The Hockey PDOcast - The annual NHL watchability rankings part 2

Episode Date: October 18, 2022

Dimitri is joined by Thomas Drance and Cam Charron as they run through part 2 of the annual NHL watchability rankings. 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.

Lessing to the mean since 2015. It's the Hockey PEDEOCast with your host, Dmitri Filipovich. Welcome to the HockeyPedioCast. My name is Amitri Filipovich. And joining me again for part two of the watchability rankings is my pal Thomas Drance. Thomas, what's going on, man? Doing well. Excited to get through 20 teams in one show, having done 12 in the first one.

And we did the unentertaining 12. It took us a long time. Well, hopefully our discussion was more entertaining than the actual product itself. We're going to have to go Tampa Bay and make this a lightning rant. And also after a good night's sleep. Right. Another day. Cam Sharon.

Those are the Dulcetons of Cam Sharon as well. He's also joining us again. Let's keep going here. 19 on our list. The Detroit Red Wings. Who I had, 16. Thomas Adam 17th. Cam, you were lowest on them 24.

I think this is much more. I mean, I guess I agree with my ranking more than yours here. but I think this is a really fun team to watch. I think it's more what Tom said about the stars for me is, I want this team to show it to me. They haven't been watchable for a few years for me. They were pretty watchable last year, and that was with Jeff Blashell doing everything humanly possible

to prevent that from happening. I had them pretty high because there's just a couple things, right? This is one of my locks locked into, there's at least a few things that I enjoy watching that this team is going to do. Moritz-Sider is a tank and I like watching him just be a man-child in this league at his age. Remember last year?

One of the few Canucks games that I went to in the press box. Moritz-Sider dragged me out of my hockey-watching engine at home to watch the game live. And I came there and everyone at the start I was joking like, oh, damn came here to watch Moritz-Sider. And then after the performance he put on in that game,

everyone was like, you know what? You were right. Yeah, Martzider's super fun. That was dope. Yeah. And Vrana, I like watching Brana. So good. He's going to score 40.

He's being healthy. years. Did you see the goal he scored against the devil? That was outrageous. He's so, like his shooting talent is just preposterous. Especially off the rush. It's ludicrous. And then there's like a few guys that they picked up this off season that I have big time watchability, watchability soft spots for. Ben Chirot, Olimada. No, no. Well, Ben Chirot, Ben Chirot for reasons that there's lots of offense that happens when he's on. But no, I'm talking like, David Peron does a ton of cool stuff. Super smart. Andrew Cop, same thing. I think the, I think the Red Wing

are going to be fun. And then, and then that's, without even mentioning guys like Lucas Raymond. Yeah. Well, I think to your point, Cam, you're, like, you're right in the past few years, I think regardless of your mileage on, like, how much money they spend and what they're going to get from a results perspective from these guys. Yeah. Like, I don't think you could argue that, like, like, they added a level of competency to their roster, especially, like, on the, on the margins, not like star players, but, like, they have real NHL players in pretty much every spot in their lineup. And we haven't even mentioned, um, or Zolder Blum yet, who looks like, yeah. Well, I'm in awe of the size of this laugh. Like, like,

Just honestly, that line with him, Rasmussen and Sunquist, the first two games. Super fun. I think they literally spent every single second in the offensive zone just leaning on the other team. And I was like, I love this bully ball hockey so much. If that happens for 10 minutes a game, I'm so down. I'm not down with that.

I'm down with Short Kings, as we discussed. Yesterday was U.S. Well, yeah, I mean, Oscar Sunquist at 630 and 6.4. That's a big line, isn't it? Yeah. A lot of big boys. Yes. No, I think they're going to be a lot of fun this year.

I had them pretty high. Okay. 18, the Vancouver Canucks. All right, I guess I got to take the ball on this one. Tom, give any takes on this team. Well, I think I had them ranked the lowest of the three of us. I have them ranked the highest. Right.

I don't think you ranking them the lowest is going to surprise anyone listening to the show. No, probably not. I think at the end of the day, the Canucks have, like, I'm excited to watch their first power play unit. I think that's going to be tremendous. And I think Quinn Hughes is worth the price of admission every time I go. Like, he's one of those players at the level where you feel grateful you get to watch him operate every day. But other than that, I just don't see a lot of speed. I see almost no connectivity.

You know, they're so reliant on their forecheck and they get into a lot of games against teams that manage the puck well where it's just like very little happens because they're not being able to feed their offense off of other teams' mistakes. When they play like slower teams that aren't very good, you sometimes get those big bang, entertaining nights, but for the most part, you know, I just feel like they have a really set formula. Can you move the puck well?

Then it's going to look one way. can you not, then it's going to look another way in any event. I just don't find it like super high value entertainment from a hockey perspective. And I mentioned that Philly game. And people are going to be listening to this after Tuesday. So I'm sure the Canucks beat the Capitals on Monday and this will look like a silly take. No, this is Tuesday. That's what I'm saying.

Oh, yeah. So, but that Philly game, that Philly Vancouver game felt to me like a game between two bad teams. And I mean, there's just something I take a little bit personally about that, having, covered this team through so many seasons in which they weren't good. If you're that bad that you can give up to a multi-goal lead to that Philadelphia roster, though, it's one of those things like their opponents are never out of it. Right. Yeah.

How long will this lead last? I also think that they have the horses to come back from three goals. Yeah, they do. The thing that I do value about this team, though, is like, from an entertainer perspective, they're amongst the league leaders of, like, those eruption spots where they just randomly have a game where they just score eight. goals and just look like the best team in the league on that night. And tuning into those is really fun.

And then you'll watch them the next game against the team. They probably should look even better against, and they'll just totally lay an egg. The opposite. Yeah. They're going to have a game this year where they score 10 goals on Calgary, and then they'll give up the seven to Columbus. Yeah, or a week later.

And then Philip Grubauer was going to shut them out. Hey, lots of teams are going to give up seven against our docs. Let's go. Let's go. All right. The Buffalo Sabres at 17 brought up by Tom's, 13 ranking. I'm once again proud of a year because I had him in 24. I want to get them higher. I just struggled to do so. But I think I think you're right. I'm really high. Not necessarily

on this team's outlook for this season, but in terms of like where they're headed and the talent they're accumulating, like I think there's a lot to like here. They also have a bunch of guys who play the game like no one else. Like you can't tune in to another team and watch a guy like Alex Tuck. You can't tune into another team and watch a guy like Tage Thompson. And that Thompson Tuck Skinner line. You know, this ranking is really a product of after the Eichel trade and once Tuck got healthy last year, I found myself just constantly gravitating to watch Sabres games when I had you know, carte blanche on a non-Kinnux game day on Game Center Live. And I just found that line completely riveting. Like I was so engaged in how they played. And now, now you have power

added to, to, with Dahlin. And I mean, this team's obviously going to need a little bit more work. But I just There's a lot to like there. And I think that line is appointment viewing. For me anyway, it might be one of the most entertaining lines to watch in the entire sport. And if you have a trio that good, you know, I think you're above average from a watchability perspective. Yeah, I'm with you.

And I don't really want to redo my power spiel here because I already like 10 minutes with Cam on it the other day. But, um, yeah, I think like the, the personnel here is, is really fun to watch. And I also really like Don Granato as a coach because I really do think he not only has a good feel for his team, but he understands where they're at right. now in their organizational trajectory. And so he's not, like, taking himself too seriously with his choices. Like, it's okay experimenting and trying stuff and getting power and Dalyan out there

for an offensive zone draw together. And not pulling the goalie until 17 seconds are left in the game. Listen, that aside. I like Don Granato. I like the trajectory of this organization. And I think, I think, like, they're going to have some really fun moments. It's, I agree. I think they're intriguing.

I had them ranked 20th, I think. They're intriguing. They're not. I don't think they're there yet. Of course not. But there are going to be, depending on their opponent, I'll tune in. And just because I've been throwing this out, I love their jerseys. Next on our list, which I think might surprise some people.

The Carolina Hurricanes. I think people that are just on Twitter and not actually watching games would think this is the most fun team in the history of hockey to watch. and then you watch a Carolina, the typical Carolina Hurricanes game, and they're really good, and they've like turned it into a science in terms of what they do. For me,

it's like the least appealing brand of hockey. Like I like the aggression of like consistently pursuing the puck and swarming, but their willingness to just play a two-one game that looks like a two-one game. But also give the puck away

like for the purpose of going and fighting to win it back is like my least favorite strategy. Did you like that 12 to 9 Indy now? Elthus Colts, Denver Broncos Thursday football game the other week. Basically, the hurricanes have,

they figured out how to win those types of games consistently. They're very good at it. It's a sustainably good way of doing it. I wrote a piece for the athletic of their ability to just basically make life so easy for their goalies because everyone's just skating to where they should be. You know, Rod Brindamore has his guys. They close down on Shoehl's great.

Everyone stick is always in the right place. Yeah, because they're just trying to. Except neck, Ash. Yeah. Except for him. except for their most watchable player. This team could be super fun. They're not.

That's okay. There's still a couple things I enjoy watching when they play. Among them is obviously Svetnikov doing Svetschnikov stuff. And the way that he carries himself within the Brindamore system where he carries himself like a prime Milan Luchich, even though he's not, he doesn't get that like respect. I think Tom just tried to flex. I did. Yeah, it was pathetic. That was like the Tom Wilson flex.

And then obviously Seth Jarvis is sick to watch. And Neckash. I don't appreciate your Natchez comment there. I was like a throwaway line dissing my boy. I love Natchez. He's their most watchable player. He's by far their most watchable player. But he's played on the wing.

And he is like Mero Heskinin when Bonas was the Dallas coach. There's the Rainser on him. And I think you watch the Keynes and you see things that Svetnikov and Jarvis do that ingratiate themselves to Brindamore more. so then Natis does. Yeah, when Natchez is just so smooth, it's unreal. Those guys work in the defensive zone, and those are the types of players that RBA likes. Yeah, and they throw the body, right?

And so, anyway, there's enough there that, like, they deserve to be close to average, but, yeah, they're not as fun as they could be based on the talent on the roster. I love that they've given nine years to Jesperi caught Ken Yemi out of a grudge, though. That's... Yeah, you've got to respect it.

Well, I mean, respect the pettiness. Martin Naitres is very clearly their second best center for the future, but they seem to commit it to making him a winger and cockyami being that instead. Yeah, which is the opposite, right? In my opinion, anyway. Yeah, well, Karkin is taking the draws, but I was saying, like, Nagesis, he needs to play in the middle of the ice. 100%.

But I'm just saying, I see Kockenemi, like, I see Kirby Doc, like I see Jesse Pooley-Rvey, like I see Nichushkin, like, big lanky guy best on the wing, where he can be super disruptive along the wall, and you don't let him think for as long as centermen get to think in the middle of the ice. number 15, the Boston Bruins. And here's what I'll say about in the Bruins credit or like, why I had them pretty high on my list, actually, even though they are a team that you relatively know what you're going to get

from their established players, no team has cooler set plays than they do, especially off of offensive zone draws. Like the stuff they do is awesome. And the second thing is no team uses the offensive zone, like the geometry out of it better than they do. Like they stretch out the ice so much. they love passing it off the backboards. They like do diagonal plays.

Like it's very, it looks very different than most hockey teams when you watch where it's much more like simple straight line stuff. Like they're really using every single inch of that offensive zone. And so for me, like I really like the hockey nerds part of me really enjoys that. Even though like you don't think of the Bruins as being these like offensive savants who are like, you know, thinking one step ahead with a puck. But that's exactly what, especially their tall players do.

Yeah. Yeah. And I like what you said about their set plays. I had this recurring joke that they score in the first 10 seconds of their powerplay or not at all. If you can get through those first 10 seconds, you've done okay. Another point about the Bruins is going to be a very controversial thing, and you guys can yell at me on Twitter if you like, best broadcast in the league. Yeah, it's really good. It's really good.

I agree with that. And then when they take a penalty, you get to see Brad Marshand kill penalties, which is fun. Well, not right now. I know, I know. Eventually. actually. And when they are on the powerplay, you get to see Pastornak operate, which is super cool. And then I've always liked how through multiple coaches and multiple different supporting cast players, for whatever reason, any team Patrice Bergeron is on, everyone works so hard away from the buck. And there's something about it that I really like. Like the Bruins have this team personality where their eyes light up the way some teams do on the power play, except it's like when they force a turnover in the neutral zone. It's super cool. I really like this. I went to Florida last spring to watch Darrell Belfreys, a coaching workshop. And he had a thing on Patrice Berger on there. It was kind of like just trying to like peel back like what makes him so effective because it seems like so subtle.

And it really is. He basically just never leaves that middle lane between the two dots. And he's always available both offensively and defensively. Like in the offensive zone for like that quick one timer and then defensively for like a quick outlet from a defenseman or something. And it's like the most simple. You'd think that any young center could just be taught to do that. But I guess like sometimes you want to like freelance or you just get out of your lane. And like he never messes that up.

Yeah, the level of discipline is crazy. It's crazy. Especially for this many years. Yeah. Number 14, the Tampa Bay Lightning. We can go through this quickly, right? Yeah. I think the only thing I would say about the lightning is despite all the talent they have is they're a team that's,

they've figured out exactly the level they need to play out in the regular season. Yeah. And they had a really bad opening. game against the Rangers. You know what? That's exactly what they did last year in their first game against the penguins. They raised a banner and they just laid an egg. And they're going to, they're going to play until the end of March, just, you know, the most boring way to get to 100 points. But, you know, they have enough skilled guys that they can, they can, you know, you can tune in. If they're a national TV game, you know, you might want to watch that one. Losing Palat takes their

watchability down a fair bit for me. Best pound for pound battle winner in the league. But at the end of the day. They still have a lot of guys I like and and a lot of guys that I like who are sort of mid-tier guys like Paul and Point and and Hegel. I'm also excited to see if they can turn Philippe Myers into the next Jan Ruda. No. No they were again. But Kutrov on the power play. Yeah, it's sick. Like the level of decision making, especially that little when when Hedman passes it to him and then he does the quick one touch into the bumper to point is like it's incredible. It doesn't make. make for the best highlight because it's such a short pass in terms of proximity, but the

ability to keep doing that even though like that's the hardest pass to make because other teams like, oh, Braden Point's standing in the middle of the ice, we should cover them and they do. Yeah. But he passes it in the one spot where they're like, no one else can get it. Well, they figured out the decoy play so well. Yeah, they did. Sorry, I meant Ross Colton when I was saying subtle guys. There's a goalie who was once named Colton Point.

And for whatever reason, I've always gotten stuck between Braden Point, Ross Colton and Oh, I was doing that with Coltonor and Ross Johnston. Yeah, it's easy. So when he was working his way through Syracuse, I'm like, this guy can't possibly be any good. Can we give a shout, though, to the Stamcoast Battery, too? That is the most automatic weapon in hockey. All right, we got to... Number 13, the R. Anaheim Ducks.

Yes, okay, our Ducks. My goodness. Let's block off a full show just for this section, and then we'll move on, and I'm tuned in tomorrow. Number 12, the rest of the way. My God, I think there aren't three people on this planet who are higher on this team from... A watchability perspective? From a conversational watchability perspective, they got absolutely trounced, 7-1 by the Islanders, and I enjoyed every single step.

I only watch a few minutes of that game. They just look sleepy. Yeah, they're not good, and defensively, they're very bad. Troy Terry has actually risen above Trevor Ziegers for me in terms of individual watchability. Yeah, and Mason McTavish is super high on my watchability too. I was a little higher when I thought we might get to see Olin Zellweaker, but instead I'm going to have to drive down to Spokane to watch. Do you see a game the other day in the WHL where you're 20 shots?

Yeah, it was unbelievable. That team is, honestly, we should take a trip down to Spokane just to see how that team plays. Apparently they're like the dubs version of the Hurricanes. Are we teeing up the watchability rankings in two years? Yeah, I'm sorry, I'll stop, I'll stop. I was just really excited to see him play, but I'll have to drive down to Spokane to do it.

Anyway, with regards to the ducks, they're going to be able to move the puck, particularly at the right side. And they have, like, I increasingly view having a puck moving defense the way I view having a really good offensive line in football. It's like if you have a defense that can feed your forwards, you have the infrastructure to level up quickly. We saw it with the Maple Leafs in that first Austin Matthews year, where because you had Gardner and Riley, they were able to, like, quickly get good. Whereas, you know, the Oilers and Islanders sort of false start rebuilds like took a long time. because they needed a few defensemen to get to that point. Senators as well. Senators as well, yeah.

I think a point I've wanted to make for a long time is your forwards kind of control the floor of your team and the defense controls the ceiling. That's a really good call. So in terms of that, I think there's a real chance that they could get good really quickly. I don't think this is the year. I just think they're going to play a lot of memorable five, four games. The opener they had against the crack game is so fun. Sintillating.

It's everything I want from hockey. I have to watch it. Early regular season. early regular season hockey, it's all I want. Yeah, it was perfect. And that's why I had the cracking up, too. Yeah. They were also part of that game.

They were a useful foil in that game. Number 12, we just said our ducks. Let's talk about our devils. Ooh. I mean, we are higher on them than the ducks, and they're going to be better this year, certainly. Not off to an inauspicious start. I mean, were people chanting to fire their coach in the second game of the season?

That's good job. I'm here, for it. Yeah, that's fair enough. So long as they get a save, they're going to be really good. They just need to, like, mix in a save here and there. Like, I need to mix in a salad. What season is that audio bite from? I know.

Any time in the past, like, four years? Well, I'm, I'm a, like, I haven't watched either of these games, but I was just, I was hoping that, I was hoping that they would just be a little bit more competent defensively and give their goalies a little help. I felt last year they were just giving up so many chances off the rush. That's one thing what makes them watchable is that. They're so good off the rush, but they're also so bad at defending the transition as well. They're like the anti-Toronoran raptors.

Well, also I know that the public defensive matrix had them as like an average defensive team. And like that's one component of it. They also last year were just really bad at in-zone coverage as well. Like they had so many breakdowns where all of a sudden a guy would just pop up wide open in the slot. And like their goalie wouldn't be able to save it because it was a great. I mean, probably could say it, but it was a great shot. And they haven't like, they haven't really improved that yet. I like, we would like the steps they made in terms of adding Marino, adding Platt this offseason,

it hasn't translated to better results yet. They also haven't been able to get a save though. Yeah, they're going to be fun. They're going to be fun, and I think they're going to be good. I don't know what needs to change to get them there, but something, it feels like it's not a lot. It feels like they're just off by 5%. And if they can just solve that, they'll be 100 points. Also, a message to Lindy Ruff or to whoever is coaching the devils when the show airs.

Get Fabian Desetterland on the Hughes line. Seriously. Give that line a good shooter. I think he's legit in the first two games. Anecdotally set up like 15 high danger chances. Jack Hughes has alone. And they haven't scored on them yet. I know.

He's so good. His game is basically if you took Prime Taylor Hall and Prime Patrick Kane and combined them into one player and made them a center. It's amazing. He's one of my favorite guys to watch. Number 11, the Los Angeles Kings, who, I mean, this is a good time to be recording this after they just played a 7-6 game. I love this team.

Yeah, me too. I haven't watched a lot of hockey yet. I haven't really found the time because I'm still working on my sky. Yeah, the meriner. But I have also been working into the habit of tracking the Canucks and Leaps games, which are taking it a lot more time than I'd hope. But I've watched almost every minute of the Kings games so far. I just can't pull my eyes away from them.

Does anyone play a better north-south game than them? No. No, yeah, teams do it better than they do. No, but I mean in terms of like more consistently, I guess, and it's like they have one gear and it's that. I don't think any team, I honestly would disagree with Cam. I don't think anyone else does it better. I think in terms of just pure North South,

the problem is it's all North South. Yeah, we're not talking efficiency or giving different looks. I'm just saying from like, yeah, fair enough. That opening game against the Golden Knights 30 seconds ago, Sean Dersey just tries 125 foot pass to the offensive blue line. It's amazing. And it turns it over and they get the winning goal. That's great.

Yeah, I'm here for that. No, you're underselling what happened on that. He got the puck behind the net and waited for like 15 seconds to like tee that play up. I need the Golden Knights defender to move over here before I try this. I need him to know what I'm going to do. He was unfortunately a healthy scratch the following day. But he's super fun. Walker's super fun.

Obviously, it was super fun. And then, and then, you know, Mikey Anderson's super fun. Like their defense, the volume of quality puck movers on their defense is, is unparalleled in the league. And then, you know, Kampay scores the winner. Kampay is a unicorn in terms of the way he plays and the way he attacks vertically. He is the L.A. Kings. He is like the perfect personification. He has a one of gear and it's putter your head down and slap the puck as far as you can towards the net off the rush.

It's fantastic. And then I love, I like, I love watching Kopitar and Dano. Yeah. And last thing is I'm really curious to see. I think it's going to take him a bit because the Kings play such weird hockey for Fiala to figure out exactly how to be creative within those very narrow constraints. But once he does, I mean, it makes so much sense in my mind's eye that he'd be like the perfect guy to be capable of giving them an extra gear. I kind of wish that he was a more efficient shooter in terms of like them going after a guy this offseason and adding a player. Like early in his career, he was Adrian Kempay basically.

Like he's gotten much better in Minnesota, like adding East West like wiggle to his game and like actually throwing in different looks. So maybe he'll help them now in that regard. but like he does fit very well in that. Let's take every single rush shot. Just before we go on to the next team, I want to shout out to my guys, Trevor Moore, Blake Lazott. And Quint and Quint and Beazield. Yeah, Blake Lazzat is sick.

And last thing, Jonathan Quake, we get to watch Jonathan Quick still. He's still one of the most entertaining goalies to watch just because he doesn't play like anyone else. So he gets a shout out here too. He's still very quick when moving across the bottom of a minute. Okay. Number 10. I'd say he's nimble.

Yeah. Very agile. Number 10, the Pittsburgh Penguins. Let's do a quick minute on this before we take a break here. And I think this is a good team for us to quickly get all through because it's kind of, you know what you're going to get. The reason why I had them this high, one, when they're on, like, they're so crisp in terms of the way they play.

And number two, injuries are going to happen throughout the season. I feel so confident that regardless of who is in their lineup, they're going to keep playing that way. And so that certain deal Like any night I don't care who's in their lineup You're going to get a good Pittsburgh Benwin's product

And you can't say that for a lot of teams No And I'm looking at Who's going to be coming up From the miners And these are a bunch of names These are the next Mark Dawks Absolutely

I also The current version of their Mark Dunks too are all fun to watch Like Dan Hinen's fun to watch You know Their depth guys Are always Relatively entertaining

And then look At some point at some point the penguins have settled into this. I'm grateful to watch Latang, Malk, and Crosby still operate together five on four, right? Like I noticed this the other day where I'm watching a Penguins Powerfly and I'm just like, I'm just grateful I still get to watch this because it's still good. It's three guys older than me. I love it.

Still really, really good. All right. We're into the top 10 here. So this is where it's going to get fun. We're going to take a quick break here. And then we're going to rattle off the rest of the top 10. that you are listening to the Hockey P.Dio cast on the Sports Night Radio Network. We're back here with the watchability rankings on the HockeyPedio cast with Thomas Drans and Cam Chiron.

All right. We're in the top ten here. Number nine, the Vegas Golden Knights. Hockey Twitter's favorite team. I think both of you were actually higher on them from a watchability perspective. I had them down at 17th. You both had them six and seventh overall. So I'll let you go, Cam.

It's just the show. They've got that, they've got, they've kind of. to really lean into the Vegas entertainment thing. They got the gold jerseys going. They play a really fast open style. They have three good lines. They have Nick Wall on their fourth line. They have at least a player out there that I enjoy watching on every line.

Plus, Keegan Colossar is fun, too. I'm a big Chandler-Stevenson guy. Me too. So good. Sick. He's fast. He moves the puck well. He passes good.

They have three good puck-moving defensemen. They have Carlson and. Marsa So on their third line and it's super fun. They have Mark Stone doing Mark Stone things and like anticipating people, anticipating everything and winning every battle and being the hockey version of Dennis Rodman explaining in the last dance documentary like wherever rebound's going to go. They have William Carrier doing half of what makes Connor McDavid great and not being able to finish off the play. And they also have enough skill on the back end and enough chaos on the back end with White Cloud that they're always sort of pushing and, you know,

they have no goaltending. So it's, or at least goaltending that you're nervous about at all moments. So it just feels like pandemonium is going to be fine. Me too. But, but, I mean, it feels like when you're watching them, pandemonium could break out at any given moment. It was kind of at the end of last season, just they're chased for the playoffs. And how, just how, how dower everyone, how bad the vibes were. I really had to tune into that.

I forget, was it, was it, uh, Logan Thompson or was it, uh, it was a, it was a, they lost a shootout. Forget to who, but he just looked, he would just, went face first on the ice, just like utterly. Yeah, after making like a bunch of stops in a row and they just couldn't score. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. You know what? You guys talking to me, dude, I was probably too low on them on this list. I, I really enjoy like the regular pace they play at and the, and the spectacle, especially other home games, like, is certainly worth tuning in for it. Well, unfortunately, they've replaced the vibes coach and Pete DeBer with a details coach in Bruce Cassidy. I think Bruce Cassidy is a great coach.

Yeah, yeah, no doubt about that. The last thing this team needs for watchability is any sort of structure, especially the structure that the Bruins had. It's a bit more boring and layers, as Jack Edwards would say. Number eight, the New York Rangers. They could be really fun. They could be way more fun than I thought. I think there should probably be higher on this list.

You know what? Where do we have them? I had them ranked the lowest at 14th. And after watching them... Yeah, you had them fifth. I had him seventh. Yeah. They were higher.

I had them that... I mean, that power play alone, so... Panarin. Yeah. Like, that, but that power play alone for me is sick. And then, like, at some point, K. Andre Miller,

just watching Kandre Miller do stuff... Yeah. Has become one of my favorite things in hockey. And even guys like Truba, like Truba's such a wild card in the way that he plays the game. Like, he could throw an injure a... injurious hit. He could turn the puck over desperately. Like, he could, you know, make an incredible play. He's one of the worst defensive defensemen in hockey. I know, but that's in a good way for

entertainment. Adam Fox is fun. Shisterkin's fun. Like, that whole team has something going on at any given moment. I do agree, especially after the first, the way their first three games have gone. I had them far too low. And they've been a much better team since last deadline as well. I thought that losing cop and mott who kind of stabilized their bottom six would be would make them you know losing them and they just kind of revert to where they were just relying on just irk and that doesn't really appeal to me but you know you're right even even if even if that's what they were like still got the great power play still got you know i love watching zabana jed i love watching panarin yeah i don't think we should

throw out like last like most of last year for just three games so far but the early returns of five and five are much more encouraging like they should be personal personnel they should be at least. And that was the case after the deadline last year too. Yeah. So it's not just three games. No, no,

20 games. Even if they're not, even if they're not, guys like K. Andre Miller, guys like Zach Jones, guys like Brayden Schneider, give them a chance to level up

and be fun to watch. Like all of those guys are fun to watch. And they're not even really like, you know, Kondrey is, but Schneider and Zach Jones are kind of like bit players. And yet,

even they're bit players on defense. I watch them and I'm like, oh, like Schneider's going to throw a big hit here. He's going to do something way cooler than a man that. size should be able to do or uh you know cap uh caco is going to attack the net here lafrenier's shot and then that that power play is just a ton of fun so i had them top five um i was really low on them

all summer like i've been fading the rangers this week has definitely given me pause about about that i'm no longer fading the rangers put it that way also why does no why can no one pronounce alex's lefranier's name lefranier what did i say it's lafranier it's lafranier leffernier let ferneer but i've heard a lot of people say lefranier i don't know it's laffernier okay all right number seven the florida who I had number one on my list last year. And where did I have them? I had them pretty high. I must have been higher.

You had them six. I had them nine. Yeah. Cam had them eight. They've been fun so far. They've been fun so far. Clearly lost depth. They're a top 10 team.

Clearly lost depth. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to be watching this very closely. Now they had like a lot of power of opportunities. They kind of skewed these numbers in the first two games. But I think they might. And I don't know if it'll last.

Like, I don't think this is like a great strategy for like longevity. I think they might just. play their top players all the minutes. Like I think they might like over, they might try to fight past the depth concerns. Good trick. By just being like, we're just going to play Ekblad.

Barkov. And Barkov's line. And then we're going to get like, we're going to get Kachuk, Bennett and Ballsters out, but then like Bennett and Kachuk are going to play much more on special teams. And they're just going to get those guys out

for like 20 plus minutes every game and just not really care about who their third pair and fourth line is. I get them out for a couple of shifts. here there, which once again, for over 82 games might be a tougher thing, especially with injuries. Especially with Barcovinack-Blad's injury history. Yes, yeah.

They are, but the thing I'm worried about the most of that team is they are one Gustav-Forzling injury away from having zero NHLers on their left side. Yeah. Well, though, don't sleep on the fact that they're going to make an NHL player out of Josh Mojura. No, they are not. You know what, you know what, though? They might.

Two games in, I think, like you and I did a full full, full, podcast about the Matthew Kajuck trade. Yeah. In the first two games, he's like, it's, how many shot attempts does he have?

Well, it's a great quality that you can get the full experience of like, this is what this guy could be ideally. And then immediately, that's exactly what he's been.

Like, drawing penalties, mixing it up in front of the net. A point I made when you and I did that show was, I think the part of the way they went after him was they really wanted a guy

who could create from below the goal line to kind of have more of that cycle element and kind of grinding teams down in the offensive zone. He's done that. He set up so many quality chances in the slot by just passing it from behind the net already. Like, it's exactly what I think they envisioned. And so it depleted their depth, but it's

tough to be, like, upset about it when, like, it's a great player and that's exactly what you're getting. I had the Buffalo Sabres really high. I loved that the Sabres came at, I loved the way the Sabres came at the Panthers being like, we're a problem now in this division. I also loved the way that the Panthers were like, no. Sorry. God bless your heart, sweetheart. It was such a good game on Saturday morning. The Panthers are going to be good. I think my watchability concerns mostly from a like,

what does this look like post-Burnet? So far don't appear to be all that founded. Yeah, I think they're going to be really fun. Number six on our list, the Calgary Flames. We didn't do that. It's very good brand synergy here. This is the only note that I really had on them because I think there's a lot we can discuss about the flames,

but through the first two games, which came against quality opponents. I don't know if you guys have watched their power play yet, but if you haven't, I think you're going to, Cam, you're going to love what they're doing with their top unit. What are they doing? Well, the amount of like motion involved where it's not just five guys kind of standing in their assigned spot and then each one of them does one thing. And if that doesn't work out, I'll get second unit's coming on. Yeah. Like they're planning them for like 70% of the power plays.

And they basically give you an initial look. And it's what you'd expect with Hubert O on the half wall, Caudry and the bumper, and then Tofoli kind of like net front. But then once the play breaks down or once they have to give a second look, all of a sudden you have Hubert O sneaking down and kind of being the goal line guy

where he can distribute from there. You have Codry and Linholm kind of shuffling in and out because they both are basically amazing shooters from that bumper spot. And it's kind of like an embarrassment of riches to have both those guys. But instead of just focusing on one thing, they're giving you so many different looks in that regard. And so I think this power play,

for all the things they do really well at 5-15 under Daryl Sutter and will continue to do, that power play is going to be really fun. Yeah, that definitely appeals to me. I love what Hubert O'Kon can do on the power play. You can play both flanks competently, not just competently, but effectively, very convincingly.

I think Nassam Khadry is the best bumper guy in the league. Yeah. And, you know, Linholm. The Linnholm also scored like a million goals from the bumper last year. Yeah. Like they're going to be able to be able to, they're going to be able to seamlessly move those three guys across the middle of the ice.

Yeah. The game against the Edmont & Oilers over the weekend, right? I thought was a really interesting experiment. I think this whole flame season is a really interesting experiment, which is why Sutter system aside, they ranked so highly. Like, I want to know what it looks like when you put the best neutral zone defenseman in the league with the best in zone defenseman in the league. He could just make a pair out of it. So far it looks really good. Not a shock, but how is this going to look 50 games in?

Like, how few goals is this team going to allow? And then, you know, the sort of tension between what the flames are able to create because they have some fun players versus the stability that their coach is going to insist on is going to be a fun dynamic to track throughout the season. So, yeah, I love the flames. I completely agree with everything you said there. And in fact, I think we focus so much on the defensive element with Sutter hockey. but I think what it makes them special

is as soon as they get that turnover how quickly they flip the ice. Right. And that's really fun to watch. So I'm all in on the flames. I had them fourth on my list. I didn't formally put out division winners either, but I think that they're my pick to win the Pacific.

Oh, they're going away. I've been saying this for a while. People sort of have said that the, you know, they can see the oilers challenging them. And, you know, I can too, I guess. but I think they're going to win the Pacific going away. And in fact, I think so long as, like if you're someone who gambles on hockey, so long as the flames aren't priced as if they're the single best team in this sport,

keep buying on them. Number five, the St. Louis Blues. My Blues. I'm glad that common sense prevailed here after how long it took for people to come around. On the blues being super fun? On the blues being the most innovative offensive team in hockey, which is not a sentence that has been said in years past. But the way that top six moves the park.

Top nine. And they have different combinations that they throw in there as well. But that Bich-Bachenevich, Teresenko, Robert Thomas unit, especially when they're playing together, like how craftily they play off of each other and basically don't take a shot unless it has come with an East-West pass where the goalie has to move laterally. I really, really hope selfishly that that success efficiency carries over this year

and that they once again are a top shooting percentage and scoring team. And I think they will be. They've only played one game so far for whatever reason and scored a bunch of goals against the blue jackets. Like we said, that's not much one accomplishment. But I'm really high on this team's offensive ability. And once again, I see no reason why that one with the case. They're power play too for the – they were one of the first teams to introduce a lot of movement, not just be static in the 131.

And that was three or four years ago that they began doing that. I think a lot of teams have kind of taken the queue just from how good the looks that they can set up are. It's a far cry from I remember when they were, when their coaches were talking about playing one forward, two D in three on three. The thing with the blues is that not only do they play super fun hockey at the very top of the lineup, right? But they have a ton of weird things that you can like further down, right? Like, do you like seeing a six foot seven Russian guy run around and throw checks on the

fourth line? Because they've got that in Torpchenko. Do you like seeing Tori Krugue run a power play and also throw hits against guys five inches taller than him? Because I do. And they've got that. Like, they've got so much stuff. Plus, you get the occasional Jordan Bennington blow up, which is fun because Binnington's like one of the best heels in the sport right? He's like one of the funnest guys to root against and he's also really good like it's a perfect sort of blend

if you like kind of watching hockey with drama in mind, Binnington's your goalie. So it's not just that the blues like play pleasing hockey. They also have some of those intangible fun things further down the lineup. I like that you have a take on Alexei Torpchenko of all guys.

I like that Ivan Barbachev has kind of had a blow up as an offensive. guy. When I thought, I thought he was going to be a checker. I still think he's going to regress as an offensive guy this year, but he's also still. Maybe not if the goal he scored against Columbus where he was on the receiving end of like two brilliant cross-eyed basketball. Yeah, that's true.

My fantastic idea for this year is that when the, when the Robert Thomas line has a goal, at home, they need to play smooth by Carlos Sanana. That's such a no-brainer. Do it. Yeah. I'm sure you're the first person that is signed out. I know. I listened to Carlos Santana a lot this year for some reason.

The number four team on our list in Minnesota Wild. I've played two games so far. Now, they've been against two teams that we had high on this list in the Kings and the Rangers. They've been great games. There's been 23 combined goals in those two games. Let's go. Did you hear Zucarillo last night? Yeah.

Said that they were checking like a bleeping junior team? I love it. Oh, that's, you'd love to hear it, folks. Yeah, you do. I mean, okay, so the wild last year we're fifth and scoring at overall third at five-on-five. So I think, like, they've already kind of established themselves as we would just talk about the blues and how they've sort of, like, changed that narrative of what they, like, used to be thought of. and what they are now. We're talking about watchable teams

in the Minnesota Wilder. The Minnesota Wild and the Blues are both top-line. Incredible. I struggled between which one I want and I have higher because they're both top-by for me. No one in hockey has better chemistry than Carol Capriza than Matt Zucrella. Yeah, it's super fun.

I think they could play blindfolded and still like complete 85% of their passes. There's a couple of combinations on the teams ahead of us. No, yeah, okay, fair, fair, fair. But I mean, like, there's one. Just in terms of the way they play off of each other, though, like without being,

Caprizov especially has otherworldly skills, of course. But, like, they get the most out of themselves because of that combination, as opposed to being, like, two of the best players in the world who are just put together and are good because they're already great. Ryan Hartman, all of a sudden, top offensive center. Frederick Goodrow somehow. Frederick Goodro's super fun to watch, too. That's just become, just from having good, skilled wingers,

you can just have a center blow up for somehow. I didn't think that was possible. We can't talk Minnesota Wild and watchability without bringing up the name Matt Boldie. Yes. Like super fun. And I want to give a shout to Jonas Brodine for just being like outrageously, annoyingly, always positionally sound. He's got to be the smartest defensive defenseman. I'm not saying he's the best.

I'm saying he's got to be the smartest defensive defenseman in the game. This is watchability though. He's two 2003 Minnesota wild for me. Yeah. Fair enough. I understand that. But I still, there's something about watching him play that I can't help but admire. then they've added Mark Andre Fleury.

And Mark Andre Fleury has been watchable for the wrong reasons in the first two games. But when he's on, he's also watchable for the right reasons. And from a reporter's perspective, at the end of warm-ups when Mark Andre Fleury is backing up, he's the only goal he I've ever seen to do this. He removes the net and helps the ice crew put it aside. He like helps remove the net and gives it to the ice crew. It's the only guy I've ever seen do that. And I just find it immensely charming.

I'll never get over it. What a nice guy. Yeah, it's beautiful. He really is a judge of the genuineness. It's just the best. Number three, the Edmonton Oilers, who I have to say, I had them number one on my list. Tom, your eighth ranking of them. I was low, right?

I was inexplicably drag them down the third. Despite changing to those beautiful royal blues. I was thinking about it. I was thinking about it. And at the end of the day, like, the Edmonton Oilers, I think I think I docked them a little bit because of the discussion around them. You know, like, people are like, like, like, well, look how big and bad the Edmonton Oilers are now with Evander Cain, who, by the way, has been carried around the ice by Jesse Pauley-R-V in the first two games.

There's this sort of sentiment about how tough they've become and why that's, you know, how they've leveled up. And I think I've docked them for that. And, you know, we talked about it before we went on the air, and I was wrong because you're right. McDavid alone is can't miss for hockey fans. He's can't miss for me. And yet I just look at this.

team and I see a defense that still doesn't move the puck. I think about watching Barry defend. I think about, you know, some of the flaws in the roster. And I missed, I think in this case, the forest for the trees, right? I'm focused on the individual trees and forgetting the, you know, unique joy that is just enjoying Connor McDavid playing hockey at this point. I'll, I'll see your Tyson Barry can't defend it. I'll raise you. Did you see Brett Kulak's play on Nazim Kodry making that zone entry the I think and Saturday night. Yeah.

Kirkukes sick. He just fell right over. I know. I normally like... Cool like sick. It is what it is. Enough of the... That was watchable.

That was watchable. I landed on this podcast. I said this story last year on the watch of the rankings. I bring it back up because you liked it. Last year, my 30th birthday

came on the fateful evening where Carter McDavid made that highlight real goal against the New York Rangers. Now that night, my partner, my lovely partner, had put together

a surprise party for my 30. where all of my loved ones got together at this fancy cocktail bar, we're having nice drinks, we're having a great evening. I look at my phone. I see everyone on Twitter showing highlights of this McDavid goal from all these angles, everything. And like for 30 minutes, I just sat there just like,

I wish I was home watching hockey. That says a lot about my own mentality, but also why I had them number one on this list because I just have McDavid for a if I'm not watching live. You can't get over that one moment. No, but listen, even on Saturday night, they came out and played about as poorly. as they could have to start that game against the flames.

They had no business being in that game. In the final seconds, they had like a goal mouth scramble to potentially tie it and sent it to overtime. They got out played and it was still a game. And like you can't tune out from an Oilers game because of that very reason. So I had them in number three, or I had them number one. We had them number three.

Number two on our list, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Cam. What? You had the Leafs third. So who had the Leafs highest? I had them. I had them third. Cam at him third, you had him fourth.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I think the thing about the Maple Leafs that has to be accounted for too is there's a constant sense of psychodrama going on every time you watch them play, right? There's this like, are they going to fall apart because of the Leafs? How sad are Leafs fans going to be? You know that you're going to get to see fans be like completely without perspective upset

or completely without perspective stoked every time you watch them play and especially in the playoffs. And, like, I, you know, I had my father-in-law in town. He's a big Leafs fan. And his least favorite player is Justin Hole. By far, by far, like, hates Justin Hol. It's a terrible take. So I've obviously been, I've spent years needling him for it.

And then we're watching the game on Saturday where Justin Hull scores with under two minutes. Like, I love, all I do is point out good, productive Justin Hull touches the entire time I watched the Leafs with him. And then, hole's scoring, and he's just like almost sad about it. And I was just like, this is, this is what Leafs feel. fandom is I enjoy like watching it through the Leafs game so the fact that Austin Matthews bunting and martyr are also the best line like the best version of that and I think that's the most entertaining line in hockey that puts them over the top but for me a big part of watching the Leafs is just how there's a psychodramatic it's almost like a horror movie element for Leafs fans I have

three things to say about this one that's it one Sheldon Keeves descend into madness yes on the bench. He is getting way more riled up than he, his hairs are getting grayer. He's yelling louder. It was, it was really fun in the, in the, the 20-21 season,

the 56 gamer where the coaches had to wear masks on the bench and just throughout the year, he was the only one that had his mask on throughout the whole game at first. And then by March, he was taking it off to yell at the reps. And now he's, he's just, now it's just gone on to full profanity-laced tirades.

Second point about the lease. The melodrama with the fan base is hilarious and incredibly annoying. And third, from a hockey watching perspective, it's been three games. John DeVarro's looks like a very good hockey player. Again, I thought he was very slow last year. You can still shoot the puck. You can still finish on the power play. But he's been working transitions with William Nealander really, really well so far.

See if that continues. And having a real summer where he wasn't. spent recovering from injury. It probably helps. Okay, we have two minutes here. Number one on our list, the Colorado Lynch. I think, you know, after the season they just had, it kind of says it all. I think you could make an argument.

David is the best player. I think you can make an argument that Matthews from a watchability perspective in terms of what he does off the puck. He's right up there in terms of watchability. You can make the argument. You can make an argument. You can make an argument for Kenneth McKinnon from a shift to shift perspective from watchability, the chaos, the good end. the bad, overhandling the puck, how angry he is at the ice.

Yeah. He's like a brilliant skating Mark Stone in terms of his choppiness. Like the strides he takes, like just galloping up the ice. It cracks me up so hard. They say in football about some running backs that they run angry, right? And we all know what that means. Like you can see it in your mind's eye when you think about what football looks like. Nathan McKinnon skates angry.

And he's really the only guy for whom this sort of, predatory aura when he's on the rush, sort of sets over the ice. And, you know, that does, like, get you to the edge of your seat, even when you're a dispassionate hockey reporter covering things from the press box. That goal he scored, the go-ahead goal he scored against the blues last year in the playoffs was, uh, that was like a season-defining moment. There's very few, like, there's very few things that happen in hockey where they're just like these big events, like, they happen in other sports, like the David Tyree helmet catch or whatever. Um, I think that that was one of them like and I don't think hockey's had a moment like that since p.k. Suban's breakaway goal

against the Bruins in 2014 like that it's just this thing that you we look 10 years from now like what was the best goal scored in hockey over the last 10 years and you'd point to that one I think you remember it. Yeah yeah I mean the abs they're number one yeah um all right that's going to be it for the watchability rankings this edition at least we're going to definitely bring this back it's going to become a staple this season we'll revisit and we won't necessarily need to do two parts we can talk about like where our amendments are next time. We're going to, the pressing slide of the Anaheim ducks down.

Yeah. No, absolutely not. They're going to climb. We will not concede defeat on that one. No. Guys, this was really fun. I enjoyed cooking this up with you. We're going to have you back on again.

Hopefully people enjoyed listening to the three of us, chat hockey, and hopefully we'll be able to bring more similar coverage to them in the coming weeks and months this season. As always, thank you for listening to the HockeyPedio cast here. on the Sportsnet Radio Network.