Which Teams & Players Pass/Fail Eye Test For You Despite Reputation

[JAS 39 Gripen]

Giroux isnt a center anymore, scheifele has more to prove, his best is barley ppg, Stamkos is neck and neck with JT scoring lately but JT brings more to the game and doesn't have nearly as good linemates. Backstrom same thing, not the defense part though. All else i agree with. imo

Crosby
McDavid
Matthews
Kopitar

and the rest fight it out.

Matthews....WHY? What has he done to be considered in that company? Wheres Malkin btw?....

 

[JAS 39 Gripen]

Get your eyes checked.

Quality of post: Very bad. Nothing of value and just a personal attack.
Location: Toronto

2 out of 5 "tells" someone is a Leaf (homer) fan

 

[Critical13]

John Tavares and Jacob Slavin are really good. Tanev is a bit...beloved...in these parts, but he's a top 4 dman.

Someone who doesn't pass the eye test for me is Donato, and his teammate Carlo is another.

Also, my eyes tell me McDonagh has fallen off a cliff.

 

[Portable Mink]

Look at that little girl go!

Wow. I guarantee you if that’s Wilson the guy ends up with a broken jaw and Wilson gets 5 games. Because Wilson physics.

For me:

Stamkos is extremely average except shooting on the PP.
Tavares meh.


Good:

Tuch

 

[ottawa]

It's funny. Karlsson gets credited with about the same number of hits per season as Kronwall used to (similar career highs, too -- 122 for Karlsson and 133 for Kronwall). Yet the former is seen as soft and the latter was always viewed as a high-end physical presence. I don't get it.

I'll take 100 Kronwall hits over 100 Karlsson hits.

The Scotiabank place also counts the smallest shoves as hits.

 

[gtrower]

Stamkos seems like the easy answer. Still dangerous on the PP, but that's about it.
Letang, but I guess his reputation isn't all that great anymore after 2016/2017.
Tampa's D other than Hedman.

 

[nbwingsfan]

Tatar has always looked useless other than as a shooter, couldn't wait to get rid of him.

 

[The Macho King]

Roman Josi is a player that every time I watch I end up thinking less of. Great offensive player, but he makes some bad decisions and gets caught in bad situations way too often as a defender.

On the other side - Ryan O'Reilly is a fantastic hockey player. He'd have a spot on my team every time. It's shocking that a dude that plays *that hard* never takes penalties.

 

[CartographerNo611]

Glad someone else is calling out the Carolina nonsense. They have zero killer instinct and are softer than the Red wings ... the Red wings. Not to mention their seriously overrated D with the Darling scape goat.

Hamilton 44 Points +1
Faulk 31 Points -26
Slavin 30 Points +1
Pesce 19 Points -6
TVR 16 points +9
De Haan 12 Points + 12
Fleury 8 Points -2


Yall can move the puck well but where is the defense? No wonder Darling was letting empire state buildings into the net last year. Carolina literally hast 4 number 5 defense men that play the exact same way on their roster. Where are the Savard's. Cole's, Dummolin's, Muzzin's, Vlasic's, Chara's, Girardi's, Engelland's, Orlov's of the d-core? Where is the meat and potatoes needed for a playoff functional team? Heck even 2nd round bust extraordinaire Maple Leafs had Polak at least trying to skate to a player to be physical last year.

 

[Surrounded By Ahos]

Glad someone else is calling out the Carolina nonsense. They have zero killer instinct and are softer than the Red wings ... the Red wings. Not to mention their seriously overrated D with the Darling scape goat.

Hamilton 44 Points +1
Faulk 31 Points -26
Slavin 30 Points +1
Pesce 19 Points -6
TVR 16 points +9
De Haan 12 Points + 12
Fleury 8 Points -2


Yall can move the puck well but where is the defense? No wonder Darling was letting empire state buildings into the net last year. Carolina literally hast 4 number 5 defense men that play the exact same way on their roster. Where are the Savard's. Cole's, Dummolin's, Muzzin's, Vlasic's, Chara's, Girardi's, Engelland's, Orlov's of the d-core? Where is the meat and potatoes needed for a playoff functional team? Heck even 2nd round bust extraordinaire Maple Leafs had Polak at least trying to skate to a player to be physical last year.

There’s a lot to unpack here, so I’m not even gonna bother with most of it, but if you think Darling was a scape goat, you obviously didn’t watch any Hurricanes games last year.

Not much the defense could have done on these plays:

 

[Aladyyn]

Oliver Ekman-Larsson. I'm sure I just haven't caught him on the good nights.

 

[Blackhawk93]

JVR. Good lord does he suck, I don’t care what anyone says. How can someone who’s 6’3 be the softest player in the league? I’ve seen Patrick Kane throw harder hits.

He’s good from five feet from the net, the rest of the time he’s floating around the ice, not that he’s a good skater anyways. Sorry Philly, I think you’re gonna regret that contract.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

They're not a good team. They suck. The fact that they managed a mind-blowing +400 shot differential and were still a bottom-10 offensive team that allowed more goals than they scored is not a credit to them, it's evidence of how much they suck. Their feckless forwards pile up shots chasing games their goalies give away in the first 30 minutes. They're bad. They're not good. And they're not going to be good until they fix the fact that they can't build a top 6 forward line.

The Flyers and Leafs have bad defenses. One has pretty good goalies, the other has pretty bad goalies. Both have really good forwards. Both were ~100 point teams last season: Carolina had 83. Defense might win championships, but you need to score enough goals to survive 82 games and make the playoffs. Carolina is bad.

Comparing them to earlier versions of the Jets is silly. The Jets had NHL goalies and a number of effective forwards. The Resurgent Hurricanes is an HF pipedream held by advanced stats nerds and defensive prospect fetishists.

Right. Their problem is goaltending. Its hard for the forwards to be good when they are always chasing a game their goalies gave away. When/if they ever fix that we will see how good they are, or are not.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Right. Their problem is goaltending. Its hard for the forwards to be good when they are always chasing a game their goalies gave away. When/if they ever fix that we will see how good they are, or are not.

I think their forwards are a bigger problem than their goaltending, and the goaltending is a huge problem.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I think their forwards are a bigger problem than their goaltending, and the goaltending is a huge problem.

Don't deny they have a weakness at F. Still don't understand their rush to move Skinner. They have some nice prospects but they are probably another year or two away from making an impact. But until they have goaltending it doesn't matter.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Tarasenko and Stamkos are good ones. If they don't have a good scoring chance, you will never notice them. Feels like Laine is trending this way too.

On flip side, Jaden Schwartz is just a nuisance out there. Skill, heart, tenacity. Complete player and fun to watch.

Mikael Granlund is a player who always passes the eye test for me. Guy could easily be a PPG player IMO but he plays great two-way hockey and never cheats. Definitely one of the better overall wingers in the game.

Byfuglien also has a huge overall impact on the game. If you watch, he is like an elite CB in the NFL...teams just tend to avoid him. Great player.

Good stuff. Always thought big buff was way underrated.

 

[Lays]

Spooner really doesn’t pass the eye test, it’s more the other way around
He’s invisible for most of the game and then somehow ends up with a point or two

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

They're not a good team. They suck. The fact that they managed a mind-blowing +400 shot differential and were still a bottom-10 offensive team that allowed more goals than they scored is not a credit to them, it's evidence of how much they suck. Their feckless forwards pile up shots chasing games their goalies give away in the first 30 minutes. They're bad. They're not good. And they're not going to be good until they fix the fact that they can't build a top 6 forward line.

The Flyers and Leafs have bad defenses. One has pretty good goalies, the other has pretty bad goalies. Both have really good forwards. Both were ~100 point teams last season: Carolina had 83. Defense might win championships, but you need to score enough goals to survive 82 games and make the playoffs. Carolina is bad.

Comparing them to earlier versions of the Jets is silly. The Jets had NHL goalies and a number of effective forwards. The Resurgent Hurricanes is an HF pipedream held by advanced stats nerds and defensive prospect fetishists.

Flyers don't have bad defense. They have poor PK but their 5on5 defense produced top 10 stats in every category including goals against.

 

[Rich Nixon]

Flyers don't have bad defense. They have poor PK but their 5on5 defense produced top 10 stats in every category including goals against.

I watch them play 75 games every year. They have a bad defense. It's Provorov, Ghost (a great player but not an unbelievable defensive force), and then a bunch of shrugged shoulders and turnovers.

They fared well in 5v5 possession stats in the regular season because...guess it...they have some dominant forwards who push play up ice. That's the difference between a team with a good defense and no offense and a team with great offense and mediocre defense.

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Lol @ the JT Miller description.

Im pretty sure Jovo made this thread as an elaborate excuse to shit on JT Miller some more.

 

[FreshSeabass]

Hamilton is another one who looks like nothing more than a PPQB who's a disaster defensively.

I keep seeing people say this and from watching him so far from pre season(i know small sample). Hes no shut down d man but disaster defensively seems really over dramatic. That may change after a season of watching him.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Hyman passes for me. A lot of leaf fans defer to "ohhh but Matthews had to play with anchor Hyman". Whenever I see him, he looks like a good player. Not a ton of finish, but does his role extremely well. I think he would work well next to any star player.
Klefbom is another guy I always like when I see. He has great advanced stats, he moves very efficiently for a big guy and makes some very nice heads up plays. A hammer of a slapshot and looks comfortable and calm in his own zone. Looks like a 1D to me, but the on ice results paint a different story (maybe he will one day, I can hope)

Laine does not pass for me. Jets fans hate when other fans rip on their star player, but his defense is flat out bad, his compete looks lacking. He isn't overly physical or quick. Even his play making is weak (Ovi makes nice passes more consistently than most would guess). His shot is incredible but the rest of his game makes me think he never becomes that franchise defining player.
Klingberg is a unique one for me, in the sense that I see how great he is offensively. He makes great stretch passes, and he looks like a unit of a QB in the offensive zone. But he does not pass the eye test defensively. Dallas fans will argue till they are blue in the face about his defense, but I consistently see him outmuscled, beaten to pucks, and making questionable plays in the defensive zone. I'm not underrating his offense in anyway, but I think he looks and is 1-dimensional.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

Fail -
Trouba - A lot of hype, but for me doesnt pass the eye test
Coyle - People push this player hard, i just dont see him as a high end top 6 player
Nylander - High skill but crumbles under pressure (jury is out)
Lehkonen - Pushed as high end prospect, but really hasnt proven anything (jury is out)
Maatta - weak in the dzone
J.Staal - Doesnt bring enough offensively and doesnt fit todays NHL
Vesey - Complete flop seeing as he went on the Tavares showcase a couple years ago
W.Karlsson - excellent season but i cant see it being sustainable
Backlund - Doesnt match the hype for me
RNH - see above
Horvat - see above
OEL - considered one of the best in the league but for me lacks significantly in the D zone

Pass
Gourde - Underrated scorer
Kadri - often overlooked, but extremely valuable 2 way player
Tatar - i see offensive upside, but seems to be a castaway at this point
Girardi - always liked his defensive game, but may not have been worth the contract
Palmieri - probably forgotten about since being on the shore. But a hard working skill guy
Pulock - may not be on peoples radar but soon to be norris candidate
Spooner - like the skill and speed, his style suits the Rangers pace and not the Bruins
Manson - went from possible expansion trade to teams arguable best guy
D.Brown - big ticket, but in the right position a very valuable power forward
S. Bennett - his game needs to be developed. but like the combo of grit and skill
Klefbom - had a down year, but do see this player being a high end guy
J.Markstrom - doesnt seem to get a lot of attention, but posses tools of a #1G
Raanta - had a good finish last year. Proved me wrong about shorter goalies

I really like this list. The only ones I disagree on are RNH and Brown.

 

[The Moose is Loose]

JVR. Good lord does he suck, I don’t care what anyone says. How can someone who’s 6’3 be the softest player in the league? I’ve seen Patrick Kane throw harder hits.

He’s good from five feet from the net, the rest of the time he’s floating around the ice, not that he’s a good skater anyways. Sorry Philly, I think you’re gonna regret that contract.

100% agree. I forgot to list JVR. I think that contract ends up being like Lucic, Erikksson, and Ladd

 

[HabsTown]

I know one player that never passed the eye test, Mike Ricci

Yuck.

Brent Sopel has something to say! Once voted the ugliest NHL Player... which is mean haha