What you’re seeing is teams taking them lightly and a very small sample size. They’re not making the playoff. Remember, even Colorado, New Jersey and Detroit were great at the start of last year
Sound defense, holding their own vs good, likely playoff teams in the league (I know- the wins vs Arizona don't count- but still), and some great young talent. I did not expect them to win with Subban backstopping them, but it looks like they made a good choice to start the young, untested netminder.
My prediction still stands- VGK will advance to at least the 2nd round of the playoffs this year.
I am a die-hard Avalanche fan!
PARTIAL DYNASTY (Keep 20 from year to year)
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G every night
G ,A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, Hits, Blocks
Wins, Saves, SV%, GAA, SO
C-Eichel, Marner (RW), Matthews
L- Skinner, Pacioretty, Vanek, Perlini, Palat
R- Hoffman, Byron, Tuch, Kerfoot, Sprong
D- Ekblad, Gostisbehere, Rielly, Borowiecki, Montour, Girard, Orpik, Schenn
G-Fleury, Rask, Brossoit, Saros, Kuemper, Appleby
What you’re seeing is teams taking them lightly and a very small sample size. They’re not making the playoff. Remember, even Colorado, New Jersey and Detroit were great at the start of last year
I'm surprised as well with their output early on but the season is a long one and many things can happen. Hopefully this small sample can be an indication of good things to come but I would not put money on it just yet.
Keeper league 14 teams (H2H, 20 active players keep 16 NHLers, 16 minors)
Scoring Cats: G-A-PTS-PPG-PPA-(+/-)-HITS-BLK-SHP-SOG-FOW-GWG / W-L-SVS-SV%-GAA-SO
C- Crosby, Barzal, Bennett, Schmaltz, Novak
W- Forsberg, Batherson, Nichuskin, Tuch, Konecny, Maccelli, Sharangovich, Bertuzzi, Kaliyev, Neighbours, Reichel
D- Carlson, Rielly, Klingberg
G- Hellebuyck, Demko, Merzlikins, Vejmelka
Minors:
F: Fantilli, Cooley, Bourgault, Perreault, Cowan, Ohgren, N. Foote, Goyette, Iskhakov, Denisenko, Tracey
D: Simashev, Willander, Lambos
G: Schmidt, Rodrigue, DiPietro, Gaudreau, McKay
So they have this rule where if the Knights make the playoffs they're still in the draft lottery (the lowest possible odds tho). Imagine how big it would be for this team to get into the playoffs AND WIN the draft lottery. That would be unimaginable.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll
What great young talent? I mean, they have Glass, Suzuki and Brannstrom coming in the next few years but I don't really see any great young talent on their current roster... Especially when they have Theodore in the AHL.
And yeah, I doubt they continue winning games like this anymore. They're already playing at the top level for them while other teams are still struggling.
Jouko- you basically answered your own question. Furthermore for talent currently on their roster, look at their backup goalie and Tuch to start. 2014 olympicgold- that would be crazy if they won the lottery despite making the playoffs. Would make history for at least a second time this season if that happened.
I am a die-hard Avalanche fan!
PARTIAL DYNASTY (Keep 20 from year to year)
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G every night
G ,A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, Hits, Blocks
Wins, Saves, SV%, GAA, SO
C-Eichel, Marner (RW), Matthews
L- Skinner, Pacioretty, Vanek, Perlini, Palat
R- Hoffman, Byron, Tuch, Kerfoot, Sprong
D- Ekblad, Gostisbehere, Rielly, Borowiecki, Montour, Girard, Orpik, Schenn
G-Fleury, Rask, Brossoit, Saros, Kuemper, Appleby
I have a bet with a buddy of mine - he thought Vegas would come dead last in the league, I said no they won't.
But second round of the playoffs? Keep dreaming.
Contact me for Frozen Tools bug reports and inquiries
Follow Frozen Tools on Twitter @FrozenTools
Follow me on Twitter @DH_EricDaoust
Worth noting that 6 of their 15 goals this season were scored by one guy who is shooting at 35% and is averaging over a goal per game. Also happens to be streaky and frequently injured. Their top-line C is Cody "Freakin" Eakin. I'd pump the brakes a bit on the playoffs talk
10-team H2H points keeper league, keep 4
G: 2, A: 2, SOG: 0.15, Hit: 0.15, Block: 0.15, W: 3.5, Sv: 0.025, SO: 6
7 F, 3 D, 1 G
2022-2023 Roster:
F: Connor McDavid, Steven Stamkos, Artemi Panarin, Jack Hughes, Mark Stone, Josh Norris, Tyler Bertuzzi, PL Dubois, Sam Bennett, Tom Wilson (IR)
D: Kris Letang, Drew Doughty, Brent Burns, Shayne Gostisbehere
G: Ilya Sorokin, Thatcher Demko
I was saying how crazy it would be, I would bet a solid amount of money on them not making the playoffs, and not being that close either (within 5-10pts).
Also, I would say their No1 centre is Ship, but this is the whole argument again that are you a No1 centre just because you play No1 minutes, or is there a talent aspect that needs to go with it (i.e. Turris, Bozak), so I won't get into that lol.
12 Team, H2H, Keep 6 (in Bold)
G, A, Pts, PPP, FW, SOG, Hits, Blocks
W, Saves, S%, GAA, Game Started
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 1Util, 2G, 5BN, 2IR, 1IR+, 1NA
C: Horvat, Trocheck
LW: J. Robertson, Byfield (C), Guenther
RW: Pavelski (C), Giroux (C), Svechnikov (LW)
D: Fox, Makar, Bouchard, Morrissey, Gudas
Util: Meier (LW, RW)
G: Oettinger, Georgiev, Samsonov, Woll
not trying to get that argument started, but I'd say it was Eakin as their #1 based on the fact that he plays with Neal and Perron who are their most established point producers and scoring threats, while Shipachov plays with 2 rookies. This will probably change once the losing starts though haha
10-team H2H points keeper league, keep 4
G: 2, A: 2, SOG: 0.15, Hit: 0.15, Block: 0.15, W: 3.5, Sv: 0.025, SO: 6
7 F, 3 D, 1 G
2022-2023 Roster:
F: Connor McDavid, Steven Stamkos, Artemi Panarin, Jack Hughes, Mark Stone, Josh Norris, Tyler Bertuzzi, PL Dubois, Sam Bennett, Tom Wilson (IR)
D: Kris Letang, Drew Doughty, Brent Burns, Shayne Gostisbehere
G: Ilya Sorokin, Thatcher Demko
Great OT tonight by VGK - they were always on the attack. It was concerning to see them blow the 3 goal lead, but let's chalk it up to Subban's inexperience. Then Perron with the..GOLDEN goal XD.
Only one other team has started 5-1 in the NHL in their first year- and that was the Montreal Canadiens in not just their first year but the very first year of the NHL.
I am a die-hard Avalanche fan!
PARTIAL DYNASTY (Keep 20 from year to year)
2C, 2LW, 2RW, 4D, 2G every night
G ,A, +/-, PIM, PPP, SOG, Hits, Blocks
Wins, Saves, SV%, GAA, SO
C-Eichel, Marner (RW), Matthews
L- Skinner, Pacioretty, Vanek, Perlini, Palat
R- Hoffman, Byron, Tuch, Kerfoot, Sprong
D- Ekblad, Gostisbehere, Rielly, Borowiecki, Montour, Girard, Orpik, Schenn
G-Fleury, Rask, Brossoit, Saros, Kuemper, Appleby