NHL Off-Topic thread

[DrJones]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Toffoli was a deadline pickup, Stecher was a 3rd pairing guy. Schmidt should be an upgrade over Tanev. Vancouver was 1-2 against Calgary last season.

I'd say Elias Pettersson was their best player the past two seasons. Markstrom had a sv% of .912 and .918 the past two seasons, which is fine but not spectacular. The Holtby/Demko is a more risky play than just resigning Markstrom, that I agree with. Vancouver was put into a spot where they had to choose between Markstrom and Demko due to what Markstrom was offered from Calgary.

I'd say Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal and Vancouver all have rosters with playoff upside that have flaws in roster construction. I'd say the only sure things would be Toronto making it and Ottawa being on the outside looking in.

I hate being one of those "you had to see him play" guys, but I'm totally with nike on this one. Pettersson is the Canucks' best player, but Markstrom was absolutely the team MVP over the last two seasons. The Canucks are absolutely wretched defensively and give up a ton of high-quality scoring chances. The St. Louis series was pretty representative of the Canucks at their best - getting outshot 40-25 and getting significantly outchanced on a nightly basis, but still winning because their highly skilled players are excellent finishers and Markstrom played way better than his opposite number. Markstrom's play typically ranged from above-average to downright heroic.

This next Canucks season could go either way: there's a definite path forward where Demko uses those 3 games vs Vegas as a launching pad, that Vancouver's goalie coach can work wonders on Holtby, Pettersson/Hughes take another step forward, Schmidt provides a desperately needed presence on the blue line, Benning adds another piece near the deadline (his drafting and trading has been almost as good as his free agent signings have been bad). They'll be a fun team to watch - they might be very good as well!

But I can also easily see a situation where the Canucks' lack of depth, horrific defensive play, and rock-dumb albatross contracts could lead to an Oilers-like limbo where they have high-end star power and are a fun watch for a neutral fan but ultimately get nowhere. Canucks fans might be looking back on 2020 the way Oilers fans look at the 2017 playoffs, where the first step to Cup contention may also have been the last.

[nikethebike]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

I hate being one of those "you had to see him play" guys, but I'm totally with nike on this one. Pettersson is the Canucks' best player, but Markstrom was absolutely the team MVP over the last two seasons. The Canucks are absolutely wretched defensively and give up a ton of high-quality scoring chances. The St. Louis series was pretty representative of the Canucks at their best - getting outshot 40-25 and getting significantly outchanced on a nightly basis, but still winning because their highly skilled players are excellent finishers and Markstrom played way better than his opposite number. Markstrom's play typically ranged from above-average to downright heroic.

This next Canucks season could go either way: there's a definite path forward where Demko uses those 3 games vs Vegas as a launching pad, that Vancouver's goalie coach can work wonders on Holtby, Pettersson/Hughes take another step forward, Schmidt provides a desperately needed presence on the blue line, Benning adds another piece near the deadline (his drafting and trading has been almost as good as his free agent signings have been bad). They'll be a fun team to watch - they might be very good as well!

But I can also easily see a situation where the Canucks' lack of depth, horrific defensive play, and rock-dumb albatross contracts could lead to an Oilers-like limbo where they have high-end star power and are a fun watch for a neutral fan but ultimately get nowhere. Canucks fans might be looking back on 2020 the way Oilers fans look at the 2017 playoffs, where the first step to Cup contention may also have been the last.

This exactly.


Markström almost didn't have a bad game for two seasons. He kept the team in so many games. He has been WAY BETTER than his stats show.
And this is coming from a MAJOR Elias Pettersson fan.
With that said, the display Demko had in the playoffs was out of this world. If he can keep performing at that level, Markström won't be missed. To me Holtby feels like he has his best days behind him.


I think Schmidt might have the potential to be a J.T. Miller type signing for them (I thought he was overpaid when he was signed but definitely proved me wrong), but I must say that Tanev grew a lot in the playoffs compared to what he has been delivering during the regular seasons. That type of player is really important.


I don't consider Stecher to perhaps be a huge loss by his own, but what I mean is they have lost some core players that have been there for a while and you don't know how that will effect the harmony of the team. Stecher was one of their top 5 D-men, Tanev top-3 in the playoffs and the partner of Quinn Hughes. Markström #1 GK...
I kind of liked Leivo aswell.


In a couple of years they will have to pay a lot of money to Pettersson and Hughes, then increase salaries of Boeser, Horvat...
Depending on how the cap limit expands or not, there might not be many more seasons with the amount of talent they have now.

[Kobalt]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Coyotes joke of a franchise continues, but this time for reasons that have nothing to do with their arena. Just look up Mitchell Miller and you'll find out everything.

Like many are saying, this is one of the issues in hockey. Theres a reason the hockey diversity alliance cut ties with the NHL so soon after forming.

NHL will just acknowledge the issue, but ignore any attempt to fix it.

How Mitchell Miller was even drafted is beyond me. You could maybe understand a team being reluctant to release a guy they just drafted in the top 2 rounds, because they found out about his bad past. But Coyotes refusing to release a guy drafted in the 4th round, after already being aware of how horrible a person he is goes to show the issues in hockey.

On the bright side, he get to be a regular on Tony DeAngelo's podcast!

[rdnk]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

But I can also easily see a situation where the Canucks' lack of depth, horrific defensive play, and rock-dumb albatross contracts could lead to an Oilers-like limbo where they have high-end star power and are a fun watch for a neutral fan but ultimately get nowhere. Canucks fans might be looking back on 2020 the way Oilers fans look at the 2017 playoffs, where the first step to Cup contention may also have been the last.

Fair enough. I could see this happening with the other four Canadian teams I mentioned. Whether it's Calgary's depth, Oiler's goaltending, Winnipeg's lack of talent on D or Montreal's deficiency of high end scoring talent; they all have flaws similarly to the Canucks where I could see them making or missing the playoffs.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

In an all Canadian division where you're only playing teams in that division, it will be interesting to see how teams fare given diff level of competition.

Just using last year's pt%:
Jets go from being 5th in a division with 3 teams who had 59.4% or higher to a division where nobody is over 59%.

Oilers go from being 2nd in division, 5th best in a conference to the top seed

Leafs go from 3 seed in division, 8 seed in conference to the 2 seed overall.

So Leafs and Oilers could make the biggest strides here. Canucks I see getting hurt the most since their team took a hit in offseason, and will be playing Leafs and Jets and not Ducks,Sharks,Kings. Go from a 3-4 seed in an 8 team division to one who'll likely be the 5 seed in a 7 team division.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Stars with an interesting choice for an alternate

https://twitter.com/DallasStars/status/1321469550509150209?s=19

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

OHL announces info for their season. Season starts February 4th, it'll be 40 game season.

AHL says their target date is February 1st.

NHL I'd imagine is still pushing for the January 1st date. But at this point, I'm wondering if January 1st is a target start date for regular season, or for training camp? Maybe the 2nd is when camps start, you have 2 weeks of camps and exhibition games (I'd love a televised intrasquad game which airs in respective local markets) and then season starts on the 15th?

That 2021 draft is gonna be the hardest draft to scout for. Scouts won't be allowed to travel much, probably not even allowed at games, and you have a much smaller sample size to go with.

[rdnk]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

That 2021 draft is gonna be the hardest draft to scout for. Scouts won't be allowed to travel much, probably not even allowed at games, and you have a much smaller sample size to go with.

I imagine you'll see teams trend more towards video scouting, like the MLB. For example, Houston is almost 100% video scouting (although they're the extreme). Although the data is much less readily available, hockey has a version of statcast where they can get objective data on shot velocity and player skating speed, among other things. I'm also slowly seeing more statistical models for projecting CHL talent based on their underlying numbers.

Overall, teams with larger or more influential analytical departments will be in a strong position to capitalize on this draft. Teams that aren't either need to adapt, or trade their picks away for future picks, vets or players selected 1 or 2 years ago that they do have scouting on. As for your Leafs, Dubas is well regarded as one of the NHL's more forward thinking GMs, so I imagine they will be in a good spot.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Overall, teams with larger or more influential analytical departments will be in a strong position to capitalize on this draft. Teams that aren't either need to adapt, or trade their picks away for future picks, vets or players selected 1 or 2 years ago that they do have scouting on. As for your Leafs, Dubas is well regarded as one of the NHL's more forward thinking GMs, so I imagine they will be in a good spot.

In person scouting is definitely old school, but still, a 40 game season will hurt. Look at preseason rankings vs midseason vs final rankings. Theres almost 30 fewer games being played, that's almost half a season less.

A guy gets injured and misses several games in a 68 game season, that's maybe 10% of the games. Miss several games in a 40 game season, that's almost 20%.

Will be real telling this year to see where teams are with their scouting in the modern era. Good news for Leafs, they have their top 2 picks for this draft.

In the end, we won't fully know until 2030 or so how the draft really ended up, but I expect a lot more NHLers coming from all over the board than in a usual draft.

Also, I wonder how Seattle goes into this draft. I don't even know when they're officially allowed signing players. We dont even know when the 2021 season is starting, so the wait for them and the 2 drafts will seem like forever.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

No checking in the OHL this year.

I know why they're doing it this year, but we know its just a matter of time before these things start moving out of hockey. We're already seeing next to no fighting anymore. Checking will be a lost art soon too.

Another one of those things which makes the draft different in 2021. No checking will definitely lead to more offense, so some guys will be getting more chances, and some of the guys who play a more "truculent" game won't stand out as much.

[nikethebike]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

I wonder if banning checking will lead to the covid effect they are after? Players will still go into the same areas that the puck is in trying to get it from eachother. That is kind of the nature of the game. They should ban puck battles at the boards instead... 🤨


What it will lead to are concussions when these guys get to hit/be hit again in other leagues since they are not prepared...

[bhurst99]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

I wonder if banning checking will lead to the covid effect they are after? Players will still go into the same areas that the puck is in trying to get it from eachother. That is kind of the nature of the game. They should ban puck battles at the boards instead... 🤨


What it will lead to are concussions when these guys get to hit/be hit again in other leagues since they are not prepared...

I fully expect the Ontario government to reverse itself on the no body checking rule. They're already kind of walking back from it.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/juniors/article/ontario-premier-doug-ford-says-hed-like-see-ohl-return-bodychecking/

But in my opinion it's only 50-50 the OHL gets off the ground. I'd be shocked if it's safe enough in February to have fans in these small arenas. The economic loss of no fans might be too difficult for the OHL owners to stomach.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Not sure if it's a chain wide deal or not, but Winners/Marshall's in Toronto has authentic adidas jerseys for $110! Normally $250. They're stitched too. When I first heard of this deal I thought maybe it's a knockoff or Fanatics brand or an old jersey with the A on it for guys like Tavares and McDavid, but I got one myself and can confirm it's a legit current jersey

Mostly Leafs ones here, but McDavid jerseys as well.

Not sure if other locations in other parts of Canada will have it, or if Marshalls in the US has this deal as well, but this isn't a deal I was expecting at all. Marshalls in the US I think has an online site so people could check and see.

A Tavares captain jersey fully stitched, for over 55% off! I remember when Reebok jerseys were on clearance after the Adidas move for the NHL. Best deal I got was a blank jersey for $90.

[Majingir]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

Leafs put out a teaser video for their reverse retro. The design and jersey number suggests it's a similar style first worn in 1970.

[rdnk]

Re: NHL Off-Topic thread

I agree, the no body checking rule sounds a bit silly when looking at the game as a whole. How do you regulate it? Suspend players who commit a check? What about incidental contact? What about shadowing a player in coverage? I just don't see it as practical. You either bring it back like the NHL or not at all. Based on the fact that gate revenue is a large part of the CHL in general, not at all is probably the best move from all angles.