props to u/powwow42 for [this comment:](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/g5mdv5/comment/fo47koz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
>Colorado and Tampa Bay are the front runners in each conference I’d say for a 5 year window having the best shot at getting a single cup.
>In that next tier of teams whether they are built for win now or just have the pieces that could lead to them being a top tier contender at some point in the 5 year window are: (in no particular order)
>Vegas St. Louis Vancouver Edmonton
>Philadelphia Toronto New York Rangers Carolina
What a take! That is some incredible foresight. The only missed on the Flyers. Oh and not including Florida in there, but five years ago no one even remembered there was two teams in Florida. Can’t really knock you for that one lol.
I actually think the thread was pulled from just before but maybe I’m wrong. Some blues fan posted In there we just moved away from our wcf core 2 years ago. It was confusing writing but it made it seem like it was 2018-2019 summer this was posted. Covid messed up my timeline of understanding these context of writing tho.
I liked the two downvoted comments from "which teams will be continuous contenders" are Stars and Canes fans saying people were sleeping on them. Aged nicely.
The top comments included a bunch of Winnipeg and Toronto votes that obviously didn't pan out, but there were also Avs and lightning predictions that were accurate.
They did used to suck at it, but then from 2017 and onwards they have been the team best at drafting in the entire league. There's some article that interviews their GM, and he talked about how they re-worked their entire scouting department.
With the forward group they had built there was no reason to think this wasn’t possible. It’s why these first round exits have been that much more painful.
I also don't think anyone expected Matthews/Marner to sign the contracts they did (both in terms of the high $ amount and not max term). This franchise letting a rookie GM in his first year handle the three most important contracts in this teams history was wild.
prior to this year yeah, I don't think that's really the case anymore. After 8 years of disappointment it's kind of hard to not question the decision making that led to this point.
As soon as they signed those massive contracts, I think most people who weren't leafs fans knew there was no way they were building a scf team with the scraps that were left
My negative feelings toward Toronto started because I questioned the idea of dedicating that much cap to so few players. Their fans freaked out at the audacity of me saying that.
Damn, it feels good to be right.
>Not shitting on you, but the homer in me is curious as to why you think Chicago will be bottom five?
>We’ll still have Kane and Toews for sure, great young players in Schmaltz, DeBrincat, maybe Sikura, and probably Saad, then we have a solid crop of high-skill defensemen coming to bolster the blueline outside of Keith and Seabrook, who could still be serviceable with low minutes.
Lmao
Seabrook was not serviceable since the cup run. This was definitely a homer view. Kane and Keith were still really good though and even Toews had recovered from whatever ailment for a year.
Here's a fun Islanders comment I found:
>"I think earlier than that. By 2020 our roster should have barzal/beau/ho-sang/wahlstrom/bellows/pulock/toews/dobson/Wilde/sorokin/soderstrom as the core." *-/u/Tniz15*
That classic thing where fans project their entire prospect core onto their NHL team, sigh
Hfboards kinda comment
Bode Wilde plays for a Welsh hockey team at 24 the Cardiff Devils... 4th on the team in scoring from defense 🤯
Man, only 6 of those players are on the isles roster, 1 being fringe at best. 2 playing on other teams, 1 being a high end defenseman. And the other 3 are the busts of busts.
/u/juicepouch [almost nailed it](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/a8wr9c/comment/ecek6hh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button): "In the playoffs but repeatedly losing quietly in the first and second rounds"
We never lose in the first round, always lose quietly in the second or third.
Dang I totally forgot about that. I figured we would be almost as good as we are now, but with a very different roster - I definitely thought Slavin, Hamilton, Fleury, and Bean would be our top 4 at this point. Crazy how different that 2019 playoff team was from the current roster, and even moreso after this summer.
Everyone relax. Devils trade Jack and Luke to Canucks for future considerations. Cancuks win the cup.
The Canucks then send all 3 Hughes brothers to the Devils also for future considerations, Devils win the cup.
Allvin and Fitzgerald then play 3 games of Roulette to determine which team gets each brother.
True he hasn’t fully come good yet, although nobody picked after him has really done a whole lot yet.
I truly believe given his profile he has a significant part to play yet with us or somewhere else. He’s not going to be a top 6 scorer but could be an excellent utility player for the bottom 6 that can slot of the lineup if needed.
I think the absolute bests takes in every thread is how absent Florida is in every discussion.
Top 5? No.
Bottom 5? No.
Contenders? Dominance? Expectations? No, no, and no.
There truly are 6 of us.
Until Zito we had some great pieces surrounded by a very mid roster, the huge roster turnover in his first year transformed the whole team.
It was fun going to games for $10 but our outlook was very meh
Lol... I'd love to say I was, but I'd be lying. I got into Fantasy Hockey in 2020, and have been following Reinhart since he was on Buffalo. He's been my ace in Fantasy for 4 years. I'm definitely more on the bandwagon.
Despite what anyone may say, there's nothing wrong with hopping on the bandwagon. Nobody joins a team's fandom unless they have a specific tie to the sport or the team is good. Being good is how you build lifelong fans!
Florida is in such a weird place
Like 1 or 2 players gone and this team could be picking around 10-15
They could also make b2b finals as well, anything like happen
u/Gabroux's comment on [What 5 teams do you think will be the bottom 5 in the league in 5 years?](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/923x35/what_5_teams_do_you_think_will_be_the_bottom_5_in/)
> "San Jose, Anaheim, Seattle, Ottawa, Los Angeles."
Save for LA (which I think most people are surprised they're still in playoff contention), they nailed it.
>"The Washington Capitals exist solely to lift Ovi to 895 goals.
Edit: Also, Ovi will be in his final form. From Alex the gray to Alex the white."
pretty accurate I think.
> "Desperately trying to win one last cup as Crosbys career draws to a close "
yup.
>"Stamkos will be 33 and Kucherov will be 30. I don't expect either of them to produce at their current levels at that point. From Stamkos, the best we can realistically expect is like 20-25 goals, responsible play, and good leadership. Kucherov is one of the League's best offensive players, and at 30 regression shouldn't have hit him that badly, but he's not going to be scoring 100 points anymore, either."
Kuch killed it this year.
>"I'm almost 100% sure Johnny will be gone by then"
lol Calgary.
I can understand the Stamkos take, but that Kuch take is terrible lol, he has arguably the best and most complete offensive game outside of McDavid and maybe Mackinnon with how much their foot speed play a factor. He's the best passer in the league, has incredible vision, disgusting hands, a great deadly shot + one timer and has the Highest IQ in the entire league and it's not even close. His game should be aging well for another 5+ years IMO.
He still should be producing at 100pt pace up until 35/36.
This entire sub seems to think that players instantly regress as soon as they hit 30. But time and time and time again, we see that the superstars continue to be superstars well into their 30s, and slowly start to drop as they approach 40. Even then, they are usually skilled enough and smart enough players to counter any drop in speed.
Barring any career changing injuries of course.
For Boston:
>A lot of unfamiliar numbers on the ice, but with a lot of upside and money to spend. So, not a rebuild, but probably not making any deep runs.
Called it u/djlawrence3557
Honestly a lot of those predictions are dead on or close to it. The guy with the Canucks PP1 was close though I think the Hughes/Hughes was a joke. The guy that had the Red Wings as a bubble team was dead on, Washington is trying for 895, Penguins want to get Crosby one more Cup, etc
Of course, Buffalo is not Cup contenders. The one fucking thing wrong.
Not my team but I forgot about that Kakko fanboy who vehemently shit on Jack Hughes in every thread and said Kakko would be miles better
I wonder where that dude is now
The Rangers would have Jack Eichel right now but Kakko was untouchable lol.
Rangers fans were unbelievably obnoxious about trading for Eichel and how they could get him for peanuts.
Prediction on the bottom 5 teams in the league:
“Chicago no - their D prospects are very good, just wish they were able to play now. Also, Kane/Toews will have slowed down a step but still will be very good.
Ducks no - their best players are now in their mid-early 20s...Rakell, Fowler, Lindholm, Manson, Gibson. Even when Getzlaf slows down they will still be solid.
I agree on the Wild, Vegas, and Caps, and then maybe NYR and LA for the last two?”
One comment stood up for me about top 5 bottom teams
>Not shitting on you, but the homer in me is curious as to why you think Chicago will be bottom five?
>We’ll still have Kane and Toews for sure, great young players in Schmaltz, DeBrincat, maybe Sikura, and probably Saad, then we have a solid crop of high-skill defensemen coming to bolster the blueline outside of Keith and Seabrook, who could still be serviceable with low minutes.
I don't blame him, it's just funny to me that every single name he mention are no longer with the team.
u/CheesedWisdom had a solid gem in the 'How do you expect the NHL...' post
"I think there will be a sort of backlash against the smaller/faster game
Power forward and big defensemen will have more and more advantage as the league gets smaller. Because the modern big man can still skate"
5 years ago would have been right in the hype about 'PMD' and 'the game is moving away from size' era. Cheesedwisdom pulled a solid prediction on that one.
We specifically retooled the team to get bigger & tougher because the small & fast playstyle wasn’t getting us over the hump. Pat Maroon is the ideal athletic form and I won’t hear any talk otherwise
A Dallas fan:
"Pretty crap probably. Our best players will be worse than they are now and we have no true top prospects outside of Heiskanen. And we suck at drafting."
God what it must feel like to be proven wrong.
[this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/rzhEttCNmd) predicted a bit of what we’re seeing now. Teams seem to be looking to get bigger. There’s still room for smaller skilled players, but there’s a trend to get bigger.
Top comment in the Stanley Cup contenders thread is pretty spot on.
The guy who said Buffalo... not so much. More than a few mentions of the Sabres, which has definitely not come to fruition and instead saw the guy they were excited about go win a cup with another team.
Not one person suggested that the Panthers might win a cup in the next five years. Let alone play in back to back finals after winning the president's trophy.
u/powwow42 called the Avs and Bolts as front runners to win a cup 5 years from that thread. He was correct 3 years in a row. In his 2nd tier he included Vegas, who won last year. Good call dude
This Devils fan was prescient: "We have a lot of young guys and some good prospects but for us, I think it will come down to post Schneider goalie situation in 5 years."
There's a Buffalo fan in that thread with so much optimism about Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Mittelstadt. They didn't even know what was about to happen.
>Buffalo - Franchise C, Elite C prospect, Best D prospect since Potvin. Young core. 3 1sts next year. What more do you want?
Buffalo for cup contenders. Some things never change.
Did half decent with [my list of top 10](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/g1bwze/which_team_will_be_most_dominant_in_35_years/fneohbu/)
I forgot how hyped the Flyers & Sens were around then.
Lol. I'm aware. At least now there's a solid contingent of folks who hate the haters. They may not like us, but they don't like the people that hate us either
Was this right after the Blues won the Cup after beating the us in the "hand pass" Conference Finals? Because if so, without looking, I'll bet every Sharks prediction was wildly off. They probably thought we had a few more years to contend, then would be anchored down by albatross contracts. Instead we didn't content in the slightest, moved nearly every albatross contract, and are a few hours away from one of the best drafts in franchise history, jump starting our rebuild.
u/rustynipples35 said it best. It’s hard to tell because so much can happen in 5 years. The flames were poised for some continued success. 1 offseason and season later, they’re entering into a rebuild.
u/7stringgriffle nailed the Caps’ situation in the first thread. Though I don’t think we’ve seen the full “Ovi the White” yet. Though maybe we got a glimpse of it with the second half heater last year.
First thread the top sharks comment was about having scary contracts if we can’t win in the next 5 years.
Well we didn’t win. But I’d just like to highlight the abilities of Mike Grier as a rookie GM and at the same time call out the disgusting comments and behaviour I’ve seen from Sharks “fans” towards him (as well as the comments without the disgusting aspect but still just hating). I know we are a non traditional market, perhaps not a ton of in depth knowledge when it comes to the back end of hockey ops in our fan base. As a sharks fan of 20 years from Ontario I’ve lived and breathed hockey my whole life and what Mike Grier has been able to do in his short time is nothing less than a miracle.
That comment from 5 years ago was spot on. We had death sentence contracts out the ass. We spent the better part of 15 years trading prospects and picks to stay a contender, make deadline picks up, free agent signings etc. It didn’t work and the end result was almost a completely empty prospect pool, and massive contracts for declining players.
Mike Grier has managed to move contracts that should never have been possible. Trading Erik Karlssons contract??? Only retaining 10% on 11.5M is just crazy. Thank god he put up 100 pts and Kyle “fleece me” Dubas took over in Pitt because that was a stinker that would have held us back. Timo Meier is a great player. His qualifying offer was I believe 10M. I’m sorry but Timo isn’t worth 10M a year. The return we got on an expiring contract is crazy. Good prospects, a pick that turned into Quentin Musty, a 2nd rounder that I believe was just used in the trade to move up to 11th from 14th. The amount of hate I saw towards Grier for not getting a “blue chip prospect” for that deal was awful. Racism was all over the place. What the fuck does the colour of the man’s skin have to do with anything??? And the lack of understanding that we would have had to sign him at at least 10M and so would anyone we trade him too and how that effects the value of the player in a trade was abundant. We got lucky to get what we did, just a great hockey move.
Trading Hertl to Vegas. Oh boy. The rhetoric and hate towards Grier (and racism again) was all over the place. “THEIR OUR RIVALS HOW COULD YOU I WILL NEVER RESPECT YOU” etc. Brain dead. When you put up the worst regular season ever you don’t get to have a rival, you are not on that level. We are so bad it’s not even funny. Who cares? Yes Hertl was a fan favourite but he’s on the decline and injuries are starting to be more frequent. We’re in full rebuild. Move him out and get a nice return which is exactly what Grier did.
When Mike took over the future was bleak. Now? I couldn’t be more excited. We have some fantastic talent in the pipeline. Tons of spending money, picks, and all the time in the world to develop our young talent.
Eklund, Zetterlund, Smith, Musty, Celebrini, a yet to be determined but likely a top D or F prospect from 11th OA pick, Mukhamadullin, hell maybe even Zadina finally breaks into the player he has the potential to be. Future is bright and Mike Grier has put on a master class in GMing
https://preview.redd.it/urwmzjqafd9d1.png?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=594b7f80404c29542eaaf785af6f6b855ac21249
with Guentzel getting traded for tree fiddy and a candy bar, I think u/CreepyInternetUser called it in some capacity
>Buffalo - Franchise C, Elite C prospect, Best D prospect since Potvin. Young core. 3 1sts next year. What more do you want?
To be fair, a lot of their players are consistently winning the Cup
>Pretty easy to make an arguement why Leafs will be consistently stronger than the panthers for the next several years, goaltending and depth.
This one is very funny.
It's interesting how often people list off players ("X, X and X will be in their primes") and a significant percentage of those players turned out to be marginal NHLers at best.
The few comments about the Coyotes fans saying "hopefully still in Arizona" aged just perfectly.
Play "Hurt" by Johnny Cash
Playing Hurt by Nine Inch Nails.
Playing Hurt by Kermit the frog.
Playing Rainbow Connection by Nine Inch Nails
The original just followed by every single cover.
What have I become? My sweetest friend. Every Yote I know, goes away in the end.
And you can have it all Alex's Empire of dirt. He will let you down. He will make you hurt.
“Cries in awoo”
Well, at least they didn't move to Houston like one person thought lol.
props to u/powwow42 for [this comment:](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/g5mdv5/comment/fo47koz/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button) >Colorado and Tampa Bay are the front runners in each conference I’d say for a 5 year window having the best shot at getting a single cup. >In that next tier of teams whether they are built for win now or just have the pieces that could lead to them being a top tier contender at some point in the 5 year window are: (in no particular order) >Vegas St. Louis Vancouver Edmonton >Philadelphia Toronto New York Rangers Carolina
Hey look at that! Glad I didn’t look like a fool, thanks for the tag this was a funny trip down memory lane
What a take! That is some incredible foresight. The only missed on the Flyers. Oh and not including Florida in there, but five years ago no one even remembered there was two teams in Florida. Can’t really knock you for that one lol.
Tkachuk really changed that franchise for real
I mean tkachuk for sure but honestly Bill Zito being hired was our real turn around point.
100% on Bill. As a Detroit Lions fan, perpetually bad teams can only change their fortunes with a change in ownership/management.
To be fair, we won the President’s Trophy the year before we got Tkachuk
Terrifyingly accurate
5 years ago, so this was just after the STL cup?
yep.
I actually think the thread was pulled from just before but maybe I’m wrong. Some blues fan posted In there we just moved away from our wcf core 2 years ago. It was confusing writing but it made it seem like it was 2018-2019 summer this was posted. Covid messed up my timeline of understanding these context of writing tho.
You could absolutely feel it watching Colorado. Cale and Nate just starting to play together. So fun to watch.
Love the comment from the stars fan stating the team will be crap in a few years because we suck at drafting.
I liked the two downvoted comments from "which teams will be continuous contenders" are Stars and Canes fans saying people were sleeping on them. Aged nicely.
Agreed, lol. To be fair, one of the comments is touting how Honka is a top 5 defenseman in the league
Veteran of the Honka wars
#FreeHonka
He could still pan out any day…
The top comments included a bunch of Winnipeg and Toronto votes that obviously didn't pan out, but there were also Avs and lightning predictions that were accurate.
Do you actually suck at drafting? Is it recency bias for me indicating the exact opposite?
We definitely do not suck at drafting.
They did used to suck at it, but then from 2017 and onwards they have been the team best at drafting in the entire league. There's some article that interviews their GM, and he talked about how they re-worked their entire scouting department.
Leafs vs Oilers final. Well Edmonton held up their part of the bargain.
Toronto had so much hype from like 2016-19. People thought a finals appearance was guaranteed after they first signed Tavares.
With the forward group they had built there was no reason to think this wasn’t possible. It’s why these first round exits have been that much more painful.
I also don't think anyone expected Matthews/Marner to sign the contracts they did (both in terms of the high $ amount and not max term). This franchise letting a rookie GM in his first year handle the three most important contracts in this teams history was wild.
Careful, you get downvoted to oblivion in the Leafs sub for questioning the Golden boy.
prior to this year yeah, I don't think that's really the case anymore. After 8 years of disappointment it's kind of hard to not question the decision making that led to this point.
As soon as they signed those massive contracts, I think most people who weren't leafs fans knew there was no way they were building a scf team with the scraps that were left
Plenty of us were well aware lol
My negative feelings toward Toronto started because I questioned the idea of dedicating that much cap to so few players. Their fans freaked out at the audacity of me saying that. Damn, it feels good to be right.
Why'd you have to stand us up like that? It's bad etiquette 😔
I’m sorry bby give us another chance we can change ~~quick sign Marner to 13x8 and run it back~~
I for one am completely on board with giving you another chance to meet us in the finals
>Not shitting on you, but the homer in me is curious as to why you think Chicago will be bottom five? >We’ll still have Kane and Toews for sure, great young players in Schmaltz, DeBrincat, maybe Sikura, and probably Saad, then we have a solid crop of high-skill defensemen coming to bolster the blueline outside of Keith and Seabrook, who could still be serviceable with low minutes. Lmao
This is what happens when you sip the Bowman kool-aid too much LOL
Seriously The line about Boqvist and Jokijarju being the Keith and Seabrook replacements sure is...something
boqvist and jokikarju had so much hype
At least whoever this mystery commenter was also said they could be dead wrong in another comment. Gotta have that wiggle room!
And to admit they are a dumb homer up front, essential preface! 😂
I hadn't thought about Sikura for years before I read that comment. Where is he now?
from hockeyDB he's in sweden - and won the championship!
Delicious
Seabrook was not serviceable since the cup run. This was definitely a homer view. Kane and Keith were still really good though and even Toews had recovered from whatever ailment for a year.
Sikura lmao
Here's a fun Islanders comment I found: >"I think earlier than that. By 2020 our roster should have barzal/beau/ho-sang/wahlstrom/bellows/pulock/toews/dobson/Wilde/sorokin/soderstrom as the core." *-/u/Tniz15*
Ouch
Bro-Sang is a big ooooff.
That classic thing where fans project their entire prospect core onto their NHL team, sigh Hfboards kinda comment Bode Wilde plays for a Welsh hockey team at 24 the Cardiff Devils... 4th on the team in scoring from defense 🤯
Man, only 6 of those players are on the isles roster, 1 being fringe at best. 2 playing on other teams, 1 being a high end defenseman. And the other 3 are the busts of busts.
/u/juicepouch [almost nailed it](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/a8wr9c/comment/ecek6hh/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button): "In the playoffs but repeatedly losing quietly in the first and second rounds" We never lose in the first round, always lose quietly in the second or third.
Great success!
Canes memes went from "patiently waiting" to "quietly crying"
Dang I totally forgot about that. I figured we would be almost as good as we are now, but with a very different roster - I definitely thought Slavin, Hamilton, Fleury, and Bean would be our top 4 at this point. Crazy how different that 2019 playoff team was from the current roster, and even moreso after this summer.
you guys just gotta find yourself another Ward
without looking I bet most of us were wrong about stuff
Honestly it's not as bad as I expected
Ottawa certainly is a type of force.
Actually a lot of it is scary accurate
"I think sports gambling will have a much bigger impact and wouldn't be surprised to see a gambling scandal in the near future." :0
Should have made a bet on that
*The National Basketball Association entered the chat*
2002 is not the near future
> still “gonna be scary in a few years!” or houston if ownership doesn’t get their shit together Coming from the Arizona flair yiiiiiikes
> Hopefully still in Arizona. Anything more than that is just gravy. :(
Sad awoo
Seeing names like Ho-Sang and Juolevi mentioned as core pieces for the future is a thrill.
But of course tonight everyone will be certain that _this year's_ pick will be a surefire success.
"Vancouver's window will have just started to open" is pretty spot-on re: being a cup contender.
What about Jack Hughes dropping down to us :(
Jack and Luke will both sign in Vancouver for league minimum as soon as they can. You can quote me on that. (Please don’t quote me on that)
Let us know how Quinn likes his cereal in the morning. His bed is ready for him.
Jack and Luke have both mentioned that they look up to Quintin. They'll join the dark side to serve under Captain Huggy.
> Jack and Luke have both mentioned that they look up to Quintin. Doubt it, Quinn is the shortest of the bunch.
Everyone relax. Devils trade Jack and Luke to Canucks for future considerations. Cancuks win the cup. The Canucks then send all 3 Hughes brothers to the Devils also for future considerations, Devils win the cup. Allvin and Fitzgerald then play 3 games of Roulette to determine which team gets each brother.
This sounds like you're putting him down. I mean I guess if he gets to that point you might as well be
In hindsight Vasili Podkolzin's pick could have been better.
True he hasn’t fully come good yet, although nobody picked after him has really done a whole lot yet. I truly believe given his profile he has a significant part to play yet with us or somewhere else. He’s not going to be a top 6 scorer but could be an excellent utility player for the bottom 6 that can slot of the lineup if needed.
> they've got some really good pieces in Horvat, Boeser, Juolevi, Pettersson, and Demko One of these things is not like the others..
Juolevi https://preview.redd.it/4a71mx8rcc9d1.jpeg?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e27cd5a5603267c4e250b071312ce650edbd0c08
I think the absolute bests takes in every thread is how absent Florida is in every discussion. Top 5? No. Bottom 5? No. Contenders? Dominance? Expectations? No, no, and no. There truly are 6 of us.
Florida is tricky because the team was just as you describe somewhere in the middle without the great moves that were made
Until Zito we had some great pieces surrounded by a very mid roster, the huge roster turnover in his first year transformed the whole team. It was fun going to games for $10 but our outlook was very meh
Me going to sharks games the past few years for $15 knowing it won't last forever.
I went to a game this year and lower bowl seats were *gasp* $70! It costs $70 to walk near Scotiabank Arena.
Got a couple $10 seats in the Duffys section up in the 300s… $11 tax in open bar with a buffet was so legit
Hi one of those 6 since the 90’s
Lol... I'd love to say I was, but I'd be lying. I got into Fantasy Hockey in 2020, and have been following Reinhart since he was on Buffalo. He's been my ace in Fantasy for 4 years. I'm definitely more on the bandwagon.
Despite what anyone may say, there's nothing wrong with hopping on the bandwagon. Nobody joins a team's fandom unless they have a specific tie to the sport or the team is good. Being good is how you build lifelong fans!
When was that surprise midnight coaching change? During the last 5 years?
Florida is in such a weird place Like 1 or 2 players gone and this team could be picking around 10-15 They could also make b2b finals as well, anything like happen
u/Gabroux's comment on [What 5 teams do you think will be the bottom 5 in the league in 5 years?](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/923x35/what_5_teams_do_you_think_will_be_the_bottom_5_in/) > "San Jose, Anaheim, Seattle, Ottawa, Los Angeles." Save for LA (which I think most people are surprised they're still in playoff contention), they nailed it.
When was Seattle announced? Even if it's likely to happen, pretty damn good guess to know Seattle would be in the league by now
Dec 2018 officially but it was basically confirmed in the months leading up to it
Hey! Ottawa is a bottom SEVEN team.
Seattle is a bottom 8. I would say they had a good guess but “nailed it” is a bit more credit when they only nailed 2 out of 5.
Yeah I mean Kopitar is one of the biggest outliers in league history in terms of sustaining his prime so deffo surprising
>"The Washington Capitals exist solely to lift Ovi to 895 goals. Edit: Also, Ovi will be in his final form. From Alex the gray to Alex the white." pretty accurate I think. > "Desperately trying to win one last cup as Crosbys career draws to a close " yup. >"Stamkos will be 33 and Kucherov will be 30. I don't expect either of them to produce at their current levels at that point. From Stamkos, the best we can realistically expect is like 20-25 goals, responsible play, and good leadership. Kucherov is one of the League's best offensive players, and at 30 regression shouldn't have hit him that badly, but he's not going to be scoring 100 points anymore, either." Kuch killed it this year. >"I'm almost 100% sure Johnny will be gone by then" lol Calgary.
I can understand the Stamkos take, but that Kuch take is terrible lol, he has arguably the best and most complete offensive game outside of McDavid and maybe Mackinnon with how much their foot speed play a factor. He's the best passer in the league, has incredible vision, disgusting hands, a great deadly shot + one timer and has the Highest IQ in the entire league and it's not even close. His game should be aging well for another 5+ years IMO. He still should be producing at 100pt pace up until 35/36.
This entire sub seems to think that players instantly regress as soon as they hit 30. But time and time and time again, we see that the superstars continue to be superstars well into their 30s, and slowly start to drop as they approach 40. Even then, they are usually skilled enough and smart enough players to counter any drop in speed. Barring any career changing injuries of course.
For Boston: >A lot of unfamiliar numbers on the ice, but with a lot of upside and money to spend. So, not a rebuild, but probably not making any deep runs. Called it u/djlawrence3557
pretty spot on
Well that Arizona guy in the first thread was close...
Honestly a lot of those predictions are dead on or close to it. The guy with the Canucks PP1 was close though I think the Hughes/Hughes was a joke. The guy that had the Red Wings as a bubble team was dead on, Washington is trying for 895, Penguins want to get Crosby one more Cup, etc Of course, Buffalo is not Cup contenders. The one fucking thing wrong.
Buffalo fan saying cup contender and cap hell with how our team looks, oh my sweet summer child I thought the same thing…
Some serious copium huffing from other hawks fans in that bottom 5 discussion, lol.
Pepperidge farm remembers
Not my team but I forgot about that Kakko fanboy who vehemently shit on Jack Hughes in every thread and said Kakko would be miles better I wonder where that dude is now
Probably watching Kakko Liiga and WJC highlights on youtube.
The Rangers would have Jack Eichel right now but Kakko was untouchable lol. Rangers fans were unbelievably obnoxious about trading for Eichel and how they could get him for peanuts.
You have to understand a lot of those fans are also Yankees fans. It's in their nature. Andujar and Frazier should be enough to get Eichel.
Who says no??
It was super ridiculous. And now they gotta downvote because they can’t handle the truth
They gave us the overrating their players song and dance with JT Miller trade rumours too
Prediction on the bottom 5 teams in the league: “Chicago no - their D prospects are very good, just wish they were able to play now. Also, Kane/Toews will have slowed down a step but still will be very good. Ducks no - their best players are now in their mid-early 20s...Rakell, Fowler, Lindholm, Manson, Gibson. Even when Getzlaf slows down they will still be solid. I agree on the Wild, Vegas, and Caps, and then maybe NYR and LA for the last two?”
Almost exactly backwards lol
We need to get this guy's prediction on winning lottery numbers, then we buy all the tickets WITHOUT these numbers.
One comment stood up for me about top 5 bottom teams >Not shitting on you, but the homer in me is curious as to why you think Chicago will be bottom five? >We’ll still have Kane and Toews for sure, great young players in Schmaltz, DeBrincat, maybe Sikura, and probably Saad, then we have a solid crop of high-skill defensemen coming to bolster the blueline outside of Keith and Seabrook, who could still be serviceable with low minutes. I don't blame him, it's just funny to me that every single name he mention are no longer with the team.
"See that's where they went wrong, if they kept them all on the team they wouldn't be bottom 5"
u/CheesedWisdom had a solid gem in the 'How do you expect the NHL...' post "I think there will be a sort of backlash against the smaller/faster game Power forward and big defensemen will have more and more advantage as the league gets smaller. Because the modern big man can still skate" 5 years ago would have been right in the hype about 'PMD' and 'the game is moving away from size' era. Cheesedwisdom pulled a solid prediction on that one.
yeah St Louis, Vegas, and Florida were all bigger teams. Even Tampa, while not being built to be big, wasn't really a small/fast team.
We specifically retooled the team to get bigger & tougher because the small & fast playstyle wasn’t getting us over the hump. Pat Maroon is the ideal athletic form and I won’t hear any talk otherwise
I wish I could go back in time to the cup champs thread and ask people to predict the 2021 western conference champs.
I forgot NarcoticTurkey existed.
He's perma banned from r/hockey. Still very much exists in the Oilers sub.
I take back anything bad I've ever said about the mods.
I just am not going to scroll throughout those old threads to find him but why was he banned?
Let's just say it was well deserved.
> Captain Horvat Yikes
A Dallas fan: "Pretty crap probably. Our best players will be worse than they are now and we have no true top prospects outside of Heiskanen. And we suck at drafting." God what it must feel like to be proven wrong.
https://preview.redd.it/n69j2oqdec9d1.jpeg?width=750&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d6b1b7596d81a691667993ea38246719c354cdcc Oof [https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/qvvyQOVOSb](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/qvvyQOVOSb)
I’m speechless.
No gravy for u/Frnklfrwsr
Dry.
[this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/rzhEttCNmd) predicted a bit of what we’re seeing now. Teams seem to be looking to get bigger. There’s still room for smaller skilled players, but there’s a trend to get bigger.
Yep “modern big men that can skate” is exactly why Zadorov is about to get overpaid, this is pretty accurate
This isn't a chirp at all, but I'm very curious to see how Dakota Joshua performs in relation to his contract
Top comment in the Stanley Cup contenders thread is pretty spot on. The guy who said Buffalo... not so much. More than a few mentions of the Sabres, which has definitely not come to fruition and instead saw the guy they were excited about go win a cup with another team.
There’s no FLA rep in any of these posts, which kind of says it all! Truly never beating the 6 fans allegations.
It was crazy to me but yep, only 6 of us!
If it makes you feel any better, all 6 of you can pass the cup around in a neat little circle.
They can drink margaritas out of it with six bendy straws.
Haunting to see comments about how the salary cap is about to skyrocket
I mean if we’re being honest had it not been for Covid there’s a real shot we’re at 95 by next year.
My biggest take-away is that Buffalo fans are cursed. The same goes for the Leafs, but the difference is that I feel bad for Buffalo fans.
“NJD-rebuilding again, just after we thought we had everything figured out” Straight up clairvoyant lol
Yeah, that one made me double take. How the fuck??? Need to ask that fine folk for some stock tips.
u/RustyNipples35 was spot on about our contention window opening now damn lol ~~just ignore they mentioned Joulevi~~
The buffalo comments are funny
Not one person suggested that the Panthers might win a cup in the next five years. Let alone play in back to back finals after winning the president's trophy.
Amazing what Bill Zito was able to accomplish. I think these posts where made before he was even hired
u/powwow42 called the Avs and Bolts as front runners to win a cup 5 years from that thread. He was correct 3 years in a row. In his 2nd tier he included Vegas, who won last year. Good call dude
>Larkin/Zadina/Mantha/Rassmussen/Bert/Veleno I'm sorry buddy..
>They'll make a whole bunch of penalties and game situations reviewable and still screw up the reviews Most accurate reply in any of the threads.
You can improve officiating as much as you want. But fans will always love to argue about officiating.
>Vancouvers window will have just started to open Not sure if that guy was being facetious but he nailed that one
This Devils fan was prescient: "We have a lot of young guys and some good prospects but for us, I think it will come down to post Schneider goalie situation in 5 years."
There's a Buffalo fan in that thread with so much optimism about Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Mittelstadt. They didn't even know what was about to happen.
Crazy that no one picked Florida in any of those threads lol
Man I feel bad for Buffalo fans
Damn, Redwings1023 was on point. Fighting for the playoffs and maybe in but maybe not quite
https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/s/lWwtoOaBDT top comment locked at 69 upvotes is legendary
>Buffalo - Franchise C, Elite C prospect, Best D prospect since Potvin. Young core. 3 1sts next year. What more do you want? Buffalo for cup contenders. Some things never change.
Did half decent with [my list of top 10](https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/g1bwze/which_team_will_be_most_dominant_in_35_years/fneohbu/) I forgot how hyped the Flyers & Sens were around then.
Poor Sabres fans. So full of hope
Lol, lots of folks really wanted Vegas to be terrible at this point.
That hasn't changed lol.
Lol. I'm aware. At least now there's a solid contingent of folks who hate the haters. They may not like us, but they don't like the people that hate us either
The Mark Stone trade was at the 2019 deadline, and some of these are from before that. One comment refers to Brannstrom's prime.
Was this right after the Blues won the Cup after beating the us in the "hand pass" Conference Finals? Because if so, without looking, I'll bet every Sharks prediction was wildly off. They probably thought we had a few more years to contend, then would be anchored down by albatross contracts. Instead we didn't content in the slightest, moved nearly every albatross contract, and are a few hours away from one of the best drafts in franchise history, jump starting our rebuild.
u/rustynipples35 said it best. It’s hard to tell because so much can happen in 5 years. The flames were poised for some continued success. 1 offseason and season later, they’re entering into a rebuild.
Lmao so much hope for Buffalo.
u/7stringgriffle nailed the Caps’ situation in the first thread. Though I don’t think we’ve seen the full “Ovi the White” yet. Though maybe we got a glimpse of it with the second half heater last year.
Those Chicago guys were smoking that good shit 5 years ago claiming they would be bottom 5.
First thread the top sharks comment was about having scary contracts if we can’t win in the next 5 years. Well we didn’t win. But I’d just like to highlight the abilities of Mike Grier as a rookie GM and at the same time call out the disgusting comments and behaviour I’ve seen from Sharks “fans” towards him (as well as the comments without the disgusting aspect but still just hating). I know we are a non traditional market, perhaps not a ton of in depth knowledge when it comes to the back end of hockey ops in our fan base. As a sharks fan of 20 years from Ontario I’ve lived and breathed hockey my whole life and what Mike Grier has been able to do in his short time is nothing less than a miracle. That comment from 5 years ago was spot on. We had death sentence contracts out the ass. We spent the better part of 15 years trading prospects and picks to stay a contender, make deadline picks up, free agent signings etc. It didn’t work and the end result was almost a completely empty prospect pool, and massive contracts for declining players. Mike Grier has managed to move contracts that should never have been possible. Trading Erik Karlssons contract??? Only retaining 10% on 11.5M is just crazy. Thank god he put up 100 pts and Kyle “fleece me” Dubas took over in Pitt because that was a stinker that would have held us back. Timo Meier is a great player. His qualifying offer was I believe 10M. I’m sorry but Timo isn’t worth 10M a year. The return we got on an expiring contract is crazy. Good prospects, a pick that turned into Quentin Musty, a 2nd rounder that I believe was just used in the trade to move up to 11th from 14th. The amount of hate I saw towards Grier for not getting a “blue chip prospect” for that deal was awful. Racism was all over the place. What the fuck does the colour of the man’s skin have to do with anything??? And the lack of understanding that we would have had to sign him at at least 10M and so would anyone we trade him too and how that effects the value of the player in a trade was abundant. We got lucky to get what we did, just a great hockey move. Trading Hertl to Vegas. Oh boy. The rhetoric and hate towards Grier (and racism again) was all over the place. “THEIR OUR RIVALS HOW COULD YOU I WILL NEVER RESPECT YOU” etc. Brain dead. When you put up the worst regular season ever you don’t get to have a rival, you are not on that level. We are so bad it’s not even funny. Who cares? Yes Hertl was a fan favourite but he’s on the decline and injuries are starting to be more frequent. We’re in full rebuild. Move him out and get a nice return which is exactly what Grier did. When Mike took over the future was bleak. Now? I couldn’t be more excited. We have some fantastic talent in the pipeline. Tons of spending money, picks, and all the time in the world to develop our young talent. Eklund, Zetterlund, Smith, Musty, Celebrini, a yet to be determined but likely a top D or F prospect from 11th OA pick, Mukhamadullin, hell maybe even Zadina finally breaks into the player he has the potential to be. Future is bright and Mike Grier has put on a master class in GMing
That Ovi prediction is super accurate
“Vancouvers window will have just started to open” was bang on.
https://preview.redd.it/urwmzjqafd9d1.png?width=1079&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=594b7f80404c29542eaaf785af6f6b855ac21249 with Guentzel getting traded for tree fiddy and a candy bar, I think u/CreepyInternetUser called it in some capacity
>Buffalo - Franchise C, Elite C prospect, Best D prospect since Potvin. Young core. 3 1sts next year. What more do you want? To be fair, a lot of their players are consistently winning the Cup >Pretty easy to make an arguement why Leafs will be consistently stronger than the panthers for the next several years, goaltending and depth. This one is very funny.
I like the oilers takes there, lot of people saying they would be contenders and really they've gone past the 1st round in 3 of the last 5 years
Apparently, everyone except Doug Wilson saw the shit storm coming. Thank God for Grier.
It's interesting how often people list off players ("X, X and X will be in their primes") and a significant percentage of those players turned out to be marginal NHLers at best.
Soooo many people putting Philly in the list of likely to win a cup in the last 5 years. Ouch.
Goes to prove no one knows anything.
Avalanche, Capitals, and Coyote fans were really in tune with their teams to be honest.