Best line in the league? Kucherov-Stamkos-Namestnikov?

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Sigh since you didn't listen the first time I guess I'll repeat. You're using advanced stats that many people feel hold no weight, for good reason. #1 who's the most common defensive partners do these lines play with? How much do they contribute to shot suppression? How many of these shots are quality shots and how many are blue line dump ins? You're reaching here pretty hard. There's not a player on the Leafs near Couturier level defensively. There's no one on that top line on Giroux level defensively. Its just that simple. And offensively Philly is killing them. Hyman is not going to be apart of any top line in the NHL even if you pair with him McDavid and Ovechkin, let alone two second year rookies. There's only one person here being biased.

I'm using unbiased numbers to make a point, you keep saying that there's nobody on Couturier's level defensively...yet he bleeds a ton of shots? What makes him good defensively? From what I see, he's pretty damn bad. From what I see he's gabage defensively. We can Use Corsi rel to combat your first point. You are in denial after being presented with facts.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Kucherov has 6 goals in 6 games and Stamkos 7 assists.

right now TBL has the edge, but the Leafs are still up there

Right, and they still aren't as good as the Leafs line. Kucherov is shooting almost 40%, and their possession numbers still aren't close to the Leafs trio.

 

[Frosty415]

Right, and they still aren't as good as the Leafs line. Kucherov is shooting almost 40%, and their possession numbers still aren't close to the Leafs trio.

Kucherov just scored his 7th, 3rd player to get 6(7) in his first 6 games in the last 30 years.

Don't get so defensive dude, the TBL line is dominant, I'd still give em the edge over the leafs, and that's not a bad thing.

I wish ya'll didn't get so defensive

 

[RussianGuyovich]

Kucherov just scored his 7th, 3rd player to get 6(7) in his first 6 games in the last 30 years.

Don't get so defensive dude, the TBL line is dominant, I'd still give em the edge over the leafs, and that's not a bad thing.

I wish ya'll didn't get so defensive

dont worry, the leafs dont get defensive ever

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Kucherov just scored his 7th, 3rd player to get 6(7) in his first 6 games in the last 30 years.

Don't get so defensive dude, the TBL line is dominant, I'd still give em the edge over the leafs, and that's not a bad thing.

I wish ya'll didn't get so defensive

the Tampa Bay line has been hotter but the Leafs' line has been better

 

[PensandCaps]

Kucherov and Stamkos would be the leafs two best players. They're easily the best line in the league right now.

 

[TDK67]

Can anyone explain why Kucherov was drafted 58th overall? His MHL and WJC-18 numbers in his draft year look pretty insane. His MHL seasons rank among the best ever while his WJC-18 performance is arguably the best ever (if I'm not mistaken as he had a 3.0PPG).

Crazy that someone so skilled slipped into the very late stage of the 2nd round.

 

[The Macho King]

Right, and they still aren't as good as the Leafs line. Kucherov is shooting almost 40%, and their possession numbers still aren't close to the Leafs trio.

And Stamkos is shooting about 3% right now. When Kucherov cools off the career 18% shooter will probably be heating back up.

 

[Five Alarm Fire]

Small n - > higher variance

 

[Bourdon]

Can anyone explain why Kucherov was drafted 58th overall? His MHL and WJC-18 numbers in his draft year look pretty insane. His MHL seasons rank among the best ever while his WJC-18 performance is arguably the best ever (if I'm not mistaken as he had a 3.0PPG).

Crazy that someone so skilled slipped into the very late stage of the 2nd round.

Well, players also develop and hone their skills after they're drafted. He was also small-ish at 5'10 and 163lbs. Even Tampa had Namestnikov higher on their draft-lists over Kucherov.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

25 points in 6 games. Not too shabby.

 

[VinikToWinIt]

the Tampa Bay line has been hotter but the Leafs' line has been better

How does this even make sense 5-6 games into the season?

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

How does this even make sense 5-6 games into the season?

The Leafs line is generating chances better and playing better defense but the chances simply aren't going in at as high of a rate as the Tampa line

 

[RussianGuyovich]

The Leafs line is generating chances better and playing better defense but the chances simply aren't going in at as high of a rate as the Tampa line

"generating chances better" is my favorite advanced hockey stat sabremetric

 

[FlyTimmo]

We are ~5 games into the season. Metrics will not tell you anything yet. Too small of a sample size for any major conclusions. Maybe in 15-20 games we will have a good idea.

I have not seen a line that I am fully captivated by yet. The Matthews line has looked good, but Hyman is an eyesore. I haven't watched a single TB game yet, but a Stamkos-Kucherov line can't possibly be bad. The Giroux-Couturier-Voracek line looked like garbage during preseason, but has been slowly ramping up into a monster of a line. Ovechkin's line has also been dominant, but played exceptionally poor against Philly the other night.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

"generating chances better" is my favorite advanced hockey stat sabremetric

it's not that advanced

 

[RussianGuyovich]

We are ~5 games into the season. Metrics will not tell you anything yet. Too small of a sample size for any major conclusions. Maybe in 15-20 games we will have a good idea.

I have not seen a line that I am fully captivated by yet. The Matthews line has looked good, but Hyman is an eyesore. I haven't watched a single TB game yet, but a Stamkos-Kucherov line can't possibly be bad. The Giroux-Couturier-Voracek line looked like garbage during preseason, but has been slowly ramping up into a monster of a line. Ovechkin's line has also been dominant, but played exceptionally poor against Philly the other night.

haha guys, its a long hockey season, and we're only 5 games in; so it's a small sample size and impossible to make a prediction. so excuse me while i go ahead and write a paragraph about what i think,

 

[RussianGuyovich]

it's not that advanced

i'm absolutely positive about that

 

[Syckle78]

"generating chances better" is my favorite advanced hockey stat sabremetric

Why capitalise when you can get more chances!

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Why capitalise when you can get more chances!

I wonder why teams don't try asking their players to shoot 40% rather than working to create offense

 

[The Macho King]

I wonder why teams don't try asking their players to shoot 40% rather than working to create offense

Once again - Kucherov is hot and stamkos is ice cold. The line is still producing. No one is expecting goal per game out of Kucherov.

 

[Revelation]

The leafs have the greatest top line of all time, in fact they're so great that they're the first line in history where not producing all that much is actually positive because of how great they are. They are so great they're on the path to evolving hockey from a goal centric game into something greater. Why fixate on dinosaur era crap like scoring goals when you can be Austin Matthews and William Nylander and have that sick flow and gnarly rhythm?

 

[Sky04]

Nylander has less points than Namestnikov, that's all there's to say about the leafs line vs TB right now.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

The leafs have the greatest top line of all time, in fact they're so great that they're the first line in history where not producing all that much is actually positive because of how great they are. They are so great they're on the path to evolving hockey from a goal centric game into something greater. Why fixate on dinosaur era crap like scoring goals when you can be Austin Matthews and William Nylander and have that sick flow and gnarly rhythm?

great post. I think Matthews and Kuch will be goal per game players this year because when you're 5 games in production matters way more than actual play

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Once again - Kucherov is hot and stamkos is ice cold. The line is still producing. No one is expecting goal per game out of Kucherov.

agreed, but that's not the point. The point is that in a small stretch of games like this, the best way to evaluate and compare is through looking at actual play rather than results because the results are liable to change. The way Matthews and his line have played, assuming luck was about league average, they would have the best goal differential of any line in the league by a longshot. That's their case for being the best line so far