Canada's best team??

[Golden_Jet]

This year I’d go

Best regular season the leafs
Best chance at cup the jets

 

[syz]

The only way any of these teams win a playoff round this year is if 2 of them somehow end up playing each other. But I don't even know if 2 Canadian teams will make the playoffs. There are zero contenders north of the border.

 

[AvroArrow]

Losing it to the clear cut Avalanche last year isn’t something to be ashamed of. They were distinctly the cup favourite and they showed why. Changing the narrative to suggest the Flames weren’t a top team is also delusional. Once again, you put down the Oilers for being in the Pacific all while having a 1-5 record against the Pacific. Make it make sense.

There’s always excuses for the Leafs. If it isn’t the refs, it’s the DiVIsIoN. The Oilers might not be a contender, but hate to break it to you, neither are the Leafs and they’ve demonstrated it themselves time and time again.

Losing and getting swept are different, once again you fail to acknowledge how garbage the division is. Edmonton is 1-11 in the playoffs in the last 5 years against non-pacific opponents, but keep patting yourself on the back for winning the division only to get annihilated once you play an actual competitive playoff team.

Cool you can make that statement, maybe the Leafs aren't a contender. But they're the best Canadian team, arguing against is pretty laughable, especially when the alternative answer you wanna give is the Oilers.

 

[PuckG]

Losing and getting swept are different, once again you fail to acknowledge how garbage the division is. Edmonton is 1-11 in the playoffs in the last 5 years against non-pacific opponents, but keep patting yourself on the back for winning the division only to get annihilated once you play an actual competitive playoff team.

Cool you can make that statement, maybe the Leafs aren't a contender. But they're the best Canadian team, arguing against is pretty laughable, especially when the alternative answer you wanna give is the Oilers.

Meh, it’s no more garbage than you guys losing to the Blue Jackets or the Canadiens. Actually, when we include that much context, losing to the Avs is respectable. The fact that you have to narrow down divisions to justify why you have 0 playoff wins is pathetic, again, with the full acknowledgment that the Leafs are 1-5 against the Pacific that you look so down upon.

Sure, congrats on being the best regular season team Leafs! Plan the parade!

 

[rumrokh]

The one with all the Canadians on it.

 

[M2Beezy]

1 Winnipeg Jets
2 Calgary Flames
3 Toronto Maple Leafs
4 Edmonton Oilers
5 Vancouver Canucks
6 Ottawa Senators
7 Montreal Canadians

 

[bert]

Habs aren't competing for shit this year, other than maybe for Connor Bedard.

But I think that the Leafs and the Oilers will exhaust their shot at a cup in the coming years with top heavy/otherwise shitty line-ups.
Winnipeg isn't a top tier team.
Calgary should actually be one but can't pull it up together right now. Same with Ottawa.
I don't even know wtf is going on in Vancouver.

At the end of the year, a lot of bad contracts on the Habs will end. They have a solid prospect pool and a bunch of picks for the 2023 draft.
They will compete for a playoffs spot as soon as next year IMO

Ottawa's entire core outside of Giroux is 25 and under. Its two best players are 20. They have a better goal differential and the same amount of ROW wins while having to play without their number 1 center and having one of their top 2 d men out all year. Habs are riding unsustaniable advanced metrics right now and the hot hand of a new coach. They have no injuries to anyone important and have no pressure. Acting like its a forgone conclusion they will be elite for sure is being wildly ambitious. Same with just assuming the Leafs wont be any good or the Oilers who have two top 5 players wont be a contender. You clearly cant be objective.

 

[bionic]

People who keep pointing out Toronto's playoff record seem to forget that the teams that beat The leafs in the first round have been hella good and would have more then likely beaten any other team they faced. I forget the exact stat but I think it was 3 out of the last 5 of the leafs first round opponents have gone on to the Finals.

 

[WetcoastOrca]

People who keep pointing out Toronto's playoff record seem to forget that the teams that beat The leafs in the first round have been hella good and would have more then likely beaten any other team they faced. I forget the exact stat but I think it was 3 out of the last 5 of the leafs first round opponents have gone on to the Finals.

Lame. It’s the NHL. You never get an easy first round opponent no matter what Division you play in.
They Leafs have played Tampa, Montreal and Columbus the last three years. If you want to be viewed as a Stanley Cup contender you have to win at least one of those series. They will never get easier first round opponents than Columbus and Montreal who wouldn’t even have made the playoffs in a normal year.
At some point they need to stop with the excuses and win a round. This is an historic level of first round futility.

 

[bionic]

Lame. It’s the NHL. You never get an easy first round opponent no matter what Division you play in.
They Leafs have played Tampa, Montreal and Columbus the last three years. If you want to be viewed as a Stanley Cup contender you have to win at least one of those series. They will never get easier first round opponents than Columbus and Montreal who wouldn’t even have made the playoffs in a normal year.
At some point they need to stop with the excuses and win a round. This is an historic level of first round futility.

Yes, but the fact remains not all teams are created equal and the leafs have faced harder opponents then let's say for Example Edmonton has. It's just a fact

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Yes, but the fact remains not all teams are created equal and the leafs have faced harder opponents then let's say for Example Edmonton has. It's just a fact

It’s not a fact. It’s nonsense. In the last 3 years you’ve faced Tampa, Montreal and Columbus. Probably one of the easiest first rounds that you’ll ever see because of Covid.
Other teams have had much tougher first rounds and advanced.

 

[bionic]

It’s not a fact. It’s nonsense. In the last 3 years you’ve faced Tampa, Montreal and Columbus. Probably one of the easiest first rounds that you’ll ever see because of Covid.
Other teams have had much tougher first rounds and advanced.

Both Montreal and Tampa went to the Stanley Cup finals

 

[winnipegger]

Habs aren't competing for shit this year, other than maybe for Connor Bedard.

But I think that the Leafs and the Oilers will exhaust their shot at a cup in the coming years with top heavy/otherwise shitty line-ups.
Winnipeg isn't a top tier team.
Calgary should actually be one but can't pull it up together right now. Same with Ottawa.
I don't even know wtf is going on in Vancouver.

At the end of the year, a lot of bad contracts on the Habs will end. They have a solid prospect pool and a bunch of picks for the 2023 draft.
They will compete for a playoffs spot as soon as next year IMO

I don't get why everyone is still high on Calgary. They pretty clearly aren't as good on paper as they seemed. Where are the goals coming from?

 

[WetcoastOrca]

Both Montreal and Tampa went to the Stanley Cup finals

Yes. Montreal went to the finals after the Leafs choked away a 3-1 series lead. Columbus was nothing special. Tampa I will acknowledge was a good team although no match for Colorado. So one good team in three years.
Generally in the playoffs you do end up playing a good team and you need to play good teams to advance.

 

[MardyBum]

People who keep pointing out Toronto's playoff record seem to forget that the teams that beat The leafs in the first round have been hella good and would have more then likely beaten any other team they faced. I forget the exact stat but I think it was 3 out of the last 5 of the leafs first round opponents have gone on to the Finals.

Jets lost to Vegas --- Went to the Finals
Jets lost to Blues --- Won the cup
Jets lost to the Habs --- Went to the Finals

Also won a few rounds whilst doing that.

Do they get an extra bump for that too?

I picked the Leafs in this poll but their playoff record is what it is, can only play and beat the team infront of ya.

 

[Gurilla]

With Hellebuyck playing on a Vezina level again and Morrissey playing like a 1D it’s hard to pick anyone other than the Jets right now

 

[jetsv2]

Just like last season, Oilers are not a contender. Contender for best team in the Pacific sure, no chance at a cup. One of the worst defences in the league and no goaltending or depth scoring. It's a 2 man show.

Like last season, It's the Leafs. They're the most complete team, good goaltending, great team defence and a very good top 6 forward group. Also have cap/assets available to make a big TDL move.

Every point you just listed applies to the Jets as well, but the Jets have a truly elite goalie which to me gives them the edge.

 

[1specter]

Losing it to the clear cut Avalanche last year isn’t something to be ashamed of. They were distinctly the cup favourite and they showed why. Changing the narrative to suggest the Flames weren’t a top team is also delusional. Once again, you put down the Oilers for being in the Pacific all while having a 1-5 record against the Pacific. Make it make sense.

There’s always excuses for the Leafs. If it isn’t the refs, it’s the DiVIsIoN. The Oilers might not be a contender, but hate to break it to you, neither are the Leafs and they’ve demonstrated it themselves time and time again.

Leafs were 11-5-0 against the Pacific last year, including a clean sweep of the Oilers. They're 1-2-3 this year having been horrible in 3v3 OT. They also played garbage in October and have woken up since then.

Also, the other Atlantic playoff teams last year (Panthers, Lightning, Bruins) went a combined 30-14-4 against the Pacific. It is an inferior division, these are just the facts. When the season plays out over 82 games you'll see that the good Atlantic teams will once again have a winning record against the Pacific

 

[Xspyrit]

Ottawa's entire core outside of Giroux is 25 and under. Its two best players are 20. They have a better goal differential and the same amount of ROW wins while having to play without their number 1 center and having one of their top 2 d men out all year. Habs are riding unsustaniable advanced metrics right now and the hot hand of a new coach. They have no injuries to anyone important and have no pressure. Acting like its a forgone conclusion they will be elite for sure is being wildly ambitious. Same with just assuming the Leafs wont be any good or the Oilers who have two top 5 players wont be a contender. You clearly cant be objective.

Sens goal differential is -5 but they have given up 9 empty net goals against while scoring 4... so without empty net situations, they are even.

Also their advanced stats are pretty good considering they might have the worst coaching staff in the league and had key injuries

Not saying they win the Cup this year or even make the playoffs but they are much better than the "they are trash" narrative

All Strengths :

CF/60 : 4th
CF% : 8th
SF/60 : 7th
SF% : 15th
xGF/60 : 3rd
xGF% : 16th
SCF/60 : 4th
SCF% : 7th
HDCF/60 : 3rd
HDCF% : 12th

Problem has been a bit converting on glorious chances but mostly not getting lost in the absence of proper defensive hockey systems

 

[Drytoast]

It's like voting on the best loser... We havnt won a cup in Canada since 93 so who gives a shit?

1 Winnipeg Jets
2 Calgary Flames
3 Toronto Maple Leafs
4 Edmonton Oilers
5 Vancouver Canucks
6 Ottawa Senators
7 Montreal Canadians

Ok I know your doing your best to put the Leafs as low on the list as possible. I'll even grant you Winnipeg even though the leafs currently are higher in the standings then they are and have 5 more points...lol. But come on...CALGARY? They are 9 and 9 right now ffs. HOW can you justify this level of cope?

vs

 

[Golden_Jet]

It's like voting on the best loser... We havnt won a cup in Canada since 93 so who gives a shit?


Ok I know your doing your best to put the Leafs as low on the list as possible. I'll even grant you Winnipeg even though the leafs currently are higher in the standings then they are and have 5 more points...lol. But come on...CALGARY? They are 9 and 9 right now ffs. HOW can you justify this level of cope?
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Ya Winnipeg for best cup chance, only 4 points back with 3 games in hand, also.
Leafs for regular season probably.

 

[Daximus]

It's like voting on the best loser... We havnt won a cup in Canada since 93 so who gives a shit?


Ok I know your doing your best to put the Leafs as low on the list as possible. I'll even grant you Winnipeg even though the leafs currently are higher in the standings then they are and have 5 more points...lol. But come on...CALGARY? They are 9 and 9 right now ffs. HOW can you justify this level of cope?
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Leafs only have 4 more points than the Jets, not 5. And have played 3 more games. Jets have a higher win percentage right now. Not saying they will pass them or anything just pointing out that they could easily make up those games but they could just as easily lose them as well.

 

[Drytoast]

Leafs only have 4 more points than the Jets, not 5. And have played 3 more games. Jets have a higher win percentage right now. Not saying they will pass them or anything just pointing out that they could easily make up those games but they could just as easily lose them as well.

If you read my post...(which you didn't you got sensitive) I granted Winnipeg. My contention was Calgary.

lol.

These boards. I love em!

 

[Daximus]

If you read my post...(which you didn't you got sensitive) I granted Winnipeg. My contention was Calgary.

lol.

These boards. I love em!

I did read your post and corrected it. Not my fault you can't count.

 

[jetsv2]

There are only 2 teams that you could really make an argument for right now and that is the Leafs and Jets. The rest of the teams in Canada currently range somewhere between inconsistent and dumpster fire.