Why is scoring so much higher this year

[authentic]

I dunno... Lots of reasonable sounding explanations and theories out there.

My worry is the folks saying talent dilution are correct. Actually not so much dilution of talent caused by expansion, but more a shrinking of the pool the NHL is drawing talent from. Perhaps the escalating costs of playing (and training for) youth hockey at the levels required to have any shot of playing it at a pro level is finally starting to impact the upper echelons of the sport. Moving forward I got to think trying to roster up a ~1000 player league solely with dudes who grew up in upper 10% households and/or the sons of well connected former pro players/hockey lifers is sub-optimal. I think if it really is cost having an impact it would also explain why goaltending seems to have fallen off so much... Between the equipment and all the specialized training developing goalies is especially expensive.

Interesting theory, could be having a slight effect but realistically goalies have fallen off because their equipment shrunk.

 

[BillyOcean]

Reduced goalie equipment seems to be the biggest reason. If we're going to say the players are better and somehow more talented now than in the past, then we'd likely have to say the same for goalies too.

 

[BlueAzN]

because Anaheim allowed John Gibson to play 45 games...

He’s not thaaaat bad is he?

 

[Leafsfanperson]

Because Auston Mattews is healthy.