Maple Leafs 2017-2018 Season Thread

I can understand why so many fans want to pick on Polak, he has a lot of flaws in his game, he's slow footed, most of his passes are not accurate, prone to taking penalties, etc. He shouldn't be a guy that the coach has to rely on so much.

Having said all that, his value to the team is lot harder to appreciate. Killing penalties is not something you get recognized often but he's the one his coach has trust in. Nowadays coaches analyze every play to determine if the players are doing the right things and Polak wouldn't be trusted so much if he's not doing his job.

He's probably one of the worst fighters in the league and often gets beaten up in fights, but his willingness to engage every shift is a more deterrent factor than someone like Lucic who is one of the best fighters but has become reluctant to get into fisticuffs and is just as slow.

As I said before, a player's value to the team has to tie in with his salary. He's only played $1m & change and with his contributions I think he represents very good value. Until Zaitsev comes back or trades are made, I can see him continue to be relied on by Babcock.

Babcock often starts ot with his best defensive forwards against the other team's best forwards and many have questioned why Marner and Nylander don't alway start. How the ot goals were scored against them the last couple of games should explain why. First it was Nylander who was floating around when Columbus scored and tonight it was Marner who did a terrible job of checking Dunn. Both Nylander and Marner have not gained the trust to be used in all situations like Matthews has.

This is probably the worst game Marner has played. He didn't create much offensively and was falling over the ice like he was only on one skate.

That's a disturbing reoccurrence it seems. Critical mistakes at the wrong time by the young guys and wasted good effort for most of the game. First it was Marner then Nylander in OT tonight that turned a regulation win into a OT loss. I guess that's the kind of pains that Babcock warned us about last year.��

Fortunately we're in the weakest division so there are time and space for Babcock to steer the ship in the right direction.

ultistar said:

What happened tonight? I saw them give up a SH goal to go down 3-1 in the 2nd period. turned off the TV in disgust. Now I see they won 4-3. Missed a good comeback.

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Apparently Marleau spoke to the team during the second intermission and caught everyone's attention.

It was a big win, but I don't think one good period solves all the problems they have in the defensive zone. I wouldn't be surprised if Andersen's earlier rant was directed at some of the soon to be unrestricted free agents, namely Bozak/JVR and Gardiner, questioning their commitment to play responsibly while trying hard to pad their stats. Gardiner had a good game offensively, but his defensive deficiencies left a lot to be desired.

These three guys are 3 of the left overs from the team that finished last with the worst defensive records. If Lamoriello sees a need to change that lackadaisical culture in the team, any of these 3 guys may be moved by the trade deadline.

shack said:

Leafs are pretty much a .500 team.

The Leafs have won 8 games more than they have lost, which puts them tied for 14th in that category.

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I believe we've seen enough games to determine that this team is not ready to compete for the cup yet. As such, I hope Leafs management will make a determined effort to stack the team with more blue chip prospects at the trade deadline by moving at least a couple of the pending ufa's or any player(s) that they don't see fit for the long term plan.

Some might argue that icing the best possible lineup to win a round or two would do great to boost the young guys' confidence but that could also mean less meaningful ice time for
the young guys like Brown, Kapannan, Leivo, to gain valuable playoff experience.

If Lamoriello & co should decide to take a run to see how far this team can go, then they're going to need to make some improvements in the centre and defence positions by acquiring more veteran help. I just hope they decide which way to go and go for it and just dont make any half ass effort either way.

Insidious Von said:

I doubt Lou will make a sideways trade, it's not his idiom.

What is goaltender interference...fucked if I know? Imho, Anisimov had Andersen kissing his stick - that's goaltender interference.

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I think they should let the central head office do the reviews on goaltender interference because that's the only way to get consistency in their decisions. I'm not so sure all the refs have the same interpretation of what is or isn't GI and a lot of times their decisions are subjective.

- 3rd game in 4 days,
- second leg back to back,
- backup goalie in,
- 2 of your top 4 d's out,
- against one of the hottest and well rested team,

against all odds the Leafs came up with one of their best games and won impressively. Playing with Marner and Marleau seems to have rejuvenated Kadri offensively. I hope Babcock keeps this line for a bit longer as the chemistry seems to be working. Also impressive was MacIlhinney playing first game in a few weeks, and Gardiner only screwed up once that costed a shutout, but he made numerous good plays and has a point streak going.