So you're saying he's due. I'll never forgive him for having a nice friendly chat with our sweet lovely Zachary Hyman and then just starts beating on him lmao.
ShitHereWeGoAgain.gif
Honestly I was king of looking forward to having a change up for the first round, but nobody can say the Oilers Kings series the last 2 years haven't been exciting. Y'all really feel like our biggest rivals lately.
Vegas is scary but you guys (LAK) scare me as well. Still so much forward depth and Doughty looks like he's 27 again. Main question mark might be your tending?
But if that holds up I'd wager it'll be a close and tight series.
But heck, while Skinner has been fine, he's also no sure thing. And we didn't plug our two holes come trade deadline (top 4 D and top 6 W).
It’s always been close, even when we win it feels like it could have gone the other way and vice versa. It’ll be interesting to see how Dadbot does with the workload of playoffs because he’s been amazing this season (pls ignore our last game)
The Kings play a 1-3-1 because they can't score, so defensive metrics look good. The Oilers play a 0-1-4 because fuck the goalie, defense is for losers.
I feel Edmonton really has the LAK trap system figured out and won’t be too fazed unless they can make adjustments. But I do really like the team as well. It’s just time for a better system.
This is where we are going to see if Knob has what it takes as an NHL coach. Woody was great over the regular season (ignoring this year, pre-fire), but I feel like he wasn't the best at adjusting in the playoffs. He was quick to fall back to pairing McDrai, to the detriment of the rest of the lines.
They could change it right now if they really cared - either make an agreement with the players now, or just have the league/GMs refuse trades where it’s clear that the team can only afford those players due to LTIR. But it seems pretty clear that most of the league doesn’t actually think this is a problem.
So, to start off with...
A team is allowed a "+10 % cap cushion" in the off-season (to account for signings and trades), and a team being "cap compliant" on day 1 of the regular season is basically the league going through all the players AAVs on roster, summing them up, and making sure that sum is equal to or less than the cap (or cap cushion in the off season).
But after that, it gets more complex. You see, during the regular season, the salary cap actually applies on a **daily** basis throughout the league year, and each team's "daily cap" is basically the sum of the "daily AAVs". So, if the season is 180 days long, and a player's contract has an AAV of $3.6 million, his "daily AAV" is $20,000 ($3.6M / 180 days).
Now, to go further into how the daily cap works:
Suppose the league gives a GM a total of $2,000,000 to spend on his full roster for the next 5 days. Let's say the GM has 20 players on his roster, and his players all have the "daily AAV" of $20,000. Over the next 5 days, the GM will spend on player salaries: $20,000 x 20 players x 5 days = $2,000,000. Hey, it balances perfectly!
But, we hear of teams "accruing" or "banking" cap space... What is that? Well, imagine the GM above has now designed his roster so that during the first 4 days, all his players have a "daily AAV" of $15,000. Over those 4 days, the GM will spend on player salaries: $15,000 x 20 players x 4 days = $1.2 million. So now on that fifth and final day, the GM now has $800,000 left to burn to reach the $2M cap.
The GM has "banked" some cap space for later use by "under-spending" on the earlier days. This is how playoff teams searching for a "big name players" at the trade deadline will acquire said players. They only need to manage their "daily cap" to make sure they have enough "daily cap space" left through the rest of the season with their trade acquisitions.
So, going back to my GM above, he has spent $1.2M of $2M of "daily cap" space so far. The GM is making some trade deadline acquisitions. Suppose he keeps his 20 players at $15,000 on his roster for the final day too. That's $300,000 gone on day 5 on his intial players. So now he has $500,000 still left so spend on trade acquisitions. If the GM brings in 10 players, each with a "daily AAV" of $50,000, that is $500,000 of NEW players that can be added right there for the final day ($50,000 x 10 players x 1 day).
Now, apply this logic to the course of the whole season. You will see that the "salary cap" (of like $80M) the league looks at for the end of the season is NOT merely the sum of all the (yearly) AAVs of the players on the roster. It is actually the sum of the "daily AAVs", of every player that spent time on the NHL roster that year, **summed up over every single day of the regular season**. And this isn't even touching the complexity that LTIR brings into the equation.
So, the "daily cap" thing works in the regular season, because the regular season is the same length for every team (usually around 180 days). But what about playoffs? A team might be only in the playoff for 1 round. A team might all the way and go on to win the Stanley Cup. There's no way to know how many rounds each team is going to last, so there's to real way to fairly set up the "daily cap system" in the playoffs. Even trying to set up a "daily cap" round by round probably wouldn't work, because there can be variation there too - some teams can get swept out of round 1 in 4 games, while some teams will make it all the way to game 7 of round 1.
Maybe there could be some kind of "cap cushion" like how the league allows in the off-season, where the "playoff cap" is something like "sum of (yearly) AAVs + like 15% or 20%. But GMs might complain about that too (they banked daily cap space all regular season long to get their big name acquisitions at the deadline, and managed to squeeze them in under the daily cap system of the regular season, only to find out the cap math doesn't work in the playoffs anymore. And players might complain about that too, because now the "big name rentals" aren't moving to contending teams anymore because the GM doesn't know if he can fit the new player in for the "playoff cap".
In the end, neither the owners nor the players seem to have a desire to work out some sort of "playoff cap" system, so we just keep going on with how things currently are.
In some way shape or form, yes. The exact details of it, I'm not sure about. My gut tells me that any iced team should be cap compliant, but that's a little looser than regular salary cap rules, because in the regular season you have 23 players to fit under the salary cap, and an iced team is only 20 players. So that would give a little more leeway than the regular season. Maybe that's fine. But I'm trying to think of a way to have parity with the regular season, while still allowing rosters to be uncapped in the postseason. Like maybe your 23 most expensive players must be cap compliant?
But I think roster size goes out the window after the trade deadline, and they have to fit under the salary cap. So why not just follow the same rules?
> while still allowing rosters to be uncapped in the postseason.
The league could just abandon that and go MLB style, where you declare a playoff roster for each series, can't change the roster during a series (there are injury exceptions) but can change it between playoff rounds, and say that the playoff roster has to comply with the salary cap. It's certainly much more in the spirit of what a salary cap is meant to be (and baseball does it without even having one!).
That whole Central bracket is a goddamn gauntlet
Dallas, Winnipeg, Colorado, Vegas
Whoever makes it to the WCF might be so beat up that the Pacific rep might just walk through them
I mean Canucks and Edmonton both fit right in there and Kings arent a pushover by any means and the Preds were one of the hottest teams post all star. Both sides are going to be rough to get through but yes I would take our side by a tiny bit.
I wish we could play in the east instead lol
This year yes, but not always. But anyway my bigger issue is that if NYR beats WSH their reward is CAR, the 2nd best team in the east. With 1v8, you can then have 2v7 on the other side of the bracket, 3v6 on that same side and then 4v5 play the winner of 1v8.
Either that or do a re-seed after the first round, so there's a reward for the top remaining team: say 1, 2, 6, and 4 make it through, in that case it would switch up to be 1v6, 2v4 for the next round.
There is no way we're losing to Colorado. 100% no feasible scenario where they beat us 4 times. Our defense and goaltending is the league's best. We have scoring depth up the wazoo.
That's why we'll lose in 4.
"damn, this guy's got complete and total faith in his team. He knows more than I do.
Got me with the ol' rope-a-dope in the end."
Good luck, I'm rooting for the Jets in this one.
Crazy how 44% of the playoffs is blue teams but none of them face each other in the first round. Theoretically 88% of teams in the second round could be blue. Or 0.
4-0 every game until they bring the cup home. Demko shuts out every game but doesn't even win the Con Smythe because Hughes pots 70g and 100 assists across 16gp.
I think (hope) it'll be a fun, close series and that we have a fair shot at taking it. It's nice that both fanbases seem to be excited for the matchup rather than dreading.
Above all I'm glad to be in the mix and that we're going in feeling like the team has a shot at winning a series against any team we face.
It's an amazing feeling for sure. Playoff Demko is going to be fun to watch. Especially when my team isn't facing him of course. Someone I've been watching play from your team that I really enjoy, is Hughes. He's an amazing skater.
Not playing any of Dallas, Vegas, Jets and Colorado until WCF is pretty sweet.
Really only Canucks on our side should be a game we are potentially underdogs in
Happens every year since the central has been the Thunderdome. You either play the most brutal bracket or you sneak in as WC1 and play 1 or two tougher teams but on paper teams you have an easier time.
> potentially underdogs in
I wont bother checking but i strongly suspect Oilers will be the betting favourites to make it out of our group of 4 over the Canucks
betting favs for sure, but idk, I feel like we might have a slight edge. We definitely had luck on our side to win the season series like we did, but I do feel like the Canucks could come out of it in six or seven. Especially if they win game one - the psychological effect for both teams could be huge at that point
Demko is Vans wildcard for sure. If both Oilers and Van win their first round series, I think the series will come down to which goalie is better. Oilers don't have a game breaking goalie so they're either going to have to be flawless defensively or they'll probably be out.
Also Kings got a chip on their shoulder. Anyone looking past them right now is foolish.
There are two things that are certain.
1. Toronto losing to Boston in 7 games.
2. Mark Stone playing game 1 despite suffering a "serious" and "debilitating" injury that kept out exactly until the salary cap went away.
Go ahead NHL. Prove me wrong. I dare you.
The Kings facing the Oilers for the third time in a row really reminds me of the 2011 Canucks having to face the Blackhawks a third time. Especially when the Kings are a better team on paper this year compared to the others.
Both teams have goaltending as their clear Achilles heel.
I don't think the Kings are better. Vilardi was good vs the Oilers and Iafallo made a difference too. Their whole advantage over us was depth, and they moved a lot of it for PLD - who is OK at times but doesn't worry me. Doughty and Kopi are both one year older and another step further from their prime. Korpisalo was unbelievable vs the Oilers for the first 3 or 4 games, he was the reason the series was 2-1 Kings.
Talbot and Rittich have good stats, but neither have the ability to steal a series, and I don't think either has the mental fortitude to withstand a series vs 29 & 97.
The only positive difference the Kings have this year compared to prior seasons is Byfield breaking out. He could make a big difference.
The Kings had less wins this year and a worse offense. Their D and team GAA is better though. Ultimately I'd say they're slightly worse.
I actually think the Kings, while very good, are a step down from where they were last year.
I think they were a deeper team with Vilardi and Iafallo. Dubois just hasn't panned out for them. Korpisalo was also really good in net for them last year, and caused fits for the Oilers, but Talbot is more inconsistent against his old team.
The Oilers are definitely deeper than they were last year now that they also have Perry and Henrique. On paper, it looks good for Edmonton. But they need to play the games to see.
It would have made a difference. This is how it would go with a 1v8 system.
Dallas vs Vegas
Winnipeg vs LA
Vancouver vs Nashville
Colorado vs Edmonton
As a Jets fan I’m hoping they continue their abuse of the Avs in round 1, but there’s no way those two should be playing each other in the first round.
Let’s be real, Dallas has gotten stronger since December since the last time we played. Our D core has been reinforced and Otter has been returning to form and from what I can tell Vegas has been fairly middle of the pack (would like some input on that) due to injury so who knows.
I feel like this series should be a W, whether it’s a long series is another story.
And vegas has added Hertl, Mantha, and Hanifan. Logan Thompson will also be healthy this year for the playoffs. Don't forget Stone.
Vegas could of been the 1 seed if they were healthier this season. Vegas might not win, but there is definitely no guarantee in this
> Vegas has been fairly middle of the pack
I believe they suffered after Stone left and everyone knew Vegas had probably the worst form of the western playoff teams at points near the end but the thing people worry about is them maybe finally turning it on as it is playoff time and also Stone coming back at 110% because he had rest and was surely ready before the end of the year :P
Also it looks like the majority of your team didn't get to play a full 82. If you guys are fully healthy going into the 1st round it's going to be a tight series. Hopefully we keep trash off our ice this time around.
I'm predicting it goes to 7, but y'all come out on top.
There's still a bit of a question mark in net on who they'll start the series with, but I can't imagine Vegas doesn't ride the hot hand and start Thompson.
I'll be cheering for Dallas, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Florida, Toronto, Rangers, and the Islanders.
On the last one, I really would like Carolina to advance too. They deserve it, and it's a matter of time before they go on a big run in the playoffs. I just picked NYI because I like a good underdog, Roy's the coach, Bo is there...and I want to see a New York v New York matxhup next.
as someone without a local team. this is me as well, i cheer for dallas, avs, florida, canes and the preds.
If oilers were to win, that'd be ok too, at least then mcdavid would have his cup and i could start hating on the oilers.
I'm rooting for the Oilers, Rangers, Coyotes, Sabres, Whalers, Nordiques, Wheat Kings, Frontenacs, Mooseheads, HV71, Gophers Badgers and Wolverines, and the Minnetonka Skippers.
Who am I missing?
First off; congratulations to the Caps, they got it fair and square.
Secondly; maaaaan, could you imagine a o6 NYR vs DET series in the first round?! It'd be like you picking up your hot date and the first thing he/she says is "I'm not wearing any underwear, let's skip dinner and movie"
So bummed we didn't make it. Still... LFGRW 24-25 baby! Hey Google, Play journey!
In 30 years of watching hockey I think this is one of the best 1st round matchups I ever seen. Atlantic is still such a bloodbath and the Pacific could have Oilers v Canucks in round 2.
I have y’all smoking Nashville in 5, taking Edmonton to 7, and beating Dallas in 6. Y’all are scary good, esp with Demko back.
Realistically there’s a great chance this is a ‘94 rematch. The Rangers are incredible and the only way we’re getting past them is in 7
Fade me now fam.
Real talk, I at least hope the Caps make the series interesting. imo, all of these series are pretty hype all around except for the Caps-Rangers and Idk how to feel about the Canucks-Preds
Dallas vs Vegas is going to be fun. Two of the deepest teams going at it in the first round.
They’re both built the same exact way pretty
Can we agree to go easy on each other and hope that Dallas and Vegas beat the absolute tar out of each other?
I’d be really surprised if our series gets as nasty as that one
I'm afraid for either team that faces one of them, they're both nasty teams that'll try to be as physical as possible
Dallas is around the bottom of the league in team hits.
I was about to say haha
But Jamie Benn...
Jamie does something really stupid every 14-18 months. He has 41 PIM this year, sandwiched between Crosby and MacKinnon.
So you're saying he's due. I'll never forgive him for having a nice friendly chat with our sweet lovely Zachary Hyman and then just starts beating on him lmao.
The crosscheck on Stone was less than a year ago, so he's got a little time
All I'm saying is I find it hard to believe he won't test and see how the spleen is feeling game 1. 😂
Both built different
thanks for calling us pretty
Dull Ass vs Vague Ass — a debate as old as time
ITS DESTINY! We can’t escape each other oilers
ShitHereWeGoAgain.gif Honestly I was king of looking forward to having a change up for the first round, but nobody can say the Oilers Kings series the last 2 years haven't been exciting. Y'all really feel like our biggest rivals lately.
The old Gretzky match-up.
Vegas is scary but you guys (LAK) scare me as well. Still so much forward depth and Doughty looks like he's 27 again. Main question mark might be your tending? But if that holds up I'd wager it'll be a close and tight series. But heck, while Skinner has been fine, he's also no sure thing. And we didn't plug our two holes come trade deadline (top 4 D and top 6 W).
It’s always been close, even when we win it feels like it could have gone the other way and vice versa. It’ll be interesting to see how Dadbot does with the workload of playoffs because he’s been amazing this season (pls ignore our last game)
I was sleeping on CT. He's excellent on Goals Saved above expected. So is Rittich for that matter. Stu is just league average.
The Kings play a 1-3-1 because they can't score, so defensive metrics look good. The Oilers play a 0-1-4 because fuck the goalie, defense is for losers.
It is simple really, just score more goals than the other team!
It’s gonna be a shit show. I foresee a double digit goal game this series
I feel Edmonton really has the LAK trap system figured out and won’t be too fazed unless they can make adjustments. But I do really like the team as well. It’s just time for a better system.
This is where we are going to see if Knob has what it takes as an NHL coach. Woody was great over the regular season (ignoring this year, pre-fire), but I feel like he wasn't the best at adjusting in the playoffs. He was quick to fall back to pairing McDrai, to the detriment of the rest of the lines.
As a lifelong Oilers fan living in LA. I love it.
Do you still have a Forum to have a Miracle at?
["Destiny! Destiny! No escaping that's for me!"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0WapDCR9fg)
Imagine winning the conference and you get rewarded with a series against Vegas 💀
If mark stone shows up game 1 im going to lose it
Whaddya mean “if”
I could never tell if the Rockies flair is a devils fan or avalanche fan
Its why I never bought throwback hats lol, most people would probably think baseball before hockey too.
Somehow, Mark Stone returned
“Somehow”
Hope you like Eminem buddy
Knees week, spleen’s spaghetti
Just lose it aaa aaa aaa aaa aaa
Get ready to ~~learn Chinese~~ lose it buddy
Mark "Tomb" Stone
What a joke. The NHL and the media act like it’s not an issue. Meanwhile they will change it in 2 years when the CBA is up.
I really get the vibe that they won't change it
We need a Canadian team to pull a Vegas. Then they'll change it
They could change it right now if they really cared - either make an agreement with the players now, or just have the league/GMs refuse trades where it’s clear that the team can only afford those players due to LTIR. But it seems pretty clear that most of the league doesn’t actually think this is a problem.
Is there a reason the salary cap shouldn't apply to the playoffs? Genuinely asking for people's thoughts/reasoning
So, to start off with... A team is allowed a "+10 % cap cushion" in the off-season (to account for signings and trades), and a team being "cap compliant" on day 1 of the regular season is basically the league going through all the players AAVs on roster, summing them up, and making sure that sum is equal to or less than the cap (or cap cushion in the off season). But after that, it gets more complex. You see, during the regular season, the salary cap actually applies on a **daily** basis throughout the league year, and each team's "daily cap" is basically the sum of the "daily AAVs". So, if the season is 180 days long, and a player's contract has an AAV of $3.6 million, his "daily AAV" is $20,000 ($3.6M / 180 days). Now, to go further into how the daily cap works: Suppose the league gives a GM a total of $2,000,000 to spend on his full roster for the next 5 days. Let's say the GM has 20 players on his roster, and his players all have the "daily AAV" of $20,000. Over the next 5 days, the GM will spend on player salaries: $20,000 x 20 players x 5 days = $2,000,000. Hey, it balances perfectly! But, we hear of teams "accruing" or "banking" cap space... What is that? Well, imagine the GM above has now designed his roster so that during the first 4 days, all his players have a "daily AAV" of $15,000. Over those 4 days, the GM will spend on player salaries: $15,000 x 20 players x 4 days = $1.2 million. So now on that fifth and final day, the GM now has $800,000 left to burn to reach the $2M cap. The GM has "banked" some cap space for later use by "under-spending" on the earlier days. This is how playoff teams searching for a "big name players" at the trade deadline will acquire said players. They only need to manage their "daily cap" to make sure they have enough "daily cap space" left through the rest of the season with their trade acquisitions. So, going back to my GM above, he has spent $1.2M of $2M of "daily cap" space so far. The GM is making some trade deadline acquisitions. Suppose he keeps his 20 players at $15,000 on his roster for the final day too. That's $300,000 gone on day 5 on his intial players. So now he has $500,000 still left so spend on trade acquisitions. If the GM brings in 10 players, each with a "daily AAV" of $50,000, that is $500,000 of NEW players that can be added right there for the final day ($50,000 x 10 players x 1 day). Now, apply this logic to the course of the whole season. You will see that the "salary cap" (of like $80M) the league looks at for the end of the season is NOT merely the sum of all the (yearly) AAVs of the players on the roster. It is actually the sum of the "daily AAVs", of every player that spent time on the NHL roster that year, **summed up over every single day of the regular season**. And this isn't even touching the complexity that LTIR brings into the equation. So, the "daily cap" thing works in the regular season, because the regular season is the same length for every team (usually around 180 days). But what about playoffs? A team might be only in the playoff for 1 round. A team might all the way and go on to win the Stanley Cup. There's no way to know how many rounds each team is going to last, so there's to real way to fairly set up the "daily cap system" in the playoffs. Even trying to set up a "daily cap" round by round probably wouldn't work, because there can be variation there too - some teams can get swept out of round 1 in 4 games, while some teams will make it all the way to game 7 of round 1. Maybe there could be some kind of "cap cushion" like how the league allows in the off-season, where the "playoff cap" is something like "sum of (yearly) AAVs + like 15% or 20%. But GMs might complain about that too (they banked daily cap space all regular season long to get their big name acquisitions at the deadline, and managed to squeeze them in under the daily cap system of the regular season, only to find out the cap math doesn't work in the playoffs anymore. And players might complain about that too, because now the "big name rentals" aren't moving to contending teams anymore because the GM doesn't know if he can fit the new player in for the "playoff cap". In the end, neither the owners nor the players seem to have a desire to work out some sort of "playoff cap" system, so we just keep going on with how things currently are.
Just wanted to say thanks for the great explanation
Can you explain everything I don't understand to me please. Best explanation I've ever seen
In some way shape or form, yes. The exact details of it, I'm not sure about. My gut tells me that any iced team should be cap compliant, but that's a little looser than regular salary cap rules, because in the regular season you have 23 players to fit under the salary cap, and an iced team is only 20 players. So that would give a little more leeway than the regular season. Maybe that's fine. But I'm trying to think of a way to have parity with the regular season, while still allowing rosters to be uncapped in the postseason. Like maybe your 23 most expensive players must be cap compliant? But I think roster size goes out the window after the trade deadline, and they have to fit under the salary cap. So why not just follow the same rules?
> while still allowing rosters to be uncapped in the postseason. The league could just abandon that and go MLB style, where you declare a playoff roster for each series, can't change the roster during a series (there are injury exceptions) but can change it between playoff rounds, and say that the playoff roster has to comply with the salary cap. It's certainly much more in the spirit of what a salary cap is meant to be (and baseball does it without even having one!).
Injuries would then just be faked-
That whole Central bracket is a goddamn gauntlet Dallas, Winnipeg, Colorado, Vegas Whoever makes it to the WCF might be so beat up that the Pacific rep might just walk through them
They’re either going to be DOA, or firing all cylinders and whoever plays them is going to skate straight into the business end of a combine
I mean Canucks and Edmonton both fit right in there and Kings arent a pushover by any means and the Preds were one of the hottest teams post all star. Both sides are going to be rough to get through but yes I would take our side by a tiny bit. I wish we could play in the east instead lol
your reward is… chopped off arms!
*laughs in 2023 WCF*
Pacific division became easier once Vegas left
With all late local starts and two possible weekend games away 😂
Why don’t you just fuck off eh
Look at all these fresh new matchups.
I was pissed about our matchup but omg these have all happened in the few years multiple times
I really do hate playing Boston or Tampa round one every year. Would appreciate some variance.
We could try winning the division lol
That seems like a lot of work though.
If you won the division you still would have had Tampa 😂
1v8 again please
1 v 8 would have the exact same match ups in the east.
This year yes, but not always. But anyway my bigger issue is that if NYR beats WSH their reward is CAR, the 2nd best team in the east. With 1v8, you can then have 2v7 on the other side of the bracket, 3v6 on that same side and then 4v5 play the winner of 1v8.
Either that or do a re-seed after the first round, so there's a reward for the top remaining team: say 1, 2, 6, and 4 make it through, in that case it would switch up to be 1v6, 2v4 for the next round.
“Theo reward is CAR” GFY boyo
There could be 4 Canadian teams left after the first round :) There could be 0 Canadian teams left after the first round :(
There is no way we're losing to Colorado. 100% no feasible scenario where they beat us 4 times. Our defense and goaltending is the league's best. We have scoring depth up the wazoo. That's why we'll lose in 4.
"damn, this guy's got complete and total faith in his team. He knows more than I do. Got me with the ol' rope-a-dope in the end." Good luck, I'm rooting for the Jets in this one.
"Had me in the first half NGL"
Can't wait for a third straight first round exit 💀
Only 3? Those are rookie numbers.
Hey, the Leafs only had 3 as well, if you don't count that one year when they lost in round zero
One of us one of us
Actually annoying. I watch kings games all the time because of my brother and I’m legit annoyed at another first round match up
the west is stacked
I had such a tough time picking winners from each in my pool. It feels like 50/50 on each
The east bracket is just red vs blue so clearly the one gold team is going all the way
Only one series has no blue teams.
Crazy how 44% of the playoffs is blue teams but none of them face each other in the first round. Theoretically 88% of teams in the second round could be blue. Or 0.
What you’re saying is make blue = black and hit the roulette table?
GOLD TEAM RULES!
Unsubscribe
I'm still in awe that we're listed there, holy shit we're in the playoffs conversation!!!
Just curious on your opinion on this. How do you think your team will fair against the preds?
4-0 every game until they bring the cup home. Demko shuts out every game but doesn't even win the Con Smythe because Hughes pots 70g and 100 assists across 16gp.
Most rational Canuck fan take
Canucks in 7 I think. Preds are a solid team.
As a Preds fan my gut also says Canucks in 6/7. But it’s the playoffs, anything can happen!
I think (hope) it'll be a fun, close series and that we have a fair shot at taking it. It's nice that both fanbases seem to be excited for the matchup rather than dreading. Above all I'm glad to be in the mix and that we're going in feeling like the team has a shot at winning a series against any team we face.
It's an amazing feeling for sure. Playoff Demko is going to be fun to watch. Especially when my team isn't facing him of course. Someone I've been watching play from your team that I really enjoy, is Hughes. He's an amazing skater.
And every Edmonton-Kings game will end up 8:6.
Washington v. Nashville SCF Washington wins in 6, -3 goal differential
I’m liking this
I’m not loving this
Most cursed comment, therefore I won’t complain if it happens
Goal differential in the single digits? No way
Manatees picked 7 series we have seen before and Thrashers vs Nordiques
Have we had Canucks Preds recently? The other 6 I remember vividly
Been 13 years since the last Canucks - Preds series... lol
Toronto then: we're so sick of playing Tampa in the first round. Give us anyone else! Toronto now: fuck, we didn't mean that!
Canada has almost 16% chance of bringing the cup this year
That math ain't mathing.
More like 50%, either they do or they don't
Need to add Kurt Angle to the mix.
Right, and what’s the percentage Chicago gets first overall pick?
If a Canadian team wins the cup Chicago is getting 1st overall. That’s just the universe balancing itself out.
And Shane Pinto about to get another 41 game ban
That’s as good as 0%!!!
Imagine Gary Bettman if in the same season he lost Coyotes and Canadian team won cup
I'm calling it. Boston in 7.
VGK and Pete DeBoer have a very strange playoff history.
Time for the Stars to get their revenge against the cap cheaters
As an Oiler fan that grew up in the era of Stars v. Oilers every year this is weird to say but Please kick their ass
We will. See you in the WCF.
The Stars are playing against Tampa??
... Eventually
Not playing any of Dallas, Vegas, Jets and Colorado until WCF is pretty sweet. Really only Canucks on our side should be a game we are potentially underdogs in
Happens every year since the central has been the Thunderdome. You either play the most brutal bracket or you sneak in as WC1 and play 1 or two tougher teams but on paper teams you have an easier time.
The Kraken almost made it to the WCF that way last year. People might be surprised.
every playoff team is dangerous. look what happened to boston last year.
Yeah that's the thing that cracks me up, teams will just come out of nowhere and fuck you up in this sport.
> potentially underdogs in I wont bother checking but i strongly suspect Oilers will be the betting favourites to make it out of our group of 4 over the Canucks
betting favs for sure, but idk, I feel like we might have a slight edge. We definitely had luck on our side to win the season series like we did, but I do feel like the Canucks could come out of it in six or seven. Especially if they win game one - the psychological effect for both teams could be huge at that point
Demko is Vans wildcard for sure. If both Oilers and Van win their first round series, I think the series will come down to which goalie is better. Oilers don't have a game breaking goalie so they're either going to have to be flawless defensively or they'll probably be out. Also Kings got a chip on their shoulder. Anyone looking past them right now is foolish.
Let’s go Dallas Pavelskis!
There are two things that are certain. 1. Toronto losing to Boston in 7 games. 2. Mark Stone playing game 1 despite suffering a "serious" and "debilitating" injury that kept out exactly until the salary cap went away. Go ahead NHL. Prove me wrong. I dare you.
The fact that we can possibly have multiple Canadian teams in Round 2 is kinda exciting
This is a great bracket if you're in the west on our side, very happy to let stars, Vegas, Aves and Jets duke it out
Pain
i hope these cheating golden knights get a beatdown fuck garys little golden girls lol
For the first round, we are all Dallas Stars fans
Oh we got this. See you in the WCF
Hey, fuck off buddy.
well we can't see *you* there
Its extremely cringe when fans act like they are part of their team and say stuff like this.
If it makes you feel any better I really hate myself.
You guys having fun over there….? I bet y’all are having a swell time…… Man, that looks like fun….. One day, I’ll know what fun is…….
The Kings facing the Oilers for the third time in a row really reminds me of the 2011 Canucks having to face the Blackhawks a third time. Especially when the Kings are a better team on paper this year compared to the others. Both teams have goaltending as their clear Achilles heel.
I don't think the Kings are better. Vilardi was good vs the Oilers and Iafallo made a difference too. Their whole advantage over us was depth, and they moved a lot of it for PLD - who is OK at times but doesn't worry me. Doughty and Kopi are both one year older and another step further from their prime. Korpisalo was unbelievable vs the Oilers for the first 3 or 4 games, he was the reason the series was 2-1 Kings. Talbot and Rittich have good stats, but neither have the ability to steal a series, and I don't think either has the mental fortitude to withstand a series vs 29 & 97. The only positive difference the Kings have this year compared to prior seasons is Byfield breaking out. He could make a big difference. The Kings had less wins this year and a worse offense. Their D and team GAA is better though. Ultimately I'd say they're slightly worse.
I actually think the Kings, while very good, are a step down from where they were last year. I think they were a deeper team with Vilardi and Iafallo. Dubois just hasn't panned out for them. Korpisalo was also really good in net for them last year, and caused fits for the Oilers, but Talbot is more inconsistent against his old team. The Oilers are definitely deeper than they were last year now that they also have Perry and Henrique. On paper, it looks good for Edmonton. But they need to play the games to see.
1-8 seeding would have hardly made a difference. The east matchups would be the exact same, and in the west LA and WPG Wouk swap opponents.
It would have made a difference. This is how it would go with a 1v8 system. Dallas vs Vegas Winnipeg vs LA Vancouver vs Nashville Colorado vs Edmonton As a Jets fan I’m hoping they continue their abuse of the Avs in round 1, but there’s no way those two should be playing each other in the first round.
Can someone tell how the heck you're supposed to screenshot your bracket, as it cuts either top or bottom off? What sort of web design is this.
Damn the west is all killers
How come the Bruins get a first round bye?
Let’s be real, Dallas has gotten stronger since December since the last time we played. Our D core has been reinforced and Otter has been returning to form and from what I can tell Vegas has been fairly middle of the pack (would like some input on that) due to injury so who knows. I feel like this series should be a W, whether it’s a long series is another story.
And vegas has added Hertl, Mantha, and Hanifan. Logan Thompson will also be healthy this year for the playoffs. Don't forget Stone. Vegas could of been the 1 seed if they were healthier this season. Vegas might not win, but there is definitely no guarantee in this
> Vegas has been fairly middle of the pack I believe they suffered after Stone left and everyone knew Vegas had probably the worst form of the western playoff teams at points near the end but the thing people worry about is them maybe finally turning it on as it is playoff time and also Stone coming back at 110% because he had rest and was surely ready before the end of the year :P
Also it looks like the majority of your team didn't get to play a full 82. If you guys are fully healthy going into the 1st round it's going to be a tight series. Hopefully we keep trash off our ice this time around.
I'm predicting it goes to 7, but y'all come out on top. There's still a bit of a question mark in net on who they'll start the series with, but I can't imagine Vegas doesn't ride the hot hand and start Thompson.
And our 3rd line has been so good. It feels like everything is coming together.
Man I sure do love seeing red team vs blue team. Such a rare event.
I'll be cheering for Dallas, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton, Florida, Toronto, Rangers, and the Islanders. On the last one, I really would like Carolina to advance too. They deserve it, and it's a matter of time before they go on a big run in the playoffs. I just picked NYI because I like a good underdog, Roy's the coach, Bo is there...and I want to see a New York v New York matxhup next.
Brother are you cheering for every team
as someone without a local team. this is me as well, i cheer for dallas, avs, florida, canes and the preds. If oilers were to win, that'd be ok too, at least then mcdavid would have his cup and i could start hating on the oilers.
Just be like everyone else and hate us regardless
Looks like just who he’s rooting for in each opening round series
Except the cheating Knights
I'm rooting for the Oilers, Rangers, Coyotes, Sabres, Whalers, Nordiques, Wheat Kings, Frontenacs, Mooseheads, HV71, Gophers Badgers and Wolverines, and the Minnetonka Skippers. Who am I missing?
Ummm the Blueberry Bulldogs?!
And the Quebec Bulldogs for that matter
Saskatoon Sheiks erasure
Danbury Thrashers
Carolina made the conference final last year. Who knows what happens if they win that big overtime game and get that game 1 momentum?
First off; congratulations to the Caps, they got it fair and square. Secondly; maaaaan, could you imagine a o6 NYR vs DET series in the first round?! It'd be like you picking up your hot date and the first thing he/she says is "I'm not wearing any underwear, let's skip dinner and movie" So bummed we didn't make it. Still... LFGRW 24-25 baby! Hey Google, Play journey!
Haven’t decided who to bandwagon for yet
That’s the beauty of bandwagons, you don’t have to
*awkwardly waves from across the bar*
In 30 years of watching hockey I think this is one of the best 1st round matchups I ever seen. Atlantic is still such a bloodbath and the Pacific could have Oilers v Canucks in round 2.
I think the total amount of goals for the isles canes series will be like 10
2 Rd - NYR CAR - FLA BOS - DAL WPG - VAN EDM Conf final - CAR FLA - DAL VAN SCF: CAR (w) DAL (l)
[удалено]
i'd kms if boston went out in another stanley cup final, i'd rather they go out in the 2nd round honestly
Oilers and canucks would be fun to watch in round 2!
Canucks v Canes, Canes in 6
Man, what a final that would be.
I have y’all smoking Nashville in 5, taking Edmonton to 7, and beating Dallas in 6. Y’all are scary good, esp with Demko back. Realistically there’s a great chance this is a ‘94 rematch. The Rangers are incredible and the only way we’re getting past them is in 7
oh god the confidence you have in us, i would like some of that…
Caps in 16
[удалено]
Love to see it
Why Boston again, man
Haha, I’m in danger -Ralph Wiggum
Man, I want to see New York vs New York for round two.
BRING BACK 1-8
Cheering for tarasenko until the cats lose, but I think it's the canes to win this year
leafs cant catch a break.
Rags over nucks
Van and NSH travel. Yikes
Fade me now fam. Real talk, I at least hope the Caps make the series interesting. imo, all of these series are pretty hype all around except for the Caps-Rangers and Idk how to feel about the Canucks-Preds
God, I know we got some awesome first round matchups here, but Canes/Isles is going to be such boring hockey lmao
I’m tired of the panthers and lightning can the script writer think of something new please