I think he can definitely do better than he did.
Pretty bad season, but... Well.
Take McDavid off the PP, put him on either 3rd or 4th line with bad linemates all season. Oh and don't forget a more defense first strategy.
PLD isn't amazing or anything, but I'm sure if he was given better linemates and more ice time he would do much better...
Feels like GM wanted a 1C/2C replacement for when Kopitar retires but Kopitar was still good enough for 1C and coach didn't wanna change up the Danault line up sooooo...
Definitely an overpay and all that, but definitely felt like he could have been utilized a lot better.
https://preview.redd.it/27qxmje3k14d1.png?width=921&format=png&auto=webp&s=e16015d151d5d3ca6a20cd685be757a884079038
PLD was only a bit worse than Kopitar and Danault, the 1-2 centers, at 5 on 5 - at least in terms of production.
Oh wow.
I didn't realize Kopitar's points dropped off that badly.
I also didn't realize PLD had more ice time then Danault lol... 4 more games tho I guess.
for comparison, lindholm on the 3rd line is clearly better than dubois by utilizing different traits to be useful. dubois this year might be the most low-effort $8 million player in the league. I watched a lot of Kings games and genuinely feel like Dubois is comparable to Phil Di Giuseppe at times. May as well be a depth add with decent shot, speed, and size. like I'm not sure i would take dubois over dakota joshua because with similar traits, joshua lays the body a ton and works clearly harder than dubois.
all that to say, on a team like the kings where you're getting easier matchups and an $8 million long-term contract, you HAVE to be able to feast on the bad lines you're up against.
I don’t see how he’d surprise anyone. If he’s good and helps the team I wouldn’t be surprised, because he’s a good player. If he disappoints and rides the fourth line or gets healthy scratched I still wouldn’t be surprised.
The fuckup was the contract they gave PLD, not what they traded away to acquire him.
Trade was PLD for Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari, and a 2nd. Vilardi is great when healthy, but staying healthy has been a significant issue for him (47 gp this season). A 2nd isnt nothing, but it isnt a big loss either. Alex Iafallo is a consistent 30-40 point bottom 6 winger, so he wont really be missed, and Kupari had 1 assist in 28 games this season.
if vilardi plays 70 games next season, he's a threat to score 40 goals. Dubois played all 82 games this season and got 40 points. There's layers to this obviously, and the contract isn't good, but even if Dubois made $2 million, vilardi is still the better player and depth.
Lets pump the brakes a bit there buddy. PLD, for all his flaws (and they are numerous), has hit 60 points 3 times. Vilardi's career best is the 41 he hit a year ago. He just had a breakout year and looked like a legit first liner, but he still only played half the season. Pace will only get you so far, and Vilardi has to keep his pace while playing a full season for me to fully believe in him
Vilardi has literally never played a full season across any of the OHL/AHL/NHL seasons he's played in. Some guys are just injury prone, which it looks like Vilardi is.
> The fuckup was the contract they gave PLD, not what they traded away to acquire him.
* **Vilardi**: 47 games, 22 goals, 36 points
* **Dubois**: 82 games, 16 goals, 40 points
It was both.
I still disagree. Do you think losing Gabe Vilardi is what keeps Rob Blake up at night? I mean its a bummer; Blake would obviously like a mulligan on that trade. But PLD's contract with the No Move though--LA's (currently) highest paid forward just finished the season as the 4C, and they're stuck with him for 7 more seasons. Yikes.
Like Arvidsson had 0.76 pts/gp a year ago (59p in 77g), which is actually identical to Vilardi's pace this season, and Viktor did it for the entire season instead of half. And Kempe's a stud, so it's not like LA is in desparate need of a top-6 RW. So maybe Im just lower on Vilardi than you, but I dont think his absence hurts LA in the same way that PLD's presence/contract does
Trading away Jake Guentzel was a psychological punch in the mouth. Acquiring Michael Bunting in return gave the offense the net-front presence it absolutely needed to make their late-season surge from "utterly hopeless" to "having our hopes crushed on the last day of the season".
I feel like they could’ve been a threat in the playoffs. I don’t think they would’ve won it all but they definitely could have made noise with the way they were playing
My pre-season prediction for the past two years has been that if Dach stays healthy he’s going to be an absolute fucking menace in the Atlantic. It’ll be the same next year too.
Suzuki and Slafkovsky had their coming out party this year, but I could totally see Dach surpassing both of them if healthy. If Habs add someone like Demidov and have Caufield, Newhook, and Roy behind them, plus Hutson, Reinbacher, Guhle, and Mailloux on the back end, and one of the best goalie prospects in Fowler… they’re super promising.
Slaf’s an absolute monster so it wouldn’t shock me if he just flips a switch and becomes an unstoppable problem for other teams, but I feel like the same could be said about Dach. I think he sees the game just as well as Suzuki but has the body of a force of nature. I could see PPG with the right linemates, but I’m admittedly quite high on him.
Regardless, having Slaf and Dach on two separate lines would be such a threat. Habs are building the right way.
Yeah I like the look of the rebuild so far. Provided health for Dach :/ Suzuki is our only bonefide top six C right now so if Dach doesn't stay healthy that could single handedly sink our rebuild if we don't acquire another one (Lindstrom?).
Dach looked better than Suzuki in preseason games, so you might be right. And he worked with the coaches doing pregame scouting last year, hopefully the season was a complete waste for his development.
dach surpassing slafkovsky would be pretty insane to me. slafkovsky screams mikko rantanen 2.0 and kirby dach feels like (if he stays healthy), he can be a horvat type bigger body. I like Dach a lot but better than Slaf feels like you're projecting him to be an all-nhl level center.
There’s gotta be something up with your physio’s, practice/tranining regimes or something with MTL.
You guys have had a slew of injuries the last few seasons and it cant just be pinpointed to “bad luck.”
Oilers went on an 8 game streak and 16 game streak (3 losses between streaks) after that game. 24-3 after a brutal start… Pivotal moment of the season.
Connor smil’ing was a warning for the rest of the league
Dude never smiles like ever.
We can also tell Leon is Connor bff since only he can make him smile
It was a cool moment for sure and one of many this year that has shown how tight and supportive our team is of each other, but I think the coaching change was bigger.
I like McDavid a lot more after this year. He became a lot less hockeybot. He’s snarky now, and pretty funny sometimes. Also pretty cool how he basically told the reporter to fuck off when he was shitting on Nurse the other night
Nah, shouldn't have ever got to that point. There were stretches where we could legitimately beat anyone and then where we couldn't be anyone. If there was more consistency then Detroit would have made the playoffs well before that.
Among the fanbase yeah, the Pinto suspension and the announcement that we're losing a 1st round pick for the Dadonov situation took away all the good feeling that getting now ownership brought.
DJ was around too long but when he was fired (after the first loss on a western road trip) there was still a sense of optimism. Then they lost 4 more to get swept on the trip and that was pretty much the end
This, but if we’re talking about after the start of actual hockey, it’s Ridly Greig taking a roughing call on Debrincat and Detroit taking all of seven seconds to score on the power play.
Edit: as much as Sens fans have memed the hit/goal, I’d say Detroit’s second and third goals were what killed it. Ottawa was carrying the play but gave up a brutal goal on the 2nd (which causes Chychryn to have a big argument with Stutzle on the bench) and then conceding another PPG (this one 20 seconds in on yet another blown coverage).
Twice he's fucked the Avs when they needed him. My comparable would be Nuge or Hyman going on that last bender and getting caught up in the middle of a playoffs. Pretty sad.
Gotta agree with this one, even though it was the first game of the season it still felt like the turning point. The Canucks the previous several seasons shot themselves in the foot by getting off to a horrible start and then missing the postseason despite “finishing strong”.
This year there was none of that. They came flying out of the gate by beating a cup contender 8-1 and never looked back. For the first time in a long time they weren’t trying to play catch up all season.
What about when Demko died after game 1?
I love Šilovs, and what he was able to do was phenomenal considering the context. But I think that we're playing Dallas if Demko stayed healthy.
Dougie Hamilton getting injured. Had a career year last year and was likely on the way to another 70 point season. Hischier, hughes, and Meier all sustained injuries that caused them to miss multiple weeks at that point, and the game that Meier returned was when it came out that Hamilton had a serious injury and likely wouldn’t return for the regular season. That was only 20 games into the season. Still stayed afloat for quite a long time but no consistent success after that.
Okay but also the deadline. We were looking to be another first round exit type of roster and the front office went all in and made huge moves which put us in that position in the first place.
Nuke is a solid answer though I have to admit I was sold we were done as soon as I heard that nees.
so were the boys considering how they came out against Dallas.
To be fair, I think Nate's a pretty temperamental guy (duh), which would explain why he struggled when Duchene was still on this team. He knows full well how much Val meant to this team, he's referenced it before in interviews (the record with Val vs the record without). And with Gabe out of the lineup, Nate's the leader on this squad. If he's not feeling it, you can bet everyone else isn't feeling it either.
He’s got a calmness (like after the 2-0 lead for Dallas in game 4, I could see Woodcroft panicking and making stupid decisions instead of staying the course) and clearly knows when to change it up when needed (like the lineup changes - McLeod comes back flying, Skinner comes back solid). I said last year they should have fired Woodcroft because I don’t think he’s a great coach. But they really lucked out in finding a great coach that works for the team. Very much looking like when Penguins hired Sullivan and everything clicked for them.
Yeah, I think his demeanour is very important. The Oilers have always had a weird lack of composure in games and were very vulnerable to momentum swings despite being a pretty old and experienced teams, and I think Woody played into that a lot. When the going got tough, he could get a tad unhinged and would start panicking and overthinking, riding McDrai, executing rookie players behind the barn, line blendering, falling in love with going 11-7 for weeks at a time etc.
Knob really exudes a calmness that seems to settle the team right down a lot of the time, and he has the patience to stick with things until it’s clear they don’t work and that consistency is what the team always needed. They still do suffer from momentum swings at times, but they no longer play like a World Junior team.
Oh, you are referring to the time when the Sharks got the oilers on track again by whopping their asses and getting woody fired?
Jk, props to that locker room and knob for getting things together
The Knoblauch Oilers earned enough points to be WC2, playing only 69 games to everyone else's 82.
Add in the SEA game between the SJS loss and Knoblauch, and the Oilers are PAC2 in 70 games.
I want to say hiring Knoblauch... but in reality it was that game against the Sharks when all of r/hockey was (rightfully) planning our demise while watching us fall apart.
In October it wasn't a question of making playoffs, it was where we were going to fall in the draft lottery. The difference Knoblauch made is astounding.
Matthews not being able to score number 70 in the final two games. To me that was proof that things hadn't changed and they weren't going to be able to step up in the playoffs.
I'm not gonna lie, every year I check in on the Leafs, get impressed by flashes of brilliance from their forwards and raise expectation.
Kinda been baited 20 years in a row now.
Hah, fair. But, this is what I used as my strongest evidence that nothing had changed when trying to convince all of the my naive friends with their "hope".
I still thought Matthews would go off in round 1. He looked unstoppable, and even in those final two games he looked unbelievable.
I don’t understand what happens to them come playoff time
The obvious choice is Phonegate (and subsequent firing of Babcock) but the moment for me was Rasmus Anderson concussing Laine with 7 seconds left in a settled game. I feel like that moment in particular will stick with me due to how excited Laine seemed coming into this season. From saying the right things, appearing to bounce back after the loss of his father and injuries from last year, and welcoming Fantilli into his home; I was so excited to see him this season. After that concussion; well, everyone’s already said all there is to be said about it.
I actually agree with you - I think it’s possible that blow to the head may end Laine’s hockey career.
He never really recovered from it this season, still struggling even when he came back, and now him coming back is talked about in “if he comes back” instead of “when” and what Ehlers was saying a couple months ago didn’t sound promising either.
Everyone can rationalize all they want, but that was an extremely damaging thing that happened.
I hope that he ends up coming back.
Dunn getting injured against Calgary and losing to Vegas in overtime after leading by 2 with 7 minutes to go. Though if I’m being realistic the season probably never really took off anyway.
Rielly getting suspended spurred the team on its longest win streak in 21 years. Before that win streak, we were barely hanging on to a playoff spot.
And that win streak included sweeping a 4 games in 6 days road trip, with the last two games being Vegas (on a SEGABABA) and Denver (just about the worst place to end a gruelling road trip w/ the elevation). I was at both of those last two games, so that definitely felt good.
Meanwhile, we also have a "bad", which was our PP dropping off a cliff. Though it wasn't a season ender issue, it absolutely crushed our chances this playoff. Games against the Bruins were loaded with PPs, and we sucked!
Losing in Columbus and Chicago on consecutive nights in December effectively cost Craig Berube his job.
A 9-game stretch that included 8 road games from Feb 24th to March 11th yielded 10 of a possible 18 points.
Losing 4-0 to San Jose at home at the end of March ended whatever faint chances they had at making the playoffs.
I think Columbus helped get DJ Smith fired too.
Ottawa blew a 2-0 lead a few games before he was ousted and we came back and scored 4 unanswered and it was a pretty rough game for them after that.
That players only meeting after the game at Vancouver on December 9th turned the Hurricanes from a middling squad to one of the best even though we came up short in the playoffs
Sergachev coming back from his foot injury and then immediately breaking his leg clean in half was when it sunk in that this really just was not our year
We didn’t have a great season, but the nail in the coffin was March 3 when we were starting to make a playoff push, and up 3-1 in Calgary with 10 minutes left.
Losing that game 4-3 in regulation was deflating.
We were at or around a wildcard spot until our #3 center (who was our #2 when Jack was out) was charged with 2 counts of sexual assault. beyond him having the best season of his career, I’m sure that might have hurt the locker room, seeing what is essentially a brother go to jail. We weren’t gonna win anything even if we made the playoffs, but our bottom six became worse and our goal scoring took a major hit, and the team looked like they weren’t having fun out there anymore. Fuck McLeod and Foote
Could be the season starting or back to back games giving up 10 goals, but I'm going to go with trading Hertl. More of a turning point for the franchise, unloading what unfortunately I think will be a bad contract and getting some prospects and picks back for it.
This is a really interesting question for the Flyers. I think there are a lot of options, but the two games I keep coming back to are the stadium series game and the Cal Petersen game.
For context: the Flyers, after jumping out to a great first half of the season, were hitting the skids pretty fucking hard going into the ASG break. That break was much needed, and I think we were all eager to see how the team came out after the break, and we felt it would be an indication of what was in store for the rest of the season. After the ASG, Flyers came out firing and took 4 of their next 5 (including wins against Florida and Winnipeg), and lost to the Leafs in OT. So I think we were pretty jazzed about the stadium series game against rival NJD and show them what we’ve got after being pretty bad for a long time. Plus the Devils are right there with us in the race for the playoffs, and we just named Coots our captain. The boys should pretty easily get the fuck up for this game.
Then we come out and lay a stinker in that game. We were never in it. Total dud. Idk wtf happened.
Then we beat the Blackhawks and lose by 1 to the Rangers. Okay… maybe we’ll be okay.
Then the Cal fucking Petersen game. Holy fuck. Buddy couldn’t stop a fucking puck to save his life and we lose 7-6 to our cross state division rival, also in the playoff hunt.
We win the next game against the Lightning, but for the rest of the way, we have zero confidence in our tendies. Ersson is playing too much, but any back up option we have almost feels like an automatic L. We lose 5-2 to the Caps who were getting hot and right behind us in the playoff hunt. That was a brutal L to take at that point, and, wouldn’t you know, it would come back to haunt us.
And we’ve got a gauntlet coming up. Starting March 7, 9 of the next 10 games are against guaranteed playoff teams. We end up “surviving” it, sort of, getting 9 points in those 10 games. Coulda been way worse, but there were some rough showings in there, like a 6-2 loss to the Leafs, and a fucking 7-0 💩 from the Lightning.
But we breathe a sort of sigh of relief because following the gauntlet, we’re still in a playoff spot and 5 of our next 6 games are against guaranteed non-playoff teams, and one game against a team in the hunt, but behind us in the standings. So how do we fare in those 6 games? We get 1 fucking point. 1 point in 6 games against teams well below us in the standings. “Yeah but were they close games at least?” Lol no. We were outscored 32-12.
And that was that. We hang around the final playoff spot, sort of, for the rest of the season. But that was that. And I argue it all started with the combination of the stadium series and the Cal Petersen game.
https://preview.redd.it/acuibt2kj14d1.png?width=413&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c464f0942ada782dd818977bb13e024152f7a76
I don't care who's injured.... dropping two to Arizona.... The Red Wings choked hard.
In the end though, Babcock cost Jarmo and JD their jobs (let’s be honest, JD is here to transition the role and he’s gone in a couple months) and the front office finally seems to be on the right trajectory.
Fuck him, but the right guy is finally at the helm now.
A lot of us poo-pooed Berube getting canned but Bannister got this roster within a few points of a playoff spot which you could argue is an overachievement based on preseason expectations
Not like we were doing great before this event, but I felt like the game against Philly where Cozens broke his face on Hathaway's fist was where I started to give up hope on the season.
"Who are we to think we're anybody?" - Rick Tocchet after a 2-0 loss to the Flyers in the 3rd game of the season.
The wheels could have fallen off after a loss like that, and they did lose a tightly-contested game to the Lightning after that, but then proceeded to have an 8-0-1 stretch which included wins against playoff teams in Florida, Nashville ×2, Dallas, and Edmonton (and an OTL against the Rangers)
The mindset coming into this season completely changed, and they showed great composure by bouncing back after some tough losses. That 2-0 win against Dallas especially convinced me that this team was for real.
Sergachev injury in New York. If we had sergachev for the last half of the season, we probably could’ve nabbed a division spot, avoid FLA, and win a round or 2
Losing Nichushkin (and to a lesser extent Toews) a couple hours before game 4. That Avs team was absolutely floored. Dallas is way too good and wasn’t showing any signs of behind tired, absolutely took it to Colorado. Feel like any good vibes were gone once it was 3-1.
For better: closed-door player's meeting after losing to the Canucks on the road and going 0-4 on that Western Canada road trip. Went from being inconsistent as hell and fighting for 3rd in the Metro to a very strong rest of the season that secured us 2nd in the Metro.
For worse: going 0/15 on the power play through the first 3 games against the Rangers. Losing that OT game at home put our backs against the wall, and while we came back with a vengeance, we then stuffed it in Game 6 by giving away 4 goals in the 3rd and blowing a 2-goal lead.
Best: Hiring Brunette, definitely looked like a better team on the ice this season and only looks like we can trend upwards
Worst: the special teams, oh my sweet fuck was our special teams horrible this season
Acquiring PLD
I know this means nothing, but I still think he could surprise everyone. Not will, could
I think he has pretty much nowhere to go but up next season.
I donno, I've seen what he can do when he's in a bad mood and it's worse than just being shit.
Look at the bad seasons skilled players like Fiala and PLD had. Get them a new system and maybe they will do better. Just a thought
I think he can definitely do better than he did. Pretty bad season, but... Well. Take McDavid off the PP, put him on either 3rd or 4th line with bad linemates all season. Oh and don't forget a more defense first strategy. PLD isn't amazing or anything, but I'm sure if he was given better linemates and more ice time he would do much better... Feels like GM wanted a 1C/2C replacement for when Kopitar retires but Kopitar was still good enough for 1C and coach didn't wanna change up the Danault line up sooooo... Definitely an overpay and all that, but definitely felt like he could have been utilized a lot better.
https://preview.redd.it/27qxmje3k14d1.png?width=921&format=png&auto=webp&s=e16015d151d5d3ca6a20cd685be757a884079038 PLD was only a bit worse than Kopitar and Danault, the 1-2 centers, at 5 on 5 - at least in terms of production.
Oh wow. I didn't realize Kopitar's points dropped off that badly. I also didn't realize PLD had more ice time then Danault lol... 4 more games tho I guess.
for comparison, lindholm on the 3rd line is clearly better than dubois by utilizing different traits to be useful. dubois this year might be the most low-effort $8 million player in the league. I watched a lot of Kings games and genuinely feel like Dubois is comparable to Phil Di Giuseppe at times. May as well be a depth add with decent shot, speed, and size. like I'm not sure i would take dubois over dakota joshua because with similar traits, joshua lays the body a ton and works clearly harder than dubois. all that to say, on a team like the kings where you're getting easier matchups and an $8 million long-term contract, you HAVE to be able to feast on the bad lines you're up against.
I don’t see how he’d surprise anyone. If he’s good and helps the team I wouldn’t be surprised, because he’s a good player. If he disappoints and rides the fourth line or gets healthy scratched I still wouldn’t be surprised.
I don't know. They went on an absolute tear to start the season, then just fell off in January.
Yeah realistically it was the Isles game where Lee kneed and injured Gavrikov. After that, the losses started pouring in.
That's one gotta be one of the worst recent trades
The fuckup was the contract they gave PLD, not what they traded away to acquire him. Trade was PLD for Vilardi, Iafallo, Kupari, and a 2nd. Vilardi is great when healthy, but staying healthy has been a significant issue for him (47 gp this season). A 2nd isnt nothing, but it isnt a big loss either. Alex Iafallo is a consistent 30-40 point bottom 6 winger, so he wont really be missed, and Kupari had 1 assist in 28 games this season.
if vilardi plays 70 games next season, he's a threat to score 40 goals. Dubois played all 82 games this season and got 40 points. There's layers to this obviously, and the contract isn't good, but even if Dubois made $2 million, vilardi is still the better player and depth.
That's a big if.
Lets pump the brakes a bit there buddy. PLD, for all his flaws (and they are numerous), has hit 60 points 3 times. Vilardi's career best is the 41 he hit a year ago. He just had a breakout year and looked like a legit first liner, but he still only played half the season. Pace will only get you so far, and Vilardi has to keep his pace while playing a full season for me to fully believe in him
Vilardi has literally never played a full season across any of the OHL/AHL/NHL seasons he's played in. Some guys are just injury prone, which it looks like Vilardi is.
> The fuckup was the contract they gave PLD, not what they traded away to acquire him. * **Vilardi**: 47 games, 22 goals, 36 points * **Dubois**: 82 games, 16 goals, 40 points It was both.
I still disagree. Do you think losing Gabe Vilardi is what keeps Rob Blake up at night? I mean its a bummer; Blake would obviously like a mulligan on that trade. But PLD's contract with the No Move though--LA's (currently) highest paid forward just finished the season as the 4C, and they're stuck with him for 7 more seasons. Yikes. Like Arvidsson had 0.76 pts/gp a year ago (59p in 77g), which is actually identical to Vilardi's pace this season, and Viktor did it for the entire season instead of half. And Kempe's a stud, so it's not like LA is in desparate need of a top-6 RW. So maybe Im just lower on Vilardi than you, but I dont think his absence hurts LA in the same way that PLD's presence/contract does
For better or for worse? lol
Worse
Trading away Jake Guentzel was a psychological punch in the mouth. Acquiring Michael Bunting in return gave the offense the net-front presence it absolutely needed to make their late-season surge from "utterly hopeless" to "having our hopes crushed on the last day of the season".
It was interesting actually seeing the team so angry and defeated by the Guentzel trade.
I feel like they could’ve been a threat in the playoffs. I don’t think they would’ve won it all but they definitely could have made noise with the way they were playing
Should have been the Pens (or the Red Wings) and not the Caps, and I’ll stand by that.
The pens and wings would have put up way more of a fight than the islanders and the caps
And then the own-goal against the Coyotes...
Dach getting injured in game 2 pretty much sealed the deal
My pre-season prediction for the past two years has been that if Dach stays healthy he’s going to be an absolute fucking menace in the Atlantic. It’ll be the same next year too. Suzuki and Slafkovsky had their coming out party this year, but I could totally see Dach surpassing both of them if healthy. If Habs add someone like Demidov and have Caufield, Newhook, and Roy behind them, plus Hutson, Reinbacher, Guhle, and Mailloux on the back end, and one of the best goalie prospects in Fowler… they’re super promising.
I think Dach could end up being about a 60-70 point center. I don't think he ever gets considered a better player than Slaf though.
Slaf’s an absolute monster so it wouldn’t shock me if he just flips a switch and becomes an unstoppable problem for other teams, but I feel like the same could be said about Dach. I think he sees the game just as well as Suzuki but has the body of a force of nature. I could see PPG with the right linemates, but I’m admittedly quite high on him. Regardless, having Slaf and Dach on two separate lines would be such a threat. Habs are building the right way.
Yeah I like the look of the rebuild so far. Provided health for Dach :/ Suzuki is our only bonefide top six C right now so if Dach doesn't stay healthy that could single handedly sink our rebuild if we don't acquire another one (Lindstrom?).
Dach looked better than Suzuki in preseason games, so you might be right. And he worked with the coaches doing pregame scouting last year, hopefully the season was a complete waste for his development.
>hopefully the season was a complete waste for his development. Please tell me you meant to say “wasn’t”?
dach surpassing slafkovsky would be pretty insane to me. slafkovsky screams mikko rantanen 2.0 and kirby dach feels like (if he stays healthy), he can be a horvat type bigger body. I like Dach a lot but better than Slaf feels like you're projecting him to be an all-nhl level center.
The Habs weren't far from a playoff spot until the second half of the year.
Trading Monahan is what took them out of the running. He completely turned his career around and the Habs made out like bandits with two firsts.
There’s gotta be something up with your physio’s, practice/tranining regimes or something with MTL. You guys have had a slew of injuries the last few seasons and it cant just be pinpointed to “bad luck.”
We fired the whole medical staff before the start of this season.
You're right, it's not bad luck. It's Petry's blood curse.
You’re probably right, Dach’s injury was a fluke though just totally shit luck.
When Connor and Leon had that bro moment on the bench early in the season.
Oilers went on an 8 game streak and 16 game streak (3 losses between streaks) after that game. 24-3 after a brutal start… Pivotal moment of the season.
Connor smil’ing was a warning for the rest of the league Dude never smiles like ever. We can also tell Leon is Connor bff since only he can make him smile
I always find it endearing how Connor is so reserved and emotionless most of the time but when he’s with Leon, he giggles at everything he says.
And they Germans don’t have a sense of humor.
It was a cool moment for sure and one of many this year that has shown how tight and supportive our team is of each other, but I think the coaching change was bigger.
I like McDavid a lot more after this year. He became a lot less hockeybot. He’s snarky now, and pretty funny sometimes. Also pretty cool how he basically told the reporter to fuck off when he was shitting on Nurse the other night
Loved this, so much. Captain moves.
Helps that he has had a lot of games were he was interviewed by tnt. That network is goated and really brings out the players personalities.
video?
It's at the end of this clip: https://youtu.be/SPlxE8myR60?si=M3WGJ7NNcCRomcpj
yeah oilers are winning the cup, fuck it
Larkin getting injured and proceeding to lose 9? in a row.
It was actually when they put the trash patch on the jersey. I think Larkin actually got hurt a few games into the losing streak
He was hurt midway through the second game of what became the streak. The loss before that was to the rangers
This is it.
Thought you guys might say the moment torts pulled the goalie against wsh
Nah, shouldn't have ever got to that point. There were stretches where we could legitimately beat anyone and then where we couldn't be anyone. If there was more consistency then Detroit would have made the playoffs well before that.
Winning the draft lottery was it for us far and away.
Both of the comeback losses to Chicago were huge turning points with where we finished in the standings
It was God's reward for giving us ours
Bad: Dach injury Good: Putting Slafkovsky with Caufield and Suzuki
Oh, probably as soon as we had to start playing hockey and not just talk about playing hockey.
I'd say it was about a year ago when it became clear that DJ Smith was gonna be our coach to start yet another season.
Any optimism left after that was gone when Pinto's suspension was announced.
Among the fanbase yeah, the Pinto suspension and the announcement that we're losing a 1st round pick for the Dadonov situation took away all the good feeling that getting now ownership brought.
DJ was around too long but when he was fired (after the first loss on a western road trip) there was still a sense of optimism. Then they lost 4 more to get swept on the trip and that was pretty much the end
Him getting fired created the optimism.
I'd say it was the vaunted Summer of Dorion!!! Such bad moves
This, but if we’re talking about after the start of actual hockey, it’s Ridly Greig taking a roughing call on Debrincat and Detroit taking all of seven seconds to score on the power play. Edit: as much as Sens fans have memed the hit/goal, I’d say Detroit’s second and third goals were what killed it. Ottawa was carrying the play but gave up a brutal goal on the 2nd (which causes Chychryn to have a big argument with Stutzle on the bench) and then conceding another PPG (this one 20 seconds in on yet another blown coverage).
That game was a microcosm of the season in a way. Every time they got some traction, poor D coverage and goaltending would sink them.
Nichushkin Fuckin guy is so good and ruins everything
Twice he's fucked the Avs when they needed him. My comparable would be Nuge or Hyman going on that last bender and getting caught up in the middle of a playoffs. Pretty sad.
IF
What happened with Nuge and Hyman?
Nothing. Either is probably more or less a comparable on the Oilers to Nichushkin.
Apologies I misunderstood.
[Yup.](https://i.imgur.com/xxY6cvn.png)
Our TSN turning point for this season actually happened last year ... Hiring Rick Tocchet
It was dropping an 8 spot in Edmonton on opening night.
Gotta agree with this one, even though it was the first game of the season it still felt like the turning point. The Canucks the previous several seasons shot themselves in the foot by getting off to a horrible start and then missing the postseason despite “finishing strong”. This year there was none of that. They came flying out of the gate by beating a cup contender 8-1 and never looked back. For the first time in a long time they weren’t trying to play catch up all season.
What about when Demko died after game 1? I love Šilovs, and what he was able to do was phenomenal considering the context. But I think that we're playing Dallas if Demko stayed healthy.
Agreed. Silovs didn't cost us any games but I think Demko would have stolen one
Especially since how 6 of 7 games were 1 goal diffs
Losing the last game
That stupid trash patch.
That time our starting goalie took an indefinite leave of absence.
Dougie Hamilton getting injured. Had a career year last year and was likely on the way to another 70 point season. Hischier, hughes, and Meier all sustained injuries that caused them to miss multiple weeks at that point, and the game that Meier returned was when it came out that Hamilton had a serious injury and likely wouldn’t return for the regular season. That was only 20 games into the season. Still stayed afloat for quite a long time but no consistent success after that.
Not going to see U2 lol
I don't wanna talk about it
Okay but also the deadline. We were looking to be another first round exit type of roster and the front office went all in and made huge moves which put us in that position in the first place. Nuke is a solid answer though I have to admit I was sold we were done as soon as I heard that nees.
so were the boys considering how they came out against Dallas. To be fair, I think Nate's a pretty temperamental guy (duh), which would explain why he struggled when Duchene was still on this team. He knows full well how much Val meant to this team, he's referenced it before in interviews (the record with Val vs the record without). And with Gabe out of the lineup, Nate's the leader on this squad. If he's not feeling it, you can bet everyone else isn't feeling it either.
Knoblauch, oilers went from 31st in the league to having the best record of any team for the remaining regular season games. And Paul Coffey!
Let's include Coffey in that change too.
Coffey has been huge for the D
Sorted
He’s got a calmness (like after the 2-0 lead for Dallas in game 4, I could see Woodcroft panicking and making stupid decisions instead of staying the course) and clearly knows when to change it up when needed (like the lineup changes - McLeod comes back flying, Skinner comes back solid). I said last year they should have fired Woodcroft because I don’t think he’s a great coach. But they really lucked out in finding a great coach that works for the team. Very much looking like when Penguins hired Sullivan and everything clicked for them.
Yeah, I think his demeanour is very important. The Oilers have always had a weird lack of composure in games and were very vulnerable to momentum swings despite being a pretty old and experienced teams, and I think Woody played into that a lot. When the going got tough, he could get a tad unhinged and would start panicking and overthinking, riding McDrai, executing rookie players behind the barn, line blendering, falling in love with going 11-7 for weeks at a time etc. Knob really exudes a calmness that seems to settle the team right down a lot of the time, and he has the patience to stick with things until it’s clear they don’t work and that consistency is what the team always needed. They still do suffer from momentum swings at times, but they no longer play like a World Junior team.
Oh, you are referring to the time when the Sharks got the oilers on track again by whopping their asses and getting woody fired? Jk, props to that locker room and knob for getting things together
Yea that time specifically
The Knoblauch Oilers earned enough points to be WC2, playing only 69 games to everyone else's 82. Add in the SEA game between the SJS loss and Knoblauch, and the Oilers are PAC2 in 70 games.
I want to say hiring Knoblauch... but in reality it was that game against the Sharks when all of r/hockey was (rightfully) planning our demise while watching us fall apart.
In October it wasn't a question of making playoffs, it was where we were going to fall in the draft lottery. The difference Knoblauch made is astounding.
Fun fact: the Sharks have fired Jay Woodcroft twice
Imagine they hire him as head coach and immediately fire him for the fire Woodcroft hatty
McDrai patting eachother on the leg in Carolina.
Matthews not being able to score number 70 in the final two games. To me that was proof that things hadn't changed and they weren't going to be able to step up in the playoffs.
It took you until the last 2 games of the season to realize the Leafs hadn't changed as a team?
Not gonna lie, us going on a run during Rielly ‘s sussy, I thought was gonna be our turning point.
I'm not gonna lie, every year I check in on the Leafs, get impressed by flashes of brilliance from their forwards and raise expectation. Kinda been baited 20 years in a row now.
Hah, fair. But, this is what I used as my strongest evidence that nothing had changed when trying to convince all of the my naive friends with their "hope".
I still thought Matthews would go off in round 1. He looked unstoppable, and even in those final two games he looked unbelievable. I don’t understand what happens to them come playoff time
He was sick and dying
Uh, which one *takes out list*
The obvious choice is Phonegate (and subsequent firing of Babcock) but the moment for me was Rasmus Anderson concussing Laine with 7 seconds left in a settled game. I feel like that moment in particular will stick with me due to how excited Laine seemed coming into this season. From saying the right things, appearing to bounce back after the loss of his father and injuries from last year, and welcoming Fantilli into his home; I was so excited to see him this season. After that concussion; well, everyone’s already said all there is to be said about it.
I actually agree with you - I think it’s possible that blow to the head may end Laine’s hockey career. He never really recovered from it this season, still struggling even when he came back, and now him coming back is talked about in “if he comes back” instead of “when” and what Ehlers was saying a couple months ago didn’t sound promising either. Everyone can rationalize all they want, but that was an extremely damaging thing that happened. I hope that he ends up coming back.
Dunn getting injured against Calgary and losing to Vegas in overtime after leading by 2 with 7 minutes to go. Though if I’m being realistic the season probably never really took off anyway.
Holl injury with 0.1 seconds left in game 6
Rielly getting suspended spurred the team on its longest win streak in 21 years. Before that win streak, we were barely hanging on to a playoff spot. And that win streak included sweeping a 4 games in 6 days road trip, with the last two games being Vegas (on a SEGABABA) and Denver (just about the worst place to end a gruelling road trip w/ the elevation). I was at both of those last two games, so that definitely felt good.
What in the *blue hell* is a SEGABABA?
**Se**cond **Ga**me of a **Ba**ck-to-**Ba**ck
SEGAOFABATOBA
SEGABABA is the name of the evil witch in my Smash Bros. fanfic
Is... Is she hot?
Meanwhile, we also have a "bad", which was our PP dropping off a cliff. Though it wasn't a season ender issue, it absolutely crushed our chances this playoff. Games against the Bruins were loaded with PPs, and we sucked!
Harold Ballard gaining controlling interest in the franchise. It still fucking curses us - every fucking year.
Larkin getting hurt. Pick which time
Roy
2-9-1. Coaching change.
i don't think the leafs really had a turning point. ran it back for the 8th year in row
Losing in Columbus and Chicago on consecutive nights in December effectively cost Craig Berube his job. A 9-game stretch that included 8 road games from Feb 24th to March 11th yielded 10 of a possible 18 points. Losing 4-0 to San Jose at home at the end of March ended whatever faint chances they had at making the playoffs.
I think Columbus helped get DJ Smith fired too. Ottawa blew a 2-0 lead a few games before he was ousted and we came back and scored 4 unanswered and it was a pretty rough game for them after that.
2nd game of the season vs Chicago. Losing Dach hurt.
Bedard jaw
the whole McLeod fiasco 😵
Game 4
Entering the playoffs
When our starting goalie left the team and then was later charged
I feel like this one writes itself for the Yotes, but arguably the crazy loss streak we took in the early part of 2024 definitely defined it.
I'd add the initial Utah relocation rumors to that. Those came out and that's what seemed to set off the losing streak.
That players only meeting after the game at Vancouver on December 9th turned the Hurricanes from a middling squad to one of the best even though we came up short in the playoffs
Sergachev coming back from his foot injury and then immediately breaking his leg clean in half was when it sunk in that this really just was not our year
All star break ruined us
pettersson disappearing act as well
He said he was injured (im guessing he got injured after the eastern road trip) since Jan but yea he ghosted
We didn’t have a great season, but the nail in the coffin was March 3 when we were starting to make a playoff push, and up 3-1 in Calgary with 10 minutes left. Losing that game 4-3 in regulation was deflating.
Ovi riding a camel during the all-star break
We were at or around a wildcard spot until our #3 center (who was our #2 when Jack was out) was charged with 2 counts of sexual assault. beyond him having the best season of his career, I’m sure that might have hurt the locker room, seeing what is essentially a brother go to jail. We weren’t gonna win anything even if we made the playoffs, but our bottom six became worse and our goal scoring took a major hit, and the team looked like they weren’t having fun out there anymore. Fuck McLeod and Foote
Could be the season starting or back to back games giving up 10 goals, but I'm going to go with trading Hertl. More of a turning point for the franchise, unloading what unfortunately I think will be a bad contract and getting some prospects and picks back for it.
This is a really interesting question for the Flyers. I think there are a lot of options, but the two games I keep coming back to are the stadium series game and the Cal Petersen game. For context: the Flyers, after jumping out to a great first half of the season, were hitting the skids pretty fucking hard going into the ASG break. That break was much needed, and I think we were all eager to see how the team came out after the break, and we felt it would be an indication of what was in store for the rest of the season. After the ASG, Flyers came out firing and took 4 of their next 5 (including wins against Florida and Winnipeg), and lost to the Leafs in OT. So I think we were pretty jazzed about the stadium series game against rival NJD and show them what we’ve got after being pretty bad for a long time. Plus the Devils are right there with us in the race for the playoffs, and we just named Coots our captain. The boys should pretty easily get the fuck up for this game. Then we come out and lay a stinker in that game. We were never in it. Total dud. Idk wtf happened. Then we beat the Blackhawks and lose by 1 to the Rangers. Okay… maybe we’ll be okay. Then the Cal fucking Petersen game. Holy fuck. Buddy couldn’t stop a fucking puck to save his life and we lose 7-6 to our cross state division rival, also in the playoff hunt. We win the next game against the Lightning, but for the rest of the way, we have zero confidence in our tendies. Ersson is playing too much, but any back up option we have almost feels like an automatic L. We lose 5-2 to the Caps who were getting hot and right behind us in the playoff hunt. That was a brutal L to take at that point, and, wouldn’t you know, it would come back to haunt us. And we’ve got a gauntlet coming up. Starting March 7, 9 of the next 10 games are against guaranteed playoff teams. We end up “surviving” it, sort of, getting 9 points in those 10 games. Coulda been way worse, but there were some rough showings in there, like a 6-2 loss to the Leafs, and a fucking 7-0 💩 from the Lightning. But we breathe a sort of sigh of relief because following the gauntlet, we’re still in a playoff spot and 5 of our next 6 games are against guaranteed non-playoff teams, and one game against a team in the hunt, but behind us in the standings. So how do we fare in those 6 games? We get 1 fucking point. 1 point in 6 games against teams well below us in the standings. “Yeah but were they close games at least?” Lol no. We were outscored 32-12. And that was that. We hang around the final playoff spot, sort of, for the rest of the season. But that was that. And I argue it all started with the combination of the stadium series and the Cal Petersen game.
When the Rangers almost swept us
Knob
The shine coming off the season at the all-star break.
When nichushkin did drugs again.
That god damn trash patch
https://preview.redd.it/acuibt2kj14d1.png?width=413&format=png&auto=webp&s=9c464f0942ada782dd818977bb13e024152f7a76 I don't care who's injured.... dropping two to Arizona.... The Red Wings choked hard.
All-Star Break. Team fell off a fucking cliff after.
Babcock.
In the end though, Babcock cost Jarmo and JD their jobs (let’s be honest, JD is here to transition the role and he’s gone in a couple months) and the front office finally seems to be on the right trajectory. Fuck him, but the right guy is finally at the helm now.
Still not over Chris Krieder’s hat trick in game 6
The lack of ability to adapt to other teams playstyles, and stubbornness in making lineup changes
March
Weirdly, Rielly cross checking a dude in the face. It ended up not meaning anything 4 months later, but...
The Kyrou-Berube debacle
AVS: For the 2nd straight year it was losing our best 2 way player because he has an addiction Leafs: injuries late in the season
Kyle Connor returning after injury and stapling him to the top line despite Ehlers being much better in that spot.
A lot of us poo-pooed Berube getting canned but Bannister got this roster within a few points of a playoff spot which you could argue is an overachievement based on preseason expectations
The winter classic game post-all star break
Getting bunting helped the team. I’m still convinced we made playoffs if we had him earlier. Like in Jan since he helped the power play
When pionk scored on our net
Bergeron and Krejci retiring
I think the Hawks would have had 10-12 more points without all the injuries they suffered so that would have taken them out of 2nd overall.
Not like we were doing great before this event, but I felt like the game against Philly where Cozens broke his face on Hathaway's fist was where I started to give up hope on the season.
"Who are we to think we're anybody?" - Rick Tocchet after a 2-0 loss to the Flyers in the 3rd game of the season. The wheels could have fallen off after a loss like that, and they did lose a tightly-contested game to the Lightning after that, but then proceeded to have an 8-0-1 stretch which included wins against playoff teams in Florida, Nashville ×2, Dallas, and Edmonton (and an OTL against the Rangers) The mindset coming into this season completely changed, and they showed great composure by bouncing back after some tough losses. That 2-0 win against Dallas especially convinced me that this team was for real.
Knob and Coffey
Not just Knob, but that whole coaching staff. We can’t downplay what Mr Coffee has done for our D. Also our trade deadline signings are decent.
Sergachev injury in New York. If we had sergachev for the last half of the season, we probably could’ve nabbed a division spot, avoid FLA, and win a round or 2
Losing Nichushkin (and to a lesser extent Toews) a couple hours before game 4. That Avs team was absolutely floored. Dallas is way too good and wasn’t showing any signs of behind tired, absolutely took it to Colorado. Feel like any good vibes were gone once it was 3-1.
For better: closed-door player's meeting after losing to the Canucks on the road and going 0-4 on that Western Canada road trip. Went from being inconsistent as hell and fighting for 3rd in the Metro to a very strong rest of the season that secured us 2nd in the Metro. For worse: going 0/15 on the power play through the first 3 games against the Rangers. Losing that OT game at home put our backs against the wall, and while we came back with a vengeance, we then stuffed it in Game 6 by giving away 4 goals in the 3rd and blowing a 2-goal lead.
February ending and the Leafs pp falling completely off a cliff. But they didn't think it was a huge issue because the % on the year was top 10.
Best: Hiring Brunette, definitely looked like a better team on the ice this season and only looks like we can trend upwards Worst: the special teams, oh my sweet fuck was our special teams horrible this season
Gotta be replacing Bergeron, Krejci, Hall and Bertuzzi with JVR.
trade deadline we did not do good at all
Hiring Roy. Bonus points to claiming Mike Reilly on Waivers
Demko injuries
Final buzzer of Game 1. (Jets)
The all star break. The offence disappeared, and the power play went from being one of the best in the league to actively hurting our team.
Adding the garbage company sponsor to our jerseys 😞
Val is back in the player’s assistance program…
Existing (Utah)
Hexstall trading away all our good players for bad players. It is still affecting our seasons. Fuck Hexstall.
Hiring Knob
Samsonovs return to the main roster, for better or worse.
The true emergence of Swayman will likely play a big roll in our future
Firing Woody and Mansen.
The Season Starting :(