Grading EVERY NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Team

Grading EVERY NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Team

the NHL playoffs have been wildly entertaining this year and some teams have really exceeded my expectations and some have well they fallen short a bit so today I’m going to be grading every single NHL playoff team with this tier list that I have here now if you look below I actually have every team who missed the playoffs in the F category it’s not saying that all of them are failures but some of them should have made the playoffs and if you just didn’t this is just an easy way for me to disregard them in this list now we have five tiers here today we have s a b c and d s is for teams who have completely exceeded my expectations and D is for teams who I feel really fell short now if you’ve been liking the content lately and you haven’t subscribed to the Channel Make sure you do that now and let’s get right into it now let’s start with the first team the Tampa Bay Lightning and this one’s a bit tricky because I actually had pretty low expectations for the Tampa Bay Lightning as soon as I found out they were playing Florida now if you put Tampa up against arguably any other team in the East I would have given them a much greater shot but for some reason I expected them to get knocked out the exact way that they did against Florida I think I ended up picking Florida in five actually in the end so for me I think that this postseason for the bolts they’re not completely disappointing but I think it’s a c I think they had the roster to go much further than they did but when you pick them up against teams like New York or Florida they just kind of are a tier below them so I’m going to put them in C they didn’t really fall short of expectations but they definitely could have done better next up the Toronto Maple Leaves this one to me this is very clear I have Toronto in D and a big reason for this is that you guys know I’m a Boston Bruins fan but I really expected Toronto to come out and whoop the Bruins and this team they just they took a step last year and this is a huge step back for the organization this year you’re now hearing about all of the trade rumors whether it’s with Marner or guys like neander it’s just sort of a disaster over in Toronto thankfully they got a new coach in baru so hopefully he can kind of steer the ship in the right direction with his Stanley Cup pedigree but definitely not a great year for Toronto a lot of question marks heading into the off season a lot of guys that they have to consider if they’re going to resign or not and they really need to address their goal tending and defensive issues if they want to kind of get better for next year but this postseason they were a big D for me next up we have the New York Islanders and this one was a bit tricky as well because I considered putting them in the D tier because they were bounced in the first round again but I actually am going to bump them up to the C tier and here’s why the Islanders get a terrible rep for being a boring hockey team but in this year’s post season they really put on a show and hung in there with the Carolina Hurricanes a team that arguably most people considered to be one of the biggest contenders in the playoffs this year they were in there for game one and two and I think they were the better team for most of that Series so even though the final series score didn’t show it I was a big fan of the Islanders this year and I’m very excited to see how wall is going to take this team into the future for me they’re a c tier not the best if I had to say it would be like a c minus but since we’re just doing full letter grades I think they belong in with the bolts it’s about the same story next up we have the Boston Bruins in this one I’m going to try to not use most of my just home team bias with this one but I think they belong in a and I think a lot of people might agree with me on this one the Bruins in the preseason were either predicted to miss the playoffs or just potentially be a wild card team at best and they really exceeded expectations they nearly won the President’s Trophy and were one point behind the Florida Panthers for the Atlantic Crown I think that they were just great that overtime game seven win for them against the Leafs it’s a huge step for the organization they have a ton of cap space next year but this postseason to me just the way they even hung in with Florida and took it to six was just wildly entertaining in my opinion so I have the Bruins in the a tier I could be talked down to a b tier but I just think the way things have been going for them they just look fantastic right now next up is the Dallas Stars now I have Dallas as one of my favorites coming out of the West this year so for me they’ve just met all of my expectations and even more not only do you knockof a stacked Vegas team the previous cup champ Champions but then you go into the second round and do the same thing to a Colorado team that was looking pretty amazing after their win against the Jets the stars have one of the best rosters in my opinion across the league they have like three lines that could be first lines for every team goal tending is fantastic and tanv has really made that defense look mean in this year’s postseason I have them in the S tier I’m going to have a few in this one because I feel like there are some teams who exceeded it and Dallas is the first one there next up we have the Edmonton Oilers and I’m not going to put them in s here because I do feel like this team they haven’t really exceeded my expectations they’ve basically met them and I had them going to the Conference Finals if they reach the Stanley Cup finals then that’ll be an exceeding for my expectations I know people were sleeping on Vancouver but that was a tough team and a huge Testament to this Oilers roster the only thing that really concerns me about them is their goal tending right now I feel like their defense has really stepped it up especially with guys like buard and EOL those guys have looked amazing you’re getting all of the production from your stars I think right now just basically met my expectations I was going to put them in B but I think in a is a good tier for them they’ve gone a little bit above what I think most people might have expected from maybe some of their defensive players like I said and maybe a few depth pieces who have kind of stepped up but I would like to see more from their depth but outside of that I think the Oilers have looked great this postseason next up Colorado Avalanche I’m going to put them in the B tier for me Colorado I was kind of Fringe with them I actually had them a lot lower I mean I had them losing in the first round so kudos to them for getting over the Jets for me I think this team we all kind of expected them to be good it was just whether or not their players were going to click or if they had enough to beat some of the other powerhouses at West I think right now A B is a perfect spot for them after they got past that first round that was as far as they were going they were not going to beat the stars and I think maybe gold tending was a big reason for them as well they have all of the pieces to be great in the future so I expect them to be back but for this postseason I think they basically averaged out they were definitely better than the lightning and the Islanders but no better than the Bruins or the Oilers I think those those two teams definitely had less expectations heading into the postseason than the ABS so I think they basically met what I expected from them next up we have the Vegas golden nights I’m putting them in D after all of those massive trade deadline Acquisitions you fall short to the Dallas Stars losing seven after taking games one and two in Dallas and I recognize that Dallas is one of the best teams in the league but this is also a pretty stacked roster you got Hannah fin hurdle and a bunch of other players that you added to this roster in hopes to repeat for the cup but unfortunately you lose in the first round and to me that’s just kind of a massive failure and maybe they should have stepped it up in the regular season to not have to face Dallas in the first round but regardless this team’s a d for me I’m not sure about their future they have a lot of players who they need to resign but just for this postseason alone yeah they really fell short of my expectations next up Washington Capitals I’m putting them in a c look I didn’t have any expectations for them I mean just making the playoffs they should be an S honestly but this roster their goal differential is is brutal they were in the minus like all year the fact that they made the postseason is just a huge success and really speaks to how well their head coach executed things for them this year Alex oetkin the future for him it’s looking a little bit dicey kind of a tough year for him especially in the postseason but there’s not much I really want to say about this team I don’t know what their future holds but this year yeah you could say it’s a success just for making the playoffs at all next up the Carolina Hurricanes I think this one’s kind of a big failure for them I wouldn’t say it’s a d but it’s definitely C tier you were in the Conference finals last year and you were hoping to get to a cup final this year really try to take this team over the hump and you get bounced in round two by the Rangers and you didn’t even take it to seven you let the Rangers go up 3 0 and then you steal two but then you kind of just let them come back in that game where you had everything going for you with that Chris Cryder natural hat-trick just a tough way to end the season a lot of players that they need to look to resign hopefully they can get gensel back as it seems like he clicks well but for me this postseason it was disappointing for Carolina so we’ll see how things go in the future they did extend brind deore so that’s a positive for the club but yeah a lot of uncertainty for Carolina and for this year I have them in the sea for their postseason grade next up we have the Nashville Predators I’m going to put them in a B I know maybe you guys are going to say that’s crazy but I think they performed really well against the Canucks and I actually think that series could have gone either way the way they were playing throughout some of those games some of the solid defensive plays that they made they really held the Canucks down I know the Canucks in the end were a better team but I just think Nashville really exceeded my expect expectations this year I had them completely missing the Playoffs I thought after they bought out their players and traded off a lot of the guys that kind of were crucial pieces to the team that this team was going to take a huge step back they bring in O’Reilly nikist has this like Resurgence in his career forsberg continues to be one of the most underrated players and you just get some great performances from some of your stars I have them in the B tier I think Nashville’s future is incredibly bright and I’m very excited to see what they do next year and for this postseason I think they definitely exceeded my expectations a bit next up Florida Panthers I have this team in the S tier as well now look I haven’t been as high on the Panthers this year for some reason I feel like I’m more high on the Rangers than I am the Panthers at this point and I know that they just won 3 0 in that first game on the road so that’s a massive step for them but I’m going to give them their flowers I expected them to lose to the Bruins in round two I really thought that Boston was going to take them over and kind of get their Revenge but Florida has been sticking to their routine their for check’s insane their defense is strong and goalie Bob just looks amazing again I have Florida in the S tier I could very well see them winning the Stanley Cup this year so they’ve definitely exceeded my expectations a bit but I mean we all knew they were a Powerhouse in the East next up Vancouver Canucks I have them in the a tier I knew the Canucks were going to be good but I did not expect them to go and take the Oilers to game seven they almost won in that series they almost climbed back in that game just a great performance from a lot of their players I think there’s a lot of positives to take away from this team not only did you have an amazing season but you had a fun post season run as well your roster is Young they’re inexperienced this is going to happen but I expect the Canucks to be back for years to come and this year was a massive positive and step forward for this organization I’m putting them in the a tier easy grade for me they were awesome to watch this postseason and I’m excited to watch them when they finally have a healthy Thatcher Demco in next year’s postseason to see how deep they can actually go in the playoffs next up the New York Rangers it’s hard to say that a president trophy team exceeds your expectations in the playoffs but I feel like they’ve been constantly called frauds and people just really haven’t believed in them at all so for me I think they’ve really exceeded expectations they handled their business against the Washington Capitals like they should have and I think they kind of spoke a lot to their haters in that Carolina series after going up 3 0 and then really sealing the deal in game six when it looked like they were about to choke it out I’m putting the Rangers in the S tier I think they’re going to go very deep this year despite that first loss against the Panthers I expect them to come back and I actually have them winning the Cup this year so that’s where I’m going to put them next up we have the Los Angeles Kings and I’m putting them in the D tier for me this is a massive step back for the Kings I think that they really needed to acquire a better goalie for the playoffs I think they needed to boost up their defense and it just feels like this whole season was kind of a a joke for this team and when we got to the postseason this is the third year in a row you’re playing Edmonton and you couldn’t find a way to win that series again it’s just it’s a tough look for this team the Pierre Luke deah thing isn’t looking like it’s going to work out for the Kings it also feels like they just have some old guys who are going to age out at some point so their Windows sort of closing with this certain group for me I have the Kings and D I just don’t think they impress me at all this postseason they actually fell short of my expectations I want to put them in F because I think they might have been one of the worst teams in the playoffs this year in my opinion and last but not least we have the Winnipeg Jets the exact same situation this team is going in the D tier I had them beating the Colorado Avalanche in seven and this team not only fall short of those expectations but they lose in a gentleman sweep Connor huk he didn’t look great this roster they just don’t look like they understand how to play in the postseason their defense is too small they just don’t know how to connect when it comes to those Big Time moments and I feel like the future of Winnipeg is just very dicey right now I was a big believer in this team all season long I talked about it a lot here on the channel and unfortunately they just fell short again so I have them in the D tier along with these other teams I think we all can agree that those are kind of the teams who really fell short of a lot of our expectations but this is my final list right here let me know what you guys think about all of this who would you move up and who would you move down drop your thoughts in the comments below and as always like this video And subscribe to the channel I’ll see you guys in the next one

IT’S BACK! My NHL Tier List is here and today I will be looking at every single NHL Stanley Cup Playoff team and grading them based on their performances so far. These grades will be based on both expectations before the season and their expectations heading into their series. Subscribe to Jimmy Hockey for more NHL News and Breakdowns and NHL 2024 Highlights

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