This Panthers team is virtually the same as the one we played last year. The big difference was Tkachuk was a corpse by the time they got to the finals last year, and Bob didn't look as sharp as he did in the prior rounds. The way he's looking now is the exact same as he looked against us, and Edmonton's vaunted forwards are having just as much difficulty against him as ours did.
Why refuse basic facts in order to buoy your arguments? The LA team would have posed little trouble for Leafs imo, but my assumption on that front is as baseless as yours since the two never played. And while Silovs had a couple of stellar games, he is still a 3rd stringer who posted a save % of under .900 for the playoffs. Van was also missing their best/hottest forward that series, and still came remarkably close to pulling it out.
Mcdavid is on his own level. But the other guys you've mentioned are doing worse against Florida than our guys did.
Did Montour and Frosling played as well as against us as now?
Was Reinheart a 50 goals scorer last season?
Was Rodrigues even on the team last season, bc he scored 2 goals and as many points as the Oilers.
On the other hand, JT was a better player last playoffs than this playoffs and I can say the same about TJ too. On top that, we did had ROR, Accari and Schenn last year.
Point is even though majority of the players remain the same, their level of plays are different. Heck, players level of play can varies between games and even series. So comparing any teams from last playoffs and current playoffs is extremely difficult.
Regarding Kings and Nucks.
AM pretty much got outplayed by Coyle, how can you possibly think he can come out on top against Kopitar and Pizza Boy.
As for Silvos and the Nucks, they remind me of Columbus and Habs.
Like I said, I am basing my assumptions due to our boys past playoffs history. They just had not been good in the playoffs.
Now, maybe you are right that Leafs would had beaten both the Kings and the Nucks but can the Leafs beat Dallas?
As for Oilers against Panthers, the more Oilers struggle the more it proves that you need a balance team to win the Cup and relying on a few guys scoring is just the wrong approach. Afterall if the firepower of McD, Drai, Hyman and Bouchard are firing blanks against the Panthers, what chances do other top forward heavy teams have.
Lastly, lets not take solace in the fact that McD and company is being shut down as prove that our top guys are great, they are close, they are right there and are just a few bounces away from being a Cup contender. Because they are not and are far away from being a contender like the Panthers.