NHL TIER MAKER – Kyle Guest Spot Flying Fluffy Sports Podcast Episode 215

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Hello podcast Watchers today the role of Jaws will be played by me hello it’s me Kyle in case you’re wondering why I’m here instead of Jaws I lost a bet on the Saturday NFL Wild Card weekends game between the Cleveland’s Browns in the Houston Texans he picked the Texans to win

And I picked the Browns and things were looking okay until Joe flacko through pick sixes on two consecutive drives and ever since then my dad has been asking me as a joke all week hey Kyle what’s your podcast on Friday gonna be about what’s your

Podcast on Friday G to be about and I did not have an answer for him until this morning now as hilarious as it would be for me to go off on the tangent about Disney or coin collecting I figured I should do all of you wonderful members of the channel the

Service a favor by actually talking about hockey and I this morning came up with the perfect idea so give me just a second to share the screen to show you what I came up with Tada that is a NHL team tier list where today I am

Going to be taking all 32 NHL teams and ranking them on this tier list based on how I believe they are going to do this season now that we are halfway through the season we have a bit of a clear picture some of the teams that are currently in the playoff picture are

Expected but others are kind of boggling so I’ll be going through them in alphabetical order so in case you’ve never heard of a tier list before it’s basically a whole website where you can create all of these different tier lists and you can edit the tier banners

Yourself which is what I did did so at the very top we have Stanley Cup contenders so those are teams that I expect to not just be good but be among the elite of the NHL and to prove it during the playoffs these are the teams that should no question be gunning for

The Stanley Cup a deep playoff run means I expect this team to maybe not reach the finals but to have a very good playoff runs so you’re talking at worst being highly competitive in the second and third rounds now wildcard team is a team that while they’ll make

The playoffs I expect them to their upsides to be getting completely bounced in the second round a wild card team team is just at a wild cards that might may steal a victory in the first round but is surely not going to make a deep playoff run and

Then just outside of a playoff birth is pretty self-explanatory those teams that just barely missed out and then you have well out of playoffs so teams that were many many points out of that last wall card birth instead of just two or three points and then at the very bottom of

This list we have tank baby tank where that is also pretty self-explanatory and I think you guys might already know a couple of the teams that are going to be down there so speaking of the very first team here the anah time ducks the ducks are currently seventh place in the Pacific

Division and if it weren’t for the Sharks and the Blackhawks they would be the complete joke of the Western Conference it has not been a great year Radco gas is their plus minus points leader at plus 12 of all the teams that I was able to

Do re I excuse me the only team I was able to do research on before this podcast was the Ducks and get this 11 of their players have a plus minus rating but no of actually it’s 19 teams excuse me pardon pardon the you know this is the first time I’m doing a

Podcast the one factoid I have about the Ducks is as follows only four players have a plus minus rating above zero and Radco goodas is the re leader at plus 12 19 players on the ducks have a negative plus minus rating and six players have a plus minus rating that’s below1

So with that in mind I think it’s pretty safe to say tank baby tank if you hurry Ducks you might still get one of the top five picks so next up the Arizona Coyotes the coyotes are rather interesting because right now they have 45 points and they are in the mix

For one of the Wild Card spots I would say the coyotes might be slightly overachieving considering their roster from what I understand the coyotes are a young team and I would say the coyotes probably belong in the just outside of playoff birth tier I don’t think they have what it takes

Yet to to make the playoffs but I think they might be finally taking the next step in their rebuild that is if they were supposed to be in a rebuild I want to make it pretty clear from the start part of this tier list that I have next to no knowledge of

These teams outside of the Florida pan first that one fact toid about Anaheim that took multiple attempts to correctly state is the one fact I was able to Garner about these teams before I realized that I could not research fact toys for all 32 teams or would have

Taken me several hours to prepare for this podcast several hours I don’t have so I cannot wait to hear all of the comments that say Where am I getting these tier placements from I’m very inexperienced I don’t know what I’m talking about or I could be pleasantly surprised

By if my gutted instincts and previous knowledge of these teams actually produces a solider list speaking of which previous experiences the Boston Bruins so yeah first place in the Atlantic division and actually first place in the entire Eastern Conference so they congratulations you put yourselves back up above the Rangers and

The Panthers at the same time the Bruins have picked up exactly where they left off from last year they are looking unbeatable which usually would make them Stanley Cup contenders but we all saw what happened last last year first round lose to eight seated Florida Panthers a team that was 43

Points behind you in the regular season and this was after you had had the best season in the history of the NHL so with that series loss last year I think Boston lost the privilege of being labeled a Stanley Cup Contender so while Boston is great I am only going to put

Them in the Deep playoff run tier because that probably is their ceiling they find a way to choke nearly every single year when they aren’t playing the Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals so Boston is probably going to make it to the second or maybe even the thirdd

Round but I doubt they’re going to make the Stanley Cup the Buffalo Sabers Sabers Sabers Sabers so if the playoffs started today the Sabers would be near the bottom of the Eastern Conference they have a negative 10 goal differential on the year they only have 44 points which is

They’re only prevented from being at the bottom of the Eastern Conference right now because of teams like the Blue Jackets and Senators so things haven’t really gone well for the Sabers but I don’t think they’re truly terrible enough to be tanking so I believe the Sabers will be my first

Entry into the well out of playoffs tier I just don’t see them being able to successfully tank when they have the competition in their own conference with the Blue Jackets and the Senators so it’s rather disappointing because a lot of people had Buffalo as a sleeper pick before this year but it’s

Just not working out clearly and I don’t think they’re going to be bad enough to take the Calgary Flames Calgary Flames if the playoffs started today they would be just outside of the playoffs looking in they are at 47 points and are currently tied with the Seattle

Kraken both the flames and the Kraken have seemed very Mercurial at certain points of the year so I have to probably pick whether the flames and Kraken are wild card teams or just outside of the playoffs or if one is a wildcard team and one is going to be just

Out I think a lot of it hinges on how guys like McKenzie weager and Jonathan huberto perform five overtime losses already is a bit concerning after last year where they lost 17 games in overtime and shoot out and they also have a minus one golf differential so Flames are one of those

Coin flip Teams and the western conference is nowhere near as stacked as the Eastern Conference so I am going to put the Calgary Flames as a wildcard team they’re probably going to end up as the E seeded and get bounced in the first round I I think they want to make that

Push to the playoffs but I don’t think they’re going to succeed so the Carolina Hurricanes the hurricanes are currently third place in the Eastern in the Metropolitan Division so the hurricanes are third place in the Eastern no excuse me hurricanes are third place in the metropolitan and yeah the

Hurricanes also are a team that are were facing a lot of questions after their playoff exit last year the Hurricanes their gold tending hasn’t really been that good from what I understand and you kind of need you kind of needs good goal tending to be able to compete in the

Playoffs so I’m not going to put them as cup contenders but I think I I trust them more than the Bruins the Bruins should be given as little faith as possible until they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals at worst so then we have who do we have next the

Columbus Blue Jackets G next to last in the Eastern Conference your only saving grace is that the Senators are somehow worse than you the gold differential man blue Jack it’s a Nega 31 gold differential that is that is horrendous and then there was that whole Mike bcck debacle there’s the fact that nothing

Seems to be developing for the players in Columbus it’s it’s just awful I’d say yeah tank tank baby the Chicago Blackhawks congratulation Chicago you got Connor Bard and it’s resulted in him being the only watchable thing on this godforsaken team that has a negative 63 goal differential and it’s been 28 and0 in

Their last 10 second to worst team in the Western Conference and guess what Connor Bard was the only watchable fiend on this team and then he got injured So the Blackhawks move move to the top of tank baby tank just because of Connor Bard otherwise they’re godamn Unwatchable God they don’t deserve to get another first overall draft pick please don’t let them get another first overall draft pick the Colorado Avalanche second place in the Central Division Vision looking pretty solid after a rather shaky start to the season is that the way to put

It they have a seven and three seven three and0 record in their last 10 plus 26 gold differential it’s all good here not much to complain about for the Avalanche I don’t know if they have the manpower to make it to cup Contender without without Landis goog so I’ll put them squarely in

Between Carolina and Boston on the second F Colorado has good goal tending Carolina does not so there you go Colorado you’re at the top of deep playoff run Dallas Stars the stars are third place in the Central and they are only four points behind the Avalanche you know ainger has been a

Beast the stars are one of those teams that are going to compete into the playoffs but of course their coach is Peter dor so they have a very clear ceiling Peter DOR or will not get you a cup he will make you contenders that slot very nicely in

He will make you into the deep playoff run tier so the Detroit Red Wings somehow some goddamn how the Detroit’s Red Wings have the first wild card spot in the Eastern Conference if the playoff started today and all I can say is what the actual hell the it’s

Detroit I get that we let them take Alex lion but they should not be in a wild card spot I Peg the Red Wings say most definitely overachieving right now and I am going to go out on the limb and say they are just outside the playoff birth like they just barely get

Edged out by a team that’s going to deserve that second or first Wallet card spot so that’s what we’ve got there Edmonton Oilers the Oilers I have no idea what to make of the Oilers they looked terrible to start the season they gave the Sharks those poor bastards their first win and

Then they fired their coach and now the Oilers have won 12 straight and have skyrocketed back to third place in the Pacific I mean how literally how I guess they must have realized oh shoot we have Conor McDavid and Leon dry Sidle we should not be sucking we should be a playoff

Contender so and that’s exactly where they’re going I’m going to put them right in the middle of deep playoff run because I expect them to make it past the first round they might get bounced in the second round but they should at least take that series to

Seven games I expect them to do better than they did last year so the the Oilers have way too much talent to not make a deep playoff run now the Florida Panthers I am totally not biased here the pan first are Stanley Cup contenders the cup win is open Reinhardt

Has been a beast he won’t stop scoring Matthew kachuck is warming up barov is the top candidate for selki Trophy winner this is if there was any year to win the Stanley Cup for Florida it’s it’s this year and we already proved last year that our system can knock out

Support other supposed cup contenders in the Bruins and the Maple leafes and yeah totally not biased but Florida Panthers Stanley Cup contenders this this is one of our golden opportunities to win the Stanley Cup and finally bring the Stanley tro Stanley Cup back to South Florida the LA Kings the

Kings currently would have the second wildcard spot in the Western Conference if the playoffs started today it’s hard to judge the Kings honestly I mean the Oilers just barely edged them out because the Oilers have been on the Lin sanity run so I would say I have to choose between

The Oilers and the Kings which is a true deep playoff run team and which is just a wild card and I would have to Say the canes are definitely better than the Flames but I’m going to say they’re a wild card team and that their upside is losing in the second round probably to the Oilers so now we have the Minnesota Wild the wild are at 41 points they have a minus

22 goal differential they would be third no excuse me fourth to last in the conference if the playoffs start started today I would say the wild I mean as long as they have Mark Andre flurry they will never be truly terrible enough to tank so wild you

Are you are going into the well out of playoffs tier you’re not truly terrible enough to take the Canadians the Canadians would be also fourth place but in the Eastern Conference excuse me fourth to last in the Eastern Conference so so the Canadians at certain points looks like they were overachieving and it’s a it’s the definition of mids bordering on over in Montreal I mean a minus 31 goal differential is disturbing the Sabers only have a third oh that’s negative gold differential so Canadians you are going into the well

Out of playoffs well out of playoffs tier now let’s see Canadian Sabers where where do I assess the wild I mean the wild have Mark Andre flurry so they should be as for right now near the top of the well out of playoffs tier the New Jersey

Devils this is kind of disappointing if you’re this must be disappointing if you’re a devil’s fan in because if the playoffs started today the Devils would be fifth to last in the Eastern Conference just above the goddamn Canadians so I don’t know what’s going on in New Jersey but

I I’m going to have to put you in the just outside of play off birth I mean you’re Detroit has a wild card spot and you don’t even though I think both of you are going to end up in the in the just out side playoff the Devils should not be underachieving

This much with all the talent they have so that’s what I have to say the Nashville Predators somehow the Predators have if the playoffs started today have the first wild card spot in the Western Conference at 51 points they are just ahead of the Kings and they are 63 and one in their

Last 10 and their goal differential is two so the Predators seem to be near the coyotes in terms of being mid but whereas I think the coyotes are going to be just outside of the playoff birth Nashville Nashville is a wild card team since the rest of the Western Conference seems to be

Underachieving in comparison to the teams near the top I would say the Nashville Predators thinks to UC Soros actually get a wild card spot this year and then get promptly bounced by a real contender in the first round so that’s what where I’m thinking so the New York

Islanders the Isles are just above the devils in the Eastern Conference standings so yes the Islanders are at 48 points they are one above the devils and they are tied with the Penguins so it’s hard to assess there are so many the Eastern Conference is just ridiculously stacked this year

So I’m not sure what to make of this the penguin I mean the Islanders the Isles I am going to just say Uh just outside that playoff birth there’s too many good teams in the Eastern Conference this year some of these teams are going to miss the cut but not the New York Rangers the Rangers first place in the metropolitan 58 points second best in the entire Eastern Conference you know if they’re also tied

With the Florida Panthers just saying so Saban Jad is a monster the Rangers are looking like they’re going places I am going to go out on a limb and say the Rangers are also Stanley Cup contenders as a rule I only am picking two teams per conference maximum to be Stanley Cup contenders

Because Stanley Cup Contender is a team that either makes it to the Stanley Cup or is going to win the Stanley Cup or a team that just gets edged out just barely in the Eastern Conference Finals so you’re not talking about the hurricanes of last year who got

Swept in the Eastern Conference Finals although that sweep is rather deceptive since all the games were highly competitive and honestly last year C kanes could have been put in the Stanley Cup contenders tier moving on the auta Senators good God last place in the Eastern Conference

A minus 12 goal differential 37 and0 in your last 10 games you have 32 points this team is a joke I mean it’s rather surprising given that see things were supposedly going to be turning around but you I will be merciful and put you between the Ducks and Blackhawks on tank

Baby tank it’s more than you deserve I mean the Senators are are pretty damn bad the Philadelphia Flyers I mean if you want to talk about Ridiculousness the Flyers have one five in a row or 6 three and one in their last 10 and somehow have second place in the

Metropolitan this is after they traded gothier to the Ducks I think the Flyers are even more of an overachiever than the Detroit’s Red Wings the Flyers there is no way that they remain at second place in the division not with the hurricanes and capitals and Penguins and maybe even

Isles all gunning for that hell even the Devils still have the chance of getting into the top Echelon of the division if things go right so Flyers you are tremendously overachieving which I am going to put you in wild card team just to be nice the Penguins the Penguins make sense they are

Currently just outside of the playoff spot they are currently just outside of the playoff spot they are behind the capitals the Penguins did everything in their power to rebuild after the disaster that was the previous GM tenure so Penguins perhaps I’m being too optimistic for the Flyers let’s see penguins penguins

Probably are just going to miss it just just barely I’ll I’ll roll with that for now and I’ll come back later to see if I still agree with myself the Seattle Kraken right now they too are just outside of the playoffs in a very similar position to the Penguins I think the difference

Between the CRA and the Penguins is the Kraken have the youth and more of that talent that comes with the youth but a negative eight gold differential is kind of worrisome they are tied with the Flames I think between the flames and Kraken one will be out and one will be in at

The end of this season so so where do I want to put you Kraken Kraken I probably am going to put you in the Wild Card wild card and I think I’m going to I’m going to move some teams around near the end of this tier list because I flip-flop on some of

These and you know I am drawing from very limited knowledge but I don’t need any knowledge to know the San Jose Sharks suck like suck suck all you have to hear is dead last in the entire league at 24 points 1 eight and one in their last 10 a minus 94 gold

Differential a team approaching minus 100 in Gold differential should be good to go for first overall pick so sharks keep doing what you’re doing tank baby tank the St Louis Blues they would be fifth last in the Western Conference they are below the coyotes Blues Blues Blues minus 18 minus

18 gold differential that’s that’s not looking good for you the coyotes the I think the coyotes are going to end up doing better than you the Blues it’s not the blues year they’re going to be well out of the playoffs I just have that feeling the Tampa Bay Lightning currently possess

The last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference obviously the injury deazi hurt them but now they are tied with the Red Wings in the tie for the last wild card spot a tie that I find inconceivable on the Red Wings behalf lightning the lightning are definitely they are the

Epitome of wild card team and let’s see yeah I’ll roll with that Flyers the Flyers are probably not going to stay in that tier I’m going to have to move them somewhere else the Toronto Maple Leafs this is pretty much automatic in years past they would have

Been the Wild Card since they couldn’t make it past the first damn round but now they are third place third place in the Atlantic just above the Red Wings and lightning mind you but but got to give the Maple Leaves they do they they get the Deep playoff run

They should make it to the second round how well they do there depends on who they come up against right now though they would be facing the Panthers so I’ll have to move them a few tiers back a few spots back here I trust them more in the

Bruins the Vancouver Canucks okay this is this is where we get to good teams finally Vancouver Canucks they are currently first place in the Pacific they are the best team in the entire league Vancouver fer demo is good so the you are really really good the connection be the favorites to

Win the Stanley Cup this year and that’s crazy to say but there’s too much Talent the the kucks the kups are not just Stanley Cup contenders they are the Stanley Cup Contender they’re too good fer Demco and all of those other players Brock besser JT Miller the list goes on and on I’m only saying that cuz I can’t remember half the players Vegas golden knights they are

Second place in the Pacific at 57 I forgot to mention the Canucks have a plus 55 gold differential golden knights defending Stanley Cup champions have not really looks like they have been vulnerable this year they they are also a Stanley Cup Contender the Winnipeg Jets this

Confuses the hell out of me how are in the hell are the Winnipeg Jets of all teams 91 and0 in their last 10 with a plus 44 goal differential and 62 points I mean Winnipeg Winnipeg is great but I think the the Jets are definitely overachieving I already sorry Winnipeg I

Already made the rule where I can only pick two teams per conference to be Stanley Cup contenders and Vegas Vegas is probably going to repeat as western conference champions unless the Canucks stop them I just don’t see the Winnipeg Jets I see the Winnipeg Jets maybe making it to the third round

But I don’t see them making it to The Cup finals and then finally we have the Washington Capitals the capitals are in a similar situation as the Penguins you could say they’re tied at the hip so capitals minus 21 gold differential but they are 54 and one in

Their last 10 they have 50 points which are two above the Penguins and Isles three above the Devils so let’s just say it’s time to do some good old tier rearranging so I know the capitals are just outside the playoff bth but I think I think I need

To rearrange things to make it a little more even I have four four teams of Stanley Cup contenders five as tank baby tank those are not going to change I’d say the Flyers will be just outside the playoff birth And give that last wild card spot to the Penguins and to be honest the coyotes are probably overachieving but I’ll give them the top spot well out of playoffs just because it’s been interesting to see how they’ve been doing so I guess I could even F Out would it be fair to put would it be fair to put the Winnipeg Jets in cup contenders just to make it evened Out cuz cuz the Jets clearly found something that’s been working for them so so let’s see let me go over the the tier list sharks definitely belong at the bottom Blue Jackets Ducks SS Blackhawks Canadians Sabers Blues Wilds Arizona just outside of playoff birth we have the Devils let’s

See the entire now the entire point of the play the entire point of this was to make it so that I had see one two three four I there needs to be no more than eight teams per conference in the top three tiers because obviously obviously the there can’t there can’t be 15

Different teams in the playoffs actually hang on my I need to remember math because each conference gets each conference gets eight teams eight teams going into the postseason which means there are six There are 16 teams so how many do I have here 12 12 12 + 5 that is

17 so I need to I need to eliminate one of these from the playoffs sorry Penguins And let’s see okay I think I’m sticking I think I’m sticking with this now now we have balance we have a total of 16 teams in the top half of this tier and another 16 teams in the bottom half tier so so yeah there’s my tier list

And it might seem kind of insane to someone who has a more in-depth knowledge of the league but at the very least we have something here that I can say is my amateur prediction all I have to say is uh it’s really been fun making this tier and I hope that you

Enjoy the tier list I made I’d love to hear your thoughts on it and I think that pretty much I think that pretty much covers everything so I hope you guys enjoyed this podcast that I did for you and and I appreciate you spending your time watching this watching me make this

Uh this tier list so yeah you you all have a good Day