Opinions have flooded in on what teams are the favourites to hoist this year’s Stanley Cup, but discussions have started on which teams look like the biggest Paper Tiger in the league.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, according to Merriam-Webster, a Paper Tiger comes from an old Chinese idiom referring to someone who is outwardly powerful or dangerous but is actually ineffectual.

In Daily Faceoff’s latest round table, contributors discussed who claims the league’s unofficial title of Paper Tigers. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs are one maybe not-so-surprising team that came up in discussions. In the last 19 years, the Leafs have only secured one playoff series victory coming last season when they beat the Tampa Bay Lightning to advance to the second round, but ultimately fell short to the Florida Panthers four games to one. 

It would seem rather sluggish if the sole argument for why the Maple Leafs are considered a Paper Tiger is their lack of playoff success. However, Toronto’s goaltending is another thing to consider.

The market believes that more should be expected of Joseph Woll after battling back from a high ankle sprain in early December. Still, since returning to the Leafs on February 26th, he’s slid into more of a backup role to 27-year-old Ilya Samsonov, with only three starts since returning. 

In addition to their goaltending, there’s been plenty of conversation around the strength of their backend and whether head coach Sheldon Keefe can outcoach Jim Montgomery and the Boston Bruins, Paul Maurice and the Panthers, or Patrick Roy and the New York Islanders for the Wildcard Spot. 

“This team has shown enough flaws this year, once again, and I just don’t believe Sheldon Keefe can outcoach Jim Montgomery and the Boston Bruins,” said Steven Ellis.

“In many notable advanced analytic categories, Toronto finds themselves midpack. Scoring hasn’t typically been an issue with this team, and they need their defense core to step up more than ever.”

The Edmonton Oilers are another team that Daily Faceoff contributors have their eyes on. Still, opinions are less aimed at the team itself, focusing more on the front office and general manager Ken Holland, who didn’t match up to some of their opponents when it came to acquiring players to bolster their lineup at the trade deadline. 

One of the most significant areas of concern for the Oilers is the likeliness that the boys in orange and blue go up against a postseason rematch against the reigning Stanley Cup Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights. With the new additions of Thomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Anthony Mantha at the deadline by Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon, the organization is hungry to capture their second franchise Stanley Cup. 

“The Oilers have some truly remarkable players but their management’s reluctance to go all-out in its support of the Connor McDavid/Leon Draisaitl core once again could end up costing them,” said Mike Gould.

“We’re nearly a decade into the McDavid era and the Oilers still have yet to win a game past the second round of the playoffs. That’s just not acceptable on any level.”

The New York Rangers were also a popular team to take the title of the league’s Paper Tiger after failing to acquire a scoring-line right-winger at the trade deadline. The Ranger’s defence has also raised concern after ranking in the bottom five in the NHL in shot prevention, shot attempts, and scoring chances on a per-60 basis at five-on-five. 

“While Igor Shesterkin has, predictably, caught fire after working with goalie coach Benoit Allaire over the All-Star break, the Rangers are playing weaker defense in front of him as of late,” said Matt Larkin. 

“I think our pal Scott Maxwell nailed it earlier this week when he claimed the Rangers were morphing back into their 2021-22 selves.”

Finally, the last team in the round-table discussion was the Boston Bruins, a team who may be “punching above their weight” after Scott Maxwell revealed the team is sixth in goals for per 60 minutes but ranks 20th in shots, 24th in shot attempts, and 11th in goals for per 60 minutes. 

“They overperformed last year as well, and that didn’t translate to playoff success,” said Maxwell. “So who’s to say that a team overperforming even more and without their Selke-caliber centre can’t do the same come playoff time?”

Where on the all-time scoring list will Connor McDavid finish his career?

Connor McDavid has become the face of not only the Edmonton Oilers, but the NHL as a whole since he was drafted first overall in 2015. He’s helped lift the decade of darkness for the franchise, but as the cheers ring on in awe of McDavid, where will he be on the all-time scoring list when he finishes his career? 

In hockey, there’s always a bit of an emphasis on the future, and McDavid’s future has always looked bright. In all the years that players have dominated on the ice, very few can score goals and rack up points like he can, with his 956 points since the start of the 2015-16 season 126 more than the next closest player, Leon Draisaitl. 

The Oilers superstar is not unfamiliar with 100-point-plus seasons, been doing it since his u16 year with the Toronto Marlboros. Every year, when the headlines read out “McDavid has hit 100 points,” no one is ever surprised, but after time, all those points begin to add up.

Daily Faceoff‘s Paul Pidutti put together a list of NHL’s biggest names, emphasizing McDavid and his all-time projected points.

Pidutti projected that McDavid should hit 1,923 points by the time he decides to hang up the skates in the NHL. That projection gives him a good chance at catching Jaromir Jagr for second in all-time points, who amassed 1,921 points in his 24 years in the NHL.

Only four players–Wayne Gretzky, Jagr, Mark Messier, and Gordie Howe–have reached 1,800 points in their careers, and McDavid’s odds of hitting that mark sit at 65 per cent. However, each iconic player, with the exception of Wayne Gretzky, needed 21 seasons to achieve the feat, and McDavid, at the prime age of 27, surely should have plenty of hockey left to play.