TSN: Leafs #10 in Power Rankings

[JGuardz]

We're on the same level as the oilers at worst.. The oilers continue to be the most overrated team of this off season...

 

[FrozenJagrt]

Tampa was the most injured team in the league last season and Stamkos was on pace for 96 points. They should be near the top and will be.

Pace doesn't matter for jack when you only play 17 games.

 

[NCoRe]

I'm not surprised TB is high up there. If they manage to stay even somewhat healthy, they will for sure be a contendin team. Stamkos, Kucherov, Palat, Johnson, Point, Hedman, Strålman, Sergachev and a good bunch of depth and some up n coming prospects like Raddysh, Koekkoek will definitely make them one of the strongest squads on the league. But like all other teams they need to stay healthy. I'm not 100% percent sold on Vasilevsky, but I know he's capable goalie nevertheless.

Another team which I predict will be much higher than last year will be Dallas. Solid G department finally with Bishop and Lehtonen is a great 2g. D got Methot to help Kling and Honka out and Radulov makes their first line scary. Also I'd say players like Faksa will take a jump forward in scoring. In the future I'd say their prospect pool isnt too great though.

 

[Mess]

I think most Hockey insiders and serious followers believe TB is the best of the Atlantic Div and the team to beat.

Pens should win the Metro and TB the Atlantic and as such their power ranking as the 2 top teams in the East and perhaps NHL.

 

[Morgs]

I just don't get the TB love. I really don't. Yea, they are probably a really good team but all this hype about them is very strange.

They have very good Top-end players in Stamkos, Kucherov, Hedman, and Stralman. After that they have some nice talent in Johnson, Palat, and Point. After that though, yeesh. I really don't get why people think they're a better team than the Leafs, especially with Dotchin/Girardi/Cobrun not being very good, and they complete the Top-4. They have a guy who's never proven to be an above average goalie starting, and their Bottom-6 is littered with players on Matt Martin's level.

 

[Mess]

Have to be honest, I lol'd at Chicago being #4. Has anyone at TSN seen their blue line coming into this season? Nevermind that Keith is in his mid 30's and Seabrook is already sharply declining. Unlike some other teams, their forward group isn't quite strong enough to mask such weak defence. I don't even see Chicago as a lock for playoffs, let alone the 4th best team in the league.

Chicago had 50 wins and 109 points last year and were the best to the West in the standings last year. That was the 3rd best record in the NHL behind only Caps (118) and Pens (111).

 

[Morgs]

Chicago had 50 wins and 109 points last year and were the best to the West in the standings last year. That was the 3rd best record in the NHL behind only Caps (118) and Pens (111).

They lost their second and third best defenseman (Hjalmarsson/Campbell [who also happen to be their two best defensive defenseman]), their 2nd highest point scorer (Panarin), and 3C (Kruger). They have a guy who can barely play 2nd pairing effectively beside Keith (Murphy), and Brent Seabrook has lost more than a step. Their blueline is trash.

On the bright side; Saad, Kane, and Toews are really good.

 

[Mess]

The 4 best teams in the East are Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus and Tampa Bay
The 4 best teams in the West are Edmonton, Chicago, Dallas and Anaheim.

After those 8 teams our Leafs enter the picture battling for the 8-12 spots league wide. IMO

TSN has them at #10 to start so that seems fair.

 

[zeke]

Not a bad ranking.

In the east, I think the're overrating Columbus, who really rode unsustainable goaltending in the first half and weren't very good once that normalized.

OCT-DEC: .932sv%, 26-5-4, 131pt pace
JAN-APR: .916sv%, 24-19-4, 91pt pace

Bobrovsky is a good goalie, but last year was his best year by a good margin, and he well above his career averages. If he drops back down to his career averages, the Jackets aren't a better team than us.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

The interesting thing about the "top-4" in the East is that they all have some notable, if not material flaws. Pittsburgh is very good, but none of Malkin, Crosby or Letang have played a full season since 2011. Their starting goalie is 23 and has never played more than 50 games. Washington is great, but I believe they showed their core group is not unbeatable in the playoffs last year. Columbus is so thin at Centre that they've moved Nick Foligno there in order to bolster the position. Tampa's de facto best player has fractured his tibia and torn his meniscus in the same leg within a three year span.

 

[Lebanese Leaf]

I just don't get the TB love. I really don't. Yea, they are probably a really good team but all this hype about them is very strange.

I'm with you. Will they probably make playoffs? Yes. But why all of a sudden are we supposed to view them as the top 3 team in the league?

 

[Mess]

I'm with you. Will they probably make playoffs? Yes. But why all of a sudden are we supposed to view them as the top 3 team in the league?

Both TSN and NHL.com have ranked the top 50 players and in both cased TB have 3 players (Kucherov, Hedman and Stamkos) all in the top 20 best players.

Not many teams can boast that !!.

Add to that Hedman might be among the Norris favourites and a healthy Stamkos might in the running for the Rocket Richard trophy again. Kucherov has already shown he can be top 5 in the league in both goals and points.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

Hedman is very very overrated.

Kucherov on the other hand is one of top-5 wingers in hockey, and is worthy of more praise than he gets.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Not sold on Tampa. Goaltending reminds me of when we had Riemer in net, and they have Girardi and Dotchin penciled into their top 4 on D. Good high end players, but not sold yet.

 

[zeke]

Both TSN and NHL.com have ranked the top 50 players and in both cased TB have 3 players (Kucherov, Hedman and Stamkos) all in the top 20 best players.

Not many teams can boast that !!.

Add to that Hedman might be among the Norris favourites and a healthy Stamkos might in the running for the Rocket Richard trophy again. Kucherov has already shown he can be top 5 in the league in both goals and points.

only as strong as your weakest link, a wise man once said.

 

[Mess]

Hedman is very very overrated.

Kucherov on the other hand is one of top-5 wingers in hockey, and is worthy of more praise than he gets.

Hedman had 16 goals and 72 points tying Malkin for 14th in NHL overall scoring last year and 2nd among Dmen -4 points behind Burns (76) and +1 point ahead of Karlsson (71).

He finished 3rd in Norris voting and 14th in Hart Memorial voting and made the 2nd All-star team.

As a comparison Leafs top 2 Dmen in scoring Gardiner (9-34-43 points) + Zaitsev (4-32-36 points) = 13 goals and 79 points vs Hedman 16-56-72 points.

 

[Lebanese Leaf]

Hedman had 16 goals and 72 points tying Malkin for 14th in NHL overall scoring last year and 2nd among Dmen -4 points behind Burns (76) and +1 point ahead of Karlsson (71).

He finished 3rd in Norris voting and 14th in Hart Memorial voting and made the 2nd All-star team.

As a comparison Leafs top 2 Dmen in scoring Gardiner (9-34-43 points) + Zaitsev (4-32-36 points) = 13 goals and 79 points vs Hedman 16-56-72 points.

I don't think he was knocking Hedman for not being able to put up points. If he's overrated, its in the defensive side of being a defenseman.

 

[Sypher04]

The 4 best teams in the East are Pittsburgh, Washington, Columbus and Tampa Bay
The 4 best teams in the West are Edmonton, Chicago, Dallas and Anaheim.

After those 8 teams our Leafs enter the picture battling for the 8-12 spots league wide. IMO

TSN has them at #10 to start so that seems fair.

I'd say parts of this post are highly debatable.

Namely Columbus and Chicago as top 4 teams in their respective conferences.

 

[Sypher04]

The interesting thing about the "top-4" in the East is that they all have some notable, if not material flaws. Pittsburgh is very good, but none of Malkin, Crosby or Letang have played a full season since 2011. Their starting goalie is 23 and has never played more than 50 games. Washington is great, but I believe they showed their core group is not unbeatable in the playoffs last year. Columbus is so thin at Centre that they've moved Nick Foligno there in order to bolster the position. Tampa's de facto best player has fractured his tibia and torn his meniscus in the same leg within a three year span.

If your definition of a full season is literally playing all 82 games then, to be fair, Malkin, Crosby and Letang have only combined for 3 full seasons in their entire careers. 2 for Malkin, and 1 for Letang. I'm not sure playing every game should be the bar though.

I mean, Crosby has played 80, 77, 80 and 75 in the last 4 years. That paints a very different picture about his health.

In any case. I agree with the idea that the top 4 are all flawed themselves.

 

[Maplebeasts]

Chicago had 50 wins and 109 points last year and were the best to the West in the standings last year. That was the 3rd best record in the NHL behind only Caps (118) and Pens (111).

The problem Mess is that none of those points carry in to this season for them. Their roster is significantly worse than it was. Downgraded from Panarin to Saad (from an offensive standpoint at least) lost Hjalmarsson, lost Campbell, lost Kruger, Seabrook sharply declining to the point where he's arguably not even top 4 quality anymore, trash blue line depth, weak bottom 6 forwards. Tell me how looking at their roster now they are the 4th best team in the NHL, and don't talk about wins from seasons past, because they mean nothing now and going forward.