known for his knowledge of the game.

I have less of an issue with Clark voting for Bob over McDavid, than Matheson having only Edmonton players in his ballot.

He should have his voting rights revoked.

 

[henchman21]

I don’t know about that.

They’re really banking on Ekholm and Hyman to not lose a step. It’s only a matter of time at their age.

The West will be pretty wide open imo, there’s 4/5 teams with a good chance to come out.

I agree they'll be banking on that, and it is certainly a risk... but as of today, they have the most complete team and showed they can handle pretty much any team in the league. Including Dallas.

I think this is partially about the West being weaker too. Edmonton is ahead not because their team is the very elite (I'd have them top 5 league wide, but probably not top 3), but because the West has fallen. Vegas and the Avs are getting old and have clear issues. Vancouver is on the upswing, but may not have the horses on the backend or wings to get over the hump. Dallas is in an odd spot this year losing some key guys, but with guys who can take a step. The rest of the West is either bottoming out or a year or two away from taking a step (though I expect Utah will finally take one).

Dallas could easily surpass Edmonton if Johnston, Stankoven, and Bourque all play well next year... especially if Bischel also has a jump. That has to happen though to surpass Edmonton as of today (clearly summer moves can impact this).

 

[chet1926]

I don’t get this take. On one hand, we have a team trophy (Stanley Cup). On the other, an individual one.

Dude was the best player over the course of the playoffs. Not a hard decision, IMO.

I just don't think you are the MVP of the playoffs if your team doesn't win. The whole point of the playoffs is to win.

You are more valuable in my opinion if you are a 22 pts player who played at an incredibly high level of hockey facing the toughest players every night on the other team, and led your team to the Cup, like Barkov. Than a 42pts guy who did nothing in the two biggest games of the season.

Hell if McDavid doesn't go off in games 4 and 5 for 8 pts does he still win it? What if he had a more realistic 3pts in those games? If you don't look at the two outlier 4pts games against Florida, the guy had 5 goals the rest of the playoffs, that's not MVP level IMO. For perspective Makar had the same 8 goal total as McDavid, as a dman, when he won, plus he won the Cup.

People are telling me I can't judge him based off his bad performances in the last two games, well then you can't judge him on the two previous games either where he put up complete outlier offensive games.

 

[missionAvs]

I don’t get this take. On one hand, we have a team trophy (Stanley Cup). On the other, an individual one.

Dude was the best player over the course of the playoffs. Not a hard decision, IMO.

This is just Chet being obtuse. McJesus was the obvious choice as per the voting and supported by his performance.

 

[ABasin]

I just don't think you are the MVP of the playoffs if your team doesn't win. The whole point of the playoffs is to win.

That’s analogous to saying that regular season individual awards (Hart, Norris, etc) can only go to players who were on the one team that finished #1 in points in the regular season. No one from the other 31 teams deserves an award, because their team didn’t finish #1 overall.

That’s why there are team awards, and individual awards.

 

[henchman21]

I think the black eye on McDavid winning the Smythe is his performance in games 6 and 7. Especially game 7. On the other side, nobody on Florida really stood out. Yeah Barkov was fantastic, but he wasn't all that great to finish either. He was still good defensively, but he had just one point in the final 4 games too. He was a big part of the 3 game slide. Bob lost the Smythe by laying an egg 2 games in a row. I'd get behind Forsling in a big way, but realistically stats matter in this award and that's not his game.

Just a weird set of events to make this happen. I honestly think is speaks to the team that Florida put together and won with. They very much won this Cup as a team without a big time standout player carrying them.