Do you think McDavid is having the best season of the 2000s or the new divisions are the reason?

[Sundance]

If it were just the division surely Draisaitl would be scoring 1.70ppg too. But he isn't. No one else is dominating in these conditions. I don't think it's the best season because the circumstances is so unusual but it's worth much consideration

 

[OgeeOgelthorpe]

Put him in the pacific where he gets to feast on Calgary, Vancouver, Anaheim, Arizona, LA and San Jose? And scoring 20-25 points less?

What

I meant the "West" division, or whatever bullshit it's called this year.

Vancouver and Calgary are in the North this year. Also the West division has 3 of the best defensive teams in the NHL in Vegas, Minnesota, Colorado. For a bottom feeder, LA isn't terrible defensively.

 

[Nico Cauzuki]

hands down best player in the NHL and its not even close but yes i do thing our horrible division helps,everyone on our division has a bad defense

 

[budzz]

I meant the "West" division, or whatever bullshit it's called this year.

Vancouver and Calgary are in the North this year. Also the West division has 3 of the best defensive teams in the NHL in Vegas, Minnesota, Colorado. For a bottom feeder, LA isn't terrible defensively.

Well sure they have good defensive numbers, they don't ever have to face McDavid, Drai, Matthews and Marner.....

 

[bucks_oil]

I meant the "West" division, or whatever bullshit it's called this year.

Vancouver and Calgary are in the North this year. Also the West division has 3 of the best defensive teams in the NHL in Vegas, Minnesota, Colorado. For a bottom feeder, LA isn't terrible defensively.

I ran some stats a few pages back... classically nobody commented on them, but the North has fewer goals per game than the "normal" NHL did last year. And that's with McDrai and Toronto's best having exceptional years.

This isn't a high scoring division, it's a division with a few teams with top-heavy talent.

So no... poor defense across the division does not explain McD's season, or at least the stats do not support that argument.

 

[JBear]

Well sure they have good defensive numbers, they don't ever have to face McDavid, Drai, Matthews and Marner.....

I think it's actually been harder for McDavid as teams realize they play him 9-10 times in a short span and have to contain him.

 

[budzz]

I think it's actually been harder for McDavid as teams realize they play him 9-10 times in a short span and have to contain him.

It really does change things alot, seeing teams alot more than usual. You could put a dozen different spreadsheets together from every angle, but I don't think you could say conclusively if this would benefit offence or defense over time. I don't follow other teams much, but every one has teams that have lesser talent that beat them on a regular basis. For us, Ottawa always plays us hard and gives us fits. Montreal-Leafs are always tight series over the years regardless of who is better. Leafs can't seem to win a game in Vancouver. Oilers dominate Sens. Sens play Leafs hard. Leafs better against Oilers, etc. Some things make no sense.

Anyone looking at records from the outside might call the few bottom teams in our division terrible, even though there is equally terrible in all other divisions. As a Leafs fan, none of the games in our division are a "gimme"... they all seem to play us hard every game. I don't think this can be quantified in pure numbers, and I'm sure other teams in the league have their "nemesis" as well.

 

[MessierII]

I ran some stats a few pages back... classically nobody commented on them, but the North has fewer goals per game than the "normal" NHL did last year. And that's with McDrai and Toronto's best having exceptional years.

This isn't a high scoring division, it's a division with a few teams with top-heavy talent.

So no... poor defense across the division does not explain McD's season, or at least the stats do not support that argument.

Expect 0 replies again

 

[HawkeyTalkMan]

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lol

 

[budzz]

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Yeah all other divisions have these blinders on that North is weak, all bad d's etc etc. Most have only watched highlights from the north and not actual games. They don't like any narrative that doesn't end with a "Leafs" and a snicker.

 

[ElysiumAB]

Yeah McDavid is clearly an average player. I think 2 2nd rounders and maybe a fourth should get him.

Yeah, just fire Lucic back over and call it even.

 

[bucks_oil]

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Lol... well at least you read it, thank you !

 

[bucks_oil]

hands down best player in the NHL and its not even close but yes i do thing our horrible division helps,everyone on our division has a bad defense

Marner & Matthews are on pace for about 8-10 more points than last year (both also very young, entering their prime)
Scheifele is scoring at more or less the same pace as always
Tatar has regressed from his career high and is back to his historical average
Boeser, Pettersson, Horvat all scoring at the same (or lower) rate than last year
Lindholm, Gaudreau, Tkachuk all scoring at the same, or lower rate than last year
Tkachuk is unchanged
Heck even on McD's own team, Draisaitl and Nuge are both down relative to last year

How come all of these elite talents aren't able to take advantage of that same weak defense?

 

[McFlash97]

This.

I'm not saying that McDavid isn't a tremendous player, but the guy is ripping up teams that have no shutdown options. Put him in the Pacific or Atlantic division and McDavid is scoring 20-25 points fewer on the season.

lol

hahahahaha

what a dumb take.

Put him in the Pacific and he has 110 points right now

Put him in the Atlantic with the Sabres, Devils and Flyers.. yikes .... 125 ?

He blasts through any defense in any division like a swiss army knife

 

[COHawk]

McDavid has 16 games this season with 3 or more points. He has scored 56 points in those games. McDavid would be tied for 14th in scoring this season if he only played in those 16 games. That's nuts.