tOfficial 24-25 NHL season thread

This draft lottery is the most confusing thing I’ve ever watched
 
2025 draft don’t matter. Wait for Gavin McKenna
We're probably going to see an abnormally high volume of tanking this coming season - as tends to happen each year there's a "generational Canadian center" on the board. Owners & GMs who know their teams are still several years away from legit playoff contention are going to try to pull extra trades to dump quality starters for picks and prospects to get better odds for "expedite rebuild" McKenna.

Blackhawks, Sharks, Ducks, Flyers, Bruins, Kraken, and maybe even the Sabres & Penguins are all good candidates to make moves to get shittier now. Penguins have the Rangers 2026 first round pick, too, so they might actually have two shots at McKenna.
 
And speaking of that... Soapbox time...

The game winner went to Slavin. Media talking heads keep saying shit like "we should make another defenseman award for best defensive defenseman". NO! Fuck that! Just stop focusing so much on points and watch the fucking games to see which defensemen have the biggest impact on games over the entire 200' x 85' ice surface!

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Slavin should be a Norris finalist this year - at worst.
 
And speaking of that... Soapbox time...

The game winner went to Slavin. Media talking heads keep saying shit like "we should make another defenseman award for best defensive defenseman". NO! Fuck that! Just stop focusing so much on points and watch the fucking games to see which defensemen have the biggest impact on games over the entire 200' x 85' ice surface!

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Slavin should be a Norris finalist this year - at worst.
Slavin wasn’t even Top 30 in +\- among Dmen… and Cole Caufield had 3x more hits than Slavin

Gustav Forsling isn’t even in Norris discussion and he’s 5x the defenseman Slavin is.
 
Slavin wasn’t even Top 30 in +\- among Dmen… and Cole Caufield had 3x more hits than Slavin

Gustav Forsling isn’t even in Norris discussion and he’s 5x the defenseman Slavin is.
Focusing on stats again. Watch the games. "Perfect defensive position" (for example) isn't a stat.

And yes, Forsling should be in legit Norris consideration, too.
 
Slavin wasn’t even Top 30 in +\- among Dmen… and Cole Caufield had 3x more hits than Slavin

Gustav Forsling isn’t even in Norris discussion and he’s 5x the defenseman Slavin is.
And specific to +/-, a key reason why Slavin doesn't lead the league in a category like +/- is 1) because it's actually a team stat and 2) he's on the ice against the opponents' best scorers every shift.
 
Focusing on stats again. Watch the games. "Perfect defensive position" (for example) isn't a stat.

And yes, Forsling should be in legit Norris consideration, too.
Anything you see with the “eye test” is quantifiable on a stat sheet, especially in hockey. A hit is a hit, a block is a block, a takeaway is a takeaway. +\- is the penultimate way to measure the “immeasurables”, especially on a team with a top 10 GD. For fucks sake, Forslings +\- was even better than Floridas as a team.



I’ve been watching Slavin play since he was with the Steel, he’s a fine defenseman and has gotten even better in the NHL, which is great. He’s not a Norris caliber player.
 
And specific to +/-, a key reason why Slavin doesn't lead the league in a category like +/- is 1) because it's actually a team stat and 2) he's on the ice against the opponents' best scorers every shift.

You’re making my point for me.

If Slavin is seen as the “best of the best” at his position, the fact his +\- isn’t great doesn’t help him. He’s “the best” defenseman, playing against “the best” forwards and the fact that his +\- is so mediocre suggests that “the best” forwards are doing well against him.
 
Anything you see with the “eye test” is quantifiable on a stat sheet, especially in hockey.
So when the opponent is rushing on you on a 2-on-1 and you deflect the cross-ice pass - breaking up the rush, which stat is that? It's not tallied as a hit or a takeaway or a blocked shot... You don't get a '+' for it... ...but you made a huge play that potentially saved a goal. :noidea:
 
So when the opponent is rushing on you on a 2-on-1 and you deflect the cross-ice pass - breaking up the rush, which stat is that? It's not tallied as a hit or a takeaway or a blocked shot... You don't get a '+' for it... ...but you made a huge play that potentially saved a goal. :noidea:
You’re aware Slavins Corsi is -3 right? So, we may not want to look at shot suppression as an example…
 
If Slavin is seen as the “best of the best” at his position, the fact his +\- isn’t great doesn’t help him. He’s “the best” defenseman, playing against “the best” forwards and the fact that his +\- is so mediocre suggests that “the best” forwards are doing well against him.
Nah, it suggests that "the best" forwards succeeded against all five guys on the ice.
 
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