The Official 2026 Off-Season Thread: Revenge of the Nerds

[worm]

Without the insider knowledge it's time to shut down the board

 

[leafman101]

View: https://x.com/nylanderthews/status/2067241035139330255?s=46

Datadriven

 

[Preston]

Does hiller pass the lof looks test? That's my only question here.

 

[thehabhater]

Without the insider knowledge it's time to shut down the board

We have real insiders here.

And knocking the other insiders takes up a third of the board. The other 2/3's of the posts are math and retweets of Dom.

 

[worm]

I genuinely think there’s a 0% chance Chayka passes on McKenna.

If he did though, then hoo boy—I’d be out on this team until he’s fired.

Does he have a history of going off the board?

But without looking at his record I'd probably trust him if he went elsewhere. It would be what the numbers say.

 

[worm]

We have real insiders here.

And knocking the other insiders takes up a third of the board. The other 2/3's of the posts are math and retweets of Dom.

Ppppft. It's now a politics board.

 

[Preston]

Does he have a history of going off the board?

But without looking at his record I'd probably trust him if he went elsewhere. It would be what the numbers say.

 

[Preston]

(he's taking Gavin tho, don't worry)

 

[hockeylover]

View: https://x.com/willynylly/status/2067234127900799088?s=20

I keep seeing ppl comparing him to Berube bc his team was good defensively in LA but Berube was like 29th in his two years here.

 

[MyNameIsJonas]

I keep seeing ppl comparing him to Berube bc his team was good defensively in LA but Berube was like 29th in his two years here.

Berube rode the cup stink for a long time

 

[thehabhater]

I keep seeing ppl comparing him to Berube bc his team was good defensively in LA but Berube was like 29th in his two years here.

Which got us McKenna.

Win/win

 

[zeke]

View: https://x.com/i/status/2066958726557261899

These names were clearly just trolling.

 

[LeafGm]

Does he have a history of going off the board?

But without looking at his record I'd probably trust him if he went elsewhere. It would be what the numbers say.

Nahh. There aren’t enough nerd stats in the whole world to convince me to #trusttheprocess if he passed on McKenna for someone else.

The plain old regular stats are just far too clear on this.

 

[hockeylover]

View: https://x.com/scottcwheeler/status/2067232630664270017?s=20

Don’t think this take makes any sense.

 

[Preston]

View: https://x.com/i/status/2067247400209572265

Now we enter the part of the leafs fans emotional cycle where people figure out who hiller actually is

 

[thehabhater]

View: https://x.com/i/status/2067247400209572265

Now we enter the part of the leafs fans emotional cycle where people figure out who hiller actually is

Seeing that it was only announced less than 90 minutes ago, we should have our answers shortly.

 

[zeke]

The knee jerks are great because nobody and i mean nobody had looked at this guy.

But these Kings teams have been clear overachievers with great nerdies so i have no choice but to think it's a good hire.

He's also in a good sweet spot of having real experience but not enough experience to be just a retread.

And this is also where it's reassuring having Sundin near the top because you know his full on approval, as a player under great coaches, was key to this decision.

 

[leafman101]

They played a 1-3-1 in LA because their best offensive player is Adrien Kempe.

 

[worm]

(he's taking Gavin tho, don't worry)

According to the leaks?

 

[Preston]

The one concern I have is probably the same concern I'd have with almost any coach: I believe he has a tendency to lean towards vets and underplay kids. His handling of Jordan Spence, for example, by all accounts wasn't great, amongst some others.

So there's my first red flag I see. Other than that, I see an overachieving Kings team, an analytics-minded coach, and a guy who has a good relationship with the American superstar with a contract expiring in a couple of years. Hard to complain about any of that.