My Top 5 North America Stars:

1. Nathan MacKinnon: One man wrecking crew. Showed fllashes of Peter Forsberg
2. Connor McDavid: The fastest player in the NHL. Tougher than people give him credit for.
3. Jack Eichel: Strong on the defensive side of the puck. Channeled his inner Mike Modano.
4. Johnny Gaudreau: Plays at 500 mph and 7,500 RPMs. Pat Kane Vesrion 2.0.
5. Colton Parayko: Badass! Shots it liike Shea Weber. Tough as nails.
6. Aaron Ekblad: One of my top three puck movers in the. Played 23 minutes plus TOI
7. Auston Matthews: Very likely will be the next Anze Kopitar

Barf

WTF
- nbboy

Did you expect anything else?

1. McK
2. McD
3. Gaudreau (although he cheated all over the place...but that was the team's style of play)
4. Matthews
5. Rielly/Larkin

i actually thought Matthews before Gaudreau, but could see it both ways.

I also thought Reilly could be 3. Eklblad was hurt else he would be top 5 easily. Eichel isnt even in the top 10 imo.

1. MacKinnon
2. McDavid
3. Matthews
4. Gaudreau
5. Reilly
6. Gotisbehere
7. RNH
8. Trocheck
9. Murray
10. Gibson
- Archaic

That's fair. I just avoided the difficulty of ranking the fwds/D together, so just went with the Fwds. Rielly/Gost/Parayko were the standouts on the blueline for me.

Did you expect anything else?

1. McK
2. McD
3. Gaudreau (although he cheated all over the place...but that was the team's style of play)
4. Matthews
5. Rielly/Larkin
- Fakepartofme

dunno bout Larkin buddy, he barely played at all, got benched for most of the third period in the games he played.

Yeah, you need rough and tumble stay at home guys to compete with cup winners.

Pittsburgh had so many of them.
- WingmanWillie

you completely missed the point.

someone (not me) was making the case the Jake Gardiner is one of the best defensemen in the NHL - which from my point of view is moronic.

that same individual was completely smearing Polak... indicating he's a 5-6 defenseman at best and was the reason the Sharks didn't beat the Pens.

I didn't say or intend to say you need a rough and tumble guy to win the cup...

but it might be worth looking at the last 5-6 cup winning teams and see if they had a stay at home guy.

That's fair. I just avoided the difficulty of ranking the fwds/D together, so just went with the Fwds. Rielly/Gost/Parayko were the standouts on the blueline for me.
- 1979AD

the ghost is something special.

wonder who will be better between him and Provorov..

the ghost is something special.

wonder who will be better between him and Provorov..
- Lucas.Neilson

He was good rushing the puck but was pushed off the puck quite easily, had trouble containing the cycle. Sometimes people forget about the defensive side of the game.

Advanced stats,

Dear God, sometimes I wonder if these people actually watch Gardiner play defence. I mean watch him.
- LeafMan

tanner

Here’s some advanced stats for you. But sure, carrick is ready for the top pair with gardiner, well you know, because gardiner almost plays as many minutes as rielly in total.

vs. crosby
reilly 29:19
Gardiner 6:13

vs. ovechkin
reilly 32:59
Gardiner 3:12

vs. beregon
reilly 50:00
Gardiner 11:02

vs. stamkos
reilly 46:52
Gardiner 11:19

vs. giroux
reilly 22:14
Gardiner 5:15

vs. tavares
reilly 40:40
Gardiner 6:57

vs. pacioretty
reilly 24:23
Gardiner 3:44

vs. barkov
reilly 41:06
Gardiner 8:56

vs. mackinnon
reilly 24:13
Gardiner 3:26

vs. pavelski
reilly 20:51
Gardiner 5:10

vs. seguin
reilly 23:20
Gardiner 5:18

vs. sedin
reilly 19:41
Gardiner 2:35

vs. kopitar
reilly 19:45
Gardiner 4:08

vs. parise
reilly 22:19
Gardiner 4:13

vs. getzlaf
reilly 22:42
Gardiner 3:27

vs. tarasenko
reilly 22:58
Gardiner 4:37

vs. p.kane
reilly 15:47
Gardiner 3:28

you completely missed the point.

someone (not me) was making the case the Jake Gardiner is one of the best defensemen in the NHL - which from my point of view is moronic.

that same individual was completely smearing Polak... indicating he's a 5-6 defenseman at best and was the reason the Sharks didn't beat the Pens.

I didn't say or intend to say you need a rough and tumble guy to win the cup...

but it might be worth looking at the last 5-6 cup winning teams and see if they had a stay at home guy.
- BorjeFan4Ever

Nah, I got the point.

I just feel like being a poop disturber today

Gardiner is a middle-pairing Dman. Polak is a bottom pairing Dman.

dunno bout Larkin buddy, he barely played at all, got benched for most of the third period in the games he played.
- Lucas.Neilson

He was just a beast in the games he did play in.
But Rielly was simply great throughout.

tanner

Here’s some advanced stats for you. But sure, carrick is ready for the top pair with gardiner, well you know, because gardiner almost plays as many minutes as rielly in total.

vs. crosby
reilly 29:19
Gardiner 6:13

vs. ovechkin
reilly 32:59
Gardiner 3:12

vs. beregon
reilly 50:00
Gardiner 11:02

vs. stamkos
reilly 46:52
Gardiner 11:19

vs. giroux
reilly 22:14
Gardiner 5:15

vs. tavares
reilly 40:40
Gardiner 6:57

vs. pacioretty
reilly 24:23
Gardiner 3:44

vs. barkov
reilly 41:06
Gardiner 8:56

vs. mackinnon
reilly 24:13
Gardiner 3:26

vs. pavelski
reilly 20:51
Gardiner 5:10

vs. seguin
reilly 23:20
Gardiner 5:18

vs. sedin
reilly 19:41
Gardiner 2:35

vs. kopitar
reilly 19:45
Gardiner 4:08

vs. parise
reilly 22:19
Gardiner 4:13

vs. getzlaf
reilly 22:42
Gardiner 3:27

vs. tarasenko
reilly 22:58
Gardiner 4:37

vs. p.kane
reilly 15:47
Gardiner 3:28
- Tumbleweed

You might have missed my point, Gardiner is horrible defensively.

the ghost is something special.

wonder who will be better between him and Provorov..
- Lucas.Neilson

Good question - it will be fun to see. The thing about Gostisbehere, is he came out of nowhere and was an instant force in the NHL. You don't see that very often.

the ghost is something special.

wonder who will be better between him and Provorov..
- Lucas.Neilson

Gost is great at rushing the puck and moving the play.
Provorov looks to be stronger on the defensive side.

IMO

tanner

Here’s some advanced stats for you. But sure, carrick is ready for the top pair with gardiner, well you know, because gardiner almost plays as many minutes as rielly in total.

vs. crosby
reilly 29:19
Gardiner 6:13

vs. ovechkin
reilly 32:59
Gardiner 3:12

vs. beregon
reilly 50:00
Gardiner 11:02

vs. stamkos
reilly 46:52
Gardiner 11:19

vs. giroux
reilly 22:14
Gardiner 5:15

vs. tavares
reilly 40:40
Gardiner 6:57

vs. pacioretty
reilly 24:23
Gardiner 3:44

vs. barkov
reilly 41:06
Gardiner 8:56

vs. mackinnon
reilly 24:13
Gardiner 3:26

vs. pavelski
reilly 20:51
Gardiner 5:10

vs. seguin
reilly 23:20
Gardiner 5:18

vs. sedin
reilly 19:41
Gardiner 2:35

vs. kopitar
reilly 19:45
Gardiner 4:08

vs. parise
reilly 22:19
Gardiner 4:13

vs. getzlaf
reilly 22:42
Gardiner 3:27

vs. tarasenko
reilly 22:58
Gardiner 4:37

vs. p.kane
reilly 15:47
Gardiner 3:28
- Tumbleweed

tumble...

OBVIOUSLY... your interpretation of these stats is missing the point

Advanced stats,

Dear God, sometimes I wonder if these people actually watch Gardiner play defence. I mean watch him.
- LeafMan

While he certainly isn't all sunshine and rainbows and definitely not in the top 20 defensemen in the league, he was much better last year under Babcock and had far fewer giveaways. He skates the puck well, jumps into the rush and was even better and tying up guys along the wall... sometimes.

You might have missed my point, Gardiner is horrible defensively.
- LeafMan

i think he's ok and did fine in a 3/4 role

but i agree his hero chart makes him look better than he is and babcock makes a point of not putting him out there against elite competition.

the ghost is something special.

wonder who will be better between him and Provorov..
- Lucas.Neilson

Either Ceci or Chabot. Probably both.

i think he's ok and did fine in a 3/4 role

but i agree his hero chart makes him look better than he is and babcock makes a point of not putting him out there against elite competition.
- Tumbleweed

For an offensive D-man, he really doesn't generate a lot of offence. He is an average d-man at best. He is a project for Babcock.

You might have missed my point, Gardiner is horrible defensively.
- LeafMan

I think you need to educate yourself my friend.

Professor Tanner is waiting for you

My wife will soon be a hockey widow.


Drop the puck!

I think you need to educate yourself my friend.

Professor Tanner is waiting for you
- Symba007

I thought I was seeing doubles for a second...

I think you need to educate yourself my friend.

Professor Tanner is waiting for you
- Symba007

My eyes and forty years watching hockey has made me come to that conclusion.

You're actually making my point for me. The last D on the roster isn't making much of an impact in the overall scheme of things and the Sharks could easily have won the Cup while dressing a bad player like Polak.
- JTanner

So Polak can play 3rd pairing for the Leafs and they can still wins games, like he did for the Sharks.

Good to know.

That's fair. I just avoided the difficulty of ranking the fwds/D together, so just went with the Fwds. Rielly/Gost/Parayko were the standouts on the blueline for me.
- 1979AD

Makes sense. Sometimes it's hard to weigh the defense to forward impact, especially in this team where it was very high octane.

I think you need to educate yourself my friend.

Professor Tanner is waiting for you
- Symba007

He's busy working on a formula to reconcile "last D man doesn't matter" with "Polak playing instead of DeMarlo could have cost the Sharks the cup."

He'll need some time.

I think you need to educate yourself my friend.

Professor Tanner is waiting for you
- Symba007

so serious question... everyone freaked out over the Subban Webber deal.

Webber hasn't been rated very highly recently, but Subban has by the stats monsters.

Anyone think there's anything to the possibility of the goaltending effecting the d-man stats a little too much...

'cause Rinne hasn't been vintage the past two seasons...

while Subban has played in front of Price (obvious Price missed much of last year).

my simple mind needs to know.