The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

[l3ulvl]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

That Toronto/Tampa overtime was a work of art. Breathtaking.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

That Toronto/Tampa overtime was a work of art. Breathtaking.

Possible 2nd round preview hopefully (unless Sens are the one to face the Lightning, then I'd want a Leafs/Sens playoff series)

Leafs have all but secured home ice in round 1, now its just a matter of if they win the division or are the 2nd seed.

[pietasterp]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

It's gonna be a bit harder to get a tee time at Oakland Hills CC starting right about now...

[Psyblast]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Brock Boeser comes right out and says he's likely gone from Vancouver after the season.

What a cursed franchise. Might as well start counting the days until Quinn Hughes bolts for Jersey to play with his brothers.

Sorry, Doc.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Didn't Staal leave (get traded from) Pittsburgh because he wanted a bigger role than being the #3 center? Wouldn't that same dilemma have existed if Toews was there? Or is the thought in this Satanic alternate history that the Penguins move Malkin to the wing and go with Crosby and Toews up the middle?

Yes, although he still produced like a 3C in Carolina (Staal's 3 best offensive seasons were with Pittsburgh.) I'm speculating that Toews would've been less likely to leave (at least before free agency).

This entire discussion makes me nauseous. Having disdain for all names involved here, the only regret I have is we were never treated to a Pittsburgh/Chicago final. Perfect opportunity for that asteroid.

I wasn't fond of their 1992 matchup either (Hasek's coming out party in Game 4 excepted).

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Brock Boeser comes right out and says he's likely gone from Vancouver after the season.

What a cursed franchise. Might as well start counting the days until Quinn Hughes bolts for Jersey to play with his brothers.

Sorry, Doc.

Letting a player like that walk when you should have known by the deadline if you had a shot to re-sign him is a joke.

If he wants to move closer to home, maybe he goes to the Wild. Maybe an off chance he thinks about Winnipeg (which is also close to Minnesota and North Dakota where he played college hockey at, and have a good shot at the cup this year).

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Brock Boeser comes right out and says he's likely gone from Vancouver after the season.

What a cursed franchise. Might as well start counting the days until Quinn Hughes bolts for Jersey to play with his brothers.

Sorry, Doc.

It's very difficult to overcome bad ownership that always prioritizes short-term thinking (that rarely works even in the short-term).

All of the following are true:

1. It's not egregious that the Canucks aren't re-signing him. Boeser is slow and more of a complementary finisher than a play driver. I think he can thrive elsewhere, but not with this lineup, not at the term/dollars that he's asking for. Once Miller departed, the writing was on the wall IMO.

2. However, it was criminal malpractice not to deal him (and Suter, and Forbort, if someone would take him) at the trade deadline. If I were GM, I'd've attempted to re-sign Boeser and especially Suter, but would've set a hard deadline a week before the trade deadline. If negotiations weren't close at that point, both gotta go! The idea Allvin floated that there was zero market for either was a bald-faced lie. Gourde, Bjorkstrom, Tanev, Laughton, Beauvillier (!), Luke Schenn (!!) could all fetch some combo of 1st/2nd/prospect, but there was no use for a 20-goal 2-way C making 1.6M and a guy who scored 40 last year? Total bullsh**, I didn't buy that for a minute. I 100% believe the Canucks could've gotten a 1st (with salary retention) for Boeser and a 2nd for Suter. Even a couple 3rds would've been better than nothing! This was clearly Aquaman desperately trying to grasp at a couple home playoff dates. Absolutely brutal asset management and clearly mandated from the top.

3. Allvin needlessly shat on Boeser at the deadline to deflect blame. If Aquilini demanded keeping Boeser/Suter for a playoff run, fine. Then spin it like, "We still have confidence in our team's ability to make the playoffs and will continue to negotiate with our pending free agents". Instead, the message was, "We received garbage offers because Boeser and Suter haven't played enough to warrant good ones." I'm sure Boeser took offence, and why shouldn't he? He's been a good soldier and a fan favourite for 7-8 seasons, no off-ice problems, dealt with his father's death and a multitude of injuries, scored a bunch of memorable goals over the years (including an unforgettable hat trick against Nashville in last year's playoffs). If you don't think he's worth what he's asking for, fair enough. But treat him with respect FFS.

Rutherford/Allvin are definitely more competent than Benning (the lowest of bars), but their people skills are pure a**. They treated Boudreau like garbage in the weeks before Tocchet arrived, the Rachel Doerrie thing was weird, threatening Pettersson with a trade to Carolina unless he re-signed last Feb obviously didn't have the desired effect, publicly slagging Petey and Miller to the Eastern media (further killing their trade value) and now this. No accountability for themselves or anyone who ever worked in the Penguins org.

4. Is there a plan for this team going ahead? They fed a bunch of data points to Drance for him to parrot on The Athletic, but they make zero sense for anyone with a scintilla of critical thinking (which to be fair excludes 80% of Vancouver's fanbase):

- The Canucks will have a ton of cap space in the summer... but so will everyone else; Marner and Ehlers ain't coming here; the only pseudo-realistic "big" signing would be a gross overpay for Sam Bennett and even that's a long shot
- Since free agency is an unlikely avenue for acquiring one or more play-driving top-6 forwards (you mean like... JT Miller?), Vancouver's going to go the trade route... but don't want to trade their 2025 1st rounder and will only trade their 2026 1st rounder if it's lottery-protected (maybe a couple extra picks for Boeser and Suter woulda helped, huh?)
- Rutherford/Allvin intend this to be "an all-in summer as the club looks to get back to contending" HOW EXACTLY ARE THEY PLANNING TO DO THIS??? What exactly are they packaging with this lottery-protected 2026 pick for a top-6 forward??? Willander? Pettersson at 25 cents on the dollar? Make it make sense!

Bottom line: this Canucks team was never a real contender. Last year was a combination of being PDO kings for 2/3 of the season followed by coasting along on a solid work ethic and immaculate vibes. And it was a lot of fun! It was a great team to root for! But for it to be remotely sustainable, Miller had to not be a toxic red-***, Pettersson needed to return from planet Mars, Demko needed to stay healthy, and they went 0-for-3. How much of that is the players' fault, how much is management's (Did they really try EVERYTHING to deal with Miller's and Petey's various issues? What exactly is going on with the Canucks' medical staff?), I dunno, but it's likely over. The Canucks have a mid-tier defensive squad (which TBF is a vast improvement from the Benning era). Work ethic and team resilience is decent. Allvin/Rutherford have done a pretty good job dumpster-diving (Suter, Sherwood, Joshua, Lankinen, etc.). But without Bubble Demko and PPG+ Miller/Pettersson, the ceiling is a wild card team and a tough out in the 1st round. There was a millimeter-wide opening for a Cup last year, and it's been welded shut.

The only thing about the Canucks that is real is Quinn Hughes. He's a Hall of Fame talent. He's CLEARLY been playing through injury for months. He's the best defenceman in team history by 100 million miles (take a look at his competition for the "best" D-man to play for Vancouver over the last 55 years). And unless he comes down with a bad case of Mike Trout Syndrome, he's gonna leave, and I can't blame him, because he deserves better than this piece-of sh** franchise. And that sucks.

[DrJones]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Letting a player like that walk when you should have known by the deadline if you had a shot to re-sign him is a joke.

If he wants to move closer to home, maybe he goes to the Wild. Maybe an off chance he thinks about Winnipeg (which is also close to Minnesota and North Dakota where he played college hockey at, and have a good shot at the cup this year).

To give you an idea of how undesirable a market Winnipeg is, here are ALL of the Jets' "major" UFA signings (not including re-signing their own pending free agents) in the FIFTEEN years since they left Atlanta:

Dmitri Kulikov, 2017 offseason, signed for 3 years/13M
Mathieu Perreault, 2014 offseason, signed for 3 years/9M

Despite the best record in the league and no shortage of cap space, they're still looking at 5 prominent UFA leaving for warmer climes: Ehlers, Pionk, Appleton, Iafallo, Tanev

Given the size and restrictions of their market, the Jets winning the Stanley Cup would probably be the biggest accomplishment in the history of North American pro sports. And I give them better odds of winning a Cup this year than I do of them signing a UFA of even Boeser's modest calibre in the summer.

[pietasterp]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Ouch. To all of the above posts.

[Psyblast]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

This Columbus/Washington 1st period was hockey porn for Michigan fans. Zach Werenski scores, Kent Johnson scores, and then Adam Fantili (legally) blows up Ryan Leonard, splatters him all over the ice, and then proceeds to skate down the ice and score.

Good stuff.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

HNIC kicks off with a very unfortunate slip up that'll definitely go vital for all the wrong reasons.

Obviously you have to feel bad for Bukauskas. You know he was obviously trying to say "one of his heroes Sittler"

[Kobalt]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

I think the Stars pass the Jets in the standings and it'll be Jets/Avs in the 1st round again.

Stars are on a 5 game losing streak since this post, and it's Stars/Avs in the 1st round.

If there's a time to play Dallas, might as well be in round 1 when Heiskanen is still hurt. Rooting against Rantanen will suck.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

First time in NHL history the Wings, Rangers, Hawks AND Bruins are all out of the playoffs.

[bcruise]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Blues fall to the Kraken in a shootout but pick up an enormous loser point which allows them to still control their own fate with a regulation win vs. Utah. If they lose in reg it's obviously really bad for them, but even if that game goes to overtime, win or lose, there are tiebreaker scenarios which have the Flames leapfrofgging STL with their games in hand (if they win those).

Wild have not clinched a spot yet but a two-goal 3rd period comeback and OT win with the same number of games played as the Blues + one more standings point has them in a pretty comfortable spot.

[Majingir]

Re: The Official 2024-25 Season Talk Thread

Projected playoff matchups:
Leafs vs Sens (first time since the classic matchups from 00-02 and 04 where Leafs won every time)

Caps vs Habs (only time since 2010 where Habs came back down 3-1)

Lightning vs Panthers (would be 4th time in 5 years)

Canes vs Devils (6th time ever and 2nd in 3 years)


Stars vs Avs (7th time ever and 2nd year in a row)

Kings vs Oilers (11th time ever and 4th year in a row)

Jets vs Blues/Wild (faced Wild in 2018 and Blues in 2019)

Golden Knights vs Blues/Wild (never faced Blues, faced Wild in 2021)