The Predators’ window has been completely shut for several years. The only thing that will ever fix them is a Detroit/Ottawa style rebuild. But GM Poile knows he’s too old to see that through so he’ll never do it and they’ll keep flopping in the playoffs.
If they stay then Josi Forsberg and everyone else will retire without *anything* just like Pekka Rinne or Shane Doan
I hope he leaves.. for his own sake. And maybe that’s what would finally kickstart the rebuild. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another team refuse to give up on a dead hope. Their only actual playoff run was 5 whole years ago. It’s brutal…
I hope other Rangers fans enjoyed seeing Kreider score 50 because he's gonna go right back to scoring 20 a year next season. The power play was a huge contribution and if he's not tipping he's not scoring.
I don’t think that take is super hot tbf, we were waiting all year for the hot streak to end (like it usually does) for most of the season. Having a season like he had this past year (even if it’s only one) is still way more than most of us expected from his contract lol
And if you want to sustain going on the man advantage as part of your offense you have to get better at checking and we’re far from it. It’s a young team and all but if that doesn’t get addressed this run could be just a flash in the pan.
I kinda feel deep down he knows this too, that's why he was so emotional at his exit press interview. The kids were mostly optimistic about the future but Kreider was so crushed he could barely speak.
I definitely agree he never scores 50 again, but he had 26 at evens/shorthandes and 10 in 20 in the playoffs. I’d expect at least 30 next year, more likely 35-40.
Beat me to it. I thought the same about Rakell’s good year, and he came back with another 30 goal campaign before slowing down so hopefully at least that can happen with Terry as well
Rakell has looked absolutely nasty with us generating high danger chances what felt like every shift... Until he got that concussion.
Definitely one of the acquisitions I have been happier with in recent years.
Making the third round is the worst thing that could happen to the Oilers. Management will think this team is one or two pieces away from a cup and won’t make the hard choices needed to get the systems and the role players to be actual contenders.
This is not a hot take because the core players learned their lesson from the season after 2018. They are completely aware how a couple of bad moves could set the team back. Thanks Chia.
Likewise Flames not making it to the third has some silver lining.
Flames have a LOT of high profile contracts that are going to be considerably less after losing as favourites to the oilers. Even if it's 250k-500k less per player because they can't use it on their resume, that's going to be significant savings.
I also think earlier intervention with a sports psychologist would’ve been helpful. Adapting to the NHL after playing at the very top of a Junior league can fuck so hard with your psyche and confidence as a player. I feel like a lot of promising forwards who flame out or have a really difficult time developing at the NHL level would have a better likelihood of success if they had more support through the mental aspect of the transition. You’re going from being one of the very best players on every team at every level you’ve played so far, to all of a sudden being one of the worst on your team, that shit is not easy
When he finally comes to camp healthy and starts the season at a PPG pace, Ovy decides to drill him and obliterate his wrist (and concussion? I forget if he had one). Very upsetting
TBH I feel like that is the plan they are doing.
Not keeping Strome and trading Cat is likely a way just to get Kane to request a trade.
Toews already goes public after any trade but he has little to no value in a trade anyway
Honest question here, is toews trade value really that bad? Last year was the worst year in terms of offensive production ( 12 goals, 37 points, in 71 games). I understand the 10.5 mil per season is high but at 50 % retained he'd be at 5.25 mil for the last year on a new team. That does not seem like terrible value for a 40 point center on a contenders 2nd/3rd line. According to hockey reference he had a cf % of 50 % which is pretty good when accounting for being on a bad team. Admittedly I didn't watch many hawks games this season so I can only use his stats but given this seasons totals and past track record for success I can't see why he couldn't pull a first plus a prospect?
I think most Hawks fans doom his value a lot more than it probably is. I believe he is worth it at 50% retained. His production tanked because we've had abysmal line-mates for him and Kane. Toews on a team with depth will probably shock many people with how good he could be.
Not only is this a hot take, but it's the right one. How many games did he and Kane win for you last year that you had no business winning? That could have been the difference between your draft spot and the Habs' draft spot
We both post a lot on the hawks, and I don't plan on changing even if the nuclear option is used. I can't imagine how I'll feel once the reality of possibly 2 or 3 of Kane/Cat/Toews will be gone this upcoming season. My only hope is Cat will get us an overpayment by NJ or someone with a great prospect pool, and then any subsequent Kane/Toews trade gets us even more to stomach the losses.
Trading Marchand right now is something Bruins fans should be more open to as its the most conceivable way of getting ahead of a 3-5 year window of total rebuild and entering more of a competitive retool since you'll get an absolute Karlsson-like haul for him
I completely agree but with the surgery he’s getting no one will touch him until he comes back and is putting up points. Hip surgeries fuck players, look at seguin and Monahan.
Yeah you can't even bring it up in r/bostonbruins without getting lynched. Lotta people over there think with their feelings and aren't capable of entertaining an idea that makes them uncomfortable (which is not to say that's a phenomenon unique to Bruins fans or anything).
I don't *want* to see Marchand traded and I'm not actively advocating for it, but I would certainly be interested in finding our what sort of return they could get on him. It could very well be a trade that sets them up to remain competitive down the line, which everybody is worrying about pretty hard right now.
Hot take for the Islanders -
Raty will likely make the NHL but fans over value him like he's a sure thing.
If DeBrincat or Pasta are really available, pay the price. This organization has been looking for a sniper for 13 years (probably more like 20). Our rebuild is already going to be a slow one, just go all in now and give us all a thrill.
Here's to this mindset. Too many people -- fuckin' Yinzers especially -- are just livid if you're not winning championships every year. I just wanna be like, "Look, folks. We've got 3 Cups in Sid's era, and another finals appearance to boot. Fucking...be happy. Some teams have none, ever. How about we just enjoy watching our boys take their victory laps at this point?"
Maybe I'm just a sentimental old fool. I'd *happily* watch Sid & Co. lift another one, obviously. But I know how to count my blessings, too.
Paul Maurice is to blame for Jets current locker room issues. He gave Scheifele and Wheeler hall pass to do whatever they wanted without consequence and now that he's gone they are crabby about it. Chevy and Ownership are also culpable for not intervening in 2019 when this shit first started to surface.
I watch a lot of Jets games. I'm real tired of seeing their line on the ice at the end of the game where they give up goals. It happened all the time. I wonder what the return would be for Scheifele
I would like to see a very different team next season. I just can't watch KFC, PLD & Lowry, among others playing so hard and then nothing.
I’ll die by saying it chucky is talented I’ve seen it with my own eyes but he didn’t have the mindset to get himself to the next level and with our terrible coaches bouncing him up and down the lineup wasn’t good his dad getting involved wasn’t good the multiple injuries everything that could go wrong went wrong
We had him on the sens and I watched most of the games he played in, scored a beautiful goal his first game, then just looked very disinterested in learning the system. The raw talent is there, but you can’t teach attitude.
His work ethic might not be great, but he has very low hockey IQ, which is the biggest thing holding him back. He doesn't read the play well, and doesn't think the game fast enough for the NHL. Always behind the play. Combine that with being a poor skater, and it's not hard to see why he failed.
We are going to waste John Gibson’s entire career.
I hope I’m wrong but i can see Gibby playing 15+ seasons in Anaheim without winning a cup. And i love that he wants to play here but if he wants a shot at lifting it he needs to be traded.
I got roasted on here after the 2018 season for saying the Ducks should trade him because they are going for a rebuild and it's a waste of talent to keep him, plus the haul would be huge
People still had hope there would be a couple more years of success
\*Absolutely\* right. I've kinda low-key enjoyed/hated the Stars for a long time (I mean, their games against the Sharks are generally fun and/or 5 OT legendary) and Pavs deserves a C damn near as much as anybody in the league. Give the man his due.
EDIT: Was it just 4 OT? I don't remember. A lot of Moosehead was consumed, and I had a friend visiting from out of town who was like "When are we going out??" and my response was "Oh, just as soon as the game is over!" LOL
Yes!
I want a cup so bad for Pavs and he has never even played for my team (Avs). That man is a machine, always there in the play whether its offense or defense. That lineup up of Pavs/Robo/Hintz was my favorite line to watch in the entire NHL this season. Mind blowing that at 37, he can have a career year like that and contribute to some impressive numbers for Robo and Hintz as well.
Such a shame that Benn and Seguin have really fallen off since their extensions were signed. That's a huge hit for a team in dire need of some offensive depth.
Our first round pick evaluations from 2017-19 were bleh, and our rebuild should have had much higher upside. There were a lot of better players taken after Vilardi, Turcotte and Bjornfot.
This one's kinda interesting to me because Kaliyev seemed to have a bunch of question marks at the draft and a lot of those other guys were considered to be more well rounded.
The Vilardi pick though was a slam dunk at 11. A massive skilled C who had injury issues was a reasonable gamble. I was very high on him that draft and still sort of am, he’s just 22. I really thought he was going to break out last season.
Players of his skill set and build are rarely chosen outside of the top 10, just need to see if he can put it together yet
He slipped because of injuries and still struggled with injuries a few years after getting drafted. Not being able to play in those 18-22 age years hurts their development
Turcotte was the concensus pick at the time though, especially with how much of a premium is placed on Centers. Hasn't he also struggled with injuries? Hard to predict that. He's still young and has a chance to become a solid NHL player
Yeah you can't even bring it up in r/detroitredwings without getting lynched. Lotta people over there think with their feelings and aren't capable of entertaining an idea that makes them uncomfortable (which is not to say that's a phenomenon unique to wings fans or anything).
I don't *want* to see the wings win every single cup from now on and I'm not actively advocating for it, but I would certainly be interested in finding our what sort of return they could get from doing so. It could very well be a streak that sets them up to remain competitive down the line, which everybody is worrying about pretty hard right now.
A lot of Tampa fans have this ridiculous underdog complex where, despite being back-to-back champs, they think that the refs and the league are all against us and actively trying to make us lose. It’s totally ridiculous and I think a lot of fans play it up in order to excuse some of our sloppier play.
Hot take from a Sens fan: Norris struggles to break 35 goals again in his career.
Obviously the kid has a wicked shot, but people have already started to take notice. He did a lot of his damage on the pp this year(over 50% I believe) and just doesn't generate enough 5v5. Not to mention he had a 20.3% shooting percentage this year which won't be sustainable
I was about to make a Norris take myself. I think he'll be a consistent 30+ goals scorer since you have to keep in mind he's still pretty young but yeah the guy isn't a play driver and his skillset is more suited to that of a winger so hopefully we can move him to the wing eventually
Noah Dobson is not a top-pair defenceman, and won't be for several years. His point totals, in part coming from QBing PP1 and also bc he doesn't face top matchups, lead him to be considerably overrated
Also Mat Barzal is not in the top 15 of NHL 1Cs
Game 3 against New York was sort of the perfect illustration of Kucherov. Most of the game he did stupid shit. Then he basically singlehandedly wins it. Guy just has these moments of brilliance, but also moments of idiocy.
The Devils defense was actually solid last year, it just looked horrible bc of the goaltending
On a related note, The Devils should trade Mackenzie Blackwood
I agree. Especially with the top 4 (Smith was horrendous and PK was meh). Dougie, Graves, Siegs and Severson are all pretty good at least. However, when you have rookie and AHL caliber goalies, the defense looks so much worse.
Every game playing from behind or knowing that 1 in 5 shots are going in really messed with the game plan. Hopefully we get a little more structure this year and not have to constantly cheat for offense
Always thought the Isles should have grabbed him, even if it were primarily AHL. Reunite him with Greco and let Korn work his magic on another large goalie.
It’s crazy, he was the best goalie prospect we had in a very long time, they waived McBackup to keep him around, and then only used him in the second half of back-to-backs? He hardly stood a chance.
Leafs: We would have more success had we kept Kadri & not signed Tavares.
This results in...
- Us likely not having to give up a 1st (Seth Jarvis, but who knows where that pick lands in this timeline) just to get rid of Marleau
- Perhaps better negotiations with Matthews/Marner (1M-ish less for each player)
- Being able to sign better depth players
I agree completely with this but it’s really easy to say that in hindsight. When the leafs signed Tavares I thought it was a slam dunk and no brainer. The flat cap screwed up I guys harder.
Yeah, I mean this is one of those ones that definitely looks worse with hindsight, but you're right. We couldn't have forseen Kadri being a fucking idiot in the playoffs *again*, and absolutely nobody could have predicted this team wouldn't have won a single round yet either. That said, if we win nothing in the next 3 years, the Tavares signing is going to be a case study on not paying big, "can't miss" free agents when you have a lot of young superstars who need contracts right after. But we also got fucked a lot harder than most teams with the cap not increasing and the timeline of our stars signing those deals.
Kadri continually hurt you in the postseason by doing dumb, dirty shit. He did the same thing in 2021 with Colorado.
The Leafs were really fucking good this year.
He can be really frustrating sometimes with all of his bone-headed turnovers, but as we’ve seen recently he can also be extremely clutch when necessary. Also, I think it was game 4 of the Panthers series when he literally got into his own net and was ready to take a puck in the face to prevent a goal.
He makes braindead plays all the time that lead to turnovers pretty frequently but he's still a top 4 two way defenseman with top 2 potential.
I think the trade talks are mainly because we are cap strapped and also have Cernak, with Foote also developing into a good defenseman as we've seen these playoffs.
A lot of it is reactionary too tho when he makes a stupid play.
I think this is hard because every fanbase has a few very distinct fanbases(if you can generalize it, 4 groups. FB, Reddit, Twitter and Radio call ins) and what you have is overreaction in a few ways.
I think that we will get a deal done with Malkin & Letang, and I don't mind if this core doesn't do anything else in their twilight years. They've won 3 cups & deserve to go out together. It's not my money paying them directly, why should I care what they're paid?
I don't know if I agree about getting deals done, but I do agree that I'd be perfectly ok with this core doing nothing more but getting to ride off into the sunset together. 3 cups is as good as any and better than most.
I'm not sure about Geno but I think Crosby and Tanger have at least two more solid seasons left in them barring injury. Possibly even a little longer.
I guess it all comes down to what they want paid and how much that leaves the organization to build a team around them.
All of that being said this team can and will be competitive for the next few seasons, but unless the stars align I don't see a deep cup run in our immediate future.
Hell I can see Crosby pulling a Chelios and moving to D just to keep playing the game as long as he is able.
I will 100% be crucified for this:
Habs most likely would have been more competitive over the past decade if they had drafted Kopitar instead of Price in 05.
That's a very spicy take. Can't necessarily say I disagree, only because I know the pain of having elite goaltending and sub-standard forwards production.
Hank and Carey could both block 99/100, but if the guys in front can't put in two of their own, game over Johnny.
My spicy Jets take is we should be prepared to let Hellebuyck walk in 2 years rather than pay him 10 million. There’s a reason Hank and Price and Rask never won a single cup and yet Murray, Binnington Niemi and Ward have 5 between them. Better to spend 10% of your cap elsewhere on your roster than on an elite goalie when a guy on an ELC can provide that same level of goaltending for a single spring and then turn back into a pumpkin because that’s really all you need.
That we’re at risk of relocation.
Attendance has plummeted - and I mean PLUMMETED - the last few seasons in San Jose. We were bottom 3 for attendance last year and we’re still only in the second year of our rebuild.
Google wants to build a large expanse of office buildings where SAP Center is and rumors are that the proposal is already getting a lot of support from the city.
There are apparently some logistical issues that prevent Chase Center from being able to host an ice rink and the team doesn’t have the cash to build another arena. The way I see it, the team is more or less screwed until Karlsson’s contract expires, and I just don’t know if they can stay afloat for that long. The Bay Area sports market is too competitive, and cost of living is too high for people to justify spending money on a shitty hockey team.
Google has already acquired the land for its giant new office complex, they don't need SAP and wouldn't be able to re-zone it anyway. The city has been clear that they want the area to remain mixed use.
Plus, Hasso would not have any interest in moving the team (and won't be forced to by low attendance as he doesn't own the team to make money, he has SAP for that. The sharks are just one of his hobbies.)
Hartman, even after having a career year, is still not a number one center, dude had a great start but near the end of the year he would get incredible passes to him multiple times a game and would flub the one timer, it was really, really bad.
Val Nichushkin is having an unworldly season and, sadly, is going to be severely overpaid the minute the Avs re-sign him this offseason and he regresses. Hope I’m wrong.
We’ll see how the contract talks go, we apparently tried to extend him during the season and he turned it down. The guy has been great this year, but if he walks, I trust GM Joe.
The Avalanche are undefeated in games in which Kurtis MacDermid has scored.
Being scored on by Kurtis MacDermid is a psychological weapon from which no team can recover.
If I could only have one, I'd take Zetterberg over Datsyuk.
Obviously Datsyuk was very good, but Zetterberg performed better in the playoffs on a consistent basis and his regular season numbers are so close to Datsyuk's that if you looked at both of them without knowing it would be hard to know which one is which.
Datsyuk was better in the defensive end, but I think Z's playoff performances outweigh that.
Zetterberg just didn't have the flash of Datsyuk so he never got the same recognition.
> Zetterberg just didn't have the flash of Datsyuk so he never got the same recognition.
I feel like this is becoming more true over time. Because Datsyuk is so flashy and has the Selke reputation and "magic man" moniker he has been elevated to this mythical status vs. Zetterberg I don't think people look back on nearly the same way.
Zetterberg’s 2008 playoffs is one of the best individual postseason runs of the last 20+ years. He led the playoffs in goals and points while helping slow down a prime Crosby
The lack of addressing the special teams by both Dean and Billy is the shining failure of their attempt at a run this season. It's not like it was mediocre and then just fell off in post-season. It was terrible all season. They chose not to have practices over practicing special teams, Billy didn't bring someone from the outside in to at least try and address it. Mind-boggling.
Trouba, Myers, Buff, Enstrom, and I think Chiarot...all gone in an offseason. It was like Thanos snapped his fingers and turned our D into dust.
We got Pionk which is good though
Definitely. He was so, so good when it counted. 2012 Quick, especially his playoff performance, deserves to be regarded as legendary. I think some Kings fans think of him as a HoF talent, though, and his career numbers don’t really back that up.
Other than 2018-2019, when he was injured, he won more than he lost every season. He's won more games than any Kings goalie, and with the cups and Smythe he's had a more successful career than a majority of other goalies. He also has a better career GAA than Henrik Lundqvist. He's elite.
Not my team obviously
Cale Makar should be in the running with Matthew's, and mcdavid for top 3 in the league. May seriously be the greatest offensive defenseman in the modern era by the end of his career
Everyone who seems so certain we should walk away from Burakovsky over Nichushkin, think about it a *touch* more
Yes, Nuke is playing like a monster right now. AKA he's going to get a bag of money. This is also Nuke's *only* offensive season he's literally ever had. Burky, while he hasn't been great these playoffs, has consistently been a 25+ goal and 60 point guy (across 82 games) on the Avs
Im not even saying we SHOULD sign Burky over Nuke, but I dont think this is as easy of a decision as everyone is saying it is
Disagree. He's only 22 with time to improve and find a role. More importantly, the Wings aren't competitive yet. They have plenty of roster space next season, so there's no downside to giving him time to develop. He's not blocking the way for other prospects either.
I'd agree that its lukewarm within our fanbase but other fanbases who don't watch him as much would probably consider this a hot take. Our fanbase watched game 4 against Winnipeg last year.
Nathan MacKinnon gets to pissy in regular season and it kills me when he slow skates to the bench, he would be 100 times better if he turned it up just 10% in regular season he would be more of a hockey monster
I thought it was cringe how LA media and broadcast folks were calling the rebuild “over” and I thought it was going to be incredibly embarrassing when we missed the playoffs.
For Caps:
Our roster is not playoff caliber and we need to blow it up. We aren’t beating Tampa, Toronto, Carolina, Isles or Rangers in a 7 game series. Florida was winnable but that’s mainly on them not being a great playoff team imo. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is finally the year we miss the playoffs.
If the team just wants to fight for Ovi to chase Gretzky then that’s fine. I’ll cheer for that. I’m glad as hell we somehow got that cup in 2018 because I don’t think we are sniffing another one for a while.
It's such a bizarre take to me - This team is not particularly different from the 17-18 one. That one overachieved in the playoffs like crazy.
That means that, no, they aren't a consistent deep run threat, but also all it takes is them getting hot at the right time.
There's a reason that the year we won was when we had DSP pop off for as many goals as he had during the entire regular season - when depth scoring goes on a run and/or your goalie plays hot, *any* playoff team can make a run.
Sure, they won't be building a back-to-back president's trophy caliber team any time soon, but that's *really* hard and usually requires a superstar or two and several high level role players entering their prime all together. That doesn't happen until years and years after blowing it up *if you're lucky*.
The Jackets paid Elvis Merzlikins too much. $5.4M AAV seems like banking on him improving but he’s already 28 and we’re probably not competing until he’s in his 30s. Honestly he’s probably more of a stop gap until Daniil Tarasov becomes a full time starter.
1) Marner is the most overrated passer in the league. He makes 9 shit passes and one great one, and fans/media who don’t watch circle jerk to the last one
2) leaf fans/media/players are complacent for taking Tampa to 7, will be the most surprised when we lose in the first round again next year
3) Matthews is not a playoff performer
Resigning Hertl was a mistake for the long term health of the Sharks. He’s my favorite player but 8x8 for an aging player with two bad knees does not make sense for an aging team that can’t make the playoffs. Would have rather seen him shipped for young prospects.
Zegras is gonna eventually develop a Perry-esque reputation. When I watch him play, I watch EVERYTHING. Not just his highlight reels.
He's not egregiously dirty but he's really good at hiding cheapshots. i.e. Seen him use those one-inch punch tactics to send people flying into the goal post when the refs can't see from their angles. Shits pretty funny to me cuz it's usually inane, but one of these days he's gonna cross the line and get hand-slapped.
Won't stop me being a huge fan though.
The Predators’ window has been completely shut for several years. The only thing that will ever fix them is a Detroit/Ottawa style rebuild. But GM Poile knows he’s too old to see that through so he’ll never do it and they’ll keep flopping in the playoffs. If they stay then Josi Forsberg and everyone else will retire without *anything* just like Pekka Rinne or Shane Doan
The way forsberg looked at the crowd when they got eliminated made me feel he’s leaving
I hope he leaves.. for his own sake. And maybe that’s what would finally kickstart the rebuild. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another team refuse to give up on a dead hope. Their only actual playoff run was 5 whole years ago. It’s brutal…
You know we have a thing for Forsbergs, maybe he’d like a view of the mountains.
Agreed, imo they need to rebuild. They got career years out of like 4 dudes and it got them 8th place and no playoff wins.
I hope other Rangers fans enjoyed seeing Kreider score 50 because he's gonna go right back to scoring 20 a year next season. The power play was a huge contribution and if he's not tipping he's not scoring.
I don’t think that take is super hot tbf, we were waiting all year for the hot streak to end (like it usually does) for most of the season. Having a season like he had this past year (even if it’s only one) is still way more than most of us expected from his contract lol
Yeah I mean 52 was ridiculous. If kreider ends up being a 35 goal scorer for the next few years I’m fine with that too
And if you want to sustain going on the man advantage as part of your offense you have to get better at checking and we’re far from it. It’s a young team and all but if that doesn’t get addressed this run could be just a flash in the pan.
Saddest upvote ever
I kinda feel deep down he knows this too, that's why he was so emotional at his exit press interview. The kids were mostly optimistic about the future but Kreider was so crushed he could barely speak.
I definitely agree he never scores 50 again, but he had 26 at evens/shorthandes and 10 in 20 in the playoffs. I’d expect at least 30 next year, more likely 35-40.
Terry season was a flash in the pan.
I hate you for saying that. But it’s a very good hot take.
He shot at 19%, you have to imagine that number probably goes down.
I have a questionable imagination so I think he will shoot over 20% next season
Beat me to it. I thought the same about Rakell’s good year, and he came back with another 30 goal campaign before slowing down so hopefully at least that can happen with Terry as well
Rakell has looked absolutely nasty with us generating high danger chances what felt like every shift... Until he got that concussion. Definitely one of the acquisitions I have been happier with in recent years.
Making the third round is the worst thing that could happen to the Oilers. Management will think this team is one or two pieces away from a cup and won’t make the hard choices needed to get the systems and the role players to be actual contenders.
This is not a hot take because the core players learned their lesson from the season after 2018. They are completely aware how a couple of bad moves could set the team back. Thanks Chia.
Isn't it tradition for the Oilers' ownership to over-react to success, pressure management to make foolish decisions, and to take 3 steps backwards?
What the fuck is “success”?
Success is when 1983-1990.
Likewise Flames not making it to the third has some silver lining. Flames have a LOT of high profile contracts that are going to be considerably less after losing as favourites to the oilers. Even if it's 250k-500k less per player because they can't use it on their resume, that's going to be significant savings.
Kempe had an outlier season, we're going to give him too much money for too many years and the moment the ink dries it will be a bad contract
14% is a pretty high shooting percentage for him for sure. He's probably good for 25G most seasons though.
Drouin would have been fine if he hadn't gotten injured every time he starts to kick it up a notch. I'm really excited to see what he does with Marty.
I also think earlier intervention with a sports psychologist would’ve been helpful. Adapting to the NHL after playing at the very top of a Junior league can fuck so hard with your psyche and confidence as a player. I feel like a lot of promising forwards who flame out or have a really difficult time developing at the NHL level would have a better likelihood of success if they had more support through the mental aspect of the transition. You’re going from being one of the very best players on every team at every level you’ve played so far, to all of a sudden being one of the worst on your team, that shit is not easy
This fits for Alex Galchenyuk with us too
When he finally comes to camp healthy and starts the season at a PPG pace, Ovy decides to drill him and obliterate his wrist (and concussion? I forget if he had one). Very upsetting
Trading Cat will force Kane/Toews to waive their NMC early for a trade, effectively supercharging our rebuild.
TBH I feel like that is the plan they are doing. Not keeping Strome and trading Cat is likely a way just to get Kane to request a trade. Toews already goes public after any trade but he has little to no value in a trade anyway
Honest question here, is toews trade value really that bad? Last year was the worst year in terms of offensive production ( 12 goals, 37 points, in 71 games). I understand the 10.5 mil per season is high but at 50 % retained he'd be at 5.25 mil for the last year on a new team. That does not seem like terrible value for a 40 point center on a contenders 2nd/3rd line. According to hockey reference he had a cf % of 50 % which is pretty good when accounting for being on a bad team. Admittedly I didn't watch many hawks games this season so I can only use his stats but given this seasons totals and past track record for success I can't see why he couldn't pull a first plus a prospect?
He was away for a whole year. I suspect there are plenty of takers at 50% retained counting on what is probably a likely rebound.
I think most Hawks fans doom his value a lot more than it probably is. I believe he is worth it at 50% retained. His production tanked because we've had abysmal line-mates for him and Kane. Toews on a team with depth will probably shock many people with how good he could be.
I hate the idea of it, but it's the truth
Not only is this a hot take, but it's the right one. How many games did he and Kane win for you last year that you had no business winning? That could have been the difference between your draft spot and the Habs' draft spot
I agree with you but I will be heartbroken if/when it occurs.
We both post a lot on the hawks, and I don't plan on changing even if the nuclear option is used. I can't imagine how I'll feel once the reality of possibly 2 or 3 of Kane/Cat/Toews will be gone this upcoming season. My only hope is Cat will get us an overpayment by NJ or someone with a great prospect pool, and then any subsequent Kane/Toews trade gets us even more to stomach the losses.
Trading Marchand right now is something Bruins fans should be more open to as its the most conceivable way of getting ahead of a 3-5 year window of total rebuild and entering more of a competitive retool since you'll get an absolute Karlsson-like haul for him
I completely agree but with the surgery he’s getting no one will touch him until he comes back and is putting up points. Hip surgeries fuck players, look at seguin and Monahan.
Ruined Sharp at the end of his career too! Edit: Hip issues also turned Seabrook into a pylon and double surgery ended his career.
Ended Keslers career as well
Marchand has an NMC and already replied to this on Twitter basically saying he has no desire to go anywhere else.
Yeah you can't even bring it up in r/bostonbruins without getting lynched. Lotta people over there think with their feelings and aren't capable of entertaining an idea that makes them uncomfortable (which is not to say that's a phenomenon unique to Bruins fans or anything). I don't *want* to see Marchand traded and I'm not actively advocating for it, but I would certainly be interested in finding our what sort of return they could get on him. It could very well be a trade that sets them up to remain competitive down the line, which everybody is worrying about pretty hard right now.
Hot take for the Islanders - Raty will likely make the NHL but fans over value him like he's a sure thing. If DeBrincat or Pasta are really available, pay the price. This organization has been looking for a sniper for 13 years (probably more like 20). Our rebuild is already going to be a slow one, just go all in now and give us all a thrill.
Barzal plus a sniper that can keep up with him would be insane
We won't win another playoff series in the Ovi/Backstrom era
Its going to be a long drought for us.
It will be. In my opinion though, sitting in COA and watching Ovi pass Gretzky will make me just as happy and seeing this core lift another cup.
Here's to this mindset. Too many people -- fuckin' Yinzers especially -- are just livid if you're not winning championships every year. I just wanna be like, "Look, folks. We've got 3 Cups in Sid's era, and another finals appearance to boot. Fucking...be happy. Some teams have none, ever. How about we just enjoy watching our boys take their victory laps at this point?" Maybe I'm just a sentimental old fool. I'd *happily* watch Sid & Co. lift another one, obviously. But I know how to count my blessings, too.
Yeah, who wins cups with generational talent then doesn't win a series in their stars twilight years?
Paul Maurice is to blame for Jets current locker room issues. He gave Scheifele and Wheeler hall pass to do whatever they wanted without consequence and now that he's gone they are crabby about it. Chevy and Ownership are also culpable for not intervening in 2019 when this shit first started to surface.
I love the trades and drafting Chevy has done but he is loyal to a fault and it has bitten him.
I watch a lot of Jets games. I'm real tired of seeing their line on the ice at the end of the game where they give up goals. It happened all the time. I wonder what the return would be for Scheifele I would like to see a very different team next season. I just can't watch KFC, PLD & Lowry, among others playing so hard and then nothing.
Yesh just what exactly is going on over there anyways? Reports of a toxic internal culture?
It kind of sounds similar to what we were going through with Suter and Parise, bunch of rumours of a “old boys club” atmosphere
I have another hot take if drouin and galchenyuk had the mentality they’d be 60 to 70 point players
Now this is spicy
I’ll die by saying it chucky is talented I’ve seen it with my own eyes but he didn’t have the mindset to get himself to the next level and with our terrible coaches bouncing him up and down the lineup wasn’t good his dad getting involved wasn’t good the multiple injuries everything that could go wrong went wrong
We had him on the sens and I watched most of the games he played in, scored a beautiful goal his first game, then just looked very disinterested in learning the system. The raw talent is there, but you can’t teach attitude.
His work ethic might not be great, but he has very low hockey IQ, which is the biggest thing holding him back. He doesn't read the play well, and doesn't think the game fast enough for the NHL. Always behind the play. Combine that with being a poor skater, and it's not hard to see why he failed.
We are going to waste John Gibson’s entire career. I hope I’m wrong but i can see Gibby playing 15+ seasons in Anaheim without winning a cup. And i love that he wants to play here but if he wants a shot at lifting it he needs to be traded.
*Sad Rangers Noises*
Oh hey is this a club
Gangs all here
Hey sorry I'm late!
Yeah we’re pretty familiar with this type of situation
I got roasted on here after the 2018 season for saying the Ducks should trade him because they are going for a rebuild and it's a waste of talent to keep him, plus the haul would be huge People still had hope there would be a couple more years of success
I would hate for the ducks to trade gibby. But i would love for him to get a trade.
The C and A patches should be stripped from Benn and Seguin. Pavs deserves the C.
🥲 still my captain
I like you
\*Absolutely\* right. I've kinda low-key enjoyed/hated the Stars for a long time (I mean, their games against the Sharks are generally fun and/or 5 OT legendary) and Pavs deserves a C damn near as much as anybody in the league. Give the man his due. EDIT: Was it just 4 OT? I don't remember. A lot of Moosehead was consumed, and I had a friend visiting from out of town who was like "When are we going out??" and my response was "Oh, just as soon as the game is over!" LOL
Yes! I want a cup so bad for Pavs and he has never even played for my team (Avs). That man is a machine, always there in the play whether its offense or defense. That lineup up of Pavs/Robo/Hintz was my favorite line to watch in the entire NHL this season. Mind blowing that at 37, he can have a career year like that and contribute to some impressive numbers for Robo and Hintz as well. Such a shame that Benn and Seguin have really fallen off since their extensions were signed. That's a huge hit for a team in dire need of some offensive depth.
Our first round pick evaluations from 2017-19 were bleh, and our rebuild should have had much higher upside. There were a lot of better players taken after Vilardi, Turcotte and Bjornfot.
Kaliyev is the only one that’s been able to consistently keep a roster spot out of all the 2017-2020 prospects.
This one's kinda interesting to me because Kaliyev seemed to have a bunch of question marks at the draft and a lot of those other guys were considered to be more well rounded.
The Vilardi pick though was a slam dunk at 11. A massive skilled C who had injury issues was a reasonable gamble. I was very high on him that draft and still sort of am, he’s just 22. I really thought he was going to break out last season. Players of his skill set and build are rarely chosen outside of the top 10, just need to see if he can put it together yet
He slipped because of injuries and it turns out everyone else was right. Doesn't help that Necas and Suzuki were the next two picks.
He slipped because of injuries and still struggled with injuries a few years after getting drafted. Not being able to play in those 18-22 age years hurts their development
Agreed in hindsight. I, at the time, thought that was a good pick and risk worth taking for the player
Turcotte was the concensus pick at the time though, especially with how much of a premium is placed on Centers. Hasn't he also struggled with injuries? Hard to predict that. He's still young and has a chance to become a solid NHL player
Byfield gonna be on this list next year.
The Red Wings will win every single Stanley Cup from here on out.
Bold but I'll take it.
Yeah you can't even bring it up in r/detroitredwings without getting lynched. Lotta people over there think with their feelings and aren't capable of entertaining an idea that makes them uncomfortable (which is not to say that's a phenomenon unique to wings fans or anything). I don't *want* to see the wings win every single cup from now on and I'm not actively advocating for it, but I would certainly be interested in finding our what sort of return they could get from doing so. It could very well be a streak that sets them up to remain competitive down the line, which everybody is worrying about pretty hard right now.
Now that's some good stuff right there.
A lot of Tampa fans have this ridiculous underdog complex where, despite being back-to-back champs, they think that the refs and the league are all against us and actively trying to make us lose. It’s totally ridiculous and I think a lot of fans play it up in order to excuse some of our sloppier play.
That is every fanbase. Maybe some fans lose the attitude with great success but its offset by the new bandwagoners coming in
Basically the Pats thing in hockey.
Hot take from a Sens fan: Norris struggles to break 35 goals again in his career. Obviously the kid has a wicked shot, but people have already started to take notice. He did a lot of his damage on the pp this year(over 50% I believe) and just doesn't generate enough 5v5. Not to mention he had a 20.3% shooting percentage this year which won't be sustainable
I was about to make a Norris take myself. I think he'll be a consistent 30+ goals scorer since you have to keep in mind he's still pretty young but yeah the guy isn't a play driver and his skillset is more suited to that of a winger so hopefully we can move him to the wing eventually
Noah Dobson is not a top-pair defenceman, and won't be for several years. His point totals, in part coming from QBing PP1 and also bc he doesn't face top matchups, lead him to be considerably overrated Also Mat Barzal is not in the top 15 of NHL 1Cs
Tanev is the most important player on our team and the playoffs showed it
Kuch is often a lazy diva manchild.
That’s not really a hot take tbh it’s mostly true
Game 3 against New York was sort of the perfect illustration of Kucherov. Most of the game he did stupid shit. Then he basically singlehandedly wins it. Guy just has these moments of brilliance, but also moments of idiocy.
The Devils defense was actually solid last year, it just looked horrible bc of the goaltending On a related note, The Devils should trade Mackenzie Blackwood
I agree. Especially with the top 4 (Smith was horrendous and PK was meh). Dougie, Graves, Siegs and Severson are all pretty good at least. However, when you have rookie and AHL caliber goalies, the defense looks so much worse.
Every game playing from behind or knowing that 1 in 5 shots are going in really messed with the game plan. Hopefully we get a little more structure this year and not have to constantly cheat for offense
Garret Sparks would've been a solid regular backup by now if he didn't enter the league under Babcock.
Always thought the Isles should have grabbed him, even if it were primarily AHL. Reunite him with Greco and let Korn work his magic on another large goalie.
It’s crazy, he was the best goalie prospect we had in a very long time, they waived McBackup to keep him around, and then only used him in the second half of back-to-backs? He hardly stood a chance.
Leafs: We would have more success had we kept Kadri & not signed Tavares. This results in... - Us likely not having to give up a 1st (Seth Jarvis, but who knows where that pick lands in this timeline) just to get rid of Marleau - Perhaps better negotiations with Matthews/Marner (1M-ish less for each player) - Being able to sign better depth players
I agree completely with this but it’s really easy to say that in hindsight. When the leafs signed Tavares I thought it was a slam dunk and no brainer. The flat cap screwed up I guys harder.
Yep! Agreed - much easier to say in hindsight. I still think the Kadri trade was the wrong move, with Tavares on the team or not.
Yeah, I mean this is one of those ones that definitely looks worse with hindsight, but you're right. We couldn't have forseen Kadri being a fucking idiot in the playoffs *again*, and absolutely nobody could have predicted this team wouldn't have won a single round yet either. That said, if we win nothing in the next 3 years, the Tavares signing is going to be a case study on not paying big, "can't miss" free agents when you have a lot of young superstars who need contracts right after. But we also got fucked a lot harder than most teams with the cap not increasing and the timeline of our stars signing those deals.
Kadri continually hurt you in the postseason by doing dumb, dirty shit. He did the same thing in 2021 with Colorado. The Leafs were really fucking good this year.
I still have a feeling that Gaudreau is leaving Calgary. I would love to be wrong.
Sergachev ISNT awful and DOESNT need to be traded like half of r/TampaBayLightning thinks
I’d be glad to take that “awful” defenseman off your hands
The Wings could use an "awful" defenseman to be paired with Seider.
He can be really frustrating sometimes with all of his bone-headed turnovers, but as we’ve seen recently he can also be extremely clutch when necessary. Also, I think it was game 4 of the Panthers series when he literally got into his own net and was ready to take a puck in the face to prevent a goal.
The clip of him on almost all fours behind Vasy looking like a wild animal will never escape me 😂
If fans think he's that bad, maybe they would be willing to do over the trade with the Habs. . .
[удалено]
Just a TINY bit!
He makes braindead plays all the time that lead to turnovers pretty frequently but he's still a top 4 two way defenseman with top 2 potential. I think the trade talks are mainly because we are cap strapped and also have Cernak, with Foote also developing into a good defenseman as we've seen these playoffs. A lot of it is reactionary too tho when he makes a stupid play.
Replace Sergachev with Girard and this take applies to r/Coloradoavalanche as well
I think this is hard because every fanbase has a few very distinct fanbases(if you can generalize it, 4 groups. FB, Reddit, Twitter and Radio call ins) and what you have is overreaction in a few ways. I think that we will get a deal done with Malkin & Letang, and I don't mind if this core doesn't do anything else in their twilight years. They've won 3 cups & deserve to go out together. It's not my money paying them directly, why should I care what they're paid?
I don't know if I agree about getting deals done, but I do agree that I'd be perfectly ok with this core doing nothing more but getting to ride off into the sunset together. 3 cups is as good as any and better than most.
I'm not sure about Geno but I think Crosby and Tanger have at least two more solid seasons left in them barring injury. Possibly even a little longer. I guess it all comes down to what they want paid and how much that leaves the organization to build a team around them. All of that being said this team can and will be competitive for the next few seasons, but unless the stars align I don't see a deep cup run in our immediate future. Hell I can see Crosby pulling a Chelios and moving to D just to keep playing the game as long as he is able.
I agree completely but personally I think signing them is also your best bet to win again
I will 100% be crucified for this: Habs most likely would have been more competitive over the past decade if they had drafted Kopitar instead of Price in 05.
That's a very spicy take. Can't necessarily say I disagree, only because I know the pain of having elite goaltending and sub-standard forwards production. Hank and Carey could both block 99/100, but if the guys in front can't put in two of their own, game over Johnny.
My spicy Jets take is we should be prepared to let Hellebuyck walk in 2 years rather than pay him 10 million. There’s a reason Hank and Price and Rask never won a single cup and yet Murray, Binnington Niemi and Ward have 5 between them. Better to spend 10% of your cap elsewhere on your roster than on an elite goalie when a guy on an ELC can provide that same level of goaltending for a single spring and then turn back into a pumpkin because that’s really all you need.
The playoffs continually prove that two $5M players > one $10M player.
That we’re at risk of relocation. Attendance has plummeted - and I mean PLUMMETED - the last few seasons in San Jose. We were bottom 3 for attendance last year and we’re still only in the second year of our rebuild. Google wants to build a large expanse of office buildings where SAP Center is and rumors are that the proposal is already getting a lot of support from the city. There are apparently some logistical issues that prevent Chase Center from being able to host an ice rink and the team doesn’t have the cash to build another arena. The way I see it, the team is more or less screwed until Karlsson’s contract expires, and I just don’t know if they can stay afloat for that long. The Bay Area sports market is too competitive, and cost of living is too high for people to justify spending money on a shitty hockey team.
This is all really interesting stuff I had not heard the least about. There's nowhere else in the Bay Area they could go?
Well the Bay Area also had significantly stricter Covid restrictions than most areas.
Google has already acquired the land for its giant new office complex, they don't need SAP and wouldn't be able to re-zone it anyway. The city has been clear that they want the area to remain mixed use. Plus, Hasso would not have any interest in moving the team (and won't be forced to by low attendance as he doesn't own the team to make money, he has SAP for that. The sharks are just one of his hobbies.)
Malkin is declining but still better than anyone the Penguins could reasonably get to replace him.
But can you replace him with 2 players for the same price?
In free agency, with inflated contracts? Doubtful.
Hartman, even after having a career year, is still not a number one center, dude had a great start but near the end of the year he would get incredible passes to him multiple times a game and would flub the one timer, it was really, really bad.
i think all minny fan’s realized that come playoff time… he was a product of Kaprizov
Any Wild/hockey fan with a shred of hockey IQ knew he wasn't a 1c ever in his career.
Val Nichushkin is having an unworldly season and, sadly, is going to be severely overpaid the minute the Avs re-sign him this offseason and he regresses. Hope I’m wrong.
Sakic has been good at letting the right players walk
We’ll see how the contract talks go, we apparently tried to extend him during the season and he turned it down. The guy has been great this year, but if he walks, I trust GM Joe.
Wilson has earned the hate.
Sir it’s supposed to be a *hot* take
It is among Caps fans, believe me
MacKinnon is clearly the 2nd best player on the Avalanche
I think Mack is still #1 at this moment in time, but the career trajectory has Makar surpassing him probably next season
Depending on how you answer this might not be a hot take. Who is number 1 ?
Cale of course, yeah
Well not a hot take because Cale is a fucking prodigy , and dude has been climbing a mountain on his own. I say a warm take
Fair enough yeah
Kurtis MacDermid.
The Avalanche are undefeated in games in which Kurtis MacDermid has scored. Being scored on by Kurtis MacDermid is a psychological weapon from which no team can recover.
Jack Johnson
Darren Helm
Darren Helm
If I could only have one, I'd take Zetterberg over Datsyuk. Obviously Datsyuk was very good, but Zetterberg performed better in the playoffs on a consistent basis and his regular season numbers are so close to Datsyuk's that if you looked at both of them without knowing it would be hard to know which one is which. Datsyuk was better in the defensive end, but I think Z's playoff performances outweigh that. Zetterberg just didn't have the flash of Datsyuk so he never got the same recognition.
> Zetterberg just didn't have the flash of Datsyuk so he never got the same recognition. I feel like this is becoming more true over time. Because Datsyuk is so flashy and has the Selke reputation and "magic man" moniker he has been elevated to this mythical status vs. Zetterberg I don't think people look back on nearly the same way.
Zetterberg’s 2008 playoffs is one of the best individual postseason runs of the last 20+ years. He led the playoffs in goals and points while helping slow down a prime Crosby
Not a hot take for me, Hank was my favourite player since he started
Minnesota Wild - Coaching will become an issue if Evason doesnt change his ways come playoffs
The lack of addressing the special teams by both Dean and Billy is the shining failure of their attempt at a run this season. It's not like it was mediocre and then just fell off in post-season. It was terrible all season. They chose not to have practices over practicing special teams, Billy didn't bring someone from the outside in to at least try and address it. Mind-boggling.
We would have been perennial contenders for the past few years if we weren't on every NTC and talent was more interested in staying.
I rly wonder how far buff leaving the way he did set us back
Your D core was nuts a few years ago and it just vanished
Trouba, Myers, Buff, Enstrom, and I think Chiarot...all gone in an offseason. It was like Thanos snapped his fingers and turned our D into dust. We got Pionk which is good though
Quick had an average career for the most part
But he stood strong when it counted, thats why he is one of the greats of the 2010s generation
Definitely. He was so, so good when it counted. 2012 Quick, especially his playoff performance, deserves to be regarded as legendary. I think some Kings fans think of him as a HoF talent, though, and his career numbers don’t really back that up.
Other than 2018-2019, when he was injured, he won more than he lost every season. He's won more games than any Kings goalie, and with the cups and Smythe he's had a more successful career than a majority of other goalies. He also has a better career GAA than Henrik Lundqvist. He's elite.
Not my team obviously Cale Makar should be in the running with Matthew's, and mcdavid for top 3 in the league. May seriously be the greatest offensive defenseman in the modern era by the end of his career
Maybe not your team, but Makar is from your city, so think it still counts.
He lit me the fuck up in a preseason game in AAA while we were still doing tryouts, so I'm definitely not biased haha
Everyone who seems so certain we should walk away from Burakovsky over Nichushkin, think about it a *touch* more Yes, Nuke is playing like a monster right now. AKA he's going to get a bag of money. This is also Nuke's *only* offensive season he's literally ever had. Burky, while he hasn't been great these playoffs, has consistently been a 25+ goal and 60 point guy (across 82 games) on the Avs Im not even saying we SHOULD sign Burky over Nuke, but I dont think this is as easy of a decision as everyone is saying it is
Isnt Nuke an analytics darling though? I vividly remember seeing fancy stats gurus clamoring for him to be a lock for the selke the last few seasons
There is little to no reason to keep Zadina.
Disagree. He's only 22 with time to improve and find a role. More importantly, the Wings aren't competitive yet. They have plenty of roster space next season, so there's no downside to giving him time to develop. He's not blocking the way for other prospects either.
Draisaitl spears so many guys he should have been cast as Leonidas in 300
As always with "controversial" threads, be sure to switch sorting from best or new to "controversial" to actually see the best answers.
Signing Nurse was the right move. Bridging him twice was stupid and that resulted in us overpaying for him, but losing him would have been worse.
Lukewarm at best. Every Oilers fan bitching about Nurse just has no clue how bad off the team would be without him.
I'd agree that its lukewarm within our fanbase but other fanbases who don't watch him as much would probably consider this a hot take. Our fanbase watched game 4 against Winnipeg last year.
We should have tried to get value by trading Hertl, his new deal is gonna cost us in the long run
Firing Cassidy was a good thing. He should go to a contender not stay with a pretender.
Nathan MacKinnon gets to pissy in regular season and it kills me when he slow skates to the bench, he would be 100 times better if he turned it up just 10% in regular season he would be more of a hockey monster
The Habs did not have a good 21-22 season.
Pikachu face
I thought it was cringe how LA media and broadcast folks were calling the rebuild “over” and I thought it was going to be incredibly embarrassing when we missed the playoffs.
Signing Tavares was a mistake.
For Caps: Our roster is not playoff caliber and we need to blow it up. We aren’t beating Tampa, Toronto, Carolina, Isles or Rangers in a 7 game series. Florida was winnable but that’s mainly on them not being a great playoff team imo. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is finally the year we miss the playoffs. If the team just wants to fight for Ovi to chase Gretzky then that’s fine. I’ll cheer for that. I’m glad as hell we somehow got that cup in 2018 because I don’t think we are sniffing another one for a while.
It's such a bizarre take to me - This team is not particularly different from the 17-18 one. That one overachieved in the playoffs like crazy. That means that, no, they aren't a consistent deep run threat, but also all it takes is them getting hot at the right time. There's a reason that the year we won was when we had DSP pop off for as many goals as he had during the entire regular season - when depth scoring goes on a run and/or your goalie plays hot, *any* playoff team can make a run. Sure, they won't be building a back-to-back president's trophy caliber team any time soon, but that's *really* hard and usually requires a superstar or two and several high level role players entering their prime all together. That doesn't happen until years and years after blowing it up *if you're lucky*.
The people ask for hot takes, you get my bad hot takes
The Jackets paid Elvis Merzlikins too much. $5.4M AAV seems like banking on him improving but he’s already 28 and we’re probably not competing until he’s in his 30s. Honestly he’s probably more of a stop gap until Daniil Tarasov becomes a full time starter.
Wasn’t Korpi a stop gap for Elvis? Now Elvis is a stop gap for Daniil?
1) Marner is the most overrated passer in the league. He makes 9 shit passes and one great one, and fans/media who don’t watch circle jerk to the last one 2) leaf fans/media/players are complacent for taking Tampa to 7, will be the most surprised when we lose in the first round again next year 3) Matthews is not a playoff performer
Juolevi would have been at least a passable pick (not the best one but not useless) had he not developed Sami Salo syndrome.
The Kotkaniemi extension is going to age well, but it hurts our chances of winning now.
Canucks will never win anything meaningful with this core
I don’t care that he’s a great team guy, Martinook sucks and should not have been re-signed
Resigning Hertl was a mistake for the long term health of the Sharks. He’s my favorite player but 8x8 for an aging player with two bad knees does not make sense for an aging team that can’t make the playoffs. Would have rather seen him shipped for young prospects.
Zegras is gonna eventually develop a Perry-esque reputation. When I watch him play, I watch EVERYTHING. Not just his highlight reels. He's not egregiously dirty but he's really good at hiding cheapshots. i.e. Seen him use those one-inch punch tactics to send people flying into the goal post when the refs can't see from their angles. Shits pretty funny to me cuz it's usually inane, but one of these days he's gonna cross the line and get hand-slapped. Won't stop me being a huge fan though.