2019 NHL Stanley Cup Favourite #6

[M2Beezy]

nashville CRUSHES 5 to take it in one of the most lopsided polls on here. Kinda rounds out that top tear tho could see Boston added to that group. They got elite fwd depth, an insanely deep and young d group, a top goalie and a quick learning coach. Anyways 6 is NEXT

1 Tampa Bay 56% https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2019-stanley-cup-favourite-1.2518569/
2 Winnipeg 36% https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2019-stanley-cup-favourite-2.2519437/
3 Pittsburgh 39% https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2019-nhl-stanley-cup-favourite-3.2520087/
4 Washington 49% https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2019-stanley-cup-favourite-4.2520405/
5 Nashville 65% https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2019-stanley-cup-favourite-5.2520917/

Click to read more...

 

[1967th Heaven]

Yeah I agree I think those first five are the "top tier". Found this to be a tough one but went with St. Louis

 

[PunkRockLocke]

I don't really get the St. Louis love.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Boston, especially if their sophomores/youngsters take another step.

 

[BlueDream]

I don't really get the St. Louis love.

Well the forwards and defensemen are there. Goalie is a question mark of course but it looks like a complete team.

Boston, STL, Toronto are definitely the next 3 in whatever order IMO.

 

[snowkiddin]

Boston, then Toronto. After that it’s a crapshoot.

 

[M2Beezy]

I don't really get the St. Louis love.

Must be based on all the successes there building off from last year

 

[Lauro]

Blues/Sharks/Leafs

 

[kk87]

Boston took a step back, they don't belong here. They still have the best line in the league but their depth leaves a lot to be desired, they should be in the 8-10 range. Leafs, Sharks, Blues should all be ahead of them in my opinion

 

[LordNeverLose]

Boston took a step back, they don't belong here. They still have the best line in the league but their depth leaves a lot to be desired, they should be in the 8-10 range. Leafs, Sharks, Blues should all be ahead of them in my opinion

How exactly did they take a step back? They didn't lose anyone significant, did they? Add they have a steady stream of young talent coming up (i.e. Donato).

I mean, I hate Boston as much as the next guy but your post just comes across as blatant homerism.

 

[Critical13]

Toronto loses two players who were always passengers, adds a 1st line C, and gains a year of experience...but they are going to finish lower than next year?

 

[kk87]

How exactly did they take a step back? They didn't lose anyone significant, did they? Add they have a steady stream of young talent coming up (i.e. Donato).

I mean, I hate Boston as much as the next guy but your post just comes across as blatant homerism.

Fair enough, I can clarify - for one, I was never sold on them to begin with given how top heavy they are, and the fact that teams in a similar echelon like the Leafs and Blues added top end pieces puts them behind the eight ball (again, just my opinion). Not trying to discount what they have; like I said, their top line is potentially the best in the league, they have one of the best young dmen in the league in McAvoy, and some other good young players, but I don't think they're in the same tier as a few other teams that are still on the board here

 

[LeafingTheWay]

How exactly did they take a step back? They didn't lose anyone significant, did they? Add they have a steady stream of young talent coming up (i.e. Donato).

I mean, I hate Boston as much as the next guy but your post just comes across as blatant homerism.

I think because the 2 other top teams in their division got stronger while they didn't really. Most of Tampa's core are hitting their peak now (Valiseislky, Kucherov, Point, Hedman, Sergachev), while Boston has a mixture of past-peak and entering-peak players. Leafs lost negative players and added Tavares as well as entering-peak players.

So its not really Boston stepping back literally, but relatively to their division.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

How exactly did they take a step back? They didn't lose anyone significant, did they? Add they have a steady stream of young talent coming up (i.e. Donato).

I mean, I hate Boston as much as the next guy but your post just comes across as blatant homerism.

Yeah I think they’ll still be strong too. Pasta and McAvoy have a year more experience and lots of young players coming up.
People tend to look at who made the most off season changes in assessing who improved. Whereas there is a lot to be said for continuity and internal improvement.

 

[TK 421]

Toronto loses two players who were always passengers, adds a 1st line C, and gains a year of experience...but they are going to finish lower than next year?

It's not what the Leafs did or didn't do necessarily. It's what other teams did that could see them slightly lower in the overall standings. I think virtually everyone is at the very least interested in seeing how they do this year but from an outsiders perspective adding Tavares and some younger guys while subtracting JVR and Bozak doesn't look like some big upgrade imo.

Compare that for instance to the Blues who upgraded from Stastny to O'Reilly, adding Fabbri and Thomas, and added an entire 3rd line in Perron, Bozak and Maroon. That's a much bigger net gain than what Toronto will get this year imo.

I'm interested in seeing Dermott and how much he can help that D group along with how Tavares changes things. Exciting year coming for the Leafs for sure.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Boston took a step back, they don't belong here. They still have the best line in the league but their depth leaves a lot to be desired, they should be in the 8-10 range. Leafs, Sharks, Blues should all be ahead of them in my opinion

Boston's got a superior team structure. They may not have the best "on paper" depth of those left on the list, but they play a really sound team game. Plus, Rask is still elite, and that top line can literally shut down the opposing team's top player an entire series.

 

[Critical13]

It's not what the Leafs did or didn't do necessarily. It's what other teams did that could see them slightly lower in the overall standings. I think virtually everyone is at the very least interested in seeing how they do this year but from an outsiders perspective adding Tavares and some younger guys while subtracting JVR and Bozak doesn't look like some big upgrade imo.

Compare that for instance to the Blues who upgraded from Stastny to O'Reilly, adding Fabbri and Thomas, and added an entire 3rd line in Perron, Bozak and Maroon. That's a much bigger net gain than what Toronto will get this year imo.

I'm interested in seeing Dermott and how much he can help that D group along with how Tavares changes things. Exciting year coming for the Leafs for sure.

I just don't agree with the assessment. Bozak and JVR were sheltered every shift they played. Even if we didn't land Tavares, I would have expected that Johnsson and Kapanen could have helped defensively enough to make up for their loss. Then when you replace Komarov with Tavares and push Kadri downa C slot, I can't imagine the time will regress. We are very excited to have more compete on our side of the blue line this year. I guess we will see.

I will enjoy seeing how this threads ages in 6 or 7 months.

 

[MattMartin]

How is Toronto not in the top 2?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

It's not what the Leafs did or didn't do necessarily. It's what other teams did that could see them slightly lower in the overall standings. I think virtually everyone is at the very least interested in seeing how they do this year but from an outsiders perspective adding Tavares and some younger guys while subtracting JVR and Bozak doesn't look like some big upgrade imo.

Compare that for instance to the Blues who upgraded from Stastny to O'Reilly, adding Fabbri and Thomas, and added an entire 3rd line in Perron, Bozak and Maroon. That's a much bigger net gain than what Toronto will get this year imo.

I'm interested in seeing Dermott and how much he can help that D group along with how Tavares changes things. Exciting year coming for the Leafs for sure.

Good well balanced post. I think many are underestimating what the loss of those players, especially JVR will mean to the Leafs. He was a flawed player but carried the Leafs for a stretch last year with his offence and was a very good goal scorer and net front presence.
Adding Tavares was a great move. But let’s not pretend that there were also not some losses. Can the young guys fill those holes? Too soon to say.

 

[I am not exposed]

Why is Las Vegas the only team with it's full team title? Just in case we forget who they were for some reason?

 

[I am not exposed]

Toronto loses two players who were always passengers, adds a 1st line C, and gains a year of experience...but they are going to finish lower than next year?

This is Stanley Cup favourites, not league position.

 

[WHISTLERNATE]

Toronto loses two players who were always passengers, adds a 1st line C, and gains a year of experience...but they are going to finish lower than next year?

How so? They were out in the first round of the playoffs. At best they finished 9th.

 

[M2Beezy]

How is Toronto not in the top 2?

Because we are ranking 2019 stanley cup contenders

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

It's not what the Leafs did or didn't do necessarily. It's what other teams did that could see them slightly lower in the overall standings. I think virtually everyone is at the very least interested in seeing how they do this year but from an outsiders perspective adding Tavares and some younger guys while subtracting JVR and Bozak doesn't look like some big upgrade imo.

Well the systematic underrating of Tavares since he's joined the Leafs will do that. not to mention the sheer ignorance of HF regarding how Bozak and JVR were used by the team. Their line had to be constantly sheltered, neither player was known for being tenacious or gritty. Soft is how they were often described.

That the Leafs now have three lines they can roll out at any given moment and have a chance to score is huge. If you don't see how adding the best free agent available since Chara is a big upgrade I don't know what to tell ya.

Compare that for instance to the Blues who upgraded from Stastny to O'Reilly, adding Fabbri and Thomas, and added an entire 3rd line in Perron, Bozak and Maroon. That's a much bigger net gain than what Toronto will get this year imo.

Yeah, adding an elite #1 centre is a much smaller net gain than a team adding multiple 2nd line centres.

I'm interested in seeing Dermott and how much he can help that D group along with how Tavares changes things. Exciting year coming for the Leafs for sure.

Well he played last year and helped a ton if you had been paying attention. The only accurate part of your post is the last sentence, so good job.

 

[LetsGoBLUES91]

Yeah I agree I think those first five are the "top tier". Found this to be a tough one but went with St. Louis

Uh oh. He's not gonna like that.

The top 5 are the top 5. Now there is a clear cut 2nd tier of 3 teams I think. Boston, Toronto, St. Louis.

I'd go 6-Toronto, 7-Boston, 8-STL. But the poll is closed. So Toronto in the next one.