2024-25 NHL discussion thread

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Sounds like there is a lot of interference in decision making in NY

 

Isn't Lou a control freak? Easy to see this going awry.

 

[tomh009]

2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Sounds like there is a lot of interference in decision making in NY

Sounds like Buffalo.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

These are wild stats

 

This guy would give me a stroke if he played for Montreal. 
 

40% of the time unbeatable 

60% of the time useless

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

1 hour ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

These are wild stats

 

This guy would give me a stroke if he played for Montreal. 
 

40% of the time unbeatable 

60% of the time useless

 

That’s what makes Edmonton such an interesting and fun team to watch from afar. They’re NOT by any means the ideal configuration for a Cup winner. You look at squads like Florida, Tampa Bay, or (in this year’s final four) Dallas, you see teams that are rock solid up and down the lineup. Even on an off night, they are going to play strong hockey. With Edmonton, what you have instead is an insanely high ceiling dominated by two generational talents, and an alarmingly low floor, created by an erratic G and iffy blueline construction. Who the hell knows which team is going to show up? That’s how you get a group that falls behind 0-3 in the Finals, claws back to make it 3-3, then loses in an exhausted, limp effort.

 

I’d like to see them win, in a way, if only to counteract the machine-like quality of most Cup winners. (Also McDavid deserves a Cup). But I doubt they will.  

[Commandant]

Edmonton's blueline looks good when Ekholm is healthy.  The iffy construction may have been true in previous years but a few things have happened.

 

Ekholm is a #1 shut down defenceman

Bouchard is a prime offensive defence.

Walman was a great pickup for 3/4

Nurse is actually decent as a 3/4 but can't be a 1/2

Kulak is really good when placed as a 5/6

Stetcher is good as a 5/6

 

Klingberg is a 7 who can come in when you want a little more offence.

 

[Habs Fan in Edmonton]

5 hours ago, Commandant said:

Edmonton's blueline looks good when Ekholm is healthy.  The iffy construction may have been true in previous years but a few things have happened.

 

Ekholm is a #1 shut down defenceman

Bouchard is a prime offensive defence.

Walman was a great pickup for 3/4

Nurse is actually decent as a 3/4 but can't be a 1/2

Kulak is really good when placed as a 5/6

Stetcher is good as a 5/6

 

Klingberg is a 7 who can come in when you want a little more offence.

 

Agree with almost all of your post but Klingberg deserves more credit. A rejuvenated Klingberg has made a huge difference on the Oilers defense.

[Commandant]

In his last 23 playoff games Jesperi Kotkaniemi has 0 goals and 4 assists

[Prime Minister Koivu]

6 hours ago, Commandant said:

In his last 23 playoff games Jesperi Kotkaniemi has 0 goals and 4 assists

I doubt that he has an NHL job at the end of his contract

[Peter Puck]

I think he has about 1 month left on his contract.  But he will get offers for a new one from some team.

 

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

1 hour ago, Peter Puck said:

I think he has about 1 month left on his contract.  But he will get offers for a new one from some team.

 

 

He’ll get a contract. He’s a 6’3 24-year-old C with almost 500 games under his belt.

 

The playoff scratchings are disturbing, though (or comical from a Habs POV). He *should* at least be a hard-on-the-puck bottom-6 C. But if he were delivering that reliably, he would not be scratched, presumably. 

 

I’ve always suspected that the Bergevin regime rewarded him too much, too soon…that this was then reinforced with the ridiculous offer sheet…and that, as a result, he never internalized the need to EARN what he gets at the NHL level. 

 

One a related note: 

 

Carolina’s Conference Finals struggles - what are they, 0-14? - are really weird, an errie echo of Toronto’s disastrous record in elimination games. In both cases, a pattern of failure seems to have imprinted itself fundamentally on the psyche of the team, such that, like people with bad upbringings, they keep re-enacting the script. It’s reminiscent of how Boston always, always, always lost to the Habs in the playoffs between about 1950 and 1988: something that goes beyond a question of talent, and becomes a psychodrama.

 

[GHT120]

1 hour ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

The playoff scratchings are disturbing, though (or comical from a Habs POV). He *should* at least be a hard-on-the-puck bottom-6 C. But if he were delivering that reliably, he would not be scratched, presumably. 

Exactly ... he may get an NHL deal, but likely one-year and two-way ... at best one-way at a "buriable" AAV ... he might be better off to go to Europe and try to get his <stuff> together.

[tomh009]

Marchand on how he plays ... from 2018, but at least I had not seen this before:

 

Quote

Brad Marchand in 2018: “I was never the best kid on my team — anyone will tell you that. My buddies were better players. As we got older, they were getting all the attention from the junior teams. I’ll never forget, when we were 12 years old our coach gave this speech in the locker room before a game, and he said, ‘There’s thousands of kids like you in Canada. There’s thousands more all over the world. You know what the statistics say? The statistics say that only 0.01% of you will make it to the NHL.’

 

I just always remembered that stat, and I would think to myself, ‘Man, if I’m not even the best kid on my pee-wee team … there’s no chance. How could I ever get noticed?’

 

That same pee-wee season, something else happened that took my mindset a step further. We were playing against our rivals, Cole Harbor, in some important game, and they had this monster forward on their team who always killed us.

 

During the game, the kid took a run at my brother, and he smoked him. For as much as we’d mess with one another at home, if you ever hurt my brother, it was like a red light went off inside me. I’d fight you.

 

So we went out, and every time the kid touched the puck, one of us took a run. He got so pissed off that he took a slashing penalty right at the end of his shift, and we got a power play. We ended up scoring the game-winning goal with him in the box, and I had this realization like, ‘OK … if I have a 0.01% chance, this might be one way of getting people to notice me.’

 

I have done things that have stepped over that line, and I’ve paid the price for it.... There’s a lot of people out there in the hockey world who love to say, ‘Winning is everything. It’s the only thing.’

 

Do they really mean it? How far are they willing to go? Maybe it was my size, or just the way I was born, but I’ve always felt like you have to be willing to do anything — literally anything — in order to win. Even if that means being hated. Even if it means carrying around some baggage.

 

If I played the game any other way, you absolutely would not know my name. You wouldn’t care enough to hate me, because I wouldn’t be in the NHL.” 

 

http://playerstribu.ne/Marchand

 

[Commandant]

 

[hab29RETIRED]

9 hours ago, Commandant said:

 

Was he trying to miss🤣

I know he his shooting has been useless, but now he can’t even complete a hit!

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

2 hours ago, hab29RETIRED said:

Was he trying to miss🤣

I know he his shooting has been useless, but now he can’t even complete a hit!

 

Ahahahhaha, in the replay it really does look as though he is trying to avoid contact while pretending otherwise. 

 

It’s unfair to make too much out of a single replay, but what I see there is a guy who is basically trying to fake being a physical NHL player.

 

No wonder he’s getting benched.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[Prime Minister Koivu]

I love this

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

2 hours ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

🤣 

 

KK is useless, LOL 

[WildTurkeyXX]

10 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

I love this

 

Agreed 💯 👍 

That's the difference between winning and losing a series in the playoffs. Just like in boxing, body shots pay dividends in the end.

[The Chicoutimi Cucumber]

13 minutes ago, WildTurkeyXX said:

 

Agreed 💯 👍 

That's the difference between winning and losing a series in the playoffs. Just like in boxing, body shots pay dividends in the end.

 

They do.

 

What increasingly worries me is that if you look at the core we’re assembling, it has the profile of a team that absorbs punishment more than metes it out. 

 

I say this as a guy who always believed in skill first. But if you look at Cup winners over the past decade, most of them have been teams that deliver the physical punishment more than they receive it. Colorado and Pittsburgh are possible exceptions. But those teams had multiple generational talents on their squads.

 

Florida exemplifies this. They have skill, sure, but that’s not really their advantage. They are ‘built for the playoffs’ when the refs bury their whistles. It’s not about a bottom-pairing defenceman who can throw ‘em (WiFi). It’s about a team that systematically, up and down the lineup, grinds you into powder.

 

That’s also how the 2021 Habs were built, BTW, but of course no one ever gives them credit for that.

 

It’s a real pity that Dach hasn’t worked out. A healthy Dach was perfect for the kind of hard-on-the-puck playoff game that you ideally want from a C. Bad luck there.

 

(That being said, if EDM wins tonight, then I expect them to win it all. They took FLA to seven games last year and I suspect they now have the necessary experience to understand what it takes. They also fit the Colorado/Pittsburgh profile of having two generational players on the team, which seems to be the magic number needed to win with skill nowadays).

 

 

 

[JoeLassister]

So. 

Last 5 seasons for the Canes ended in 2nd round (3x) and Conference Finals (2x).

 

As much as the Leafs have to make some changes to their core and stuff,  I feel like the Canes do too.

They can't seem to find a way to compete against teams that are built as the Panthers and make their way to SC Finals.

 

In the end, their GM made a bold move for Rantanen and it didn't pay off at all.

 

Traded : 

 

Necas

Drury

2nd 2025

4th 2026

 

and received :

 

Stankoven

T. Hall

2 conditional first round picks (2026 and 2028)  (most likely late 1sts)

2 third round picks (2026-2027) 

 

 

He kind of saved it a bit with 1st picks, but in the end, I don't believe this is what the team needed at this time.  Bringing Rantanen without agreeing to an extension was stupid. 

[WildTurkeyXX]

26 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

I say this as a guy who always believed in skill first. But if you look at Cup winners over the past decade, most of them have been teams that deliver the physical punishment more than they receive it. Colorado and Pittsburgh are possible exceptions. But those teams had multiple generational talents on their squads.

 

I think this trend can be traced back much further than the past decade. The teams that are successful are the teams that take every opportunity to lay a hit. Washington played that way, we didn't and that's what beat us in the end.

[Prime Minister Koivu]

32 minutes ago, The Chicoutimi Cucumber said:

 

They do.

 

What increasingly worries me is that if you look at the core we’re assembling, it has the profile of a team that absorbs punishment more than metes it out. 

 

I say this as a guy who always believed in skill first. But if you look at Cup winners over the past decade, most of them have been teams that deliver the physical punishment more than they receive it. Colorado and Pittsburgh are possible exceptions. But those teams had multiple generational talents on their squads.

 

Florida exemplifies this. They have skill, sure, but that’s not really their advantage. They are ‘built for the playoffs’ when the refs bury their whistles. It’s not about a bottom-pairing defenceman who can throw ‘em (WiFi). It’s about a team that systematically, up and down the lineup, grinds you into powder.

 

That’s also how the 2021 Habs were built, BTW, but of course no one ever gives them credit for that.

 

It’s a real pity that Dach hasn’t worked out. A healthy Dach was perfect for the kind of hard-on-the-puck playoff game that you ideally want from a C. Bad luck there.

 

(That being said, if EDM wins tonight, then I expect them to win it all. They took FLA to seven games last year and I suspect they now have the necessary experience to understand what it takes. They also fit the Colorado/Pittsburgh profile of having two generational players on the team, which seems to be the magic number needed to win with skill nowadays).

 

 

 

Hughes at least understands this dynamic. 
 

Gets a big Dach

Gets a big Slafkovsky

 

Both guys are big and they certainly use their size for position, puck control, board battles - it’s unfortunate that they aren’t mean, heavy hitters too. 
 

We have Anderson that makes opposing Dmen shake in their skates. 
 

Reinbacher is a good size and Guhle holds his own. I think A Xhekaj’s size and toughness keep him on the roster and perhaps F Xhekaj will do something in the future for us. 

 

Has openly stated, along with Gorton that this team needs to get bigger and tougher. 

 

Sam Bennett isn’t a huge guy but he is a dirty, heartless bastard that would greatly help this team in the playoffs. 

[WildTurkeyXX]

8 minutes ago, Prime Minister Koivu said:

Hughes at least understands this dynamic.

 

Absolutely. They talk as if they get it, and they look to be backing it up when they draft guys like Florian Xhekaj, Thorpe, Protz etc. Honestly (and I don't mean to pick on him) my concern is MSL and his coaching staff. I don't know that he gets it. If he does, it didn't show in that serries. I hope I'm wrong and we see a whole different attitude in next years post season. My fear is that this is a lesson that takes a long time for a coach to learn. Take Maurice, for example. I don't remember this hockey philosophy being his MO early in his career. 

[Prime Minister Koivu]

4 minutes ago, WildTurkeyXX said:

 

Absolutely. They talk as if they get it, and they look to be backing it up when they draft guys like Florian Xhekaj, Thorpe, Protz etc. Honestly (and I don't mean to pick on him) my concern is MSL and his coaching staff. I don't know that he gets it. If he does, it didn't show in that serries. I hope I'm wrong and we see a whole different attitude in next years post season. My fear is that this is a lesson that takes a long time for a coach to learn. Take Maurice, for example. I don't remember this hockey philosophy being his MO early in his career. 

I think Marty gets this team ready for serious contention but another coach gets us across the finish line.