Around the NHL 2023 - Playoffs 2024

drwpreds

Registered User
Mar 19, 2012
7,870
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Birmingham
What a shitty year for the playoffs. Carolina is f***ed so about all that's left is to root for Ekholm to get a Cup, which would also shut everyone up about McDavid, much like Ovie finally winning did
Carolina is fascinating- you have to be pretty depressed right now if you are a Canes fan. Maple Leafs catch all kinds of flack for playoff failure but I think you can make the argument no team has been more disappointing in playoff than Canes last few years. They have been one of the favorites for several years now and really nothing to show for it. They have some series wins over lesser teams but when they face elite teams lose almost every single time.

And the worst part for them is they have played well in many of their series losses- the are down 0-3 right now and were swept by Florida last year. In those 7 losses- all 7 were by 1 goal and 4 of them were OT. That is some crazy bad luck.

This year they get Jake Guentzel to put them over the top and were the betting favorite to win Cup going in. And he has been fantastic- yet still they are probably getting swept out of the 2nd round despite being the better team in 2 of the 3 games vs NYR

Brutal- my take on this is it is just so incredibly hard to win in the playoffs in NHL. Harder than any other sport. No matter how good you are the odds are heavily stacked against you.

Every Preds fan on the planet would all absolutely kill to have a roster as good as the Canes but it guarantees you absolutely nothing. Honestly it kind of makes me appreciate our Cup run even a little more. At least we have ONE of them- so many teams would love to have even that.
 
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drwpreds

Registered User
Mar 19, 2012
7,870
3,000
Birmingham
One other note on the playoffs and how hard it is to win. Just look at these 2nd round matchups.

Avs/Stars
Rangers/Canes

You can make a strong argument that these are the 4 best teams in the NHL, at worst they are 4 of the top 5 if you throw Florida in the mix

And yet they are SECOND ROUND matchups. Two of them guaranteed out after round 2.

Crazy- reminds me of our series vs Jets in 2018- the top 2 teams in the NHL standings playing in round 2.
 
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Kat Predator

Registered User
Nov 28, 2019
3,939
3,986
Carolina is fascinating- you have to be pretty depressed right now if you are a Canes fan. Maple Leafs catch all kinds of flack for playoff failure but I think you can make the argument no team has been more disappointing in playoff than Canes last few years. They have been one of the favorites for several years now and really nothing to show for it. They have some series wins over lesser teams but when they face elite teams lose almost every single time.

And the worst part for them is they have played well in many of their series losses- the are down 0-3 right now and were swept by Florida last year. In those 7 losses- all 7 were by 1 goal and 4 of them were OT. That is some crazy bad luck.

This year they get Jake Guentzel to put them over the top and were the betting favorite to win Cup going in. And he has been fantastic- yet still they are probably getting swept out of the 2nd round despite being the better team in 2 of the 3 games vs NYR

Brutal- my take on this is it is just so incredibly hard to win in the playoffs in NHL. Harder than any other sport. No matter how good you are the odds are heavily stacked against you.

Every Preds fan on the planet would all absolutely kill to have a roster as good as the Canes but it guarantees you absolutely nothing. Honestly it kind of makes me appreciate our Cup run even a little more. At least we have ONE of them- so many teams would love to have even that.
It's never quite the same thing, even though the final result may appear to be the same. Last year, they had a big rash of injuries and couldn't get much offense generated. Aho is great, but he was carrying the offensive load seemingly by himself. Previous years it's been goaltending zipping off a cliff at the worst possible time, giving up all you can eat soft serve in the playoffs.

It just goes to show you that to win the Cup, you have to tank hard and with the nimbleness of a wet noodle. :sarcasm:
 

herzausstein

Registered User
Aug 31, 2014
6,868
4,795
West Virginia
Well, yeah. It's what has kept them from winning multiple Cups with their offensive talent.

Maybe they bow out here and offer us the moon and stars for Saros
With their draft history outside of the top 5 (and even some inside is pretty sketchy), im not sure there is much there i want outside of Draisaitl and i doubt he shakes loose
 

Bringer of Jollity

Registered User
Oct 20, 2011
13,181
8,291
Fontana, CA
They don't really have anything we'd want in terms of prospects.
Agreed. Their best young tradeable assets at this point are...I guess Holloway and Broberg? Holloway looks like he'll be a bottom 6er if he makes it. Broberg is a great AHL defenseman, but hasn't been able to make the jump despite the Oilers' dearth of NHL-caliber defenseman. Easy pass.
 

Armourboy

Hey! You suck!
Jan 20, 2014
19,404
10,767
Shelbyville, TN
It's times like these I still sometimes stop at night and wonder about how we drafted Askarov ahead of Lundell.
While I didn't like the pick when you look at what we have for goalie prospects right now it was an understandable pick. We don't pick him we pretty much wouldn't have anything in the system that could even reasonably be a back up within the next couple of years.
 

herzausstein

Registered User
Aug 31, 2014
6,868
4,795
West Virginia
If we are talking about picks to take instead of askarov, Guhle looks like he is gonna be quite the keeper. Then again given our current LHD situation, hed be marinating in Milwaukee right now too.
 

Porter Stoutheart

We Got Wood
Jun 14, 2017
14,985
11,361
I like to remind the world that my pick was Seth Jarvis. :naughty:

But I do agree he probably wouldn't have panned out here. So I'm glad we have Askarov. I think we still have a higher ceiling with Askarov if he pans out as a #1 goalie in the NHL than these other forward guys might have. Or at least be a more "rare" commodity. But he does have to pan out first. Which isn't by any means assured at this point.
 

Flgatorguy87

Registered User
Jul 7, 2011
5,806
3,754
East Nasty
I like to remind the world that my pick was Seth Jarvis. :naughty:

But I do agree he probably wouldn't have panned out here. So I'm glad we have Askarov. I think we still have a higher ceiling with Askarov if he pans out as a #1 goalie in the NHL than these other forward guys might have. Or at least be a more "rare" commodity. But he does have to pan out first. Which isn't by any means assured at this point.
I believe he was the consensus for the board if I am remembering correctly.
 
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herzausstein

Registered User
Aug 31, 2014
6,868
4,795
West Virginia
I believe he was the consensus for the board if I am remembering correctly.
Goalies or Dmen are usually where our best picks come from. We do have a couple exceptions where we picked a forward and it panned out but Askarov, Schneider, or Ghule probably all wouldve been acceptable at the time but the dmen wouldve probably been considered reaching at the pick #.
 

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