Playoff All-Star Teams

[vadim sharifijanov]

I don’t really see a case for there being a “McDavid or Draisaitl” with all due respect. McDavid was clearly the better player in at least 75% of their games.

i guess the way i see it, the battle of alberta was the much tougher and higher stakes of the two series they won and drai was absolutely their horse in that one

 

[jigglysquishy]

i guess the way i see it, the battle of alberta was the much tougher and higher stakes of the two series they won and drai was absolutely their horse in that one

Was he? He put up more points, but McDavid was arguably the better player in every single game.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Was he? He put up more points, but McDavid was arguably the better player in every single game.

that was not my experience of those games and i watched every one of them

 

[JackSlater]

Yeah Draisaitl deserves credit for playing so well while hurt, but he was clearly hurt when watching a lot of those games. The point totals may be close but McDavid was comfortably the better player in these playoffs and honestly, he was more dangerous against Calgary.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Yeah Draisaitl deserves credit for playing so well while hurt, but he was clearly hurt when watching a lot of those games. The point totals may be close but McDavid was comfortably the better player in these playoffs and honestly, he was more dangerous against Calgary.

This is how I remember it as well.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I thought MacKinnon was a no brainer from what I saw, but admittedly I didn't get to watch as much as usual this year. Tied for the playoff lead in goals, making things happen/driving offense with his speed, helping on D, obviously a big part of the leadership group, and there had to be some kind of added pressure on him when they lost their 2nd line C.

What are the reasons you guys like Palat, Landeskog, or whoever else over him?

 

[ContrarianGoaltender]

that was not my experience of those games and i watched every one of them

Just curious, did you watch any of the Calgary post-game press conferences? Their coach and players weren't shy at all about openly sharing their view of which opposing player was the one causing them trouble, and it wasn't Draisaitl. Like when Darryl Sutter got asked whether the best team won the series, and his response was: "The best player won the series for them."

And I wouldn't disagree, to me McDavid was very clearly Edmonton's catalyst that series, with the possible exception of game 5. Fun fact: Draisaitl ended up with 9 secondary assists against the Flames, 8 of which came on plays where he touched the puck immediately prior to McDavid.

 

[ContrarianGoaltender]

I'm on Team Shesterkin for best goalie in the 2022 playoffs, I think any stats properly adjusted for difficulty would indicate that he had the best performance.

I didn't quite get why Vasilevskiy was apparently the betting favourite for the Conn Smythe if Tampa won. He had a crazy series against Florida, but he actually got outplayed by the opposing team in terms of save % in each of the other 3 series. To my eye, he looked very strong when his Lightning teammates were playing low-event hockey and locking down the other teams defensively, but he was very average on the nights when the games were more open and Tampa's opponents were consistently generating clean looks.

Look at these splits from Natural Stat Trick (HDCA = High Danger Chances Against):

Vasilevskiy in the 2022 playoffs:

Games where opponent has <10 HDCA: 181/191 (.948)
Games where opponent has 10-15 HDCA: 359/390 (.921)
Games where opponent has >15 HDCA: 153/171 (.895)

Compare that to Shesterkin:

Games where opponent has <10 HDCA: 0/0 (N/A)
Games where opponent has 10-15 HDCA: 165/177 (.932)
Games where opponent has >15 HDCA: 504/543 (.928)

 

[Michael Farkas]

I didn't keep notes and my progressive Conn Smythe Trophy Tracker like I had in previous playoffs, but I did watch every single playoff game once again...I think this is where I'd land more or less...

First Team:

F: McDavid, Palat, Kucherov
D: Makar, Fox
G: Vasilevskiy

Second Team:
F: Draisaitl, Zibanejad, MacKinnon
D: Sergachev, Byram
G: Shestyorkin

HM: Oettinger, Binnington, Rutta, Nichushkin

Oettinger is just a nod for his first round series obviously...he was unreal. Binnington looked like he was poised to steal that series from Colorado in my opinion, but we'll never know because Kadri injured him.

Could I be convinced that MacKinnon should be on the first team? Sure. I thought he had a weak Final. He had like half of his goals against Nashville - a bottom three (at best) team in the playoffs. Like I said in another thread, he just seems wound up so tight in big games that he sort of overplays the game...

I could maybe be convinced that the Russian goalies should be flipped...but Vasy was just a brick wall late in series and clearly had a team that was way out of gas in front of him a lot of the time...Igor had a rough go of it against Pittsburgh. But rebounded against Carolina. If Crosby wasn't slain, Igor's out in 5...but that's just how things work in the best league in the world I guess...

Hedman's not there for me. That might be pretty unpopular, and maybe I'm just holding him to too high of a standard...but he looked hurt during these playoffs, just not as strong as I'm used to and maybe I'm unfairly penalizing him. Looking at my players above, I'm effectively claiming he was the third best Tampa d-man, which is pretty suspect...

Non-negotiables: McDavid on the First Team. That was one of the best playoff performances I've ever seen from around game 4 or 5 vs LA and onward. Some of those games late in the series vs LA, those 3rd periods, were like motivated Lemieux, motivated Gretzky level of amazing. He was literally unstoppable.

Obviously, Makar on the First Team. Unreal. Best Avs player by a margin.

I really want Sergachev recognized as well. Same for Palat.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i’m getting enough resistance on drai > mcd in the calgary series that i’m tempted to rewatch the highlights. because my memory is honestly that draisaitl was the one making momentum shifting plays every game.

 

[tabness]

i’m getting enough resistance on drai > mcd in the calgary series that i’m tempted to rewatch the highlights. because my memory is honestly that draisaitl was the one making momentum shifting plays every game.

I think you're right in game four and game five of the Calgary series that Draisaitl had as good/better games than McDavid. However, the first three games of that series, McDavid was at the level he was in the last three games of the Kings series, which is an all time great performance. The end of the Kings series stands out a bit more because of some combination of the Kings actually played better than the Flames did/the rest of the Oilers picked up their game against the Flames.

Of that super stretch, my favorite would be game six against the Kings. McDavid in game six vs the Kings was a top notch performance in every way, offensively, defensively, he even threw the body around.

Now that's out of the way, where is the love for Stamkos?!? Ok I get the love for Palat, but like Kucherov was up and down a bit even if he got more points.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I didn't keep notes and my progressive Conn Smythe Trophy Tracker like I had in previous playoffs, but I did watch every single playoff game once again...I think this is where I'd land more or less...

Thanks for posting your teams and thoughts!

It feels very strange to have just 1 player from the Cup Winning team on the 1st team, and even after that there’s only 2 more on the 2nd team.

Were they just so dominant as a team that no one other than Makar was able to stand out? Fewer big moments/games when you’re winning so easily might mean less opportunities to make your mark and/or less reasons for some of the more skilled players to push the envelope?

For example, does MacKinnon make that end to end rush in game 5 against St. Louis for the hat trick if they’re up by a couple goals already or does he make a more conventional/safer play?

 

[Michael Farkas]

Yeah, I mean, Colorado added a lot of depth...but they didn't always even use it. They rode their horses a lot, but had guys that could just jump in and be a horse if someone got hurt or got cold or whatever...

I mean, the obvious one is the goalies...two pretty meh goalies, to be fair, they got to 10 wins to 6. You don't see a lot of that. You don't hear about a lot of goalie controversies for the team up in the Final either.

Bowen Byram - wasn't really playing, even against a weak Nashville team. Up 3-0 in the series, he was still only going 15 minutes. He was over 21 minutes in 5 out of 6 games in the Final and was really good. Was he the plus/minus leader of the playoffs? I'm not sure, but he had to be way up there...but you lose a real good player in Girard, and maybe the situation even got better...

They really only played 5 and a half D...so those extra minutes went to Makar...which he handled with aplomb...

It seemed like Lando, Nuke, and even Lehkonen could be switched interchangeably all day. As a result, they didn't even miss the 8 pts in 12 games that Burakovsky and his bomb shot left on the table when he couldn't finish. You have a real talented kid in Newhook way down in the lineup, hardly playing...they scraped up 3+3 out of Andrew Cogliano and his 6, 7, 8, 9 minutes a game...

And I know their W-L record is high-end...but it wasn't always so easy for them because they had to outscore their goalies...so, Makar's run, and Nuke and Lek providing depth goals, and all that, it was all pretty necessary...it's the Stanley Cup Playoffs, you're going to play more one-goal games than you can shake a stick at...

 

[K Fleur]

The moment McDavid hops over the boards you can feel the atmosphere/momentum of the game change. Especially the case these playoffs. I’ve only seen that happen with one other player(Ovi circa 08-10) in the last 20 years.

Draisatl, no matter how well he’s playing, doesn’t have that same effect.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Potential candidates for 2023:
note - personally I only look at players who made the Conf Finals or later

Forwards: Marchessault, Eichel, Tkachuk, Hintz, Stone
(These 4 feel like they're a step above the rest, but not sure which 3 to pick)

D: Pietrangelo, Heiskanen, Theodore, Montour
(less clear on D IMO, who else?)

G: Bobrovsky
(fell off in the Final, but think it has to be him on the first 3 rounds alone)


Who do you guys like? What did I miss?


EDIT: Added Stone

 

[seventieslord]

Goalie has to be Bob.

Tkachuk has to be one of the forwards. If I had a vote for the smythe trophy, he would have had my first place vote. 100% serious. He was clutch at an almost unprecedented level these playoffs and it's not like his counting numbers lag behind anybody else either.

Stone deserves some consideration as one of the forwards, I would say.

The defenseman are tough. I would lean towards Pietrangelo and Montour.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

Goalie has to be Bob.

Tkachuk has to be one of the forwards. If I had a vote for the smythe trophy, he would have had my first place vote. 100% serious. He was watching almost unprecedented level these playoffs that it's not like his counting numbers lag behind anybody else either.

Stone deserves some consideration as one of the forwards, I would say.

The defenseman are tough. I would lean towards Pietrangelo and Montour.

What’s the case for Stone over teammates Eichel and Marchessault?

Leadership obviously a big plus for him

 

[seventieslord]

What’s the case for Stone over teammates Eichel and Marchessault?

Leadership obviously a big plus for him

I'm not necessarily making a case for him over those guys, but I also don't think he was demonstrably worse than them to the degree that they merit consideration and he doesn't.

Superficially, I think the case for him is that he produced as much offense and he's typically a better defensive player than either of them. I don't know what the numbers say about that though. I just get the sense that he's the straw that stirs the drink most of the time for that team, where JM is more of the Johnny on the spot finisher kind of guy. It feels kind of like Justin Williams winning the award over Kopitar. But again, I don't feel that strongly about this.

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

I'm not necessarily making a case for him over those guys, but I also don't think he was demonstrably worse than them to the degree that they merit consideration and he doesn't.

Superficially, I think the case for him is that he produced as much offense and he's typically a better defensive player than either of them. I don't know what the numbers say about that though. I just get the sense that he's the straw that stirs the drink most of the time for that team, where JM is more of the Johnny on the spot finisher kind of guy. It feels kind of like Justin Williams winning the award over Kopitar. But again, I don't feel that strongly about this.

i’d go as far as to say march over stone is like if florida won and they gave it to vergaeghe over tkachuk (ignoring for a sec that bob would have been the rightful winner on that team)

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

i’m pretty sure of who i’d choose:

tkachuk eichel stone
montour pietrangelo
bobrovsky

 

[Dingo]

Potential candidates for 2023:
note - personally I only look at players who made the Conf Finals or later

Forwards: Marchessault, Eichel, Tkachuk, Hintz, Stone
(These 4 feel like they're a step above the rest, but not sure which 3 to pick)

D: Pietrangelo, Heiskanen, Theodore, Montour
(less clear on D IMO, who else?)

G: Bobrovsky
(fell off in the Final, but think it has to be him on the first 3 rounds alone)


Who do you guys like? What did I miss?


EDIT: Added Stone

I like this whole concept.

I like the three forwards instead of positional (something I wish we could do as a project retroactively….. as long as the top centre is in that spot as its a different assignment to play centre)

and I agree that a playoff allstar team should be derived from the Final Four teams.

 

[Hawkey Town 18]

I like this whole concept.

I like the three forwards instead of positional (something I wish we could do as a project retroactively….. as long as the top centre is in that spot as its a different assignment to play centre)

and I agree that a playoff allstar team should be derived from the Final Four teams.

Looking at the OP I don't see a single year without a Center listed as one of the 3 forwards, although this year only 2 of the 5 candidates being discussed are Centers. It seems we're in agreement that Tkachuk is in, so there's only 2 spots left. Maybe that means at least one of those should be reserved for either Eichel or Hintz?

I would be interested to hear from those who saw most/all Vegas games as to who their best forward was this post season. Thoughts on Hintz welcome too of course.

 

[Michael Farkas]

This is probably the first time in a decade plus where I actually missed a few days of the playoffs. I think I missed three nights - one of which was game 1 of the SCF - as I got married that night. I know, I'm as surprised as you are...that said, I still think I watched more playoff hockey than the field, so I'll take a crack at this once again, as I really like the concept of this thread...

First Team:
F: Johnathan Marchessault
F: Matthew Tkachuk
F: Jack Eichel
D: Brandon Montour
D: Shea Theodore
G: Sergei Bobrovsky

It hurts me to leave Stone off of this because he stepped up in the Final, but it wasn't at the "expense" of those three. You could argue that Tkachuk not playing for what amounted to a significant chunk of the series is enough to bump him for Stone. I could be sold on that. Ya know who had a really good Final who might not make the cut in any of this: William Karlsson. I never fell in love with the first-year-Vegas version of him, I didn't believe in him to that level. But he had a really nice Final.

I'll take Theodore over Pietrangelo pretty clearly. Theodore is more dynamic and I don't think Petro gets enough discredit for how leaky he's gotten defensively over the years. A lot of stuff happens when he's on the ice. A lot of positive stuff happens when Theodore is out there for me. I'll take Theodore all day. I like Petro, he's a player, no question. But this was easy for me. Montour was unreal. I've always had time for him, even for his defensive woes, but he's really quite a talent and he can play for days.

Goalie = who cares. I had time for Bobrovsky, as I think we all did, didn't have a good Final...I think this whole run was a little overstated. Luckily, his averaging stats will get hammered by the snowman thrown on him in game 5 even though most of those goals don't matter at all, it'll keep folks who rely on those to make judgment calls from propping this up too much. It was a fun redemption story, and I'm not saying he wasn't good...it was getting to be more story than actuality. That said, Florida does play more "up" and they're a little more fast and loose...Vegas is a defensive landmine...landmine laying...they're...they're tough to play against. Adin Hill can suck an egg. I mean, he's fine, but he was just the guy standing there (for some of it). Even if I'm trying to make like a "hipster" pick for these playoffs, I can't even do it...no one really did it for me. I don't know, I thought Akira Schmid had a nice run for a bit, but that fizzled out against Carolina. But given the situation, he had a nice little run...but way too little. Ya know, maybe Freddy Andersen would be my pick here...but what I am gonna do, put a guy that went 5-3 in the "best goalie of the playoffs" spot...? I can't do that to you guys...

Second Team:
F: Mark Stone
F: Roope Hintz
F: Leon Draisaitl
D: Brent Burns
D: Morgan Rielly
G: Who cares...whatever. Freddy Andersen is fine in the two hole. I don't care for Adin Hill...

The D was really tough here. I know that I'm messing with the obvious here "Petro", I even think Heiskanen had a nice playoff. Low key one guy who did a really nice job, I think he played the best hockey of his career - Zach Whitecloud. I don't know about his matchups, probably pretty weak, someone will have to check on that...but he was smart with the puck, he had some intermediate-or-better level seam exits, which really surprised me, and I thought he was a rock defensively. Really impressed. He's really grown into a player. I wonder where he goes from here...

 

[buffalowing88]

The moment McDavid hops over the boards you can feel the atmosphere/momentum of the game change. Especially the case these playoffs. I’ve only seen that happen with one other player(Ovi circa 08-10) in the last 20 years.

Draisatl, no matter how well he’s playing, doesn’t have that same effect.

I think Malikin in 08-09 belongs on that list. His playoff run is still the standard for playoff runs post-Lockout for forwards, imo.

 

[JackSlater]

Tkachuk
Eichel
Stone
Montour
Pietrangelo
Bobrovsky

Not a great playoffs for individual performances, outside of Edmonton somewhat. I especially would have liked to have gone somewhere else with goaltender but there was really nowhere to go. I watched at least a few games of each team these playoffs for what it's worth.