Quote:
Originally Posted by _Q_
Sure, I can get behind this, but it's funny you bring up goal differential since it's been more effective at predicting which teams are in playoff position this season than any advanced stat (15/16 as opposed to 11/16).
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This is utter nonsense as an argument, though. Points come from wins, which come from outscoring your opponent. It's essentially tautological to say "goal differential determines playoff seeding"; you might as well go one step further and say 16/16 playoff teams are predicted by their win/loss record. It doesn't "predict" playoff seeding, it describes playoff seeding, because goals for percentage cannot be relied upon to stay the same over time.
Put another way, if asked, "if I want my team to make the playoffs, what should they be good at", the person who understands analytics will say, "it's no guarantee, but the best thing would be for them to be good at possessing the puck". Your response appears to be, "make them good at scoring more goals than the other guys". That's completely unhelpful.