The Hockey PDOcast - 2023 Watchability Rankings

Episode Date: October 6, 2023

Dimitri Filipovic is joined by Thomas Drance to do the Watchability Rankings for this coming NHL season. They work their way from 32 through 1, breaking down what they’re excited to see from each team this year and why they ranked them where they did.This podcast is produced by Dominic Sramaty.The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate If you'd like to gain access to the two extra shows we're doing each week this season, you can subscribe to our Patreon page here: www.patreon.com/thehockeypdocast/membership If you'd like to participate in the conversation and join the community we're building over on Discord, you can do so by signing up for the Hockey PDOcast's server here: https://discord.gg/a2QGRpJc84 The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the position of Rogers Media Inc. or any affiliate.

Progressing to the mean since 2015, it's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filippovich. Welcome to the HockeyPediocast. My name is Demetri Filippovich and joining me in studios, my good buddy, Thomas Drands. Tom, what's going on, bud? Oh, man, I'm so excited to watch hockey again. Like, I've been watching preseason hockey, and let me tell you, it does not hit the same. Like, I cannot wait for next week when we are so back. Well, it's that time of here again. Yeah, a new season of NHL regular season hockey means.

A new addition of the watchability rankings. Let's go. I believe I've been doing them on this show since 2016, maybe. You and I did them last year together, and you're the perfect person to have on for this exercise because it requires a certain depraved individual. Yeah, a level of degeneracy. Who not only watches a lot of hockey,

but watches, like, niche games involving random teams that you probably shouldn't be watching because there's other better games on, going back and the well-wapened, talking it out off the, off the air with me. I know that we already had these conversations. We just decided to basically sit down and record it. The random

Wednesday night text where I'm like, how can you possibly rank the king so high given that they traded Sean Dersey? No, truly, the problem that I had in compiling my own ranking dim, and one of the reasons why, and I don't mean to disagree with you, but clash is good for sports talk radio, so I'm happy to do

so. One of the reasons why I'm a deeply flawed person to do this exercise with is I'm ranking the teams toward the bottom. And there's things that I'm excited to watch, even for the teams. Like, aside from the bottom two, and we'll get into this shortly, but aside from the bottom two, there is something I'm looking forward to watching in just about every team in the league. Like, there's something that interests find engaging, even about, like, the Jets.

Well, and when putting my rankings together, something I kept coming back to it, and it seems like you felt the same way, was the league is in a really good spot right now from a talent perspective. Because just trying to rank these teams at the bottom, listen, like, it's part of the exercise. So the reality is that if you're ranking 1 through 32 or 32 through 1 because we're going to work our way backwards, someone has to be 28th, for example, right? Right.

But that's the reality of exercise. It forces us to do that. But I don't even think it should be taken necessarily as a slight this year because it feels like that tier of team is in such a more exciting place from an aesthetic perspective than it's been in the past, right? it's almost impossible not to find at least an individual talent or something they do or just something you're interested in to see how it plays out this year that'll keep you tuning in at least at the start of the year. I'm sure as the year it goes along, we can kind of write off

some of these teams. But it just feels like it's a departure from previous years where you could almost kind of just like pencil in the five worst teams at the bottom and just be like, all right, whatever, these teams are forgettable. Let's move on. And so hopefully it's tricky because one note I had here was I really wanted us to stay on track in terms of not spending the entirety of today's show and we're going to go two hours on this one. Yeah.

On the bottom teams because it feels like we're so excited to start and we start with like 32. And then we spend like 15 minutes on that team and then we go 10 minutes on 31. That was definitely last year. And then by the time we get to like the actual fun teams. The 11th best team. We're like, all right, here's one quick note and we're out of time.

And so hopefully we're going to try to spread our time and allocate it a bit more effectively this year. But at the same time, We're going to try to at least touch on one kind of thing that's going to have us tuning in for every one of these teams. So, I mean, my suggestion would be let's absolutely zoom through the bottom two. Because they're consensus. Yes, but before we get into it, let's do a quick methodology. Sure.

Because I think, you know, we have a great fan base here at the PDO cast. They've been tuning in since the start. They're obviously our new listeners, the start of a new season. Maybe people are just checking out of the show for the first time. So let's give them a little kind of behind the scenes in terms of the methodology for how we put together these. because obviously it's an inexact science. It's very subjective. Now you and I...

How do you balance... So one thing that... One tension that I deal with when I'm compiling my own watchability rankings is I try to fight the curiosity factor. Like there are teams that I rank low despite the fact that I'm curious about certain aspects of their team because they've made off-season changes or what have you.

And I'm trying to sort of really settle in personally on like the team that I most expect. that come random Tuesday in late November, I'm still like, oh, man, I got to watch this. Yeah, I think that's something that you should wait pretty heavily because that's what gets you to actually tune into that game, specifically go out of your way to watch that team. Certainly, I think the part of the season,

especially for some of these maybe less good teams, let's say, that have young players we haven't really seen before. I think they're going to rank higher than they might if we do this again halfway through the season, just because we really want to see how they play at the start of year and see what they're all about. Once the season gets going, as teams like acknowledge they're going to be bad, they sell, they kind of just throw in the towel for the season, we can move away from them.

But I think those teams are going to maybe surprise people how high they are on our list because we've got some, and that's an important thing here. This isn't us going by the standings and just, you know, being like who we think is going to be the 20th best team because what fun would that be, right? This is purely in terms of our X factor for watching them this season. So it's not necessarily related how good we think you're going to be compared to where you're going to be on this list. You can be a boring contender and you can be a terrible team.

Yes. So here are the things that I considered. I certainly. I had quality of team, which actually isn't as important, but I think another category I had was kind of like part of a bigger conversation around the league. And I think something I kept coming back to was eventually like even if you're excited to watch a good team, you kind of need to keep tabs on them and tune in just to be aware of what's going on.

Because by the time we get ones that are going to, individual star power, which is huge for. me on this list because that is what you're watching the game for. Game environment and pace in terms of what we expect. And that's where we go into bad teams who are especially going to be poorest defensively might rank highly because they're going to get into a lot of shootouts that are back and forth track meets, broadcast, and then just vibes. Yeah.

And that's what I had. Are you in agreement with that? I'm mostly in agreement with that, but I'd add one sort of overwhelming thing that I tried to keep in mind, which was, and I sort of thought of it as like value. you of investment. And what I mean by that is I tried to put myself in the shoes of this team is playing the Rangers and I've got a day off in New York. Now, the reason I do this is I cover the Vancouver Canucks. I travel to cover the Vancouver Canucks and you cover a West Coast team. You get like the full week in New York and they play three games. I also happen to have family and

a lot of you. So it's like if this team was playing the Rangers on one of my nights off in New York am I making sure to get a press pass to go watch it? Like, we, we. We, we. We, we, we're, we, we, Which team is getting me to the rink? Which team is going to be worth my time, my return on investment in terms of like making sure I don't miss them? And I tried to keep that really top of mind. Like which teams games are going to feel most like an event for me? That was the only other criteria that I like really waited heavily.

And I'd say I waited that more heavily than anything else. Okay. I like it. That seems like a very specific to you. I'm not sure our listeners can necessarily relate to that. But I think the idea of. of it being something. Don't miss this.

Yes. Don't miss this factor. Maybe I should have described it like that. Well, yeah, I think that was kind of part of my like conversation thing, right? Sure. It's like if people are going to be talking about it on Twitter or whatever app we're using these days,

like you want to be involved in that. And so you can't just necessarily be like, I'm exclusively watching the blue jackets and then no one is actually talking about them. It's you're going to feel like you're missing out. Yeah. All right. Let's start our list. Number 32.

We were unanimous here. We both had the San Jose Sharks. You mentioned there's two teams. that you felt like did not fit into that kind of spiel we had about the league being in a good place. The sharks are about as down bad right now as you can be from a excitement level heading into this season. I don't think people are ready for it.

No. I don't think people have people still sort the ducks. They haven't calibrated properly for it. No, they haven't. People still sort the ducks as if they're in league with the ducks at the bottom of the Pacific. And in fact, the Pacific has like one true. Like even Vegas, by the way.

right. They're only a point apart in terms of their line this season. And it's like, I love the ducks. So it's 67.5, right? I love the ducks over, points over. And I would mash if I was permitted to bet on hockey, the sharks under at 66.5. Like, I think this team is going to be so much worse

than people are prepared for with the departure of Carlson and the, you know, full season without Tim O'Mire. Yeah. Because last year, at least when you have like hurdle Amier, Carlson on the ice at the same time, it's like the top of your lineup can hold up. You know, and you start to look like one of those minnow EPL teams

where it's like they're in it for 75 minutes, but then the score ends 3-1. Like the sharks played a lot of games like that last year where in the 50th minute, the other team broke the game. But they were in it and they were competitive and they were hard working and they sometimes even outshot you

and their top of the lineup could hold. And I just think this year there's no top of the lineup, there's no middle of the lineup, there's no bottom of the lineup. This team to me is trending to be, like not just a lottery favorite, not just the best lottery odds favorite, but like I don't think there's anyone close

in terms of how low their true talent level is. And that effect is felt doubly, in the sense that there's certain guys on that team that didn't really even get to play with those top players, you mentioned. But just because they existed and they were taking shifts, there was a cumulative effect of like a second or third liner would come out in a more advantageous position

against worst players, because Carlson and Meyer were on the team. Now all of a sudden, those guys don't have that luxury, and they're going head to head against other team's top players. And it could be a bloodbath. I mean, they finished with 60 points last year, and that was with 101 points from Eric Carlson. Who outscored Connor McDavid five-on-five from the back end.

And 31 goals in 57 games from Team O'Myers, so you remove both of those. Yeah, it's completely. And here's a stat for you. You mentioned that scoring rate for Carlson at 5-15. So with him on the ice ladder at 5-15, we're actually, no, let's go total minutes. They scored 150 goals in Carlson's 2,100 minutes.

Without him, they scored 83 goals as a team in nearly 3,000 minutes. There were four teams in the league that scored more often short-handed than the sharks did in just regular minutes without Eric Carlson. And so I just don't know where on a night-to-night basis it's going to come from. I kind of like those low-risk chances they took on guys like Anthony Duclair and Philip Sidina, just see if there's something there. They can flip them later on. but ultimately the lack of talent on this team

in combination with how bad the blue line is, they're so far in a way going to be the worst team in the league in my opinion. Yeah, there's just not a lot there. I mean, even if you're thinking about, like, what are, at least most of the other bad teams, and I want to go over this quickly, have like something that stands out to you

that you're excited about, you know? And it's like, I love watching Mike Hoffman shoot on the power play, I guess. I'm curious to see, like, Lily Maclin, like, yeah, yeah, yeah. But, I mean, it's few and far between when it comes to, like, even just, like, exciting features of the sharks that I'll be like, oh, well, I enjoy watching that a couple times, period. Yeah, I got a loss on even that front. Yeah, this team's going to be awful. I think if you don't watch a single second of Sharks hockey this year, you won't really miss out. And so that's about as rough a statement as you can make.

You'll see the Eklund highlights on Twitter and, you know, just know that Kyle Burroughs is cool and that's about it. So 30 Philadelphia Flyers. And it's, at least with them, this is what I'll say. It doesn't factor into our decision making for this list. But if you compare it to where they were at last year as an organization at this time, when we had this conversation, it was like, it was sad because they were going to be bad and not fun. But also they were trying.

And that made it so much more depressing. At least in this case, with how they acted this off season, it's like, the future is at least hopeful, right? Like you take a home run swing when Matthew Mitchie Mitchell falls into your lap. that won't affect them this year. But for Flyers fans, you're like firmly... It's so much easier to stomach. And it seems like there's part of a plan, right? Because it's like their actions clearly indicated that they can't just keep doing what they've been doing for so long and doubling and tripling down.

At least now they're taking a concerted step back and they're going to be bad, but it will be on purpose. And so as a fan, like, that doesn't necessarily make it more palatable. But at the same time, you at least have like a vision in your mind of what you're trying to accomplish this. Yeah. I just think it's a perfect stylistic mix, too, where... it's like not only is this team bad, not only do they not want to be good, but they're also coached by John Tortorella,

so it's like if you love collapsing defensive structure and shot blocking, which I want to be clear, as a viewer, I don't. Is it going to be Tororella from ice level or Torrella from the press box? Oh, man. It's just like, this team's going to be brutal.

A couple things I am curious about, though, like I am genuinely hopeful that we get a throwback Couturee season. That would be awesome. And I will always have all the time in the world for Travis Connecting. Super fun. Those are the two guys I had on my list here. Coutureate, the last time we saw him playing a game, December 18th, 2021, which was, what,

22 months ago? He's 31 now. You know, he won the Selke in 2020, and he was playing at such a high level, and I felt like it was like a culmination of years of him being the hipster pick for one of the best defensive wards in the league, and then finally getting recognized for it. In 2020, it feels like such a lifetime ago now for so many different reasons. So you're right. I think everyone's cheering for him to have a healthy season and look good on the ice. Connect me. Are you surprised? It didn't move him this summer. Do you think they just kind of felt like you have to have someone out there and he can potentially build on his stock in season?

One thing that would make the Flyers shoot up my rankings is if Danny Breyer approached this like a down bad fantasy football manager who was just like selling players after hot streaks. Yeah. So that's kind of like one, there's a perverse side of me that's wondering if like we're going to, like, we're going to. going to see this flyers season where like connect knee you know has a wild month or two weeks or whatever of you and then all of a sudden he starts moving on his guys when the shooting percentage is in their favor i'm hopeful that they do do it that way because let's be real they kind of should but that might have been this summer right like he only played the 60 games but he had 61 points pretty much all of them were primary yeah this would have been a time to cash in now he's what 26 27 years old he's still under contract for two money and he works hard and teams are

always want a player like that. Work rates high. Yeah. You know, a team with a decent defensive center is always going to think that Kineckney can be like, that guy's Marche. He's always going to have that kind of calling card, that kind of cachet. And he should because he's really cool. All right.

Number 30, you had, well, you had them at 29. You had the Islanders. I had them at 30 in our aggregate. They fall into 30 here. They finished with 93 points last year. Their line is at 91.5. I actually think, you know, we have them low on this list. but I actually think

I kind of like them to outperform that just from the perspective of they get a full year of Bo Horvette, right? I think he only played like 30 games for them after the deadline. They get a full year of Pierre Engball who was awesome for them last season. And is genuinely fun if you like seeing

just a large man carry the puck. Move north south, which I do. Very fast. Yeah, that's the thing I enjoy. And Barzal only played 58 games. And this is where I can't understand how you had them third last.

Matthew Barzell should never, in my opinion, be in the bottom five. You had them 29th. What do you mean? I think you had them 29th on your list. Absolutely not. I'm looking at my list right now.

I had them far higher than that. Just proof. Okay. I had them far higher. But Matthew Barzell needs... There's our first clerical error. Don't worry about it. So maybe they should be high on this list.

But listen, I acknowledge that, and he appears to watch. from an individual perspective, I just feel like it's pretty clear that because of the way they've played and because of maybe his own shortcomings, he hasn't really like achieved the full potential of what you'd hope for him based on his talent level

and what he's shown flashes of. For sure. Right? And so, yeah, they could be a few spots higher, but I think ultimately it's like, you also kind of know what you're going to get with this team. And I think they're going to outperform that from a wins-loss perspective,

but it's not necessarily going to have you, like, tuning in aggressively or watch them. The thing that I'm most interested, and this is like the curiosity factor that I was trying to neuter in my evaluation, but like I genuinely think it's going to be fun, is we never really saw Barzell and Horvatt get to play together, right? They were on that line together for like a week, and then Barzal got hurt,

and then the Islanders ground out like a series of two-one wins and made the playoffs to their credit. Yeah. But it wasn't fun. There was nothing fun about it. I've got a Horvatt-Barzal partnership, especially given the way that Barzal is able to create space on the perimeter, and how good Horvad is, how savvy Horvad is operating in space inside.

I think there's a really neat potential combo there. And then I'd just add stuff like I love watching Adam Pelick never make a mistake for thousands and thousands of minutes. Like it's just a ton of fun. I love watching Pulek shoot. And I always say this every year we do this episode. I love watching Noah Dobson's jersey, like float in the wind behind him, Mike Madano style as he carries the puck up ice. So their blue line is super fun. And sell is not particularly fun.

But I think Barzell and Horvatt can change that as a duo. Okay, so the Islanders, you talk me into it. And also, as I said, I messed up the tabulation. They should be probably 27 or 28 on this list. As low as we had them, but we've got the Islanders out of the way here. Next up is the Montreal Canadiens. What are your notes on them? I mean, I think they're a good combination from an entertainer's effective,

especially early in the year, because there is offensive talent up front, obviously, and the blue line is so bad. and because of how Marty St. Louis allows them to play, which I think is a net positive moving forward. It makes for fun environments where I think they're going to give up a lot. But as long as Caulfield and Suzuki are playing, they can also create some themselves. And so it gets into these fun kind of scoreboards

where it's like seven to four. And you're not regretting that return on investment in terms of what you spend the past two hours doing. And they've got a couple D. I like watching skate. Like Gully, I'm not as high on Caden Gully is your average Montreal media member but he's exceptionally fast

and it's fun to watch him skate about. Mike Matheson, you know, we didn't see enough healthy Mike Matheson for the Montreal Canadiens last year, but I still am a believer that that could be way more potent than anyone's willing to accept. Kirby Doc on the wing,

like them moving Kirby Doc to the wing, I still think they kind of view him as a center and I hope they don't move him. I think he's going to start at center. I know. I hope that doesn't last because Kirby Doc, using his reach along the wall to like, you know, cut off the top, alter shots from the point,

harassed defensemen, get in as F1 on the forecheck, is super fun. Like, that's actually my favorite thing. It's not Caulfield shooting, which is amazing, by the way. I'm not taking anything away from it. It's Doc's rangy, lanking about the ice being disruptive in the wing spot. And then, look, they added new hook, and I'm not the biggest new hook guy in terms of my eval of him as a player, but there's no doubt in my mind. Like, new hook with the puck is, can be anyway, a ton of fun, especially in space.

And I'm excited to see if Raphael Harvey Pinnard can keep up his per 60 stats this season. Let's go. That is something that every number person is curiously watching the season. No, there's certainly... Montembow, too, by the way, is like good chaos in net with his puck handling and stuff. He is. He's fun to watch. And, well, before I move on, as you mentioned Matheson, if you're playing like in a fantasy pool

or something, he's a great. late round pick because he's going to accumulate a ton of stats. And unless, I guess, maybe plus minus if it's a category, but otherwise I think he's going to be a good pick. I was with Chris Faber, and he's in a no-hits fantasy league, and he was drafting during an intermission at the game we were covering last night. He was like, man, I'm really messed up on defense. And with his last two round picks, I told him to take Matheson and Dersie.

Nice. And I'm pretty sure he's fine. Like, I'm pretty sure he's got two slam dunk picks. Slam dunks. So. Yeah. I like that. Okay.

Very excited about Faber's punt D fantasy. Okay, this is a good one here. 28 for us, the Anaheim Ducks. See, this rating is too low, given how excited I have to watch the Ducks. But you had them 27. No, they had to be 27th because there's so many exciting teams. I had them 26, let the record shouldn't you. Fair.

And, but I think we're right to have them. I think we had them embarrassingly high last year. I'd have to go back and check, but we were like, we had them almost, I'd say, in the Buffalo tier in terms of, like, us, talking them up and one for two ain't bad. Well, one for three because we also had the devils. No, that's two for three. We were all in on the devils. Yeah, we were all in on the devils. Don't try to take away the devils, you were all in on a bunch of teams, and the

ducks were one of them, and you can't, you know, one bats a thousand. I mean, the ducks were just so shamefully bad defensively last year that it wasn't even fun to watch. It wasn't even fun. It actually wasn't even fun the chaos that they played in last year. Well, and the problem, with it is it was so bad. It didn't resemble an HL hockey. No, it didn't. Which makes it impossible almost to evaluate

any of the players they had, right? It's like, this is just isn't a rep, like this isn't equivalent to anything else you'll see in the league. So it's gotten so bad that it's becoming detrimental, right? Yeah. And so I'm really curious to see what the change in coach is going to do, right?

Because everything we've heard so far from Greg Cronin is, he's talking a good game in terms of like how much the game. modernizing their approach, right? Like using sort of coming from that avalanche organization, seeing what they've done with their pro club in terms of the positional interchangeability, right?

All five players need to be able to play around the ice. Our defensemen need to be allowed to roam free and activate and try to contribute offensively. And that's very exciting for all the young talent they're going to introduce over the next couple years at that position. So if that's going to be the case, I think I need to be back in on the ducks.

I just am so burned from how it didn't reflect an NHL team in terms of the product that you couldn't, you couldn't rationally have them higher than this. But I'm willing to keep the door open that a couple weeks in, I might start talking myself back into them. Well, they also haven't made their final cuts yet. Yeah. And that's another thing where. Well, so are we, are we thinking Zellweger is going to be on the team? I mean, currently anyway, as we record this, Zellweger, Linot, and Minchukov haven't been reassigned. And until I know which ones of those players I get to watch on a regular basis, it's hard for me to like fairly rank them, right?

Like, I think, I think Olin Zellweger is going to be must watch television the moment he steps foot on an NHLI sheet. I think Leo Carlson's going to massively smash expectations. So I kind of want to see exactly where they land in terms of their young guys before really backing this ranking. but I just think they were so deeply unsurious last year. It's really hard for them to get out of the bottom five, even though on talent they have a very clear path to skyrocketing up for our mid-season watchability ranking show. Well, and pretty much at all times,

it seems like based on the way they're structuring their forward group right now, they're going to have like Ziegres and Terry or McTavish or Carlson on the ice for most of the game. And so like in terms of like wanting to watch individual talent and seeing how young players proceed, that's going to be exciting. But the blue line is, like, what I keep coming back to here,

where if this is handled with care and approach correctly, like, the upside is so high for this organization over the next couple of years. Yeah. We've seen this, unfortunately, like, the development of defensemen, especially, like, young skilled guys like this, is so precarious sometimes and so, like, volatile.

And if it doesn't hit, it could, like, flame out very badly. But I'm so eager to see if they can, like, capture lightning in a bottle here and get the most out of this because like the names you mentioned there is it it's such an exciting group to think about yeah i mean they were literally the top defenseman in the w hl o h on qmg hl and not to mention drisdale who they just extended for three years now is being back as well haven't seen him in a while and i think people have forgotten just how dynamic like just how big a problem right i still's a problem for opponents in the same way like a guard who can break down a defensive structure and basketball is like he's a ton of fun

A ton of fun. Also, like, Raiko Gudas is such a perfect character. These guys. It's awesome. If you're going to have him, I think of a better comment. Yes.

And I would say the colon injury is unfortunate, too, because I remember, like, I used to love watching, like, Terry and Getslath. You know what I mean? Like, when, when Getslap was Terry and Zegris was playing with Milano,

but Getslap had Terry and another young guy on the, on his wing. And it was, he functioned like Cray, Ginger Turtles, where he was like the brain, you know what I mean? But,

but, at these two young guys who could still get it done physically who he'd just kind of, you know, put the puck into space and like help them think their way around the ice. And it was a ton of fun. I feel like Coulorne's a smart enough player to have a similar dynamic with one of Anaheim's young forwards. And I think once he gets back, you're going to see a particularly fun top six line form immediately. Yeah. All right, Tom, let's take our break here. And then we come back. We're up to 27 now. When we come back from the break, we're going to do 27. So we'll need to go fast.

That's okay. I mean, this is inevitable. You were listening to the Hockey-Docast streaming on the SportsNay Radio Network. Breaking down the top stories in the NHL every day. The Jeff Merrick Show. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. We're back here with Thomas Drans. We're doing the watchability rankings, Tom.

We've gotten through the first couple teams here as we work our way down from 32 to 1. Number 27, the Columbus Blue Jackets, who you were a bit higher on. You had them at 25, I believe. Give me a case with Blue Jackets. the blue jackets are in my view anyway like there's a there's a lot of guys on that team who I think are really exciting I you know lion A might be flawed might be a bit of a one trick pony but what a trick right and then obviously Godro uh KJ Kent Johnson the wizard of Port Moody is must watch television in in my view one of the most uniquely skilled forwards in this league but for me what sort of separates the blue jackets is the voluja volume of guys that they have radar who do really fun stuff. Like, Nick Blankenberg is not a name that a lot of people have heard,

but Nick Blankenberg plays so hard and so fast, and he'll throw at least a hit every time you watch the game that is a ton of fun to watch an undersized defenseman throw. Right? He's got some of that, like young Torrey Krugge gene in him, where these hits are just massive, but it's a relatively small guy throwing them. I'm so curious to see what David Yerichick looks like. I think he's going to be awesome. The preseason returns have been a ton of fun, especially with him carrying the puck.

And then all of that is to exclude having mentioned Adam Fantilli, who is, I mean, in any other year. He's going to be a bulldozer. He already is a bulldozer. And like he's ready. He's an NHL player now. He's going to be good immediately. and his collection of physical tools, he's the fastest guy in that draft class.

He's the fastest guy in that draft class, and he also just happens to be like a six-foot-two human who can think of the game at an extremely high level. He's going to be a ton of fun. And it feels like it's been a while now because he got hurt so early in the year, but I'm really excited for Zach Wrenzki to be back and healthy because when he's active and he's playing at his best,

he's one of the most unique offensive defense in the game in terms of the way he reads where the puck is in the offensive zone and gets himself into the middle of the ice in that like medium distance to shoot from. So fun to watch. So I hope he's back and healthy. He's a classy defense.

And you know what? The Blue Jackets were similar what we were talking about the ducks before the break. Like things got so bad at both ends of the ice, particularly defensively for the ducks, that it was tough to evaluate. The Blue Jackets were almost similar last year, right? In moments, yeah.

Where like that game against the Sabres and, you know, no shame in that. The Sabres, as we're going to talk about, are going to do that to anybody. but like the tage thompson five goal game right it's like it just games fails so quickly and so emphatically that it became really tricky to know like if anyone was good right and and that's unfair it obviously because i'm sure there's individual players so i think this year with better health and some of these upgrades um they could be a team that could be a riser and like i'm not sure i think in the off season once they acquired pro braw once they acquired severson there was a lot of buzz of like oh they're like serious about you trying to make a playoff push this year. I'm not seeing that, but I think from like an entertainment perspective,

they could be a team that rises pretty quickly early in the season for us. Yeah, I think no question. And yeah, I mean, look, if you are offering me, Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, and then a bunch of interesting pieces around the fringes without even mentioning one of the best long-range shooters in the league and one of the most scintillating playmakers in the league, especially off the wing in Johnny Godreau.

So like I'm in. I think, you know, I'm watching 20 blue jackets games. I can't help myself. I love it. Okay, 26 in our list, the Winnipeg Jets. You had them all the way down at 28. Yeah. I had them 24th.

Is this, I mean, I understand ranking them high because there's two things the jets have that I can't get enough of. One is Nikolai Eilers carries the puck anywhere on the ice sheet. Oh, the 12 minutes you get to see that every night. But that's the thing. It is I find it frustrating. Yeah. And then number two.

is Kyle Conner works to get open and then does and then scores. Kyle Connor operating in space, like absolute Cooper Cup vibes. Just like he's uncomfortable. And it's so much fun. I find Kyle Conner's game, like the fact that he's all so fast and like lethal off the rush is almost unfair because I'm pretty sure Kyle Connor would be like one of the most lethal goal scores in the NHL if he was like if he was like if he's, had absolute lead in his skates.

Yeah. Like if he couldn't move, I still think his uncanny understanding of how to work to get open would make him one of the NHL's best goal scores. So the fact that he's also incredibly quick is like unfair. Those two are two of my favorite players in the league. And yet stylistically, in terms of what the Jets are going to do, in terms of how reliant they constantly are on Hellebuck, in terms of what defenders get minutes, in terms of how they compose their first power play.

it like there's just nothing that appeals to me about how they approach trying to win and i ding them for that well i think we had this was probably our main talking points last year we ranked them as well was if you just looked at the names on paper this team has no business being this low on the list but unfortunately i've watched rick bonus led teams and i think it's going to be kind of more the same now you know they did make some moves in the offseason right maybe not as many as we thought but they They got rid of Blake Wheeler. They traded away purely Dubois. And I think they did really well in that trade,

bringing back Eye Fala and Valardi. And Kupari. So there's different players involved here. No, certainly. And Kupari adds watchability. There's a lot of talent on this team. And I think they should, in better hands, be able to get more out of them.

But I just can shake the feeling of, like, that last performance. And I know they were banged up, like Shifley was hurt as well. But, like, how they went out with a whim against the Golden Knights in round one. And then just getting absolutely blasted ironic bonus in terms of like not competing and all of this.

Yeah. And then like not that much changing. I just, I don't know. Maybe maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I'm not expecting all of a sudden a dramatic turnaround in terms of like how ambitious this team is going to be. I'd add this like I think losing Dubois takes more off watchability than people realize based on his East West creativity.

Like, you know, Filardi for me, IAfollow are like good middle six guys. I'm a big Kapari guy. I think Kupari's a real player to watch if he can graft a little bit more defensive solidity into his game, which I absolutely think he can do based on his age. I think there's some, you know, like low-end Grabowski slash backland potential there, which I say with the intention of it being the highest praise. I think he's a really fun player to watch. But when I think about Winnipeg, I think I'm going to be more interested in watching their press conferences after games than I am watching their games. and I don't think that's a good spot to be in from pure watchability standpoint. Yeah.

I think the power plays would be fun, right? If you think about the personnel with like Morrissey up top and then Shafley and Connor opposing flanks. And then I've already seen a bit of like Valardi kind of net front slash coming out to the bumper like working the puck through him. And he'll be a good playmaker from that's fun action. But I'm still going to be like where Zilers? Well, he's like the, um, the poochie character that they introduced in it. When he's not on screen, everyone should be asking where Zilers? Like I'm sick of it being year seven with this guy.

And I'm just watching the Jets being like, where's Eilers? Where's Eelers? String. Where's Eilers? Okay. Number 25 on our list, the Washington Capitals, you were higher on them than I was. A team that has perennially since I've been doing this exercise been either my top five or top half of this list, I bumped them down this year just because you mentioned that kind of curiosity factor of what to expect heading into these games and that drawing you in to watch some of these teams. is there really any curiosity factor with this beyond obviously Ovechkin's scoring goals

and them doing everything they can as an organization to help him smash the record? Like, is there, what's the curiosity for you in terms of tuning in to watch the Washington Capitals this season? Well, first of all, they're over under as set at 85.5. And there is no bigger under smash in the entire league. Like smash that under, in my opinion. Mash it. So there's some things I like. watching the caps.

Number one, I love how nobody wants to score an empty net goal on their team. Yeah. It's super funny. Like, I love how the team is... I think that's exclusively why they got rid of Daniel Sprung because he was the one guy that don't want to do. I love the way. Like, there was one Capitals player.

I don't remember who it was, but he, like, scored on, like, attempted clearing, you know, from his, like, own end of the rank. And he, like, goes to the bench to be the first guy through for FIS, like, truly apologizing as he goes. So there's, like, quirks. about a team that is literally built to chase the scoring record for one player that I find engaging. And there's some things I like about the team. Like, I'm a big Sunny Milano guy.

Yeah, they do have good players. I'm really curious to see what Rasmus Sandine looks like in a far bigger role than we've ever seen before because he's fun. He's legitimately fun. Nick Jensen, I have an absurd amount of time for Nick Jensen. We'll do our our guys show at some point. And Nick Jensen's just a fixture there, just like sign him up. for me every single time. I think you have to retire.

I'm after someone's been on your list for like eight straight seasons. Okay, fair enough. You can't do anything. So I'll have to move to Farivari. But either way, like the capitals have guys I like. They have players that I think are fun. But yeah, I mean, this just feels like the most predictable 83 point season imaginable. It's a good red zone team.

Like, just give me, give me, give me their power play. Give me their power play. Give me like, Ovechkinson up a position to score. Yeah, I'll watch that. I can follow them on social media, I think. I don't necessarily need to watch their full games. 100%. I think that's right.

Number 24, the Detroit Red Wings. You head down at 30, Thomas. Down at 30. I had him up in 19. Other than the fact that Mo Sider running guys over or other guys hitting Mo Sider and them falling down. Like other than the fact that Mo Sider

is a house that happens to play defense, I can't think of like I mean I guess there's a few things it's just I just don't think there's a lot that's like really going to draw me in and what is going to draw me in is like a couple of their players who are so physically imposing

that I almost find it comical or entertaining like I can't think of his name right now for some reason but their fourth line their fourth liner the the big tree trunk Michael Rasmussen well no no it's um

Rasmussen, but then they've got the Soderbom. Soderbom. Right? It's like when they had that Soderblum, Rasmussen, and Bergren. No, no, no, it was a Sunquiz, maybe? I think it was Bergerin.

Okay. Bergen's not big. Right. Anyways, I remember at the start of the year last year. Yeah, they had those four. What was there? Yeah. I can't think of the third and who with the third member on it was, but that was super fun. I mean, look, Daniel Sprong, any team with Daniel sprung, I probably shouldn't have this low because watching him shoot the puck is always a joy. But it's a defense that I don't think is going to move the puck very dynamically.

It's a team that I don't think is going to be very imposing. And while I think they'll be solid and like Eismans built some decent input, not pops from an elite talent standpoint. And I find that like that doesn't engage me. That doesn't have me. That's definitely not getting me out to MSG if they're playing the Rangers. Well, here's the thing. I talked about this a lot on the show last year.

thought they made the mistake of when they brought in Derek Lawn to be their coach from Tampa Bay. They tried to skip a few steps as an organization in terms of their progression, right? Like they almost, they skipped that Buffalo Sabre step from last year where they tried to become like a serious playoff team in terms of the way they played. And so like they put so much attention to detail defensively and, and tried to play in a way that I don't think was conducive to the players they had. And so their offense just absolutely suffered last season. And that's not something that a young rebuilding team should be going through.

If anything, it should be the opposite where they're bad defensively, but the offensive talent you see shining through on a nightly basis gives you hope for more. And so that's why I disagree, like, once again, this offseason with how much they invested in players based on where they are. But at least when you bring in like Gostis Bear and Sprong, right, and to brink at least like their players they didn't have last year that theoretically will help them. them so it's not all Dylan Lurkin or bust offensively. Yeah. And so maybe it's wishful thing for me because, like, when they're good or when they're playing a fun game at home, like their crowd is always so lively.

I like their broadcast, except for when Chris Osgood is doing the play. But I like their regular one with Mickey Redmond. But maybe it's a wishful thing. I just want more of that and they've shown glimpses of it. I think it's right to be, like, disappointed. And offensively, they were way further back than they showed. it had been last year. But I don't know.

I kind of want to see how all these they brought in at least at the start of the season fit. I'm not expecting all of a sudden take this massive leap. But I think there is very clear room to trace. Yeah. And so I'm hoping we see that. Well, I think they're going to be better. Just from a watchability standpoint, I'm not in. And this is too bad too because they do have one of my favorite players of the last decade in David Perron.

And I feel like if you give David Perron, like David Perron and Ryan O'Reilly when they had that just same page chemistry going was honestly one of my favorite things to watch because there's something about like true hockey telepathy that I can't get enough of I just don't know that he's got anyone who thinks the game at his level on this team you know hopefully it's one of the young guys hopefully he can do the like gets laugh thing with like marco casper or something as the season goes along but I just I don't know it just feels like a lot of middle six guys with a couple of like low end first liners and it's just not enough to draw me in yeah well the next team on our list is the ottawa senators so we're up to 23 now you had them 24th i had them senators fans in

shambles that we could possibly rate an elite team with so much elite talent this low i just feel bad for the senators man i'm worried about josh norris yeah have you heard anything like because he's still not playing and there's like uncertainty about when he's going to play and i think i was higher on them heading into last year than you were. Maybe not as high as Senators fans were on this team, but I was higher on them. I was literally making fun of Hot Pierre Summer and we literally, and we never really got to see it, right?

Because Norris got hurt. And I think he's like... Oh, I think we got to see the Senators. We know what this team is. They still just, they don't have enough on the back end and they're not going to have enough on the back end this year either. Well, and certainly not down the middle of Norris is going to be hurt. No.

And, and, you know, they have good players. Stutzelah might be. a real guy. I love... Oh, no. You can remove the might. Huh? He's awesome. Yeah, he's awesome. He's a stud. Yeah. But, no, but I mean, a real... When I say, he might be a real guy, I'm talking, like, top 10

sentiment. I'm talking, like, to the point where you'd mention Stutzlow alongside, like, Braden Point and stuff. He's not there yet. Yeah, well, that's a tough list of crap. No, that's what I'm saying. He might be a real guy. Okay. Um, which is high praise. I'm not saying that... Everyone worse than real guy in your eyes? No, but, like... No, I'm being...

Until you answer... For me, for me, it's Braden Point. is the perfect litmus test where it's like until you answer the question in the affirmative of are you better than Braden Point? Yes. Right? That's like there's five guys in the world who passed that test. Yes. Maybe six depending on your mileage on Sebastian O'Hoh.

Anyway, Stutzel might be one of those real guys. I love me some Brady Kachuk. Like Brady Kachuk and Stutzla are really floating. This senator's ranking for me. I just, they play, aesthetically, they don't play. play fun hockey. Well, the wrong coach. I think a different coach is wondering for this.

Yeah. And then I don't think they have enough puck moving from the back end. I don't think they connect play well enough. And, you know, I end up feeling like I'm watching sort of a half-formed thought, a team that remains, you know, a general manager away from being. I think they're going to have enough puck moving off the back end. If they have, like, one of Shabbat, Santerner Brandstrom on the ice at all time, though? Yeah, that would be okay.

We've seen this story before, though. Branstrom's going to be criminally under use. Yes. Sanderson's, I'm a big Sanderson guy. Shabbat's awesome. Yeah, the contract was a home run. Yeah, home run. I like Zub, like it's, anyway, I'm just not into, I know that this team is 10th in the east.

I know that I'm going to hear too much about it. Yeah. And I know that at no point are they going to look capable of doing more. And that, that lack of suspense is what I find so dull, especially when it's combined with this, like, ceaseless cycle of overhype and dashed hopes. 20 second on my life. The Calgary Flames. I think this one's, like, we both had them at 21st on our list.

Yeah. I think the argument for this is pretty simple. Like last year was just as miserable as you could possibly have a year. Like from, I remember you, like, going to the games and doing a show the next night with me. me and talking about just like how like defeated the general atmosphere, like energy around the team was at all times. They looked like a team that didn't want to make the playoffs. All right, it's over.

They lost 31 goal games last year. And that's like a chicken or the egg situation, but like that's almost statistically impossible to repeat. And so just based on that alone, they're going to be better. And I think that is going to lead to a more positive atmosphere. Right. They got back and we'll see on Lynnholm. The vibe seems like things are going to shift very different.

Things are going to shift very dramatically. And of course, a losing streak to start the year can all of a sudden bring that pendulum back. But for the most part right now, it does seem like there's reasons for optimism. And we'll see, like, for as much as you want to talk about Daryl Sutter, like, he got results out of all of his teams, really, especially at 515 in terms of possession and playing a certain way. We'll see interesting results. But based on where their line is right now, I still feel like it'll be pretty hard for them not to at least flirt with that if not smash the old. just based on some positive regression. Yeah, the, I mean, I think they'll smash their over, which is set at 192-5.

Yeah, it's not 90s, I mean, I think there's the, but I thought they were going to be good last year and was wildly disappointed. True. Their watchability ranking, I think, would be a lot higher for me if Shillington was going to be in the lineup. Because one thing, like, I love the Calgary Flames defense corps, but there's not really enough dynamic puck carrying. without Shillington in the lineup, and hopefully whatever personal issue has kept him away, gets resolved and we get to watch him play hockey again because it's a ton of fun. Nikita Zedorov, though, single-handedly, he's like Atlas holding up the world. He single-handedly makes this defense group way otherwise like responsible games would permit

Uyghur too, but Zadurab in particular, I might be one of my favorite players to watch live in the entire sport. I love the risks he takes. I love the way he jumps into the play. He's so good the best way. And then Pellichet's injury also, I think dings their watchability a fair bit. Without Pelletchay, and, you know, hopefully, who's their young center? His name's just escaping me for no reason at all. But he's been awesome at training camp, Coronado.

I didn't think I'm going to play him in the wing, but yeah. Yeah, but, I mean, he's been fun in pre-time. I think I wish they had like without the, with the, if Pelotche was in the lineup, they'd have an emerging talent that I think would have skyrocketed them closer to average. More wing scoring, right? Because when you have Linholm, backland, Godry down the middle, pretty good foundation of Vildofo.

But then if you look at the wingerers, I do, I think we're both in agreement that Hubert O's going to bounce back this year, right? Obviously not to what he did in his final year in Florida. I don't think he ever would have replicated that. But based on what we saw last year, like it was very clear that it was a confluence of things. but he also, like, the timing was just so off that I just, it's not like he regressed up, like, in terms of like,

all of a sudden he's not that there was before. He was just, he just looked completely off. And to me, that's something that is actually, like, fixable. And I'm expecting that this season. I think the passing is going to be much more crisp. And I think that's going to lead to many more points for him. So I'm expecting bounce back there, and that would obviously be huge for their score.

Yeah, and huge for their watchability. I mean, I was expecting Hubert O to be, like, the perfect compliment for Linto. Yeah. And it just never happened. They never were able to, like, establish that. No, they never found that chemistry. And then, and then one other guy I love watching, like, I think Manjipane is just a ton of fun to watch because he's just...

Never stops working hard. Such a high-motor guy. Yeah. And I always enjoy rooting for guys like that, but I also always just enjoy them play hockey. Okay, Tom, let's take another break here. And then when we come back, we're getting into our 20s. We're going to almost into our teens here. We're at 21.

Yeah. So, uh, we're going to smash through that. if you're listening to the Hocopi-Dogast streaming on the Sports Nighter. Discussing the biggest stories that matter to Vancouver sports fans. Halford and Brough in the morning. Subscribe and download the show on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Tom, we're back here on the Hockey-PedioCats, doing the watchability rankings.

We are at 21 overall. The St. Louis Blues. You had him 23rd. I had him 18. I think they're a nice combination of I really like their forwards, and they might have the most egregious blue line in the league, especially on a per dollar perspective at least, that it's going to be fun now.

There was such a revelation offensively two years ago, and it was largely shooting percentage-driven, and I had made the argument that I think, that I thought it was legit because of their passing, and I felt like they were really getting such good looks that it would carry over. It didn't as much last year. Now, it was just kind of a season from hell, right?

They had injuries. They became sellers. I still like this forward group quite a bit. Me too. And so I think they're going to play some fun games because of the blue line and the goal tending, I don't think it's going to lead to a successful season. But I think you can make sure they should be somewhere in this like 18 to 22 range. Have we talked enough to Blues losing Walman and Dunn for nothing?

Yeah. Given the state of their blue line and the money that they were simultaneously investing, bunch of you guys that aren't getting it done. Like that could be your top pair. Dunn can play his offside. Like, anyway, that's just something about the blues, but there's a lot that I like. Like, I love watching Rob Thomas play. I love watching him make plays.

Jordan Kairu is obviously. I mean, him, which is like, yeah, the nerdy pick for most fun line in the league. They're super fun. And then they have some, you know, things that I like that are, like, less obvious. Like, I love watching Torpchenko play. I find him fascinating. If they get anything out of Kaepinan, and I say, suspect they probably already regret that waiver claim, but if they get any, you know how

fun Capon can be. They're getting 40 goals out of Brandon this season. Out of who? Jacob Brownham. Yeah, I mean, that's happening. That'd be awesome. Because, yeah, Vran is super fun when he's on. So, yeah, I mean.

A rejuvenated Kevin Hayes? I could see it. I mean, they got him for free. But also, but, I mean, Kevin Hayes could be really sick on the power play for them. So, yeah, I mean, look, the blues, I'm never upset to spend my evening watching the blues play hockey. Yep. Yeah.

I think there's going to be a lot of goals, both ways. Yeah, both ways. That makes for good viewing. Number 20, the Minnesota Wild. You had them at 11th on your list. They were in that range for me last year. I bumped them all the way down to 25 this year because I thought they just, they reverted back to like all the worst stereotypes of the Minnesota Wild last year.

And it was something I was pushing back on for a couple years, but they were just so relying on Caprizo Robbins last year, right? And when him and Zuccarello, the chemistry they have when they're humming, it's really fun to watch. but there was like a 20 game stretch in the middle of last season where he factored into every single goal. They just had no other recourse and part of it was bad luck. Like if you look, Matt Boldy had three five-on-five primary assists all year, which for a player that talented who played as much as he did is impossible to repeat.

So I think there's going to be more goals that just come naturally because of the players they have. But it wasn't a very encouraging sign. And I wonder like that's probably they're comfortable doing that, right? because they were successful last year, obviously not in the postseason, but they got back there. And so I'm not sure what to expect from them, but 29th in the league in 5-15 scoring as a team last season did not encourage a lot of confidence from me.

So I just couldn't have them as high as you did. Yeah, fair enough. Look, you have the sort of chemistry and creativity that Zuccarello and Caprizo have. I'm going to weigh that very, very heavily, and I did. Well, and if you're going individual talent, Caprizo was like right up there. Right up there. But it's also the way, the interplay between those two,

is just so much fun. You know, there's, like, there's a geometry to the way that they compliment one another that I just find as aesthetically pleasing is almost anything you'll find and combine that with the raw power on another line that Matt Boldie can bring through the neutral zone in terms of how he attacks.

You know, that's something I rate very, very highly, and it's why they sort of rated, why I rank them so highly. There's also a bunch of, like, little things I like on their team. Like, I love watching guys like Spurgeon and Brodian defend. I just think they've got a lot of smart players. You can add Brock Faber to that list, right? I only seen a couple games, but I think when we do our guys list, I think he might be on it.

He's going to be fun if you like the subtleties of the game. And then, you know, they've got some, like, guys like Goddreau and De Hame and some other guys that I quite enjoy. I know, but, like. I know. those are absolutely just guys. At the deadline, they added Marcus Johansson and Gus Nyquist, and it was, like, such a breadth of their share, like just seeing people who could pass a puck and just do stuff.

And, you know, they retained Johansson, Nyquist left. And I think that spoke more to the state of the team's offensive approach than it did to, like, what those guys are at this point of their career. And so I'm just not necessarily, they probably won't be 29, just because when you have like Caprizo Zucrello and Boldie, it won't be a bottom four team or whatever at 5-15. But I think the year they had two years, years ago might be extreme that they can't reach again offensively.

And I think they're probably comfortable doing so, right? You look at... They'll still safely be a playoff team. Yeah. I just, at the end of the day, I think, where we're just waiting how much we value the watchability of the top line a little bit differently. For me, it's still a point in the thing is there, there's like 10 to 12 times a season when Caprizov is truly cooking.

Like, he's good every night. Yeah. But there's like 10 times. Everything I do is going to do. going to be done with like an extra level of flare. And if I know that heading in, like, I feel like him and Kutrov are at the top of that list for me. I don't know if you have anyone else, but like when they're dialed in and every single little thing they try is working, it's like, I'm just tuning in because I don't want to miss

the next shift. And they're good all year. They're going to be productive. They're going to get their points. But sometimes when they're off, like it looks really bad and they can't connect with a single pass and you're like, ah, that does not look good. I don't know why he keeps trying to force the issue there but then when it all clicks on that one magical evening and it happens a handful like ten times a year it's scintillating i don't think he has the gulfs but the guy who i would say when he's throwing fireballs i can't look away is Nathan mcannon nathan mcinnon at his predatory best i can't that's my favorite thing to watch that the beautiful thing about Nathan mcannon is that is every day yeah that's true um okay 19 on our list the boston bruin's you had him at 14 i had him at

22. They finished with 135 points last year. This was the hardest team to rank, I thought. Their line is 100.5, right? Yeah. I don't want to bet against, like, the infrastructure and the high-end pieces are still there, right? Marchand, Pasternak, Lynn Holm and McAvoy, the goaltending, like, the coaching.

Like, like, there's a system there in place. I guess there is a question of how much, even though Bergeron's ice time was dwindling by year, how much. how much just having him there is like that quarterback where like even if he's handing the ball off it's because he went up to the line and he like saw what the other team was doing and then he allowed the other players to succeed I wonder if there's a bit of that and if like everyone is going to take a bit of a step back they played a Tuesday game in Vancouver in February last year and there did a goalie score

in that one that's sorry so it was a Saturday game because you're right Olmark scored in that game to win 3-1. But it was February anyway. And Marchand went out of position on his first or second shift to lay a hit on the forejack. It wasn't like an egregious play. It's just, it was like slightly just chasing a hit. And on the way back up the rink, like it goes the other way, Knochner-break the other way, they get sort of like a two-on-one.

Bergeron has to skate back, hustle back to break it up. And then on his way back up, Marchand slashes through the neutral zone and, like absolutely has a Canucks player beat if Bergeron hits him with the perfect pass. And Bergeron very clearly looks him off and flips it in. And it was just this moment, this reminder of like, hey, we're not playing that way tonight. Like we are expending 70% energy. We are sticking in with our system and we are going to win this 2-1 and maybe Elmerkel score at the end. And it was just this of intelligence that you very rarely see in any NHL game.

Bergeron had it. It's going to, I think it's going to matter a lot that he's departed. Well, and the brilliance is that repetition of like the reliability of if all else failed,

you knew Patrice Bergeron was going to be a couple feet away from the net in whatever zone you were in the middle of the ice. Yeah. Right? And he'll be available for a pass. He'll be able to put a breakout.

He'll make everyone's life easier. Yeah. And all of a sudden removing that, it's not like, I miss him already. Ah, it sucks. I'm like sad about it. I know.

I know. I know. It's brutal. So I really struggled to rank them because without Bergeron, without Craichy, I mean, their center depth is... Well, right now, daily face-off has Morgan Geeky centering their third and fourth line.

And I mean, I like geeky, but... It's a bold strategy company. At the end of the day, I just couldn't... I couldn't go average or even below for a team that has Marchand, Pastor and Ack, Macville. There's too many guys. I really like watching. You know, that poitrous guy's been pretty interesting

in preseason. They're asking a lot of it. We'll see how it pans out. But they just have a little too much talent, and I still think they're going to absolutely cook five on four, and that's going to be enough that I watch a lot of their games. Well, bringing in Shaddenkirk, Luchich and James Van Ramesdike in 2015, would have been a slam dunk.

Yeah. 100%. There is a... But we are now, we're now, you know, at the point where they're like short-stacked at the table. Yeah. And I do think we're going to feel it. And yet they're a good enough player that, like, I still want to see them play a few hands. One of the thing is, they've played a certain unique way where, like, we talk about, like,

utilize the geometry on the ice where they do these, like, cross-corner dump-ins, right? Like, it's always these weird angles. And there's enough guys that we're still on. those teams that are still good to make me think that they can keep doing that. It might not be like on a night-to-night basis as consistently as Patrice Burr-on allow them to do it. But it's not like they're all of a sudden going to like forget how to do all those things and all of a sudden just completely change the way they play. I think it'll be a lot of what they did last year just probably not as good.

So I mean, that's baked in the fact that they're over under is 35 points below what it was last year. That's wild. 101 points is still like lofty. Look, no one's ever made a lick of money betting against the Boston ruins. But this is the year. Number 18. Oh, this is beautiful. Number 18, the Carolina Hurricanes.

You had them at 13. I had them at 23. I wrestled with the idea of having them at 30th. This has got to be our biggest split. Let the record show that they're only this high on the list because of you. And. Because I, well, also because I knew you would ding them. No, that tells me.

The big coursey has sadly already gotten to you. And you're in their pockets. Yeah. And I regret to report that, but. There's some truth to that. I mean, listen, they finished with 113 points last year. They're projected for 107.5 this year. They're, I believe, in pole position to win the president's trophy, right?

They're the favorite to finish the season with most points. And they should be. You're right. Like, I think thoughts that are well documented already at this point of like why it's not for me, but you'd have to be an idiot to argue with, like, the success, right? Like, no one- Dimitri Orlov. And Michael Bunting.

I know. And, yeah, I mean. But Dimitriorlov, like, I would say that only three teams in the entire league added a genuine top of the lineup piece this summer. The L.A. Kings, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Carolina Hurricanes. And they do it every year. He's the 21st highest paid defenseman in the league this season, and he's their third left-shot defenseman.

Oh, so good. He's so sick. He's so sick. But once again, did they do enough to, like, make you feel better about... Well, they were right there last year. They were right there last year. I mean...

Do we have to do this again? No, we don't. Look, at the end of the day... It's just so weird how this keeps happening. I don't understand. All of a sudden, they run into a team and they just can't turn shots into goals. I don't know. It must be a coincidence.

Yeah, I mean, they lit up the devils, though, the series before. Like, you know how it is. Anyway, the, um, the fact is, is that when you have NACCHIS, AHO, Tara Vinen on the power play, and Seth Jarvis, not to mention, I'm not ranking you below average. Well, Switchmikov's back. Yeah. And he adds a level of flair, right, in terms of just that rush element. Well, and NACIS is so, I know, like, not.

He took a big step last year. He took a big step last year. But, I mean, the problem is, is we still are only watching Hurricanes players, like, I don't say on a leash, but like they're not ever in full flight. Right, it's not full capacity. No, because at least in terms of, from a watchability standpoint. Of course. Because they don't care about possessing the puck at all.

And they have a very set restrictive way of playing. And it works. And, you know, I accept that. And I think there's a reason why they're not in the top 10 despite their level of skill, right? And their importance relative to the rest of the league is like a genuine contender and maybe even the team to beat. So, you know, I think ranking them 13th is, is justifiable. I just, there's too much talent there for them to not be watchable.

Yeah. Yeah, I mean, the fact that Nages took the step he did last year, I think Jarvis in his, what, age 22 season is a good bet to do likewise this year. And I think that combination of- That old, I don't know, age 21. I think he's turned 22 at some point. Yeah, February. Him, Ah-ho, and then Bunting is like a perfect, like, a perfect, like,

third member of that line to basically just retrieve the and be annoying. And so in Orlov, in a raw-brenner-system of like you contest every single zone entry, step up in the neutral zone, and then the offense's own bomb away from the point. Like, he'll love it. I totally get the fit. I just, I don't. And it's totally besides the point because we can revisit this in our playoff previews in whatever six months or so time. But they're going to win a lot of games this year with the personnel they have and the way they play. and they've been really successful, you know, leveraging, doing this into, like, maximizing assets in a cost-efficient way. I just, I like when players have the puck on their stick for an extended period of time.

It's fun. It allows high-skill players to do cool stuff. And your aesthetic objections to the- If that's not happening, it's not for me. Yeah, that's fine. I'm glad to pick them to win games and win the president's trophy and watch a very minimal amount of it, but that's fine. Yeah, yeah. No, and I think it's, I think if you have genuine.

and aesthetic objections to Rod Brindamore's particular brand of stress hockey, I won't quibble with that. At the end of the day, it works and they're sick. Yeah. And that's my...

Number 17. So we talked about the favorite out east. The favorite out west, the Arizona coyotes. No, I'm joking. But we do have them at 17. You had them at 17. I had them at 16.

I want our listeners to pick their jaws up off the floor right now. We're in. They finished last year with 70 points. Their line is at 76 and a half. this year. Here's the thing. Mashed that over.

They took an approach this offseason, which is very unique for them over how they operated the past few years. I'm actually trying to be an NHL team. Yeah, that's cool. Right? They add Zucker, add Kerfut, Dumbah, Dersie, they bring back Bukstad and Stetcher. Like, it's an actual serious, you look at the lineup right now. I know.

And it's an actual serious NHL team. You're not like, ha ha, that's a fake player that they inserted to see if we catch them. Like, it's a good group of solid players with, like, like, some really high in skill. chemistry of Keller and Schmaltz adding coolly to that mix what we saw from a chelli yeah like there's like potential rock stars on that team yes there are and so i'm i'm in on the coyotes me too are more and more people saying i don't i don't think they're a playoff team or anything but i think they're going to be mid-80s yeah but 76 and a half is like a pretty easy bar to clear i think 76 and a half is a smash i i could see them exceeding it by 10 points like that especially with amelka and ingram

in that like that's like that's like that's i don't know i don't know i don't know i don't expect league average from them. Me too. And so... And I even think their defense could be like totally fine. Like, I think Dersie, if really given the keys on PP1, could be a brave star this year. You know, I... Stetcher, Dumbah, like, they have a real right side.

You know, they're a little green on the left. That's okay. Yeah. I mean, at the end of the day, it's blue on there. It's like, it's important. And the thing is, like, Keller and Cooley are going to be. breaking all those pucks out really right so it's like the list of responsibilities is going to be pretty low in terms of getting the puck out um they they're going to pop they're

going to have some offense and look i think they're going to be i don't it's not going to be an easy night against the coyotes this year for anybody well and like we're going to talk a lot about boudard when we get to the black hawks but we were also you and i are talking well like we go we were looking at logan cooies rookie of the year oz and it was like yeah yeah i'm not sure how much he's going to play with, because Keller and Schmaltz are so good together that they might just split those guys up just to get like that type of skill in different lines. But he'll probably play with them on the power board. Honestly, if I bet hockey, 12 to 1, Cooley would be very tempting to me even though I do expect

Baderd to win it. Yeah. All right. We're on the coyotes. This is a brave new world runner. I know. I'm so excited. Number 16, you're Vancouver Canucks.

You had them at 19. I had them at 13. Let the record show that you had them higher than me. Sorry. I had it wrong. I thought I had it higher than you. Well, you've been known to be pretty pessimistic about this club. So they finished with 83 points last year, right?

Their line is at 85. They played at 100 point pace under Rick Tockeet in his 36th coaching. How do we always have to do the... The Kinex always played 100 plus point pace under their new mid-seasoning... Also, pretty soft schedule, right? And also no pressure, of course. The third softest in the league, yeah. Here's the thing, though.

The reason why I had them in the top half was three-fold, really. But it all starts with the last Pedersen. The level, the heights, his game went to. do last year. I think if the team was better than they were, like there would, no one was going to touch

McDavid in the MVP conversation, but what he did for his team in terms of making everyone around him better was like right up there with every other mere mortal basically. He was, he was unbelievable at both ends. And so like the level he took his game to

the stuff Quinn Hughes can do that power play when it's humming when they're not just trying to force that one cross-ey's pass every single time. Like there's a lot to like with his team. I guess you brought this up all there because the only concern is like want them to be in the top half of this list i mean that's that's like at the end of the day we're talking about a team that was 20th in five on five scoring yeah you know and like they should be high on this list given the fact that they have two bona fide superstars

and um you know a killer power play that's a ton of fun to watch especially when it's humming along and j t miller sort of pulling the strings a master puppeteer effectively five on four but They were 20th in goal scored five on five, and now they brought in Rick Tockeet, who played a very, very negative style of game when he was the Arizona Coyote's head coach. They haven't scored much in the preseason, although it's just the preseason. We'll see. Like, you know, there was a lot of positive shooting stuff that they benefited from, especially on that top line.

Is it as fun if Kuzmanko's not converting on one-third of his shots? Is it as fun if Patterson's on ice shooting clip five-on-five is at 10% instead of of 14, right? Those remain my questions. Look, I think the Canucks have a lot of stuff that will be good. I sort of dinged them in this ranking just because I don't think when Hughes sits that they have enough puck moving. There's just not enough connectivity to their game.

And fundamentally, that's something that I rate really highly. I like to see teams that can play as a five-man unit and move the puck up ice with some speed and dynamism. And I don't see enough of that on the back end. That's sort of why I think I was lower on them than you, despite agreeing with your main points. Well, and I think they telegraph with how they approached this summer. And, you know, for the most part, it was all very reasonable stuff and nothing equivalent with, especially the way they've treated off seasons previously.

It was like nothing egregious, which was a nice. No, I mean, in terms of like commitments, right? Like, in the past, it was a lot of like doing big shopping in free agency, and that's generally not where you want to be when you're a middling team. You're still going to probably open the season with, you know, one of your big free agent defensemen, the one with the most term playing with your other $6 million defenseman on a $9 million third pair. All of these moves were set up because they bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsen, which is bought in the

history of the cap era to improve. So, you know, I know people look at the term on those deals and say stuff like, oh, they did reasonable stuff. And it's like, micro take, fine. Macro take? It still makes no sense. Yeah. Sorry, I just have to push back on this.

No, no. I know. I think it's around. I think I'm maybe comparing it to past moves. also the point the low bar of the connect's previous moves the point that i was trying to make was i think it showed like how they want to play in terms of the types of players they were bringing in it's like we don't luger yeah and suitor let's make sure nothing happens for a long period of time and then and then and then do cool stuff yeah and so that's that's a good take yeah i think uh one final note on it

20 plus games or so of ray ferraro john short house and dan murphy signed me up for that Broadcast. An outrageous. A boon here for people in Vancouver locally. Yes. Can't wait. You had them at 20. I had them at 12.

They finished with 100 points last year. Their total is down to 92 and a half this year. Vegas is not buying the league leading 5 and 5 shooting percentage. And maybe I bought too much into it because I like the overhead. I don't know if I should have had him at 12. I think like I think I really enjoyed watching them in the postseason, right? Because like you could see that full like just constant pursuit of the puck. and then quick, like, very opportunistic in terms of forecheck, turnover, instant shot.

It wasn't like messing around, making a meal of it, and then letting the other team recover. And so that's a really fun brand of hockey to watch when you have full buy-in the way they had from like every player on the roster. And maybe it becomes less fun when you're not leading the league in five-on-five shooting percentage. And then all of a sudden they can still play the same way, but there's fewer goals and it's not quite as charming. So I still think it's charming. You still think it's charming. but maybe not like 12th 12th most fun in the league

maybe it is closer to the 20 you have well yeah I mean I thought 20 was fair for them but I like the crack in as a team to watch because I like watching 12 above average skating forwards who all play the exact same way I like the way that they let

both Dunn and Schultz go marauding in the offensive zone I like the way that they're suit quality finish on the wing, whether it's Tolvinen or Bjork Strand or Burakowski, who should be healthy this season. I like the discipline with which those guys pop up high to cover for their marauding D-men. I like that they use that interplay to create outside shots for their, like, stronger

shooters as opposed to just, like, when the, when the, when the Cracken are taking some of those longer distance shots, it's not the defensemen taking them. It's their wingers covering for a wrecking ball defenseman who's below the goal line. They play with just, you know, a cult-like fanatical discipline as a team as a five-man unit. They're fast. They've got guys like Baneers and McCann who are thrilling to watch. I mean, I'm in. I'm in.

I've seen them play twice in the preseason live too, and like Tolvenin scored such a cool goal in Abbotsford. Yesterday I'm in. I'm just completely in. And then if we also get to see a bunch of Riker Evans and Shane Wright games from the Cracken, so much the better. That team's going to be fun, man. I might have been too low on.

They're getting Berkowski back, who actually is someone I would expect to shoot an above average rate. And I think it's fair to also bet on Maddie Baneer is taking another step offensively this season. Yeah. Right? And so. Pretty overheated percentages. I think he's going to take a step and it's going to result in the same level of production. Of course, of course.

Like he's going to be way better than people realize that people will be like, he didn't take the step you expected, but he will have. He just won't have as many points. Yeah. No, I agree with that. I just think in terms of like watching him. He's got swagger man. But like sometimes last year was like, And it's because he's a rookie who's like has an endless motor.

It was like sometimes almost trying too hard and like kind of taking himself out of position when he's going to learn over time and could be as soon as this year or two. Like take a bit off your fastball and you can still get there in the same and might even be in a better position. And so might not lead to more point. It'll be much more efficient in terms of the way he uses his energy to get there. And so. I don't like to react to preseason. But the fact that the crack in, regardless of who were in their lineup in the two preseason games, I saw them play. played with the exact same level of structural integrity and intensity that they played with

when we were watching them play in the playoffs last year was something where I was like, I can't be low on this game. If you're going to bring that in the preseason, regardless of who's in your lineup, you're going to bring it every game over 82, and at the very least, they're going to be annoying. They're going to be an annoying opponent, and I think they could be better than that. Well, and there's probably the floor is going to be pretty high, in terms of just because of that.

It's like you probably know what you're going to get most nights. Yep. And not from a boring perspective, from like an effort perspective, it's not, you're not going to be like, oh, they just don't have it tonight. The fact is, too, is that when you're that much on the same page with everybody, like it feels boring to talk about, but there's actually creativity that comes from the consistency that they're able to rely on up and down their lineup.

And I think it's an aesthetically pleasing hockey. This isn't the 2003 Minnesota Wilde in terms of, of that, you know, structural reliance. Like, there's some fun to be had with the crack. Okay, Tom, let's take our final break here. We come back. We're into the top 14. We're going to have to rattle through this.

This is like an annual tradition. I'm excited about it. You're listening to the Hockeycadio cast streaming on the Sportsnet Radio Network. Your number one spot for Flames' coverage can be found on Flames Talk with me, Pat Steinberg. Exclusive interviews, trusted insiders, and the latest news. Listen live weekday afternoons and four or stream the Flames Talk podcast on demand.

I'm going to think that you're all my own. All right, Tom, rapid fire style. Yeah, lightning round. Number 14, the National Predators, you had him at 16, I had I had I'm at 14. Is there a team with better vibes? Well, that's what I'm saying. I think one of my final shows before I went on summer break was

you just got back from being stuck in Nashville for an endless period. I think about that and how they were probably the most active team, I guess, other than the penguins in terms of shopping and just trying to change, like, makeover. their roster and part of that was from a like a just like a cultural and just like happy to be here perspective right and you can quibble with the money spent on older guys yeah it's like all right does this make sense for them to be doing it probably not long term at the same time though they had the money to spend and listen when you have sorrows and if yos he's going to be healthy and

forre's working bounce back there lines at 87 and a half i don't think that's that outrageous considering they were 92 last year yeah and a lot of of those guys, like the meat of that team for me now is, you know, late bloomer Thomas Novak, Luke Evangelista, who's Calder eligible, I think he's 20 to 1 or 33 to 1. No, he's 20 to 1 to win the Calder. I don't hate a little... I'm serious. You need to get help, man. I don't bet on hockey. I bet by proxy. No, I don't bet by proxy either. For those that are into this sort of thing. I'm telling you, Evangelista is going to be a breakout star, in my opinion. They've got this

group of young-ish forwards, they're like in that 22 to 26 age range. I think they're ready. Yeah, glass, almost you know, a person in. Yeah. And I think, I think a lot of them are ready to take a step forward. I think they're ready to take a step forward as a group. And when you bring in people of the quality of Ryan O'Reilly

and Luke Shen, like, it just guarantees that they're going to have a good time. Like, I think the predators are going to have a good time and I think you're going to be able to tell that they're having a good time while you're watching it. And I think it's going to lead to them outperforming expectations. I want to tune in to a top one. And Andrew Burnett's coach is reliably fun from an aesthetic.

They will play aesthetic. Well, pleasing attacking hockey. Now, there's a difference between wanting to play a certain way and having the horses to do so. I think going from that Florida team and the New Jersey team he was with last year to this might be a bit of a torture in terms of personnel. But you're right. I think going from John Hines to Andrew Burnett can only be arrow up.

I want to tune into a top line of Philip Fornesberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and Dennis Gurionov. Should that be their line? No, maybe not. Do I want to watch it? Probably not. Do I want to watch it? Yeah, I don't know. The Gers are together.

Sign me up. I'm into this, mostly because I'm holding an awful lot of Gereanov stock still from the bubble. Philip Forsberg, Ryan O'Reilly, and Dennis Griernav walk into a bar. I'm in. Yeah, I think it's a fun group, and I really like the broadcast, too. And I just think, like, Soros is also one of the only goalies in the league where he's actually really fun to watch, even though it's to remove fun from the game by preventing goals. Like, he does it in a fun way.

So I like this team. I just want to see all these pieces together. It might not make sense, but I like it. I say it does. Number 13, the LA Kings. You had them at 18. I had them at 11. I just had to ding them for losing Jersey.

They're going. Some, some, okay, down the middle. Copator, Pierluke Dubois, Dano, Blake Lazott. Some are calling it the big four. They should be, Blake's. Yeah. I was hoping you'd laugh on my joke. Sorry, I did.

I loved it. Because I was like, Blake Lazot is the big four. I'm here. I like this experiment. Your problem is, the problem with your joke from my perspective was I'm too high on Blake Luzon. You're just like, yeah, all right, you're making good points. I'm like, I'm interested in this, like, from a thought exercise perspective, right? Because the past two years, what are they done?

Consolating a bunch of assets and trying to turn depth into top of the lineup difference makers. The Vegas model. And actually, like, and I think running into. to Edmonton the past two years in round one and giving them a really good test but ultimately falling short because they had Connor McDavid and Leon Dreisidal and they didn't.

I clearly like forced their hand and expedited this process, right? And so Peer Luke Dubois is not in that category of player but like getting Kevin Fiala bringing him in I think trying to go from a team that's a shot volume team into a team that can like be more efficient offensively and Pierluctubal gives them a wrinkle offensively

that they just didn't really have before. I think, like, it makes sense. I'm not sure I would have done that. I might have, as we've talked about, get my powder dry for, like, the next big pre-agent that wanted to come to L.A., but it's tough to quibble with, and I think it's going to be a fun team to watch.

I think if you went around or two, though, like, their view is probably, like, that they'll still have the assets. I mean, you still have Byfield and Clark. It's not like they're an asset-poor organization now. Brant Clark's going to be a ton of fun, by the Byfield, if he can take a step, could be a ton of fun.

I hope we get to see Byfield play with Dubois. Like someone who can legitimately help play East West, something that no one else on the Kings does, really, frankly. And the other guy, I'd be curious to see play with Dubois would be Kempé. Like, given how competitive Kempai is, what a high-quality finisher he is, like, he's really had to be reliant on attacking against the grain and attacking off the rush, which, by the way, super exciting, right? Like, that's one of the reasons.

Kempay coming down on his off-wing is, like, one of the reasons why they rank highly for me. but I'm really curious to see if an in-zone creator of Dubois's quality unlocks something else from Kempay and here's my guess I say it does. I hope it doesn't because the thing that I love what I... Is his flowchart of decision making is rip this pocket hard. Yeah. Yes, do that. No?

Do it anyways. It's like there's no second gear. There's no... It's awesome. But unfortunately, that like, predictability. of North, South, shoot the puck all over again is kind of a plague them, right? Or, like, limited their ceiling. And so, and I think Dubois, past two years, only McDavid's draw more penalties,

no one's taking more penalties than him. Like, he is, the NHL is chaos agent, right? Yeah. And so I'm excited to watch this team. I want to see if they can take that next step. I think they're, I also think they're going to. And I think three of the NHL's top seven teams now reside in the Pacific Division. I think the LA Kings are among them.

And I think if you're one of those people who hasn't quite clued in yet to the fact that like the central is the new Pacific and the Pacific is the new central, that's what's coming. Let's see these next couple teams because I think people generally know what they're going to get from them. It's going to be fun, but the Rangers at 12, the Lightning at 11. I don't know. I want to see more speed from the Rangers. I think Blake Wheeler will be fun there, but I still worry about whether or not they have enough, like two-way, speedy forward talent. I also don't want to be frustrated by

Frenier's usage again this season. If they play Zach Jones on the third pair, though, if Lavillette's wanted to do that, it'll be fun. Year one, Peter Lavillette, I think just going from, like, Gerard Glant's pure vibes to, to, like, the tactical,

just like structure and, like, actually knowing what to do is going to be, I think early on is going to pay dividends. I think they could have gone more contemporary. Yeah, yeah, I'm on with you on that. I like what they did in terms of, like, for cheap, because they didn't have a lot to work with. They had a lot of weak links, like, at the bottom of their depth chart. And, like, we'll see on this actual own thing, but, like, Eric Gustafson for nothing.

Yeah. I love that as, like, a third pair of guy or second unit power play, right? Like, Blake Wheeler, they basically paid him nothing. Yeah. Nick Bonino, nothing. Like, like, they used to just have, like, so much, like, dead spots in their lineup. And now I think they've addressed that a little bit. They've been hesitant to play Shisterak, and understandably so, more than, like, 60 games.

in a season, right? I think he played 53 and 58 the past two years. I don't love the idea games to Jonathan Quick this season. I do. Who cares? Who cares?

Keeps just sturking fresh. He should play 50. He should, but I'm just thinking, like, the Metro will have good teams. I just don't think you want... I don't think you want to give away that many points. I feel you, but I also just don't think

you want to end up in the position that the stars ended up in with Jay Cottinger, where, like, your eighth series against Aiden Hill becomes their ace in the hole because your guy's playing his 88th game of the year. Yep. You just don't want that, especially with how good Shosturkin can be

and how good you need them to be for two and a half months if the Rangers are going to do anything special here. The Lightning, I just couldn't have them higher because last year, the regular season was just such a grind. Now, you made the point of... They jog through the regular season. Maybe Vasilevsky's injury to start the season kind of... It bumps them up for me.

Increases their desperation level to actually, like, throw some fastballs early in the year. And one, potentially be in more high-scoring games, right? be less able to coast like just know that's left he's not letting anything and then i don't think they can can'ter into the playoffs uh this year necessarily especially if fastlowski missed is two months so yeah i bumped them up we just we just got a note watching kuturov operate on the power play especially with him and point like the unspoken yeah arrangement they have of like stepping out you know the bucks come in and stamcos's ability to just like capitalize on those bad angle one tease from that left circle i mean it's just

Just Kutrov operating on the powerplay is one of my favorite things to watch in the sport. Number 10, the Chicago Blackhawks. You had them at five on your list? I had them at five. I had them 15. I can do too much on this. Obviously, the Olero Bajard, especially at the start of the area. I think that's why you teed us up.

You planted the seeds here with the, like, the curiosity. I want to tune in just to see it. This is what you were talking about. I'm going to watch so many Chicago Blackhawks games. At the end of the day, there's only a team or two on this list that can match the description of the Chicago Blackhawks with Connor Bedard on it, which is that every time you watch the Chicago Blackhawks, you have a chance of seeing something you've never seen before.

I don't think we've ever seen a perimeter scorer, like what Podard is going to be, and I think he's going to be that player right off the bat. I've already seen special stuff from him in preseason. He's yet to play a regular season game, and he's already a monster. I think there could be struggles. Like, this is one of those teams where it's like,

you're either going to tune in and be like that was the best hockey I've watched in years or you're going to tune in and it's going to be them getting absolutely flattened by a team that's got their number. Yeah. But this team has a chance to deliver something you've never seen before as a spectacle on a regular basis. And I just don't think there's a lot of other teams on this list that match that. I mean, certainly the preseason viewing so far hasn't disappointed in that regard.

And you mentioned that, like his ability to with his puck handling, like set plays up ahead, Like a few plays ahead of time and leverage it to get the spots on the ice and like just make people look silly. His edges, man. It's the way he moves. Like it's the- Everyone's always kind of like off balance around him. Yeah. Like it's little things like if you go watch he had that preseason setup goal.

But it's like there's this little 10-2 shimmy. You know, there's this weight drop on the one timer that's just elite elite elite stuff. Like three guys on the planet can do stuff like that. And then the pass that he sends cross-seam, I think. think to Taylor Hall. You know, that, that punch turn, like, good luck finding people who can do that even in the NHL. He's already doing some of the special stuff away from the puck, the subtle stuff that I just, it blows my mind, not just that he has elite tools, but that he has this uncanny, mature

understanding of how to leverage those to create. It's, he's so much fun, man. Yeah, I mean, he's clearly going to be a cheat code on the power play, especially. Yeah. And I think there's going to be some lumps five on five to be honest. Yeah. That's what I'm curious. but I didn't remember this, so I had to like look it up. McDavid's rookie year. Yeah. The Oilers had 53% of the shots and 55.5% of the high danger chances with him on the ice at 5-1-5. And he killed it.

And that's, I think I'm not expecting that. No, no, no. Right. Like, I think there's going to be some rough nights where it's like, oh, he had a 20% expected goals share tonight. But he still might have three points. Crosby at 182 had that same impact. McDavid, Ben, space, and time, right? Crosby was a fire hydrant even at the age of 18.

But Dard has these massive arms, right? And it's like that's probably not going to translate into immediate success the same way that Crosby's sort of, you know, tree trunk like legs did. But I still think he's going to do some stuff on the perimeter that you've never seen before. And it's going to happen regularly right off the bat in his first NHL season. Tune in. Florida Panthers are number nine. You had them in 12.

I'm at 8. I just docked them because I don't know who's going to be in the last. lineup. Yeah, with Eklad and Montour out for, I assume, the first couple weeks, if not months. I think that's fair. I just think, like, upfront, they're designed in such a way, at least they were last year, to play in the most chaotic games possible. And, like, no team plays less five-on-five than them because someone's always taking a

penalty. Someone's always, like, pushing it beyond the limits. And so I still think if you look at the forwards, right, the pairings, Barcover-Higie, Kachuk-Bennett, Ryanhart with Lundell and Lucerinen, like, that rocks. That rocks. And I guess my only question for you is, and there's no way to answer this until we see it. The way they played last season was just to do that every single night was so physically and emotionally exhausting, like, because they had to play 110% on every single shift. I don't know

if it's fair to like expect them to be able to just do that again. Yeah. No, it's a good. If that drops off all of a sudden, part of that luster is just gone. I mean, I think they're going to be good. I just don't think they're going to be as watchable in the first couple months of the year as they will be January on. So I just like docked them a little bit because I think they're one of the most fun teams and yet I think they're going to be a fun team for a more limited runway

than most of the other ones. Yeah, I mean, they're the highest event team in the league so that'll always get us tuning in. And they have characters. And they have like Montor Marauding through the neutral zone and Kachuk being Kichuk, it's great. Number eight, the Pittsburgh Penguins. They finished last year with 91 points.

Their line is up to 96 and a half. They were along with Predators, one of the most active teams in the league. Now here's the thing. Last year, their top six was awesome. The bottom six had 42 combined five-on-five goals and nearly 500 games. Like horrible. Good news is they totally change it, right?

They bring in Eller, they bring in Achari, they bring in Nietto. These are guys that Mike Sullivan can get stuff out of. Yeah. And that's a nice- And that's a nice departure because what Burke and Hextall were doing was bringing in a bunch of guys who were like, it was clear that Mike Sullivan could not use them. Yeah. The issue is, is so much as on the plate offensively. of 36-year-old Cindy Crosby and 37-old Guinea-Malkin.

And none of those guys really help address to bring in Eric Carlson does. And that's an interesting wrinkle to this. And that's why they're this high on this list because I just want to see it. Me too. I think they're going to be great. But I think it's scary

because neither of those guys missed a single game last year and expecting a 36- and 37-year-old with those level of minutes at this point of their career to stay that healthy is precarious. And if one of them is out, I think this just goes off the rails. I think they'll be able to withstand an injury

to one of them. But yeah, I mean, there's some risk there. I expect them. Truly, I expect them to contend for the Metro, and I think it's going to be a ton of fun. Number seven, the Toronto Maple Leafs, I mean, when you have a team with the firepower they have up front, I think it's pretty self-explanatory.

I couldn't objectively rank them lower than this. I'm a little concerned about their blue line. Yeah. But the fact that they have continuity behind the bench and that we know that Keith plays this aesthetically pleasing so they fundamentally control the puck so frequently during games. Plus the fact that Matthews is truly a generational goal score.

Well, the thing is, is like Matthews, Marner, and Neil Hiner, their top three offensive weapons, the fact that they do it all in such different ways as well as, like, it gives you a little bit of everything. And the psychodrama of wondering how they'll figure out how to lose this year. Well. No, but they always come back. They're never out of a game. I think it's the opposite, though. And they never hold leads.

And maybe it's easy for me to say it's because, like, I'm, you know, I have no emotional involvement and also just living that far away. Like, maybe I'm out of touch with this. but I feel like some of the heaviness from the past has been shed, no, right? Like, I don't think so. We don't have to have it for the 10th straight year. We don't have to. Well, no, no. Can they win around?

Like, I don't. Sorry, the dubous debates are going to come in the form of what happens when the Leafs hit a skid. Right. The Pittsburgh Penguins are good. Like, no, no, no. We're never getting over. Okay, maybe, yeah.

Yeah, maybe foolish on my end. Yeah, I know. Number six, the biggest golden nights. Just super fun. I mean, I mean, I mean, just clinical. Right. It's clinical.

I will say... Jack Eichael, too? Have we reached the point where, like, it feels like Jack Eichel's underrated. He, like, just led the playoffs in scoring, and people are like, I feel like he's not recognized as being, you know, as easily passing the Brayden point test. Well, and that was my... More specifically, like, the reason why I think they should be this high is he elevates them from that aesthetic perspective where the level he took his game to in the playoffs at both ends of the ice.

It's like, it's cool to have depth and four lines are all. and to be playing such a structured way, but then when you have a guy who just comes down the wing and does what he did, that's what takes you from being, like, a good team. So I guess, like, kind of what that King's conversation we had, right? From being that to all of a sudden winning a Stanley Cup and being sixth on this list.

All of their lines attack, like, there's offense. They're going to win some six-nothing games, like, on a relatively regular basis. It's going to be a ton of fun. Also, aside from trading Riley Smith, like, how often does the team bring back this many players from a Stanley Cup run, right? Number five, the Dallas Stars, you had them down in ninth. I had him at fifth. I like Miro Hayskin and stuff.

I just... I'm perplexed by Souter, being on this team still. But there's going to be certainly more Harley and Lundquist than there was last year, I would hope. The top line is the best line in hockey. They gave Michelle a really long look in preseason. I think we will see him this year. Okay, the top line is the best line in hockey. Yeah, no question.

Bar none. Wyatt Johnston, Doddob, and Ben after the deadline was phenomenal. Some injuries, counting up front, including to Y Johnson. But yeah. Yeah. Why Johnson's sick, by the way. Yeah.

Oh, phenomenal. Well, we do our guys. He's going to be on that list. They bring in Dushain to essentially replace that rush element that Domey gave them after the deadline, which helped them. And then what I like the fourth line, it's like a minimal thing. But they just had so many like shifts where nothing happened because that's the way they structure their fourth line. And then Craig Smith and Sam Steele and they have Tidlandria there. I think it's a bit of a different look to what they had previously.

So I don't know. Like I think it's a fun team. with a lot of individual talent, but also plays in high-scoring games. Anecdotally, if Rupa Hintz got to play 82 games at home, I think he'd be chasing down Wienkretzky's goal record. Hintz might be hurt to start this year, too. We'll see. I'm just a little bit cool on the stars.

I think they're going to be hard-pressed to repeat their success last year, and other than that top line, I don't find their style of play all that aesthetically pleasing. Okay. Number four, the Colorado Highlandry, both out of four. I think people get it. I do think they play the most stylistically, like incorporate all the elements I love the most, right? That quick neutral zone regroup, catchy changing, McCar behind the net, McKinnon Manning the Point.

That's like all of the things where if you're writing down, like, what I want from my hockey team, they do it. Unfortunately, when they have injuries and then when it's not McKinnon and McCar doing that and it's different guys, it doesn't look quite as good. Devon Taves, too, just like the absolute Apex signal caller from the back end, plays hockey like a holding midfielder in soccer. and then I'm excited to see Ross Colton. I'm excited to see Ross Colton in this environment. I think it's going to be a ton of fun. Yeah. Okay, number three, we both had the Buffalo Sabres.

I wanted to move them higher on this list so bad. I just couldn't justify it because the top two teams are so firmly entrenched. But, I mean, once again, pretty self-explanatory. Tage Thompson was put on this planet to dazzle us. Yep. There's so many fun pieces here. Our guy. Ross Mistalling.

I was already going to have them third, and you're telling me Zach Benson is going to be on the opening line lineup. Playing in a scoring role? Even if we only get nine games, it's like, then we're going to get Yuri Kulik. It's a shame he's only 5'9. Otherwise, the other 12 teams ahead of them might have had a use for him. I mean, his preseason highlights have been outrageous. Watching Zach Benson Forchak at the NHL, like night one, it's going to be standout. You know, and then you get to things like Peyton Krebs, fourth line center.

It's unbelievable. The talent up and down their lineup is ridiculous, and they play such fast, fun hockey. Granado is the perfect guy to be overseeing it. There's nothing not to like. I will watch 50 Sabres games. I'm going to watch 82 because their games average 7.2 combined goals last year. Let's go. Let's go. It is heaven.

Number two, the Edmonton Oilers, the best power play we've ever seen. Yep. I also think the Oilers are about to go up a level, I think. Don't underrate the Edmonton Oilers Revenge Tour this year. I think that team's going to win the President's trophy. They're my pick. I think they're going to pick their teeth. with the league this year. I think this year

is like the year it all comes together and is sustained for months on it. Well, and quietly their bottom six, like a lot of the questions we've had about them previously were answered last year, right? Like their bottom six was playing well. And now guys like Dylan Hollow and Ryan McLeod can give them more. Like I, I, I,

they lost two games in regulation after requiring echo. Yeah. And I and as we saw, like it was disappointing when they lost the Golden Knights. But then you, but then when you watch the next two series, you're like, oh, maybe of those couple games where they just absolutely obliterated them were like the most impressive thing we actually saw this post season 100% it was no the the i mean it's now or never for the oilers

they know it and they're going to come in hungry looking for every edge to motivate themselves like i think this is going to be an incredible season from edmonton and i i wouldn't want to miss it i wouldn't want to miss it yeah i don't think you should either if you want to be part of the conversation you have to watch yeah number one the new jersey devils you had them two on your list i had them one they wound up tied with oilers when they're each it's warped speed hockey no team plays as fast as them the skater group's flawless yeah it's just like going like you're watching hughes who i think as scary as it is to fathom is going to go up another level this season you watch what him brad and to fowley have done this postseason and then you've got trying to get the puck from his year and

mire yeah and then all of a sudden you throw like mercer and holla and palad and you're just like all right you're just gonna have a fight for your life here for the next 40 seconds yeah like What do you do? Well, now you're integrating Luke Hughes on the third pair. It sounds like Nemich might take a bit. I don't know that he's going to open the season with them, but we're going to see some Nemich at some point, too. Yeah.

So, you know, have fun incorporating two recent top five picks on your blue line devils. Like, my goodness, Rich Get Rich. It's going to be an incredible thing. Well, and all the key characters here are in their early to mid-20s. Hey, don't sleep on Tyler Tofoli, too, at the net front, PP1. Oh, he's going to rock. He's going to rock. He's going to rock.

And the front office has left itself enough room, importantly. to tinker and add if they need to. I've seen a lot of, before we like crown them, I'm worried about the goaltending. First off, I think... Who's goaltending are you not worried about? I think potentially adding Shemann or Shmala Buk

or someone who rhymes with that name is still in play. But even if not, like what we saw from them that Rangers series, for example, I know you're worried about the Rangers speed and that might play a part of this. But this skater group's ability to just like turn up the heat and basically say you have no breathing room for the next 60 minutes is within their range of outcomes.

Like, we've seen them do it in the highest leverage moment, right? And it's warp speed hockey, not in the service necessarily of just like hollow rush chances. They play a total 200-foot game, which I think is what you're getting at. Yeah. And they use their speed to do it. It's like, no one can play as fast as them. It's incredible. I think if they can channel that, and I think there's a reason to believe they can.

That's scary to think about. That's a discussion for another day. But I think there's going to be a couple games this year, maybe even more, where they just, like, full-on for 60 minutes, go Harlem Gold-Trotters on us and just, like, embarrasses. like just pull the pants out on another team and just pass the puck around and they can't do anything. Yep. And that's so they're number one on my list. I had the one, but I had the number one, but I had the devil's too.

No, the number one on our on our aggregated. It's the devils? No, it's devils and oilism. I'm tied for one, but yeah. Tom, we did it. We powered through it. I'll let you quickly plug some stuff on the way out here. Let the people know what you want to promote.

Yeah. Check me out at The Athletic. I'm on Sportsnet 650 every day Monday to Friday with the Canucks Talk show. And I love doing the PDOCast. We're going to do our guys before things get run into. So look forward to doing this with you all year, my friend. Awesome, buddy. Be well.

Thank you to the listeners for listening to us. If you want to help out, smash that five-star button where every listen to the show, it's great to be back. And we're going to have plenty more of the P-D-O-cast here now that we're back to regularly schedule programming.