GDT: TONIGHT WE DINE IN HELL - Ducks at Preds - 5pm

[AngelDuck]

Forbserg is easily that teams best forward. Has been since they traded for him. What an abomination of a trade by George McPhee

 

[Fighter]

3-1 Preds

 

[Trojans86]

He's a pretty high end playmaker who is quietly having a bit of a down season for his standards. He's hit between 60 and 70 points pretty consistently before this season which is certainly acceptable for a 1C. But I agree, if your definition of a franchise center is a PPG type guy, he is definitely not quite at that level. More like an average 1C or a great 2C. At around 18 minutes per game, his TOI is somewhere around that too. Not quite at the 19 or 20 minutes a game you would expect a franchise center to play.

Every forward on the Preds seems to be overrated these days though. Forsberg's numbers are fairly comparable to Rakell over the past two seasons, and Rakell is actually on pace to outscore him this season, but I'd bet the average hockey fan or media pundit would take Forsberg over Rakell in a fantasy draft. There really isn't much of a dropoff in production between Arviddson and Henrique either this season. The dropoff from Fiala to Kase isn't too severe either when you factor in the games Kase has missed for injury. Perry and Turris are pretty comparable also in terms of production. Same for Silfverberg and Jarnkrok. Honestly, they've probably got a bit more depth than us at forward (Smith is producing more than a one-legged Kesler right now, Cogs and Hartnell are probably a wash in terms of production, and Hartman is a bit more productive than Ritchie) but overall our forward corps and theirs are pretty evenly matched in terms of roles and production, especially considering that Getzlaf is far and away the better player between him and Johansen.

The Preds forwards really look like a group that is the sum of all its parts, which I think gives people the impression that they are more elite than they actually are. That, and the fact that they do have two elite players on defense in Subban and Josi, and an elite goaltender in Rinne. Those guys are legit and deserve to be considered franchise players IMO, and coupled with a group of six 50 to 60 point forwards spread out over their top nine, makes them a dangerous team. We are close but their defense (didn't even mention Ekholm) gives them a significant edge which is why this would be a big game for us to win.

I agree with most of this but feel like Getzlaf relative to CryJo gives us an overall edge from the forwards. I also feel Kase and Fiala are pretty equal. Their ppg are pretty even and Kase doesn't get much time on the power play and Kase plays with Ritchie who somehow only has 6 goals despite playing with Kase and Henrique. I also think Rakell benefits a lot from playing with Getzlaf. If Forsberg played with Getzlaf his points would go up a bit.

 

[Deuce22]

If we were to play Preds in playoffs again, I'd see it as a tossup. Assuming both teams are fairly healthy. Looking at this year's regular season as evidence that Preds are superior is as misguided as looking at last year's regular season and saying the Ducks were. Without getting into detail, think their D is a little better, our forwards are a little better, and the goalies are a wash.

 

[DaGeneral]

Getzlaf
Kesler
Henrique
Grant

That center depth trumps

CryJo
Turris
Bonino
4c

Their D/G are GOATS, so it’d be fun to watch in a series

 

[Mallard]

Going to be a nasty game hopefully. Is it Kesler's first game against them this season?

 

[ZzZz]

Going to be a nasty game hopefully. Is it Kesler's first game against them this season?

It is.

 

[SirQuacksALot]

If we were to play Preds in playoffs again, I'd see it as a tossup. Assuming both teams are fairly healthy. Looking at this year's regular season as evidence that Preds are superior is as misguided as looking at last year's regular season and saying the Ducks were. Without getting into detail, think their D is a little better, our forwards are a little better, and the goalies are a wash.

how dare u disrespect peks by comparing him to a pleb

 

[ThirdManIn]

Just found out I got passed over for a promotion and I didn't do as well on the LSAT as I wanted to.



SMASH TRASHVILLE

Me either, but I think only like 1% of people who take the LSAT do as well as they wanted to.

 

[DarthYenik]

Oh, jeez. Hooray for mediocrity!

(Just a chirp)

 

[Magnus the Duck]

Ugh, are they going to bore us to a loss with tacky pregame stuff.

 

[DarthYenik]

Back to Jessica Jones, I guess. I’ll be back hopefully by the time they drop the puck.

 

[Kariya 9]

Ugh, are they going to bore us to a loss with tacky pregame stuff.

And brevity is not a virtue when it comes to ceremonies for hockey people.

 

[McDonald19]

Some more Phily-Boston on NHL Network I guess.

 

[TesseracT]

Booing Bettman is played out.

 

[ducks8]

Beauch and Bieska are in? f***

 

[Kariya 9]

Beauch and Bieska are in? ****

TRUCULENCE!!!

 

[Fighter]

I must give Buttman credit: he takes the boos like a pro and make fun out of the situation every time. Also, he got booed this time in Nashvilles less than I've ever heard, they were very quiet compared to any other arena I've heard.

 

[duckaroosky]

Not even trying to make fun of him but Bettman looks like he has MS.

 

[Sojourn]

Back to Jessica Jones, I guess. I’ll be back hopefully by the time they drop the puck.

Hah. I’m still on episode 1 of season 2. Didn’t get to finish.

 

[The Midnight Burrito]

David Poile looks like the love child of Steve Carel and a turtle.

 

[Static]

What are they doing?

 

[TesseracT]

Hearing the Preds are 20 years old just tripped me out for a bit.

 

[bsu]

I am trying to listen to the radio... has the game not started yet?

 

[McDonald19]

Lol at 7th man banner.