TheGuardian_ Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Is this some great draft class or something. I know Hughes is supposed to be good but not since the McDavid draft have so many teams suddenly been so bad. Surprise bad teams, StLouis, LA (worse than expected), Philly, NJ even NYR Now some were expected but some just appear to be putting a real effort into being a lottery team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCNate Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 I'd throw Chicago on that list too. I know a lot of people thought it was a down year that would be followed by a bounce back. They look far worse than I thought they would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BananaMash Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 54 minutes ago, TheGuardian_ said: Surprise bad teams, StLouis, LA (worse than expected), Philly, NJ even NYR The only genuine surprise on this list to me is St. Louis. Los Angeles is an aging team that tried to solve its problems by signing more aging players. They had their heyday and now it's over, as things go in the league. Philly has gone through 7 goaltenders this season, and doesn't really have a starter to begin with. The Devil's has mediocre goaltending and a fairly shallow roster, and the Rangers publicly announced their intention to rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-AJ- Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 There are a lot of bad teams, but no absolutely dreadful ones. The Kings are the worst team and on pace for 67 points. Bad, no doubt, but pretty decent for a 31st placed team really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilentSam Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 1 hour ago, TheGuardian_ said: Is this some great draft class or something. I know Hughes is supposed to be good but not since the McDavid draft have so many teams suddenly been so bad. Surprise bad teams, StLouis, LA (worse than expected), Philly, NJ even NYR Now some were expected but some just appear to be putting a real effort into being a lottery team. We’re witnessing another generational evolution in the game,. Not just the athletes themselves, but how the changes in equipment, nutrition, and training, both mentally and physically is used. ... if your a step behind... or blind to what is in progress, you can easily slip off the chart.. I think L.A and Chicago are prime examples of that. Good young players now have a short life span.. it will be rare to see a player get to 32 years old soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Kneel Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Taking out the performance clauses/bonuses in contracts brings out the laziness in a lot of players. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceGeorgeGoon Posted January 12, 2019 Share Posted January 12, 2019 Personally I think this is the hangover of advanced analytics. Whenever you monetize play into numbers there will be an expectation that certain players or trades will work out. The gms build teams and the coaches deploy them, but guess what they're just people. Whevever there is a lockout people get their heads right about playing hockey for millions when they return. Right now not having the Olympics made some players sour, having the all star game made some people sour. How they select the all star game made some people sour. How the playoffs are structured made some people sour. NTC NMC has handcuffed teams when all of the sudden the league is expanding. The cap NHL has made draft pics worth gold and the success of your franchise involves impeccable scouting , creative contracts and perfect timing before it blows up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 St Louis is the only real surprise for me, on paper they should be better than they've performed imo. LA's aging and slow and the signings aren't delaying the inevitable, they're headed towards a rebuild. Philly should be better but the lack of a dependable #1 hurts em. Edmonton and Arizone are Edmonton and Arizona. New Jersey exceeded expectations last season because Hall willed them to be better with a fantastic season. NYR announced their intention to rebuild. Crawford's concussions issues paired with Keith and Seabrook aging hurts the Hawks, Kane and Toews are performing but that team doesn't have the depth it needs to contend anymore. Not with Keith and Seabrook taking steps back anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lmm Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 What I think you are saying is " look LA and Chicago suck!. Why?" So Look at LA, Chicago, Pittsburg and Boston, the 4 Cup teams before last season. LA has turned into the Canucks. !0 player 31 or older, bad contracts, stuck aging Chicago is an anomily, 3 players 31 or older, though Kane and Toews are close. Maybe Hossa was more important than thought. Lots of youth not scoring. Pittsburg has 8 over 31 but their top players are still tops in the league, have turned over lots of players with youth stepping up. Boston retooled a couple of years ago and are doing a great job of introducing new useful blood. The only real surprize I see is Tampa way out front, which means nothing come playoff time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdgarM Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 One word.....PARITY. The Cap era has put most teams on an even keel. Things like Goalie slumps/injuries or other injuries usually dictate a team to go up or down in the standings. Look at the Canucks when they lose some key players they are a completely different team. We have a couple of upper echelon teams and some teams who refuse to spend to the cap every year who make up the bottom of the standings. The rest of the teams reside somewhere in the middle and move up and down depending on individual circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucklehead44 Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 It used to be ridiculously hard to get into the playoffs. In 06-07 the Avs missed the playoffs with a 44-31-7 record (95 points) and Dallas finished 6th with a 50-25-7 record (107 points). Minnesota is sitting in the final playoff spot with a 22-19-3 record on pace for about 87 points, basically a .500 record. Given 16 playoff spots and 31 teams it makes more sense that a teams floating around .500 should be battling it out for the final spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokes Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 17 hours ago, Hairy Kneel said: Taking out the performance clauses/bonuses in contracts brings out the laziness in a lot of players. This. It is stupid how teams sit there and throw out 6+ year contracts. Star players are no longer worried about playing for a contract as much as before no matter what they still get paid. Look how many millions in salary are buried in the minors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewbieCanuckFan Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 4 hours ago, smokes said: This. It is stupid how teams sit there and throw out 6+ year contracts. Star players are no longer worried about playing for a contract as much as before no matter what they still get paid. Look how many millions in salary are buried in the minors. There'd be a fair bit more if all the teams had owners that weren't afraid of spending money (or had the resources to spend that kind of money). Could go the way of the NFL where they don't have 'guaranteed contracts'. But unlike the NFL players union, the NHL is far, far stronger. In the NFL, it's 'everyone out for themselves' (look how many scabs crossed the picket line) in their strike/lockout. Granted, hockey players have a bit more leverage in that a player could still make a good living playing the game overseas (in a fairly decent league). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
189lb enforcers? Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 Quite the year, agreed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dats hockey Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 On 1/12/2019 at 12:37 PM, BCNate said: I'd throw Chicago on that list too. I know a lot of people thought it was a down year that would be followed by a bounce back. They look far worse than I thought they would. To be fair the Health of Corey Crawford could be the biggest problem in Chi town, and they’re defence needs a bit of a revamp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyoung Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 This is the tightest iv seen the league in a long time. No one is tanking. St Louis is the only surprising team to me, but even they are still competing and improving. This season has been interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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