"New" NHL and the Big 3

[SomeDude]

As a Malkin owner in a 20 team cap league that uses NHL salaries, the trend of low scoring games and low scoring players has been especially worrisome.

What worries me the most is that I saw a comment from Bettman a few weeks ago that said he felt the league was better off with a lot of point per game players than a couple of 100 point players. This leads me to believe the seperation between the Big 3 (or 4/5 if you include Tavares and Stamkos) is only going to decrease, and the NHL doesn't seem too worried about fixing.

Am I just being paranoid here or would I be smart to get a big haul for Malkin while he's still perceived to be on another tier than a lot of guys that could be putting up very similar numbers for awhile.

[fungchen3]

As a Malkin owner in a 20 team cap league that uses NHL salaries, the trend of low scoring games and low scoring players has been especially worrisome.

I'd be more concerned about Malkin's health and durability than parity in scoring. I recently acquired Malkin and I have worries too.

What worries me the most is that I saw a comment from Bettman a few weeks ago that said he felt the league was better off with a lot of point per game players than a couple of 100 point players.

I wouldn't read too much into this. Bettman is a master spin doctor. If Crosby finished with 113, Tavares 106, followed by the rest of the pack and Benn at 87, Bettman would be praising the 100 pointers and saying how "exciting it is to see players putting up over 100 points." Bettman's "Never been better" statements have no shelf life - according to him, the NHL is always better today than it was yesterday and so forth. A % of it is spin.

This leads me to believe the seperation between the Big 3 (or 4/5 if you include Tavares and Stamkos) is only going to decrease, and the NHL doesn't seem too worried about fixing.

The thing I have noticed most this season is that the NHL is no longer gifting PP's (and 5-on-3s) to teams like the Pens in large numbers. Perhaps this is just my perception, but in year's past, it seemed like the Pens and Caps were on 5-8 PP's per game! No wonder Crosby, Malkin and Ovechkin were scoring a million points. If the NHL is anything, they are inconsistent. Next year, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the Art Ross winner scored 105 (a 20.6% increase).

Am I just being paranoid here or would I be smart to get a big haul for Malkin while he's still perceived to be on another tier than a lot of guys that could be putting up very similar numbers for awhile.

It all depends on the return. I think Malkin has the raw talent to win a scoring title any given year but he lacks the durability to do so. Because of this, his projections run the gamut from 70-110. Personally, I'd bank for 70 GP out of Malkin and expect 80-85 points (prorated to 98 over 82 GP). Anything above this for Malkin is gravy at this point IMO. I never expected him to score 130+ points. Never.

[27Blue]

The NHL has become too fast for its own good today. The stars and the fans suffer, but it won't change...

[STLblues]

Just checked via hockey reference......the past seasons team avg power play opportunities.......

2007-2008. 351
2008-2009. 341
2009-2010. 304
2010-2011. 291
2011-2012. 271
2012-2013. 274 (prorated 48gm season)
2013-2014. 269
2014-2015. 251

This is huge part of scoring decline......also the decreasing prescense of poorly skilled enforcers and improvement of goalie play has amplified this.

[27Blue]

It's not about PP's, though more of them would increase scoring... it's about the way the game is played today. Everybody is highly skilled, and coached in a system that doesn't allow that skill to shine. Everything happens too fast in todays game. Everytime Malkin touches the puck, soemone is on him within seconds, he bearely has time to react. Third, and now, fourth limes are filled will players who'e entire jobs are to take away time and space from their opponents. That is just the reality of todys game. Players are more skilled and far better athletes than ever before and the result is a far less entertaining game because skill is not on showcase. Too many drones, too few stars able to show what they can do. It's why people are drawn to junior hockey because the stars are able to shine. Hockey is still great, but I miss the 'good old days' where the stars really stood out on the ice and we had electrifying players that could get fans out fo their seats many times every game. I guess Ovechkin did that for a while, but at this point, I think those days are gone. Maybe McDavid can do it again, but the days of the superstar seem over in the new NHL.

[STLblues]

I go to many blues games and Tarasenko routinely gets me out of my seat......

I feel quite confident that the level of blocked shots has increased over time as well......the game is played smarter I think it's a better game now than it ever has been......I would be open to increasing the size of the ice surface though to give the superstar more room to showcase his talent and make it more difficult for the shutdown lines to accomplish their goal.....great discussion this has become

[chuckcouples]

The two biggest differences that I can see that are resulting in lower scorers for league leaders are PP Opportunities and TOI/game. The PP opportunities has always been mentioned. Here are the number of forwards who played over 20 minutes per game and the leaders time on ice for each of the past 7 seasons.

2008/09 - 27, 23:00 minutes
2009/10 - 29, 22:02
2010/11 - 24, 22:33
2011/12 - 29, 24:26
2012/13 - 24, 24:44
2013/14 - 29, 21:58
2014/15 - 8, 20:40

When the best scorers in the league get over 3 points/60 minutes and you take away 100+ minutes per season, that adds up to a fairly large number of points.

[Atomic Wedgy]

I go to many blues games and Tarasenko routinely gets me out of my seat......

I feel quite confident that the level of blocked shots has increased over time as well......the game is played smarter I think it's a better game now than it ever has been......I would be open to increasing the size of the ice surface though to give the superstar more room to showcase his talent and make it more difficult for the shutdown lines to accomplish their goal.....great discussion this has become

I just gave you rep for your last post and I wish I could give you more for this one. Tarasenko is a thing of beauty to watch. The kid is spectacular.

I would also like to see the ice size increase along with the nets. Goalies and goalie equipment are a lot bigger than ten years ago. Skaters are also way faster than they used to be. Give skilled players more room and slightly more net to shoot at and scoring will increase. Even instead of round posts, angle them on the inside to increase the number of shots going in off the post.

[2014olympicgold]

Bettman is like those dolls with the pull string. He says the same thing over and over just with the current state of the league plugged in. “this is great seeing 100pt guys.” “This is great seeing a bunch of 80pt guys” “Great seeing southern teams do well” “Great seeing northern teams do well” “Nothing better than seeing the Jets in the playoffs”

Dudes got a PLATNIUM tongue.

[fungchen3]

It's not about PP's, though more of them would increase scoring... it's about the way the game is played today. Everybody is highly skilled, and coached in a system that doesn't allow that skill to shine. Everything happens too fast in todays game. Everytime Malkin touches the puck, soemone is on him within seconds, he bearely has time to react. Third, and now, fourth limes are filled will players who'e entire jobs are to take away time and space from their opponents. That is just the reality of todys game. Players are more skilled and far better athletes than ever before and the result is a far less entertaining game because skill is not on showcase. Too many drones, too few stars able to show what they can do. It's why people are drawn to junior hockey because the stars are able to shine. Hockey is still great, but I miss the 'good old days' where the stars really stood out on the ice and we had electrifying players that could get fans out fo their seats many times every game. I guess Ovechkin did that for a while, but at this point, I think those days are gone. Maybe McDavid can do it again, but the days of the superstar seem over in the new NHL.

A year or two ago, players like Crosby and Malkin were scoring at a 120 point pace. Heck, even last year, Giroux was scoring at a 103 point pace from December on. The game hasn't changed fundamentally over the last 12-24 months. Coming out of the lockout, the league was so desperate to "increase scoring" that they artificially inflated penalty calls. If a person even looked at Sid crooked they received 2 minutes. Now, the NHL is finally trying to crackdown on "diving" so the refs are not as whistle-happy. This is a big part. I remember watching games a couple years ago and it seemed like the Pens had 2-man advantages multiple times a game. That will increase scoring.

I do agree that time and space has been taken away from the players, but that's more of an era vs. era observation. And I don't blame the players - I blame the coaches for implementing these "stack 4" defensive systems that clog the neutral zone. Game 6 between Habs vs. Lightning was a perfect example - the Canadiens couldn't even penetrate through the neutral zone into the offensive zone. It resulted in a victory for Tampa but it was frustrating to watch as a fan. We all want end-to-end, firewagon puck.

The NHL should mandate their coaches to develop systems / strategies that increase offense and the flow of the game in expense for tight checking and defense.

[kevinsrangers]

how bout one coach on the bench? let one guy coach, line match, etc. maybe there'd be less drones out there and players could make there own split decissions.

[Big Ev]

with no vested interest in a game, hockey can be pretty boring these days. They simply need to make the nets bigger or the goalies smaller, take out the trapezoid, and go to the permanent 3 on 3 OT. It would never happen but the game would be better played at 4 on 4 at even strength.

[fungchen3]

with no vested interest in a game, hockey can be pretty boring these days. They simply need to make the nets bigger or the goalies smaller, take out the trapezoid, and go to the permanent 3 on 3 OT. It would never happen but the game would be better played at 4 on 4 at even strength.

The nets should stay the same but I 100% agree that the goalie equipment MUST shrink. With technology these days, we can make socks that are cut-resistant but can't make "slender" goalie equipment that protects the players without inflating them to the size of the Michelin Man?? Sorry, not buying it. Look at a goalies "trapper glove" these days - there is all kinds of added "parts" and padding to it that has nothing to do with protection. Back in the day, the same glove was a little bit larger than a 1st baseman's glove. Shrink the goalie equipment so goalies need to be more acrobatic, instead of relying on their added equipment to enhance textbook positioning.

As for OT - I also agree - we need to go to a 10 minute 3-on-3. Give the fans a real show, instead of corny breakaways that are like "going through the motions" anymore.

I'm not ready to nuke 5-on-5 in favor of 4-on-4 but I think coaches need to be tasked with the responsibility of making the game more enjoyable. Ultimately, you can only tinker with the "rules" so much, and the NHL has beaten that horse to death. The elephant in the room is over-coaching and defensive systems. These are a recipe for success but a buzz kill at the same time. If coaches are so savvy and creative, empower them to draft systems that open the game up.

Players like Ovechkin, Kane, Karlsson, Malkin, Tarasenko, Datsyuk, Subban, Gaudreau, Doughty, etc. could raise fans out of their chairs multiple times a game if coaching encouraged risk taking instead of limiting it.

[Hoopo]

the days of the superstar seem over in the new NHL.

This just seems like such a stretch to me. One single season where no one hits 100 and everypone's freaking out and certain this is the "new normal" or whatever.

A good number of guys are producing like they always did, and some guys even better than ever. There is absolutely still room for guys to put up 90 and 100+. Daniel Sedin at 34 years old just bounced back to 76 points. Tavares and Benn hit new career highs. Ovi continues to score 50+ goals. And we see Crosby drop 20 points on last season and this is a trend?

[Rylant]

with no vested interest in a game, hockey can be pretty boring these days. They simply need to make the nets bigger or the goalies smaller, take out the trapezoid, and go to the permanent 3 on 3 OT. It would never happen but the game would be better played at 4 on 4 at even strength.

I actually like the complexity that 5 on 5 brings. The fact that there are 3 forwards and 2 defense adds an element to the defensive component of the game. When you have 4 on 4, it opens the ice up, but when the forwards have the d, and the defense have the forwards, it simplifies the defensive schemes.

Rylant