[Paywall/The Athletic] NHL front office confidence rankings (Fan rankings)

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Will Nylander, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly, Fredrick Andersen.... need I go on?

Rielly and Kadri were from before current management even came in lololol.

Matthews fell into their lap by luckily winning a lottery. Marner and Nylander, good picks. Anderson, meh. He was awful in the playoffs and didn’t have a great track record in Anaheim.

 

[Kelly]

Rielly and Kadri were from before current management even came in lololol.

Matthews fell into their lap by luckily winning a lottery. Marner and Nylander, good picks. Anderson, meh. He was awful in the playoffs and didn’t have a great track record in Anaheim.

... and what does past failures by past management have to do with current management lololol. I mean you're the one who brought up them not winning a series since 04.

Hopefully you're smart enough to figure out how those players fall under the following categories:
Roster Building, Cap Management, Draft/Development, Trading, Free Agency, Vision

How about going from; 30th ---> 14th ----> 6th

Yeah, we get it. You're an upset Sens fan, but at least TRY to be rational, or else you just come off looking as mad.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner, Will Nylander, Nazem Kadri, Morgan Rielly, Fredrick Andersen.... need I go on?

not important. If Dubas was good, Leafs would have won a playoff series in the last 15 years

 

[Emerica]

Looks about right

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

... and what does past failures by past management have to do with current management lololol. I mean you're the one who brought up them not winning a series since 04.

Hopefully you're smart enough to figure out how those players fall under the following categories:
Roster Building, Cap Management, Draft/Development, Trading, Free Agency, Vision

How about going from; 30th ---> 14th ----> 6th

Yeah, we get it. You're an upset Sens fan, but at least TRY to be rational, or else you just come off looking as mad.

And what exactly do you have to show for your improvements? Absolutely nothing.

A team like Winnipeg I can respect. Strong regular season and actually made some noise in the playoffs.

At least the Leafs set a couple of Game 7 records last season

 

[Kelly]

And what exactly do you have to show for your improvements? Absolutely nothing.

A team like Winnipeg I can respect. Strong regular season and actually made some noise in the playoffs.

At least the Leafs set a couple of Game 7 records last season

Here I'll help you, I know reading can be hard.

... and what does past failures by past management have to do with current management lololol. I mean you're the one who brought up them not winning a series since 04.

Hopefully you're smart enough to figure out how those players fall under the following categories:
Roster Building, Cap Management, Draft/Development, Trading, Free Agency, Vision

How about going from; 30th ---> 14th ----> 6th

Yeah, we get it. You're an upset Sens fan, but at least TRY to be rational, or else you just come off looking as mad.

We've been in the playoffs only twice now, dude you're clearly mad, its fine. I'd be pissed too if I was a Senators fan.

 

[Mikeshane]

Tampa Bay were gifted Stamkos and Hedman and then picked Drouin over Seth Jones.

 

[The Macho King]

Tampa Bay were gifted Stamkos and Hedman and then picked Drouin over Seth Jones.

And I'm sure this somehow manages to be relevant to the topic... how?

 

[Nithoniniel]

I'm not sure how an article that measures confidence can actually be wrong.

 

[Rob Brown]

And what exactly do you have to show for your improvements? Absolutely nothing.

A team like Winnipeg I can respect. Strong regular season and actually made some noise in the playoffs.

At least the Leafs set a couple of Game 7 records last season

What? The improvement was going dead last to the playoffs and then to 6th in the league. If you don't call that improvement I don't know what is. And then back-to-back Game 7's in the first round against the President's Trophy winner and the Bruins...it's not like they got swept.

 

[Rob Brown]

And I'm sure this somehow manages to be relevant to the topic... how?

It was relevant when it was the Leafs that were gifted Matthews.

 

[Nithoniniel]

I kind of agree with how the rankings ended up. Tampa is the gold standard, and there's a next group of Jets/Preds/Leafs where there are still some unanswered questions or some outright doubt, but where there is such cause for optimism.

I'm a bit surprised by Islanders fans being so optimistic about their team. I totally agree that Lou can establish a sorely needed professional culture, but I'm not sure how much faith I'd have in a front office led by him in other areas.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Where are Pittsburgh ranked??

 

[WetcoastOrca]

I’m guessing Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa and Edmonton fans are not the most confident.

 

[Thrasymachus]

The most polarizing was the NYI at 22nd. Public Opinion was 2.6 (26th) and the fanbase was 3.8 (13th).

Unsurprising. Tavares leaving sucks, but the new coaching and management is a huge addition for a team that needed a culture change

 

[Thrasymachus]

I'm a bit surprised by Islanders fans being so optimistic about their team. I totally agree that Lou can establish a sorely needed professional culture, but I'm not sure how much faith I'd have in a front office led by him in other areas.

Well for starters Lou got us Trotz, a very big upgrade on prior islander coaching the last decade (Trotz in turn getting us Korn). Second he is just much more respectable than a guy like Garth Snow. The islanders desperately need respectability.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Well for starters Lou got us Trotz, a very big upgrade on prior islander coaching the last decade (Trotz in turn getting us Korn). Second he is just much more respectable than a guy like Garth Snow. The islanders desperately need respectability.

Trotz is certainly a reason to be optimistic. And I agree about the rest of what you said here. I'm just curious why that has resulted in a lot of confidence in this management groups cap management, trading, roster building and vision? Some of what the Islanders have done this off-season would make me worry about their cap management and roster building in particular.

 

[Thrasymachus]

Trotz is certainly a reason to be optimistic. And I agree about the rest of what you said here. I'm just curious why that has resulted on a lot of confidence in this management groups cap management, trading, roster building and vision? Some of what the Islanders have done this off-season would make me worry about their cap management and roster building in particular.

The islanders brought in some bottom six grit. Our PK and bottom six was... bad, last year. I agree they (Martin and Komarov) are overpaid, but with the money the isles "gained" losing out on Tavares, it doesn't especially hurt our cap to bring them in. Martin is a fan fav. and Komarov seems like a good soldier to have during the next few years. The islanders wont likely be making the playoffs for a while so it is good to bring in positive locker-room guys.

You also have to remember the JT thing dragged on a while - by the time the dust had settled all the best free agents were gone. And again, perception from Tavares leaving hurts our chances of signing anyone.

I think with a new GM and coach it is fine to leave the roster relatively the same in order to get a good read on things going forward. The isles are keeping our scouts who I actually think are quite good (it was always the development side where the islanders failed, something that good coaching hopefully can change). I do hope that Lou names a GM or some kind of heir apparent considering his advanced age. Despite Lou's age the guy is more animated and willing to do an interview than Snow ever was

And on top of all that the islanders have the new Arena coming in Belmont

 

[Stopsight]

I think it's fair to say that for many of the teams that have the most confident fans, it doesn't necessarily mean the front office is particularly awesome at their job. It also doesn't mean they are wrong to be confident, team situation plays a big part. Mediocre management will have an easier time sitting pretty on a great team and not f***ing it up than trying to right a sinking ship.

 

[Pavels Dog]

Don't know what Chayka has done to earn so much confidence. AZ sticks out as being WAY too high. I would be shocked if that team wins a playoff series in the next 5 years.

Otherwise, it basically follows what teams are good and what teams are bad so fairly predictable.

 

[Brunomics]

Please note, the article is from The Athletic, and therefore behind a paywall. If you don't like this, it is probably better to ignore the thread right away.

Mods: I didn't see any rules about starting a thread on pay-walled content, so if there is something my apologies.

That said....

The Athletic released an article today where NHL fans weighed in on their level of confidence with every NHL team (over 1000 responses). They have subcategories for: Roster Building, Cap Management, Draft/Development, Trading, Free Agency, Vision. A lot of results were pretty obvious, some not so much:

31. Ottawa 1.7/5 (Public: 1.6, Fans 1.9)
30. Montreal 1.7/5 (Public: 1.7, Fans 2.0)
29. Edmonton 2.0/5 (Public: 2.1, Fans 1.9)
...
3. Nashville 4.2/5 (Public: 4.2, Fans 4.1)
2. Toronto 4.3/5 (Public: 4.2 Fans 4.5)
1. Tampa Bay 4.5/5 (Public: 4.5, Fans 4.6)

The most polarizing was the NYI at 22nd. Public Opinion was 2.6 (26th) and the fanbase was 3.8 (13th).

Really interesting stuff, and I found surprising that with 1 or 2 exceptions, the public opinion aligned with the fan base really closely.

If you want to read more: LINK

The reason for it being so polarizing is because the fanbase is factoring confidence off the fact that they have Malkin/Lou/Trotz/Korn/new assistants in the fold.

Whoever counts in the realm of Public Opinion are still of the mind that it's the Garth/Wang/Weight Show since for some reason they are unable to understand Front Offices change.

 

[Brunomics]

I think its more likely that the public opinion is less inclined than Islanders fans to give the new management the benefit of the doubt after what has been a pretty abysmal offseason. Tavares can't be pinned on them, but the Komarov, Martin, and Filppula signings don't inspire confidence.

Remove having the scumbag leave and the offseason makes sense.

They have no trouble scoring goals. They are set with their top 6 wingers and brought in Kovac to battle Nelson to see who is the #2 and #3 Centers on the squad.

Bottom 6 was completely abysmal. They brought in guys and they have enough in which they will all be competing with each other for ice time.

They do need a Dman which I think will happen during training camp(think Leddy and Boychuk trades).

HF Boards mentality. Unless you bring in a top line guy on 7/1 the GM is a failure.

 

[HugginThePost]

I’m saying I’m not a fan of his content. He can produce some good stuff but handles criticism like a child.

So.....pretty much like half of the posters on here??

 

[Leaf Fans]

Rielly and Kadri were from before current management even came in lololol.

Matthews fell into their lap by luckily winning a lottery. Marner and Nylander, good picks. Anderson, meh. He was awful in the playoffs and didn’t have a great track record in Anaheim.

They would have got Matthews if the league reverted back to pre lottery ruled. Edmonton, New Jersey and Chicago were lucky. Toronto was just bad.

 

[Iceman]

Gotta say, one of the fan quotes for the Jackets made me roll my eyes:


I'd like to introduce this fan to a certain defenseman, name of Zach Werenski...

Casuals do not know any players that do not score goals from the forward position.