Toronto Maple Leafs vs Tampa Bay Lightning Offense/Forwards

[BruinsBtn]

Bruh. Come on now. Just because you don't recognize the names doesn't make them bad. How about we give them 10 games at least before you try saying that? Besides, with the Leafs top 6, they just need the bottom 6 to kill penalites and not get scored on.

Name a single bottom-6 that beats.

 

[Kamiccolo]

The standard for this thread is "best in the league". If one wants his team to be considered best in the league at something, then of course the standard is very best. Otherwise, why would the Leafs even be in the conversation of this thread topic if they're simply good?

That's the thing. You (and I'm talking the collective "you", not you specifically) can't tout your team as the best at something (in this case offensively), and then also complain that everyone holds them to an unfair standard that they don't hold other teams to. Because those other teams aren't being hailed as "the best offense in the league".

Ok so first, I am talking about the comment specifically calling the bottom 6 the worst in the league. Additionally, it was NOT a Leaf fan who made this thread. And third, if you actually check my comment in this thread, no where did I claim they were BETTER than the Lightning, just that it was close.

 

[Kamiccolo]

Name a single bottom-6 that beats.

I'm not about to list half of the teams league. You obviously have an agenda with this and I am not going to change your mind whatever you say, I said my part, and will move on.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

Ok so first, I am talking about the comment specifically calling the bottom 6 the worst in the league. Additionally, it was NOT a Leaf fan who made this thread. And third, if you actually check my comment in this thread, no where did I claim they were BETTER than the Lightning, just that it was close.

That's why I said I was using the collective "you", not you specifically.

As for the creation of this thread, it came about originally because a discussion in another thread was about whether or not the Leafs had a better offense than the Lightning. And yes, that discussion involved a Leaf fan or two saying that the Leafs' offense is superior to the Lightning's.

Now as specifically to the bottom six, well, if one is going to tout the bottom six as very good or one of the better bottom sixes in hockey (which, again, has been mentioned in various threads by some Leaf fans), then again, you should expect that bottom six to be held to a high standard.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Tampa is better top to bottom. Toronto bottom six might even be a detriment now.

 

[Kamiccolo]

That's why I said I was using the collective "you", not you specifically.

As for the creation of this thread, it came about originally because a discussion in another thread was about whether or not the Leafs had a better offense than the Lightning. And yes, that discussion involved a Leaf fan or two saying that the Leafs' offense is superior to the Lightning's.

Now as specifically to the bottom six, well, if one is going to tout the bottom six as very good or one of the better bottom sixes in hockey (which, again, has been mentioned in various threads by some Leaf fans), then again, you should expect that bottom six to be held to a high standard.

So, I am sure you can at least agree, Tampa's top forwards are due for at least some regression based on their shooting percentage vs their career. Likewise, some of the Leafs forwards will have a chance to have their shooting % rebound to their career average, while others hopefully have a chance to stay healthy and help the team all season.

Given these things, I don't think it's unrealistic for the teams to meet close to the middle ground of the 40 goal difference last year. So it's not exactly as ridiculous as some would claim it is.

Regardless, the Leafs at least won some playoff games last year, and all I care about is the Leafs do better in the playoffs than the other division teams this year, regular season stats be damned.

 

[BruinsBtn]

I'm not about to list half of the teams league. You obviously have an agenda with this and I am not going to change your mind whatever you say, I said my part, and will move on.

The bottom six that's starting tonight had a combined 62 points last season. They have one legit NHL player there.

 

[Kamiccolo]

The bottom six that's starting tonight had a combined 62 points last season. They have one legit NHL player there.

The bottom 6 starting tonight is not their healthy bottom 6, so this is irrelevant. And nah, there are a few there for sure, especially when healthy. Kappy, Kerfoot, and Moore is really good, even if he hasn't been put in a role to put up points, he's a mini Hyman.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

So, I am sure you can at least agree, Tampa's top forwards are due for at least some regression based on their shooting percentage vs their career. Likewise, some of the Leafs forwards will have a chance to have their shooting % rebound to their career average, while others hopefully have a chance to stay healthy and help the team all season.

Given these things, I don't think it's unrealistic for the teams to meet close to the middle ground of the 40 goal difference last year. So it's not exactly as ridiculous as some would claim it is.

Other than Point and his 21% shooting percentage, did any of their big guns really have *that* much of an outlier from what they usually shoot? Stamkos shot 19%, but he's done that before over a full season. And even when he doesn't, he's usually in the 16+% range. Same with Kucherov. He shot 16.7% this past season, but also shot 16.3% a couple of seasons ago. It's not like he was constantly shooting 10% and then jumped up to 16% this past season.

Leafs could see a similar regression from Tavares. He shot 16.4% last year, which is by far the most he's ever shot in a full 82 game schedule. His previous high was 14.4% the previous year with the Islanders. Plus, Marner had one of the higher OISH% in the league last year. His goal scoring might not go down, but that could suggest a regression in goals scored when he's on the ice (ie. less points).

So while yes, I agree Point likely doesn't shoot that high again and will see a regression in his goal scoring unless he takes a bunch more shots to make up for it, I don't see either team's big guns other than that taking a huge drop.

So while you're right, it's not impossible or out of the realm of possibility, it just seems unlikely because it requires all of Tampa's top guns to see a huge regression and all of Toronto's top guns to remain constant or improve. That seems a bit questionable to me.

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Close but I’ll go with the Leafs.

 

[spiny norman]

Lopsided result.