00:00We got Anand saying, thanks, Peter, for always putting together fun and various topics on
00:04Couch Potato Diary. I always enjoy the chats and it keeps me entertained, especially during
00:08the mornings. Well, thank you. I appreciate that. And like, I like to talk about a variety of things
00:12and it's also like people in the chat are firing a bunch of questions away. So I'm happy to talk
00:17about whatever you guys want to talk about. So I will take the credit, Anand. Thank you. But it's
00:21not just me. It's all y'all too coming in with some really great topics here today. Let's get
00:26back into the NHL conversation. As we've earlier in the off season looked at who are the most
00:32talented players in the NHL, who are the best players, the top 10. This list kind of features
00:37some of that, but it's a little bit of a different look. Who's going to decide this season? Which
00:42player holds the power of the NHL and the dynamic of how this season is going to go in the
00:47palm of
00:47their hand? There are five guys who I think how they do could really dictate how their team does
00:54and really impact a lot of other ones as well. So here are the five players that I think could
00:58decide this NHL season.
01:05At number five, it is Oliver Kapanen with the Montreal Canadiens. Montreal has been desperate
01:10in their search for a second line center. I am surprised they did not get one here this offseason.
01:18Kapanen still had 22 goals last season for Montreal. If he takes another step in his development,
01:24like I get he is not the high-end pick of the Caulfields and the Suzukis and the Slavkoskis and
01:29those guys out in Montreal, but if Kapanen is maybe a little more than we thought he was and maybe
01:34a
01:34little more than what he was last season with the 22 goals, I don't think Montreal needs that much
01:40extra of a boost to be like, I view them as a real cup contender. I really do. And like,
01:46would I feel
01:47better about them if they had like a true blue difference maker at center? Yes. Very, a thousand
01:53times yes. But I think Kapanen can still be a guy who gives them at least enough when you have
01:58how
01:59dynamic that blue line is. And the goaltending situation, feeling like it's in a pretty good
02:03spot with Dobish Flower, sorry, not Flower, Fowler and Montembeau. If Kapanen is just good enough
02:10and takes another step forward this year, then Montreal genuinely could win a cup and be a very,
02:15very dangerous hockey team. At number four, I have Freddie Anderson, goalie for the Edmonton Oilers.
02:23Edmonton, we've known the issues there for a while, right? The blue line, sus. The goaltending,
02:29horrendous. The forwards, a couple of them are very, very good. And that's been enough to get to game
02:33seven of the Stanley Cup final, but not enough to get your name carved in the trophy.
02:37Does Freddie Anderson just solve the goaltending issues out there in Edmonton? He has been wildly
02:42inconsistent. He got Carolina to within a win of the cup final and they needed, or of the Stanley
02:47Cup and they needed some help to get across the finish line. But if he is that guy, if he
02:51is that
02:51dude in Edmonton, then the Oilers are winning the Stanley Cup. And I know that the Calgary based show
02:56might, you know, the audience not going to want to hear that, but like he could be that, like if
03:01he is
03:02just that guy, the, if he is peak Freddie Anderson for this season and into the playoffs, then this
03:09could be a Stanley Cup winning team. If he's not, if he is the other side of the inconsistent Freddie
03:14Anderson and a little all over the place and inconsistent, then honestly and genuinely this
03:20team could miss the playoffs. You know, like, um, I, I don't, I don't think that would actually be the
03:25case and they have survived bad goaltending before, but they just, the depth on this team gets whittled
03:29away and whittled away. And I think they had a pretty good off season, um, with the exception of,
03:33you know, the piece of shit coach and the piece of shit hire they just made or signing they just
03:37made, but, um, like getting rid of nurse, getting actual players back for them and making a couple
03:41of these signings. I think they did okay. But like, if, if the goalie is just like a non thing
03:45again,
03:45they've, they don't have the roster to be able to survive. That is what I am saying. Um, at number
03:50three, I have, um, a tandem here, Sergey Bobrovsky and Austin Matthews. The, like, these are two guys
03:59that there's a lot riding on Matthews. It was a down year last year. And I think, um, while there
04:04was a whole lot of talk about like, Oh my God, we have to make Austin Matthews stay and all
04:07of that.
04:08Like firstly, uh-huh. Like that is the key for Toronto. But I do think that he deserves to
04:14shoulder a lot of the blame for what went wrong in Toronto a season ago. Cause he just, he wasn't
04:19very good. And Bobrovsky, they, they've paid a pretty penny to bring in this veteran goalie. And again,
04:25just try to fix the goalie problem that they have had basically since Curtis Joseph. So if these guys
04:32are back to being two of the best in the world at their position, then the Leafs can make a
04:36pretty
04:36good run. Now it's the Leafs. So assuming that is not a great way to go about things, but, um,
04:43if these guys are just eh, then I think there's a real problem there. Like I think Toronto genuinely,
04:48they made a lot of moves here this off season. I don't know like if Radish gets figured out too,
04:53but like at the best case scenario of this roster is a team that could compete for a division title
04:58and make a bit of a run in the playoffs. But if Matthews is mid again, and if Bobrovsky is
05:02just
05:02a guy between the pipes, then this is, could be another year where they're hoping the ping pong
05:07balls go their way and they can get Landon DuPont. Like I think these two guys swing this so much
05:11for
05:12Toronto and the East already has so many contenders in it that if these two guys are just like that
05:17good again, then Toronto gets up toward the front of the line with it. But if they're not,
05:22it's very easy to fall back very, very quick as Toronto saw a season ago. At number two,
05:27I have Quinn Hughes. Um, if he stays in Minnesota, you have the best defensive pair in the league
05:32with him and Brock Faber and still a team that I think is capable of winning a Stanley cup with
05:38Kaprizov and some of the other guys that they have at forward. I would still like a little bit more
05:42going on there, but I think that, um, that they have enough talent there. They have an incredible
05:48blue line and a goaltender that I trust to, to be able to make a run like this team could
05:52win a
05:52Stanley cup. If Hughes is there, if he's not, then I think that there is like, you're not going to
05:59get
05:59that kind of value back. And I think given like Dallas, I feel like the perception of them has
06:04changed a little bit. Dallas is still really good. Colorado is still very good. If you're taking even
06:09half a step back in this division, you can get lapped very, very quickly. So, and then it's the
06:14debate of like, where would he go? Like if he goes to New Jersey, I don't think it swings it
06:18that much
06:18to be perfectly honest with you. If he goes to like a Detroit or something like that, is that the
06:24thing that swings it? I mean, maybe, right? Like I just, I feel like there are some landing spots where
06:28if you add a Quinn Hughes, all of a sudden it gets a really dangerous. If Minnesota keeps them,
06:33they're still a Stanley cup contender. I think absolutely. Uh, but my number one, the player who
06:37could decide how things go this NHL season is Sasha Barkov with the Florida Panthers. Um, he is a
06:44beast. He is one of the best two way players that the national hockey league has ever seen. And,
06:49um, his injury last year really signaled the end of the, the Panthers like run here and just like a,
06:56yeah, let's off to the side. Let's just have a gap year and then come back and really try to
07:02pick
07:02this thing up and, and go forward in 2026, 27. If Barkov has any kind of a slowdown from those
07:09injuries, right? Like we're just assuming he's back and he's a hundred percent and he's a beast
07:12because he's awesome and just defies logic. Right. But it was a pretty bad injury that he
07:18suffered. If he's not back at a hundred percent, you are relying a lot on him like defensively and
07:24the work that he can do to help out with a goalie that you don't trust. And offensively, again,
07:29they have a ton of firepower. They do have enough to kind of make up for it, but I think
07:33he takes them
07:34if he is like, if he's not the dominant force he was before, then this goes from being a cup
07:40contender
07:40to a good to great hockey team. If he is the dude from before, I think that this is again,
07:47a team that can make a real run depending on what the goalie is doing behind him. So Barkov,
07:52I think is the guy who really holds the fate of the NHL season in his hands. And then specifically
07:56in his lower body as, um, as we go into the season, but what do you guys think? Who else
08:01could
08:01really shift the dynamic in the NHL? Let me know in the chat. If you're watching live, hit me up
08:05in the
08:05comments. If you're watching after the fact, or find me on social media. If you are listening to this
08:10on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
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