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2025-2026 Off Season Thread - The Rehappening

If the Oil are in any division other than the Pacific they don't make the SC Finals the past 2 seasons
 
Might need to jog my memory but I seem to recall that the Panthers are Stanley Cup Champignons and are in the same Division as Le Leafs??
Exactly my point. Put the Oilers into the Atlantic and they dont get out of the division either. So why would McDavid think that the best way to chase a Cup is to play for Toronto, who also cant get out of the division? If he's going to play in the Atlantic wouldn't it make more sense for him to play for one of those tax free teams in Florida?

No one comes to a Canadian team looking for Cups. Players LEAVE Canadian teams to do that.
 
This is more or less what a bunch of the anti Marner brigade has been saying for a long time now


He benefits from Matthews more than the opposite, and by a lot at 5v5. Anyone who wants to believe the PP will collapse without Marner, there's some data in there for you too though I'm of the mind that our system gravitating around Marner holding the puck on the perimeter so much is why it failed in the playoffs against good teams so often where puck movement and net front chaos is king.
 
The PP never looked great with Marner, so I'm not even worried about that.

I do think less bullshit, more shots, which hopefully happens now, will lead to better results.
 
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yeah, the skating around the zone in a circle with the other team patiently waiting for Marner to attempt passing into a danger area definitely got old. And yes, probably diminished Matthews, who is a born puck possessor. because they were together so much there was a lot of offensive deferral.
 
Matty's injury that made him hesitant to shoot, plus Marner's natural inclination to not shoot, sure made that a fun PP to watch this year.
 
Matty's injury that made him hesitant to shoot, plus Marner's natural inclination to not shoot, sure made that a fun PP to watch this year.

Even injured though, Matthews has a gravity that Marner never will and creates more room for everyone else. That's been my core complaint of our PP for a bunch of years now. Matthews only touches the puck when he's way out on the wing, or when he's circling back and moving towards the blueline and even he's not a scoring threat with his back to the net, moving towards the blueline.

We have to stop using him like he's Ovechkin and just letting him hang out at the dot waiting for a one time slapper, which is maybe his most mediocre scoring weapon. He's the most versatile goal scorer I've ever seen, put him in the bumper and PK's will collapse to the middle to try to take the short pass to the slot away from him. Willy on the right, Tavares on the left, Knies net front. Let the 3 guys on the umbrella work in space on their strong side, looking to get pucks into the middle to Auston and Knies.
 
iu
 
I think we are overall underrated. We'll miss Marner, sure, but not as much as most think.
Also, we can have our best playoff run without him without a doubt.
 
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