2024 NHL Playoffs Around the League

PK Cronin · 2024-05-21T13:40:39-0400

Bones45 said:
Basically, ABR.

Yep, with a slight preference for a Western team.

Throttle · 2024-05-21T13:55:00-0400

Bones45 said:
Why the hate on EDM?

Bantam hockey in the NHL playoffs is not that interesting.

Bones45 · 2024-05-21T14:07:38-0400

Throttle said:
Bantam hockey in the NHL playoffs is not that interesting.

Islanders would be lucky to play that brand of hockey. Must be doing something correct.

Osakahaus · 2024-05-21T14:10:49-0400

PK Cronin said:
Wouldn't mind either Western team winning. Pavelski finally getting one would be nice for him and a good story. McDavid getting one would be huge for the NHL in general.

Don't care if Florida wins the cup as long as they win this series.

Florida winning means we can laugh at the Flames a ton for letting go of Tkachuk (they had no choice) for Weegar and Huberdeau. Huberdeau is being paid more than Barzal and looks awful btw

MJF · 2024-05-21T14:12:06-0400

PK Cronin said:
Wouldn't mind either Western team winning. Pavelski finally getting one would be nice for him and a good story. McDavid getting one would be huge for the NHL in general.

Don't care if Florida wins the cup as long as they win this series.

I’m ok with 3 of the 4 remaining teams winning the cup.

Glory Days · 2024-05-21T14:24:00-0400

MJF said:
I’m ok with 3 of the 4 remaining teams winning the cup.

I think the entire Isles fan base would agree with that

MJF · 2024-05-21T15:13:35-0400

Glory Days said:
facepI think the entire Isles fan base would agree with that

I think there’s a bunch who don’t want Edmonton to win because moar Ice Capades :facepalm:

Lame Lambert · 2024-05-21T15:22:05-0400

MJF said:
I think there’s a bunch who don’t want Edmonton to win because moar Ice Capades

You can win the Cup with either strategy if you properly construct the roster, but we can't have that conversation around here.

Throttle · 2024-05-21T15:26:39-0400

Bones45 said:
Islanders would be lucky to play that brand of hockey. Must be doing something correct.

Uh, they have two dynamic franchise players and not much else.

It's not about the Isles and whatever they are or are not doing.

PK Cronin · 2024-05-21T16:16:32-0400

Lame Lambert said:
You can win the Cup with either strategy if you properly construct the roster, but we can't have that conversation around here.

I just think it's harder to win that way because the roster construction is more difficult to pull off. How many teams have won the cup being a high octane offense? Colorado is the only one I can think of. They lost Kadri and their goaltending got worse so they haven't sniffed being able to repeat that success despite having a bunch of talented players on the roster.

An issue with the roster construction is when you have guys like McDavid and MacKinnon taking 14%+ of the cap there's not a lot more to spread around. It's a good problem to have but it makes maintaining that kind of roster difficult year over year. I'd be interested in what cup winning player has taken up the highest percentage of their team's cap.

MJF · 2024-05-21T16:34:04-0400

PK Cronin said:
I just think it's harder to win that way because the roster construction is more difficult to pull off. How many teams have won the cup being a high octane offense? Colorado is the only one I can think of. They lost Kadri and their goaltending got worse so they haven't sniffed being able to repeat that success despite having a bunch of talented players on the roster.

An issue with the roster construction is when you have guys like McDavid and MacKinnon taking 14%+ of the cap there's not a lot more to spread around. It's a good problem to have but it makes maintaining that kind of roster difficult year over year. I'd be interested in what cup winning player has taken up the highest percentage of their team's cap.

It’s not that McDavid and Draisaitl are priced wrong. They’re not. It’s hard to construct the rest of that roster when Darnell Nurse is making $9.25M/yr for 6 more years!

Lame Lambert · 2024-05-21T16:57:20-0400

PK Cronin said:
I just think it's harder to win that way because the roster construction is more difficult to pull off. How many teams have won the cup being a high octane offense? Colorado is the only one I can think of. They lost Kadri and their goaltending got worse so they haven't sniffed being able to repeat that success despite having a bunch of talented players on the roster.

An issue with the roster construction is when you have guys like McDavid and MacKinnon taking 14%+ of the cap there's not a lot more to spread around. It's a good problem to have but it makes maintaining that kind of roster difficult year over year. I'd be interested in what cup winning player has taken up the highest percentage of their team's cap.

Going back to 2010, I would say the Chicago teams (especially 2015), the Pittsburgh teams, and Colorado all played an offensive game. The Kings, Caps, and Blues all played a defensive style.

Tampa and Vegas were both extremely well-balanced, which required LTIR cap circumvention to achieve. The earlier Chicago teams were also really well-balanced due to cap-circumventing contracts.

Edmonton is currently built closest to the 16-17 Pittsburgh teams IMO.

MJF · 2024-05-21T17:13:41-0400

Lame Lambert said:
Going back to 2010, I would say the Chicago teams (especially 2015), the Pittsburgh teams, and Colorado all played an offensive game. The Kings, Caps, and Blues all played a defensive style.

Tampa and Vegas were both extremely well-balanced, which required LTIR cap circumvention to achieve. The earlier Chicago teams were also really well-balanced due to cap-circumventing contracts.

Edmonton is currently built closest to the 16-17 Pittsburgh teams IMO.

I think Lou wanted to build the Isles to challenge the 2011 Bruins and 2018 Capitals…teams that played a heavy game and could score. Where the Islanders came up short is that those teams had Hall of Fame talents who could score goals and play with an edge. Lou was never able to find that kind of player for us.

I think Lou was expecting Anders Lee to grow into a consistent 35+ goal scorer and Brock Nelson to score 40+ regularly. Obviously that never happened.

PK Cronin · 2024-05-21T17:21:38-0400

MJF said:
It’s not that McDavid and Draisaitl are priced wrong. They’re not. It’s hard to construct the rest of that roster when Darnell Nurse is making $9.25M/yr for 6 more years!

I don't think those guys are priced wrong either, it just makes every other move way more important/difficult to get precisely right because there are no re-dos. To your point, one miscue and everything is tied up for some time. It's rare for GMs to get it right with every contract they hand out or obtain.

Lame Lambert said:
Going back to 2010, I would say the Chicago teams (especially 2015), the Pittsburgh teams, and Colorado all played an offensive game. The Kings, Caps, and Blues all played a defensive style.

Tampa and Vegas were both extremely well-balanced, which required LTIR cap circumvention to achieve. The earlier Chicago teams were also really well-balanced due to cap-circumventing contracts.

Edmonton is currently built closest to the 16-17 Pittsburgh teams IMO.

I think Chicago and Pittsburgh were more defensive oriented than Colorado has been, but were definitely on the offensive side of the ledger. Colorado was the most run and gun, "we're going to outscore our problems" sort of team that I can remember seeing. Pittsburgh used their offense/forecheck to stifle anything coming back at them and Chicago still had prime Keith and Seabrook on the back end to go with Hjalmarsson when it came to shutting things down when necessary.

Tampa Bay and Vegas were are/were balanced and could play any which way. I'm glad you brought up the LTIR stuff because that certainly plays a part in the recent history of cup winners.

Edmonton seems like a mix between Colorado and Pittsburgh. Their goaltending is still a huge question mark, similar to Colorado and they're definitely trying to outscore their mistakes. They don't forecheck nearly as well as that Pittsburgh team but their backend is probably most similar in that they don't have a real superstar there (Bouchard is nice but he's not exactly a Makar or Hughes).

I've enjoyed watching Edmonton because I think watching McDavid is a great time. It'll be interesting to see how they match up with a very well balanced Dallas team. It'll be the best goaltender they've faced, the best defense, and probably the deepest forward group. Edmonton has me stressing the final moments of games similarly to the Islanders so I'm not sure they're going to be able to get it done this year. They seem like a team that hangs on for dear life during various stretches.

Chapin Landvogt · 2024-05-21T17:46:21-0400

Edmonton vs. Dallas is the real SC final for me.

Should be very interesting!

Osakahaus · 2024-05-21T17:51:34-0400

MJF said:
I think Lou wanted to build the Isles to challenge the 2011 Bruins and 2018 Capitals…teams that played a heavy game and could score. Where the Islanders came up short is that those teams had Hall of Fame talents who could score goals and play with an edge. Lou was never able to find that kind of player for us.

I think Lou was expecting Anders Lee to grow into a consistent 35+ goal scorer and Brock Nelson to score 40+ regularly. Obviously that never happened.

P much

we need that grit n glue again

MJF · 2024-05-21T17:59:06-0400

Osakahaus said:
P much

we need that grit n glue again

We need skill, hands that can finish, and passing ability first. Grit and glue after that.

This team has to be able to survive in today’s NHL.

Lame Lambert · 2024-05-21T18:06:54-0400

PK Cronin said:
I don't think those guys are priced wrong either, it just makes every other move way more important/difficult to get precisely right because there are no re-dos. To your point, one miscue and everything is tied up for some time. It's rare for GMs to get it right with every contract they hand out or obtain.

I think Chicago and Pittsburgh were more defensive oriented than Colorado has been, but were definitely on the offensive side of the ledger. Colorado was the most run and gun, "we're going to outscore our problems" sort of team that I can remember seeing. Pittsburgh used their offense/forecheck to stifle anything coming back at them and Chicago still had prime Keith and Seabrook on the back end to go with Hjalmarsson when it came to shutting things down when necessary.

Tampa Bay and Vegas were are/were balanced and could play any which way. I'm glad you brought up the LTIR stuff because that certainly plays a part in the recent history of cup winners.

Edmonton seems like a mix between Colorado and Pittsburgh. Their goaltending is still a huge question mark, similar to Colorado and they're definitely trying to outscore their mistakes. They don't forecheck nearly as well as that Pittsburgh team but their backend is probably most similar in that they don't have a real superstar there (Bouchard is nice but he's not exactly a Makar or Hughes).

I've enjoyed watching Edmonton because I think watching McDavid is a great time. It'll be interesting to see how they match up with a very well balanced Dallas team. It'll be the best goaltender they've faced, the best defense, and probably the deepest forward group. Edmonton has me stressing the final moments of games similarly to the Islanders so I'm not sure they're going to be able to get it done this year. They seem like a team that hangs on for dear life during various stretches.

I think Colorado is an outlier because it's almost impossible to assemble a team similar to theirs. Their defense significantly contributes to their offense while still having generational offensive talents. That really isn't the case with EDM, and it wasn't the case with those Pittsburgh teams outside of Letang. Both cups were won because Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel dominated teams, and I think McDavid, Draisitl, and Hyman look pretty similar. Murray was a better goaltender then, and I believe Pittsburgh had better depth overall.

PK Cronin · 2024-05-21T18:42:42-0400

Lame Lambert said:
I think Colorado is an outlier because it's almost impossible to assemble a team similar to theirs. Their defense significantly contributes to their offense while still having generational offensive talents. That really isn't the case with EDM, and it wasn't the case with those Pittsburgh teams outside of Letang. Both cups were won because Crosby, Malkin, and Kessel dominated teams, and I think McDavid, Draisitl, and Hyman look pretty similar. Murray was a better goaltender then, and I believe Pittsburgh had better depth overall.

That's why I don't think teams should try to emulate them. It works because they have Makar and MacKinnon, if you don't have those very specific players then I'm not sure it works.

What was so impressive about the Penguins was they lost Letang and were still able to win because their structure was so good. I like when teams are able to maintain what they're doing in the absence of key players. Watching a team's hopes and dreams go down the tubes because a single guy got hurt is painful (unless it's the Rags).

2024 NHL Playoffs Around the League

Bailey Fan Club Prez

Registered User

Registered User

Chillin' on Fuji

Hope is not a strategy

Registered User

Hope is not a strategy

Fire Lou

Registered User

Bailey Fan Club Prez

Hope is not a strategy

Fire Lou

Hope is not a strategy

Bailey Fan Club Prez

Registered User

Chillin' on Fuji

Hope is not a strategy

Fire Lou

Bailey Fan Club Prez

Ad

Ad

Ad