Are The NHL Playoffs Set After Thanksgiving?
You've heard it before, American Thanksgiving is when you can look at the standings and determine with almost near certainty who will make the playoffs.
Well, we've looked at the standings and we have to disagree on that. We talk about the teams we think will still miss the playoffs, despite being in a playoff position. As well, who we think can jump back into a playoff spot after a poor start.
Follow us on Twitter at @OTHockeyTalk.
Find us on Instagram at @OTHockeyTalk.
Transcript
Oh, and welcome to overtime hockey talk.
Speaker:My name is Mark Paul and my cohost, Justin Baker joining me as per the literally
Speaker:every single time we've ever done the
Speaker:Literally every single time.
Speaker:but really every single time, Justin, how was your Thanksgiving?
Speaker:That's great.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I deep fried a turkey, which was great first time.
Speaker:Oh,
Speaker:how'd that go?
Speaker:not as bad as you'd think.
Speaker:I didn't set the house on fire, which was great.
Speaker:No explosions.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I
Speaker:actually bought an electric deep fryer instead of the propane gas one.
Speaker:and I will say I timed it perfectly and probably the turkey came out.
Speaker:The skin was great.
Speaker:Middles were great, but a little bit towards the outside of the
Speaker:bird was a little overdone.
Speaker:In my defense, I did get distracted by the bears, lions ending
Speaker:the last five minutes there.
Speaker:So
Speaker:How could you not
Speaker:yeah, so I was like, yeah, we can leave it in there for, a few more minutes and
Speaker:in retrospect probably shouldn't have, but
Speaker:need to come out then?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:yeah,
Speaker:Turkey is you can always take it out or sorry.
Speaker:You can always put it back in, but you can't.
Speaker:You can't go back and undo overcooked, but I'm sure that it was still good.
Speaker:That's why there's gravy and cranberry sauce.
Speaker:there wouldn't be a tradition of gravy and cranberry sauce if turkey
Speaker:wasn't traditionally dry anyway.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Never, can honestly say never had cranberry sauce before.
Speaker:really?
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:gravy.
Speaker:It's gravy.
Speaker:Plenty of gravy.
Speaker:I'm surprised you never had cranberry sauce before.
Speaker:That's unbelievable.
Speaker:No, as my dad would put it, that's too Yankee for us.
Speaker:Ah, what, Oh, he saw
Speaker:Yeah, my dad was from, yeah, Louisiana.
Speaker:That's where his family's from.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's like a Northern thing, right?
Speaker:Cause like cranberries are a Northern berry.
Speaker:So it makes sense.
Speaker:Yeah, definitely not.
Speaker:I could see it not being a Southern thing.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:anyways, on today's show, we are, we're looking at the playoff race right now
Speaker:because we just passed Thanksgiving and we all know the saying, once you hit
Speaker:Thanksgiving, you pretty much know who's going to make the playoffs and who is not.
Speaker:We wanted to look at the current standings and pick out a couple of teams, maybe more
Speaker:than two that we think are pretenders.
Speaker:Who are the teams that are not going to make the playoffs and
Speaker:then who's going to replace them?
Speaker:there's a lot of options because really there's, you look at like
Speaker:the Metro and that division is just, everyone's crunched together.
Speaker:even.
Speaker:The Pittsburgh Penguins still have a shot.
Speaker:not really, but mathematically they could go on a little bit of a run.
Speaker:Five game winning streak might get them back into the playoffs.
Speaker:So there are a lot of teams still in the race.
Speaker:who are you looking at first that's in the playoffs that is just, you don't
Speaker:think they'll end up there come April.
Speaker:okay.
Speaker:so first team I'm looking at that's currently sitting at a
Speaker:number three spot right now.
Speaker:Now, I know that's an easy team to pick maybe for some people,
Speaker:but I just look at them, just from an offensive standpoint, right?
Speaker:they're sitting 31st in the NHL and goals for per game.
Speaker:you look at that goals against that goal differential right
Speaker:now at a minus 16 and obviously.
Speaker:Not great.
Speaker:But, for me, it's just a concern about goal scoring because listen, we're in a
Speaker:league where goal scoring is up, where you have to be able to score goals to get it.
Speaker:You can't play that.
Speaker:I remember when Boston got into the playoffs and, they
Speaker:won their Stanley Cup in 2011.
Speaker:They got in on a, I'm winning every game two to one and having a 5.
Speaker:2 percent power play.
Speaker:So they just,
Speaker:And Tim Thomas had a 96 percent say percentage.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So this is in the same NHL where you can get in on defense alone.
Speaker:I know that's a big aspect of the game and definitely plays an important role.
Speaker:we've seen it with, our last few Stanley cup winners, but for me, honestly,
Speaker:you've got to be able to score goals and Boston can't do that right now.
Speaker:outside of pasta and, BM there a little bit, 63, maybe, they can put
Speaker:up a few points, but they're not really getting depth scoring from
Speaker:guys like Elias Lindholm and Charlie.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:coil, I just, t to shake this team up.
Speaker:I down the middle.
Speaker:you on pebbles, Aka and Elias your one to center punch me, that's my fir
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And when you consider who's behind them, the Tampa Bay lightning,
Speaker:they've got three games in hand.
Speaker:Their one point back, what are the chances?
Speaker:Tampa Bay doesn't get two out of six points in those games.
Speaker:Probably pretty slim, the way they've been playing Tampa looks okay.
Speaker:They're not great.
Speaker:it's, I, it's not the same Atlantic division that we saw last year,
Speaker:even two or three years ago, where it was like just super top heavy.
Speaker:I think it's, you've really got the Panthers and the Leafs and then.
Speaker:everyone else.
Speaker:And right now Tampa still hanging on, to probably that third team looks, the
Speaker:way that it looks, it'll just be either Leafs in Tampa or Florida and Tampa.
Speaker:Like it's going to be one of those two teams playing each
Speaker:other in the first round.
Speaker:It'll be another like really great team eliminated in the first round.
Speaker:but yeah, I totally agree.
Speaker:The Bruins are our pretenders.
Speaker:There are a minus 16, which is second worst in that entire division.
Speaker:Montreal is the only team who has a worst goal differential.
Speaker:And there's only one other team in the Eastern conference.
Speaker:With the worst goal differential, and that's the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Speaker:And they have been god awful.
Speaker:Granted, they have won three in a row, so we'll give them that.
Speaker:They're, they're fine.
Speaker:Maybe fine in their way.
Speaker:Who knows?
Speaker:It wouldn't surprise me.
Speaker:I don't think that the Pittsburgh Penguins, do we really think that
Speaker:they're, like, a dead last team?
Speaker:I don't think they are.
Speaker:They'll find their way back into the chase, but I think ultimately
Speaker:they'll fall out, but I think they'll make it look like they're making
Speaker:a little bit of a run and it just, it's not going to happen for them.
Speaker:the Bruins, the other thing you talk about goal scoring, yeah, they can't
Speaker:score goals, but they also really are struggling to keep goals out and all.
Speaker:Like you look at the rest of the division, yes, the Florida
Speaker:Panthers have allowed more goals.
Speaker:They've also scored.
Speaker:Almost 50 percent more goals than the Bruins, 64 to 92.
Speaker:the fact that they've both let in the same amount of goals, this is
Speaker:not even a comparison because Florida is playing a totally different game.
Speaker:And Florida is on occasion, just absolutely blowing out teams, including
Speaker:the Maple Leafs who, yeah, they were out with, without Austin Matthews,
Speaker:I'll make lots of excuses for them in that game, but pre Thanksgiving,
Speaker:they're like, we're going to go.
Speaker:Catch some Turkey, some Canadian Turkey, but the Bruins just
Speaker:don't look like the Bruins.
Speaker:there, there's still talk about Marshawn being traded.
Speaker:there's a lot of trade rumors.
Speaker:And I think ultimately they're going to have to look at that team.
Speaker:If Marshawn won't sign long term, they have to deal.
Speaker:If he won't, he's not, he could sign an extension today and he has not
Speaker:been willing to do I got to imagine that he's looking around going, I'll.
Speaker:this is what it's going to be like.
Speaker:I, really would rather go to a contender, try and win again.
Speaker:I there's a lot of, I think any team in the playoffs would
Speaker:love to have Brad Marshad.
Speaker:Who wouldn't?
Speaker:Oh yeah.
Speaker:No, absolutely.
Speaker:he's an ideal, to me, he's an ideal third liner.
Speaker:A guy who can, stir things up.
Speaker:He's got a little sandpaper, a little grit to him.
Speaker:But he's a guy who can still chip in and put up, a good 50, 60 points a season.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:You can throw them on the second line.
Speaker:You
Speaker:can toss them all over the place.
Speaker:You can have them play on your second power play and move them to your first.
Speaker:If you need somebody to get out in front of the net and mix things up, and
Speaker:he's going to draw penalties for you.
Speaker:So it's going to help you get on the power play.
Speaker:So any team that goes, we are struggling to draw penalties.
Speaker:He'd be a good get a, to bring in really the leaf should just try to go get him
Speaker:because he's just tortured him.
Speaker:I don't think the Bruins would ever make a trade with the Leafs.
Speaker:Also, if they did and the Leafs, let's say they win the cup Bruins fans would be
Speaker:like, you just won the cup because of us.
Speaker:So it wouldn't be, you just couldn't do it.
Speaker:but yeah, the Bruins.
Speaker:and even points percentage wise, at a 519 and Tampa Bay is at 565.
Speaker:So Tampa is definitely in a position to where they really are.
Speaker:the Bruins are barely in it.
Speaker:They probably are like more like a wildcard team if they're going to
Speaker:get into it, which I think is where we had them in our pre preseason.
Speaker:Rankings.
Speaker:We
Speaker:If I remember, we both had them like sitting right there on the bubble,
Speaker:they're a bubble playoff team.
Speaker:And that's, right where they have them.
Speaker:all right.
Speaker:Who else do you have in, in the Eastern conferences?
Speaker:Pretenders.
Speaker:I think you talked about bubble teams right now.
Speaker:I think right now, obviously, Philly to me is a pretender.
Speaker:Again, that's another easy one.
Speaker:I think you can pick on Philly all day long
Speaker:Did they remind you of Washington last year though?
Speaker:yeah, they're like squeezing these games out.
Speaker:They're winning really tight games.
Speaker:They get blown out sometimes, and then they win close games, which
Speaker:is why their goal differential looks so poor at a minus 10.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:The thing with Philly is I just, I can't trust their goaltending at all.
Speaker:their backend and goaltending to me just.
Speaker:garbage, right?
Speaker:you know what?
Speaker:They've got Matt came in, they've got Mitch cough, he's leading
Speaker:the rookie point race right now.
Speaker:And they've got some good forwards up front, connect me.
Speaker:But you know what, I think when you again, look at the back end and what
Speaker:they have there between the goaltending and the defense, it's just not
Speaker:enough for me to feel good about it.
Speaker:they've got, yeah.
Speaker:Probably one of the better coaches in the league, in my opinion, who, does
Speaker:a very good job of squeezing every little bit out of, all of his players.
Speaker:So could he will them into the playoffs possibly, but to me, I
Speaker:just, I look at some other teams, especially like, a team that.
Speaker:to coach in the Columbus slowly climbing the, you there.
Speaker:I think they're th out for and especially, u we look at like how close pretty much
Speaker:between y really everybody Above Montreal from Ottawa to, to Columbus there.
Speaker:I think they're all just within a few points of each other.
Speaker:really it would be easy for Philly to go on a little bit of a losing
Speaker:streak here, one or two games, and just plummet to the bottom of that.
Speaker:Yeah, which is what they did last year.
Speaker:You would hope they've learned their lesson.
Speaker:That
Speaker:I think Buffalo would have learned it after 13 years,
Speaker:that's true.
Speaker:what lesson
Speaker:losing?
Speaker:yeah,
Speaker:Philadelphia would be one in there.
Speaker:Like you look at the Rangers where they sit right now.
Speaker:That's the Rangers are much better than where they're at.
Speaker:So I look at them and I go, I don't see them falling out completely.
Speaker:yeah, the last 10 games have been rough.
Speaker:first 10 games were okay.
Speaker:So I still see them as a team that'll sneak in.
Speaker:I think they're going to make changes though.
Speaker:I think they're seeing this and it'll either be a Crider or a Truba.
Speaker:I think I, I think in their minds, ideally Truba is the one who goes, I we know
Speaker:they've been trying to deal them for two years and they just haven't been able to.
Speaker:So I think that the ideal scenario for them is trade Truba.
Speaker:when you think about their issues in the playoffs has always been, yeah,
Speaker:they can score on the power play, but five on five, they're terrible.
Speaker:who's the guy who's getting a lot of five on five play?
Speaker:Because he's on there for like top lines is Chris Crider and he's awful.
Speaker:Five on five, he scores on the power play a lot.
Speaker:So I think you probably are looking to, if you're going to move Crider, which
Speaker:he has, his name has been out there.
Speaker:If you move him, you're hoping probably to get somebody who's really good five
Speaker:on five, because the rest of your team is like your power play is not struggling.
Speaker:yeah, I think you want to go out and you want to find somebody
Speaker:who can play five on five.
Speaker:yeah, I don't hate that.
Speaker:I do.
Speaker:I do agree with you.
Speaker:I think obviously true, but is the guy to look at right for the
Speaker:Rangers and obviously they're going to look at Chris Kreider as well.
Speaker:Possibly Kendra Miller and you could even go as far as maybe
Speaker:even throwing maybe a brain and Schneider's name into that mix, right?
Speaker:As guys who could possibly be on the move.
Speaker:but again, I think you're going to see a
Speaker:Lafrenier and Kako, both those guys have been, their names have been taught.
Speaker:not Lafrenier so much Kako.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And what's funny too is, Capococco, that line with Phil Piedel and, oh, Will
Speaker:Cully, that, that line has been very good, for them and probably their most
Speaker:consistent line over the last 10 games.
Speaker:But again, they don't need a guy to come in on that third line right there.
Speaker:They need guys on the top six who can produce consistently.
Speaker:again, I think the, the shortcomings of a guy like Chris Kreider are really,
Speaker:I guess coming to rear their ugly heads a little bit more now that, the
Speaker:rest of the team isn't playing as hot.
Speaker:So who knows?
Speaker:There's going to be a big shakeup.
Speaker:I agree with you on that.
Speaker:100%.
Speaker:When it happens, I don't know.
Speaker:I think obviously, moving a guy like Trubin is 8 million bucks is
Speaker:going to be a little difficult,
Speaker:Unless you're willing to eat half, which I
Speaker:And that's the thing, right?
Speaker:I think there would be a lot of teams that would line up to take
Speaker:him at four million bucks, but the problem is you have another year.
Speaker:for other teams, that's going to be a little bit more difficult to swallow.
Speaker:and he does have a 15 team, no trade list.
Speaker:So nixes a lot of those teams.
Speaker:And let's face it.
Speaker:A lot of the contenders right now are pushed up against the
Speaker:cap and don't have a lot of money to, you know, to wheel and deal.
Speaker:So we'll see.
Speaker:We'll see what happens.
Speaker:but I do think, ultimately something will get done there.
Speaker:and again, in my opinion, I think it's going to be true to go.
Speaker:what other teams do you have in there?
Speaker:Want to go Western conference?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I was going to throw a Western conference team in there.
Speaker:One, one second.
Speaker:One second.
Speaker:Cause we, we said flyers, we said the Bruins and obviously
Speaker:Tampa Bay is in there.
Speaker:what other team do you think is getting in?
Speaker:Because I know you mentioned the Columbus blue jackets are the blue
Speaker:jackets in the same vein as yes, they're doing better right now, but are they
Speaker:really, do we expect over the next.
Speaker:What's left 60 games that over the next 60 games that they're going to be
Speaker:better than where they are right now.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'm going to say no.
Speaker:I think from that aspect, they are a pretender.
Speaker:The one stat that stood
Speaker:So then who else is going to get in?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:If
Speaker:you look
Speaker:Columbus, that's, that would be my question,
Speaker:yeah, if not Columbus, to me, It's probably going to be someone
Speaker:sneaking in there as a wildcard spot.
Speaker:I think ultimately right.
Speaker:Boston falls out.
Speaker:Tampa kind of shuffles himself back up under that three spot.
Speaker:now as far as who gets in on that, that second wildcard spot, probably
Speaker:to me, it's going to be a battle between we've, we talked about these
Speaker:teams a lot, but between Detroit and Buffalo, I think at some point.
Speaker:They're going to make some moves.
Speaker:I think Pittsburgh is going to deal some guys out the Islanders.
Speaker:I just can't trust that offense enough to just say, Hey, you know what, they're
Speaker:going to, they're going to score their way into the, into the playoffs again.
Speaker:so for me, it really comes down to Buffalo and Detroit.
Speaker:I think one of those two teams will probably find their way in somehow.
Speaker:Um, whether or not it happens sooner rather than later, or it takes,
Speaker:takes till February, To really just.
Speaker:Figure out, okay, cool.
Speaker:This is where Detroit's going to really be.
Speaker:This is where Buffalo really is going to sit.
Speaker:We'll see.
Speaker:But I think ultimately Columbus just can't keep up this kind of sustained
Speaker:success because, again, I look at, their numbers across the board.
Speaker:I just think that goaltending is a little weak for me.
Speaker:I can't long term see it holding up and it hasn't really been that great either.
Speaker:They've just been scoring extremely well, five on five right now.
Speaker:look, they're sitting number three in the league at five on five play.
Speaker:So, again, is that something they can keep up?
Speaker:I don't think so.
Speaker:I think, hate to say it.
Speaker:I think it is a little bit of the Johnny Goudreau effect.
Speaker:I think they're just willing themselves playing for him a
Speaker:little bit, maybe right now.
Speaker:which we've seen lesser things motivate a team through the entire year,
Speaker:yeah, absolutely.
Speaker:top of mind.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I got to give Dean Evanson some credit, right?
Speaker:I think you can put his name in that Jack Adams category right now.
Speaker:I think he's done a
Speaker:If they make the
Speaker:job.
Speaker:Yeah, Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I
Speaker:if they make the playoffs and he doesn't win it, then it's Somebody's dumb.
Speaker:Like that story is just too good.
Speaker:like the everything around that.
Speaker:It just, it would just make so much sense.
Speaker:yeah, the other team, I the Washington capitals, we def, we
Speaker:both had them out of the playoffs.
Speaker:We both said, okay, I can't see this being sustained.
Speaker:And then Ovechkin went down, like they were doing so well.
Speaker:Ovechkin went down and we went, oh boy, He's so hot, he's scoring so
Speaker:many goals right now, maybe they start coming back down to normal.
Speaker:Nope, they just, all they do is just go and like basically
Speaker:haven't lost since he left.
Speaker:And, things seem to be coming together for them.
Speaker:Are they for real?
Speaker:are they really for real?
Speaker:this team scored more goals than anyone in the league.
Speaker:But, by far.
Speaker:101 goals in 24 games that they're at more than four goals a game through 24 games.
Speaker:the next best is Florida 90 or no, sorry, New Jersey 94 and, but 27 games.
Speaker:So that's three extra games.
Speaker:they're just, what a Winnipeg Jets 94 in 25 games.
Speaker:That's probably the next closest.
Speaker:What do we think about the Washington capitals?
Speaker:Because Now I think they're so far ahead.
Speaker:I I guess they're not that far ahead.
Speaker:Really?
Speaker:They're 10 points ahead.
Speaker:It would be like, it would be pretty mind blowing for them to
Speaker:miss the playoffs at this point because of how far ahead they are.
Speaker:Could they be a pretender?
Speaker:are they really this good?
Speaker:Do did they just, what happened here?
Speaker:I don't think they're tops in the division.
Speaker:Good.
Speaker:But I do think Washington is for real.
Speaker:and again, I know I talked
Speaker:We talking about cup contenders now for the Washington capitals.
Speaker:It's somehow they've managed in two years to take this and not miss
Speaker:the playoffs and just, it's insane.
Speaker:No,
Speaker:They missed the playoffs two years ago, right?
Speaker:They missed the playoffs two
Speaker:years ago.
Speaker:Cause two years ago was the first time that like Pittsburgh and
Speaker:Washington and both missed the playoffs since Sydney Crosby.
Speaker:and then last year, Washington made the playoffs destroyed by the Rangers, right?
Speaker:Man, they're, they are just crushing it.
Speaker:And even doing it without Ovechkin
Speaker:And that's the thing.
Speaker:I think they have, Vetchkin again, five on five play was actually
Speaker:way better than I expected.
Speaker:Their power play.
Speaker:I think last time when he was, when he, right before his injury, they
Speaker:were sitting, I think like 31st in the league or something like that.
Speaker:it was God awful.
Speaker:It was towards the bottom of the league.
Speaker:Not very good.
Speaker:But again, when you look at, I know I talked about it for Columbus, but when
Speaker:you look at their five on five play, it's towards the top of the league right now.
Speaker:they're number one in goals for, they're tied with Minnesota as far as goal
Speaker:differential five on five players.
Speaker:So when you look at those kinds of numbers and you say, okay, cool,
Speaker:they're not really relying on the, like the old ways in Washington, right?
Speaker:Where they just set up Ovechkin on that left side and just let them rip it.
Speaker:And they were running a 25 percent power play all the time.
Speaker:They're not doing that anymore because they're doing a great
Speaker:job of closing off gaps.
Speaker:they're shutting down the neutral zone of the ice and they're
Speaker:really collapsing well on guys.
Speaker:So I think Spencer Carberry deserves a lot of credit for what he's
Speaker:done with this team, especially.
Speaker:with some of the
Speaker:two years.
Speaker:right and a lot of these younger guys too, especially Connor McMichael and
Speaker:to my surprise to PLD right here.
Speaker:Luke Dubois has looked pretty dang good, right?
Speaker:No pressure.
Speaker:They've just somehow managed to say, you know what?
Speaker:We're gonna throw this guy in the middle six role and he's just he's ran with it.
Speaker:He looks very good as their number two center doesn't have
Speaker:to play the tough assignments.
Speaker:I think it's worked out very well for them, obviously.
Speaker:and More importantly, I think right now guys like John Carlson,
Speaker:Jacob Chi and Matt Roy have looked phenomenal at that backend.
Speaker:Yeah, they really did work to the back end, bring in a Roy
Speaker:and that made a huge difference.
Speaker:and the goaltending has been really solid.
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:Solid.
Speaker:Yeah, Logan Thompson's been phenomenal.
Speaker:I think he's gonna play his way into Team Canada, for the Four Nations tournament,
Speaker:and, Charlie Lewin's been all right.
Speaker:I actually probably expected Logan Thompson overtake him, which.
Speaker:I mean, I think I remember you specifically saying that you thought
Speaker:Logan Thompson would take over the one spot and that Charlie Lingren was
Speaker:really just a number two, a backup guy.
Speaker:I remember you saying that, speaking of the four nations, roster, if you
Speaker:didn't listen to our episode predicting.
Speaker:are, or I should say suggesting the four nations rosters.
Speaker:you can subscribe to the show and go listen to that.
Speaker:it's a good one.
Speaker:okay, let's run over to the Eastern conference.
Speaker:Washington to me, they're not pretenders, but I'm waiting to, I'm
Speaker:waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Speaker:Are they just going to keep on winning like this the rest of the year?
Speaker:I'm curious to what they can do.
Speaker:Also, I did say in our, pregame that I thought Ovechkin would break the record.
Speaker:I think he still has a chance if he
Speaker:can keep on going.
Speaker:If he can, if he stays, can stay hot when he comes back, we'll see
Speaker:I will say this about Washington though.
Speaker:So obviously we know florida, right?
Speaker:Won the cup.
Speaker:the year prior to them winning, they've snuck in the playoffs just
Speaker:by the thinnest of margins, right?
Speaker:We remember that making the tie, that tiebreaker just
Speaker:like Washington did last year.
Speaker:Does that mean Washington is going to win the cup this year?
Speaker:I don't know.
Speaker:Just
Speaker:saying.
Speaker:don't think so.
Speaker:No, probably not.
Speaker:But
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Let's scurry off to the Western conference,
Speaker:mhm.
Speaker:where the timing, just like the metropolitan division where Washington
Speaker:is, we had them out of the playoffs and they're leading the division in
Speaker:the central division, the Minnesota wild or leading the division 16,
Speaker:four and four, and, they have been, Incredible defensively, only
Speaker:allowing 58 goals in 24 games.
Speaker:And, yeah, they have managed to blow our minds because we
Speaker:had them out of the playoffs.
Speaker:I think both of us had them way out of the playoffs.
Speaker:Yeah, I had, not way out.
Speaker:I had them as a bubble team, but still, I was not expecting them
Speaker:to be anywhere near this good.
Speaker:Oh, and it's been exactly what we said was can Caprizov start.
Speaker:if he could start well, we thought there was a chance that
Speaker:I think that was what it was.
Speaker:It was if Caprizoff can start well, then they will make the playoffs
Speaker:or they could make the playoffs.
Speaker:But if he has another slow start, then it's going to put them way back.
Speaker:And of course he leads the NHL in points with 38 points.
Speaker:pretty crazy to, to consider that
Speaker:that he, we all know that he's good.
Speaker:And I think the last couple of years, people, Not soured on
Speaker:him, but I think they went, okay.
Speaker:he's not, he's probably not like 120 point guy.
Speaker:He's more like the 80 to 90 guy
Speaker:and that'll be his regular pace.
Speaker:And, to be honest, the top of the NHL points.
Speaker:List is the weirdest thing I've ever seen right now.
Speaker:reminds me of the year that Jamie Ben won the art Ross.
Speaker:We're like, no, one's going to have 80 points or whatever it was when he won
Speaker:the art Ross, but like just the names at the top, Carillo Caprizo, Martin
Speaker:Nietzsche, Jack Eichel, we're not used to seeing him at McKinnon and Kucherov.
Speaker:We are, but Dylan Strom is
Speaker:just several names in there that are just like, where'd you come from?
Speaker:Conor McDavid's not in the top 10.
Speaker:how weird is that?
Speaker:Not that those guys are bad player.
Speaker:Jack Eichel is a fantastic sentiment, but he's never really been in
Speaker:contention for winning the R Ross.
Speaker:No, I've been waiting since he got drafted for this.
Speaker:My goodness.
Speaker:so do we feel like Minnesota is real?
Speaker:Is there standing real
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I feel like they're real.
Speaker:maybe not a number one seed real, like they're not, I don't think at
Speaker:the end of the year, they're going to finish tops of the Western conference
Speaker:or even the president's trophy, but I do think they're top three team.
Speaker:I have no doubts the way they play on the backend, they're getting
Speaker:phenomenal goaltending from Gustafson and really, We talked about the backend.
Speaker:They just went out and acquired a fantastic team.
Speaker:a phenomenal prospect on the back
Speaker:end.
Speaker:Yeah, getting your check from Columbus for a whole year.
Speaker:It's
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:on a pix,
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And, I hate to, no, no offense to him, but Damien Hunt, I think was his name.
Speaker:But, from everything I've read, he's just basically like a
Speaker:B level prospect on defense.
Speaker:maybe a serviceable guy in Columbus eventually, maybe number six, seven
Speaker:kind of guy, which is good for him, but, Columbus obviously gets something out
Speaker:of a guy who doesn't want to be there.
Speaker:yeah, so they're loaded on their right side.
Speaker:they've got, Jared Spurgeon, Brock Faber, who's a phenomenal.
Speaker:Young defenseman as well, and you're a check now.
Speaker:And of course, Zach, Ian, which is still a pretty good six number seven
Speaker:defenseman to have on your team.
Speaker:and
Speaker:it's really been the, those younger guys like Boldy and Marco Rossi have
Speaker:both come into their own here and
Speaker:And they're for real too, right?
Speaker:Marco Rossi's not gonna be a, he's not gonna be one of those guys we see at
Speaker:the top of the points list at any point.
Speaker:I don't think at any point in his career is gonna be that kind of guy,
Speaker:it's like a two slash three center.
Speaker:And
Speaker:Yeah, he's a really good
Speaker:two center.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Yeah, I will say if there's something that would concern me about Minnesota
Speaker:is, you look, you go, all right, Caprizov has 38 Boldy with 24 makes sense.
Speaker:and, Marco Rossi with 14 points.
Speaker:And then after that it's Zuccarello with 14, Jonathan Erickson Eck with 13,
Speaker:you've got maybe not as good, not great scoring depth throughout the lineup, like
Speaker:15 goals, 11 goals, seven, six, five.
Speaker:And then it's a whole bunch of.
Speaker:Threes and fours in 24 games.
Speaker:it's not like you're going to end up with multiple 20 goal scores.
Speaker:Like at this point you look at it and you might have three,
Speaker:three, maybe four 20 goal scorers.
Speaker:There's not a lot of guys that can score, even though they're scoring,
Speaker:I, they're still putting up goals.
Speaker:77.
Speaker:yeah, there proves my point.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:77 goals is lowest out of, at least those top ranking central division teams.
Speaker:they've still scored more goals than Edmonton though.
Speaker:Edmonton just,
Speaker:a little surprising, right?
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:So that would be the thing that would cause me some pause to go well.
Speaker:If they now granted their defense is great.
Speaker:So that's helping them, but they're going to have to score some goals and you can
Speaker:see those younger guys maybe taking a step as the season goes along, that they'll
Speaker:start scoring a little bit more too.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And this team, they don't have a ton of cap space, but I'll tell you what, right
Speaker:now they're sitting at around six, 6.
Speaker:1, I think is what it was, as far as deadline cap space is concerned.
Speaker:It would not surprise me, I think, with this team to make a move at the deadline.
Speaker:And then, as a Minnesota Wild fan, too, you have to be licking your chops,
Speaker:hoping that maybe this translates again to next season, because you're
Speaker:going to have about 14 million open up
Speaker:You get all your gap space from all the, all those buyouts.
Speaker:Yeah, so that's going to open up and I think they're going to make a big
Speaker:splash this offseason, obviously, but when we're talking about this season, I
Speaker:still think there's a move to be made.
Speaker:I think they'll try to, they'll try to make a big splash.
Speaker:I think as far as maybe like a top, maybe a number two line center, just to get a
Speaker:little bit more depth scoring in there.
Speaker:Somebody who can come in and play, maybe a 2C spot, 3C spot who can maybe
Speaker:shift up and down the lineup and give them a little bit more flexibility.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:all right.
Speaker:Minnesota.
Speaker:Let me likely there they'll make the playoffs at this point because they are
Speaker:so much further ahead, eight points ahead.
Speaker:It's tough.
Speaker:It's a lot of points to make up.
Speaker:and it would be a pretty big collapse, but there are some teams.
Speaker:I want to talk about the teams outside of the playoffs right now.
Speaker:Do you think.
Speaker:St.
Speaker:Louis has any shot
Speaker:they're sitting outside the playoffs.
Speaker:Are they a team that, at one point they were in the playoff and in some
Speaker:playoff spots there, they've fallen off.
Speaker:they've gone 500 their last 10 games.
Speaker:They're really struggling at home five, six, and one, shot for St.
Speaker:Louis.
Speaker:boy.
Speaker:listen, they're starting to get healthy, right?
Speaker:Robert Thomas is, he'll be coming back.
Speaker:oh, I think he is back.
Speaker:What am I saying?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:He's back.
Speaker:yeah, yeah, you hope that maybe, They start to get a little healthier.
Speaker:yeah, Robert Thomas has been back for a while now, five games.
Speaker:Um, look, anytime there's a big shakeup, With a coaching change, bringing
Speaker:the, bringing in a new guy behind the bench and installing a new system.
Speaker:It's going to take time, right?
Speaker:But unfortunately for St.
Speaker:Louis, I don't know if you could say, they've got the time to do this and,
Speaker:let the new system play out, guys get comfortable and get familiar.
Speaker:to me, guys like Dylan Holloway, Philip Broberg having those additions, maybe
Speaker:Might be their best chance, right?
Speaker:Those guys coming back again, getting healthier, is really
Speaker:going to be the best odds for St.
Speaker:Louis if they're going to have any chance and look, Colorado, right?
Speaker:The team's right in front of them as far as the wild card spots are concerned.
Speaker:Colorado, Calgary.
Speaker:I don't know if I have a ton of faith in those teams right now, right?
Speaker:Calgary's been on a little bit of a dip lately.
Speaker:And I don't, maybe, we can talk about this a little bit more, but I don't see them
Speaker:as a long term, playoff contender, or even a, again, I think they're a pretender.
Speaker:Yeah, they rushed way out in front early on.
Speaker:They had such a good first 10 games, but they have definitely come back
Speaker:down to earth where we thought they'd be, which, which is about here.
Speaker:I guess we definitely thought they'd be a little lower here.
Speaker:We, they're probably on the high end of what we would expect
Speaker:with the really high, Hey, everything has to go perfectly and you could
Speaker:end up in a wildcard spot, but.
Speaker:they're rebuilding, let's just be, call it what it is.
Speaker:They've said they're rebuilding.
Speaker:So if they make the playoffs, it's almost like reminds me of
Speaker:Philadelphia last year where they were like, we re we're rebuilding.
Speaker:Oops.
Speaker:We almost made the playoffs lose.
Speaker:We don't want to make the play.
Speaker:We want a good player.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly, right?
Speaker:you might start seeing some pieces in Calgary get shipped
Speaker:off, sooner rather than later.
Speaker:I don't know, we'll see.
Speaker:I know
Speaker:there's a lot of Cadre chat and
Speaker:yeah, and Rasmus Andersen, right?
Speaker:There's another guy, maybe they could, get a ton back for, especially
Speaker:with only a 16, no trade list.
Speaker:But, again, back to the teams in front of the St.
Speaker:Louis Blues, right?
Speaker:Utah, I just don't know what they are.
Speaker:They, they're so up and down, they're just so middle of the road, right?
Speaker:That I just, I can't trust them anymore than I can trust St.
Speaker:Louis right now at this point.
Speaker:And at least for St.
Speaker:Louis, right?
Speaker:They've got guys coming back healthy, especially difference makers with guys,
Speaker:the, sorry.
Speaker:The reason I brought up St.
Speaker:Louis, it's
Speaker:just, a new coach.
Speaker:You've got Jim Montgomery coming in there.
Speaker:Who is he's proven what he can do with a team.
Speaker:Of lesser talent, he's made some teams look really good and, he knows how to win.
Speaker:So it wouldn't shock me if they were able to turn it around under him.
Speaker:it's probably more likely that next year they find themselves in a better position.
Speaker:I think there's still some holes with this team.
Speaker:Their backend is just very old and slow.
Speaker:The guys that aren't.
Speaker:The guys that aren't old are slow and the guys that are old are also slow.
Speaker:It's and then the rest of them have like injuries, they're out for the year.
Speaker:Like the one guy who can skate Torrey Krug is not playing
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:they just don't have enough depth scoring up front for me to feel too confident.
Speaker:for them to be able to outscore their opponents and
Speaker:right
Speaker:within
Speaker:you talk about being slow on the back end.
Speaker:and any injury just.
Speaker:Knocks them off their butt.
Speaker:yeah, I guess the next team, cause I'm just Utah.
Speaker:could Utah still make the playoffs?
Speaker:Sure.
Speaker:Mathematically, they're still in it.
Speaker:Are they going to, no, they're not because I don't think they're going to go out
Speaker:and try to make a big deadline move.
Speaker:So I don't think that's going to happen for them.
Speaker:I think it's far more likely that Colorado goes, Whoa, what kind of move can we make?
Speaker:Because we got to figure this out.
Speaker:It's crazy to think they won the cup and then.
Speaker:But this is where we are just a few years later that you figured that their window
Speaker:was going to be bigger than this, but the, with the still the same main players,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:And the problem is right.
Speaker:You talked about them trying to make a move, right?
Speaker:they're already trying to make moves right now.
Speaker:Colorado just went out and traded for Scott Wedgwood and basically
Speaker:sent, their gosh, a number three, goaltender back their way with us.
Speaker:I think it was a six rounder.
Speaker:that's the problem, right?
Speaker:you're not getting any kind of goaltending out of Colorado right now.
Speaker:It's just, it's atrocious.
Speaker:And, maybe part of that has to do with the backend, not playing so well, but
Speaker:look at Alexander Gorgiev and eight 75 on an in, an eight 72, say percentage
Speaker:was the one dealt, he was the one that was
Speaker:yeah, he was, sent off.
Speaker:But again, when you're sitting at a team save percentage of about 870 right now,
Speaker:well, Scott Wedgwood is not going to save you.
Speaker:no, definitely not expected to save you, right?
Speaker:But he's got to add a little bit of stability at that backup role.
Speaker:so when you do put in your backup, you're not worried about like just their
Speaker:throwaway games at that point, right?
Speaker:Where you're like, Oh, there goes that game, or we're going to have
Speaker:to score six or seven to win, right?
Speaker:You don't want to have that kind of situation, especially like
Speaker:what Carolina is going through, With Spencer Martin right now.
Speaker:they're in a situation where it's like, Oh shit.
Speaker:can we actually win this game?
Speaker:Cause
Speaker:Do we have any zip bony drivers out there that can
Speaker:well, Carolina actually today just signed Dustin to Karski to a two way deal.
Speaker:yeah, he was playing on their AHL team, but they signed them to a two way deal.
Speaker:desperate times.
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:So anyways, but Colorado their team again, I think they're trying to
Speaker:make a move now They're trying to do it on the cheap and see what kind
Speaker:of You know, relief they can get.
Speaker:luckily for them, they're only sitting two points out of a wildcard spot right now.
Speaker:And I think they, they, again, they're very top heavy, but in a good way, I
Speaker:think, the best top heavy, you could probably say in the league right now.
Speaker:um, they can ride that out, and see how it works with Scott Wedgwood.
Speaker:But, I'm not too confident.
Speaker:I think, again, this team will probably end up making another move for another
Speaker:goaltender, maybe to a team like, my Red Wings, When they, ultimately find
Speaker:themselves out of the playoff spot, maybe they call on, Alex Lyon and say,
Speaker:Hey, can you come over here and give us that 912 913 say percentage you're
Speaker:given Detroit and do it for a good team.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:although you did say that you thought the Red Wings might get back into it.
Speaker:They might.
Speaker:It's a roll of the dice, right?
Speaker:If
Speaker:I honestly am surprised that they've been as bad as they are, but if you look at it.
Speaker:One win their next game.
Speaker:If they win their two points out, they're still there.
Speaker:They're still in it.
Speaker:I think that's the only reason, Derek still has a job because
Speaker:nobody else in that conference, that division wants that wants to
Speaker:really take the ball and run with it.
Speaker:I truly don't know how he still has a job.
Speaker:he really should be like they're playing the most bland style of hockey.
Speaker:he's just bore.
Speaker:He's been so boring for their team.
Speaker:At least Blasio had some like energy about them.
Speaker:There was like, let's just be insanely fast, even though
Speaker:they weren't good at all.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And they didn't have anyone that was fast, except for it was like that, that
Speaker:Larkin and the younger guys, I think they, if there was somebody available
Speaker:that they knew they could go out and get, they probably would do it like St.
Speaker:Louis, Hey, sorry, like we're firing our coach, because we
Speaker:can go get Jim Montgomery,
Speaker:I'll tell you
Speaker:right out instead of, which I'm a surprise that they said that
Speaker:that was actually, that's ballsy.
Speaker:I got to say, I applaud it because I think, again, you want
Speaker:your guy, go get him, right?
Speaker:Just stop
Speaker:any out of history there, I like, it was an easy hire, but it was to be that
Speaker:honest and to go, yeah, we're not really firing you cause you're doing a bad job.
Speaker:Just, we just want this guy.
Speaker:I love it.
Speaker:I think it's great.
Speaker:And yeah, I've heard from the insiders, TSN insiders or whoever it was, that right
Speaker:now coach Q is on the radar for Detroit.
Speaker:You said that you texted me
Speaker:that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And I've seen it
Speaker:would love to see a coach Q and Patrick Kane reunion.
Speaker:That would be wonderful.
Speaker:How do you think, Detroit fans would embrace coach Q
Speaker:with
Speaker:Same way, they
Speaker:his history?
Speaker:You know what?
Speaker:Winning solves a lot of things.
Speaker:So if, he can put some W's in the column.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:His thing doesn't buy like his was much less.
Speaker:like Stan Bowman was, I think, in a worst spot because he actually, like
Speaker:somebody went to him and told him about it and he tucked it under the rug.
Speaker:Whereas coach Hugh was more like, I found out about it, but I thought that it
Speaker:was this other person's responsibility.
Speaker:Still wrong, but to a lesser extent, in my opinion, it's all screwed up, but
Speaker:to a little bit lesser of an extent, less, less grossed out by him, And
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:and
Speaker:it's been what, four years?
Speaker:and Stan Bowman's back anyway.
Speaker:and then it looks like, the Oilers are
Speaker:there, they're there.
Speaker:but they're there.
Speaker:That's a good way to put
Speaker:Isn't it so strange how sometimes year to year things can just, you look at
Speaker:the Edmonton Oilers and you were like, they'll be back in the finals next year.
Speaker:And then you go, what happened to them?
Speaker:All they did was lose Broberg.
Speaker:it's not It's not like the whole team is traded, but
Speaker:They and Colorado are gonna be fighting for a goaltender here pretty soon.
Speaker:I think so.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:the only other team that I could point to in the Western conference,
Speaker:in the playoffs currently that could miss would be Vancouver.
Speaker:But when I consider a 10 and two record away from home for Vancouver and a three,
Speaker:five and three record at home, which is just, you don't see a playoff team
Speaker:with A horrific home record very often.
Speaker:I think they'll turn that around.
Speaker:Like they're just not going to be that bad at home throughout the entire year.
Speaker:Probably won't be this good away from home either, but I think
Speaker:they've gone through some things.
Speaker:They're still going through some things with JT Miller
Speaker:being out, but.
Speaker:I think they're just, I don't see them missing.
Speaker:Like the Western conference to me is Colorado, Calgary, Edmonton.
Speaker:Those three teams are going to be duking it out.
Speaker:Maybe St.
Speaker:Louis, I would toss into that.
Speaker:And Utah is probably going to be knocking on the door the whole time.
Speaker:They're probably going to be right where they are the entire time
Speaker:because everyone else below them.
Speaker:And I'm Seattle, San Jose, Nashville, Chicago, all just trash.
Speaker:Although let's be 30 games and make the playoffs.
Speaker:Listen, I
Speaker:look at that St.
Speaker:Louis team.
Speaker:points in the last 20 games.
Speaker:Oh, dude.
Speaker:Look, I look at that St.
Speaker:Louis team that won the Cup.
Speaker:They were January 1st.
Speaker:They were last in the league.
Speaker:I think if they can do it, I look at the talent that Nashville has and I said,
Speaker:Oh, wait, they've got Ryan O'Reilly too.
Speaker:They could potentially do it too.
Speaker:So
Speaker:Ryan O'Reilly doesn't like to play until January.
Speaker:I guess
Speaker:So
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Stamkos is what is happening here?
Speaker:need a number two center so badly.
Speaker:Just so bad.
Speaker:Here's what's crazy.
Speaker:The Chicago Blackhawks have, what is it?
Speaker:I think like the fourth best power play in the league.
Speaker:Hold on.
Speaker:I'm gonna pull it up.
Speaker:Their power play is fantastic.
Speaker:Chicago's eighth best.
Speaker:Pretty good.
Speaker:25%.
Speaker:And then you've got in their last, their last place in the league.
Speaker:and then you have penalty kill Nashville by far the best penalty
Speaker:killing team in the NHL, 89%.
Speaker:And they find themselves in second to last so special teams, not.
Speaker:And it's the crazy thing to look at is the next five teams are all
Speaker:playoff teams in there that you've got Montreal who randomly isn't there.
Speaker:San Jose has a good penalty kill.
Speaker:They're top 10 penalty kill San Jose, Montreal, and Nashville.
Speaker:All in there just goes to show that.
Speaker:Special teams does not always get you into the playoffs.
Speaker:Five on five is king.
Speaker:Best penalty kill in the
Speaker:hey, Austin Bruins, they're in the playoffs right now.
Speaker:11 percent on the power play worst in the league.
Speaker:They're worse than everyone.
Speaker:don't know how you can do 11%.
Speaker:I've never seen anything that bad.
Speaker:that's crazy for a team.
Speaker:That's even if they were at 15%, they probably would have
Speaker:won an extra game or two.
Speaker:all right.
Speaker:I think this is what I want to know from you.
Speaker:So those teams like is Colorado getting in
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think there's too much talent up front to, to discount them, especially with
Speaker:what they have on the back end too.
Speaker:I think eventually.
Speaker:Scott Wedgewood to me, not the answer, but I do think eventually,
Speaker:maybe say in the next 10 games.
Speaker:they realize that and they go.
Speaker:Make a big move, right?
Speaker:In the next 10 to 15 games for a goaltender.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:I am, I'm leaning towards them missing the playoffs this time.
Speaker:I think the goaltending is that bad and they are just one injury away
Speaker:from losing all their depth again.
Speaker:and they, there's been a lot of injuries on that team.
Speaker:So I'm going to say that this is maybe a year where they have to do a little
Speaker:bit of soul searching and they come back next year looking a little different
Speaker:based on what I've seen And I think that, I think Calgary just has something
Speaker:going on, but I actually think St.
Speaker:Louis will tear back here.
Speaker:I think Jim Montgomery is going to do something.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I don't hate that at all.
Speaker:that's my wild prediction.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Mine is that Nashville gets in the playoffs.
Speaker:Oh, that
Speaker:I'm still sticking on it
Speaker:That would be great.
Speaker:I would, that would be a lot of fun.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:there are your pretenders and content, whatever you want to call them, the
Speaker:teams that will make the playoffs and that won't, and let us know
Speaker:what you think at OT hockey talk on Twitter and Tik TOK, hopefully
Speaker:this cold goes away someday, Someday
Speaker:I don't smoke, I swear.
Speaker:and, just Justin, have a good rest of your night to our listeners.
Speaker:Thanks for being here.
Speaker:Don't forget to subscribe to the show and we will talk to you later.
