Toronto Escorts

Maple Leafs 2018 - 19

raptorizedguy

New member
Nov 12, 2006
1,777
1
0
Was looking at the Leafs roster and they are stacked at center as we all know but wings they will have a lot of spots open to fight for .. Maybe Josh Leivo will get a legimitate shot .
 

superstar_88

The Chiseler
Jan 4, 2008
5,277
964
113
Really? You think lots of spots on wing? Nylander, Marner, Brown, and Kapanen are pretty much locks on RW so that leaves zero spots there. LW you have Marleau, Hyman, Johnnson I would say are also locks so really only 1 wing spot open. That is the only spot Leivo can fight for. Only 1 spot so not lots of spots.

At center they are only considered stacked because of the top 3. The 4th line center is unproven and unknown. Last year no one could get it done. They had to give up a 2nd round draft pick to get someone to go into the playoffs with again! Seems every year they give up a 2nd for a 4th line center. Leafs should play their top 3 centers minimum 18 minutes each per game and keep the 4th line center at 5 minutes.
 

superstar_88

The Chiseler
Jan 4, 2008
5,277
964
113
I know. Price has carried a bad Montreal team into the playoffs before. Belfour for the Leafs did the same thing. He made the Leafs look better than they actually were.
 

chuckertmg

Active member
Mar 26, 2013
610
176
43
not always sure...
I know. Price has carried a bad Montreal team into the playoffs before. Belfour for the Leafs did the same thing. He made the Leafs look better than they actually were.
You don't have to go that far back - last year Andersen made the Leafs look a lot better than they actually were.
His goaltending won them a bunch of games they had no business being in.
 

Insidious Von

My head is my home
Sep 12, 2007
38,084
6,421
113
Ed Belfour had a greater impact on the Leafs when he came in, he was propping up a collapsing team. After they got smashed by the Flyers in the 2004 Playoffs, JFJ wanted to rebuild. He was overruled by Richard Peddie who took over the GM duties without making it official. The Teachers had no interest in building a hockey club, they wanted to consolidate their holdings in Steve Starvo's legacy. Larry Tanenbaum, realizing his mistake, wanted to fire Peddie but The Teachers supported Peddie. It turned out to be bad news for Eugene Melnyk, Tanenbaum froze him out of any share of MLSE.

The Leafs went 9 years without getting into the playoffs.
 

shack

Nitpicker Extraordinaire
Oct 2, 2001
46,705
7,981
113
Toronto
You don't have to go that far back - last year Andersen made the Leafs look a lot better than they actually were.
His goaltending won them a bunch of games they had no business being in.
And so did Bernie Parent, Hasek, Ken Dryden, etc., etc. A goalie is part of a team.
 

smuddan

Well-known member
Mar 7, 2007
2,235
259
83
A few thought about the upcoming season :

1) Nylander's contract negotiation- we kicked around the subject here last year and the consensus seemed to be that somewhere around 6.5m for a multi year deal would be reasonable. He had a very good second full season and his numbers were comparable to his first. There are speculations that he and his agent are looking for 8mil per and if true, he'll likely sit out a lot longer. Pasternak only got 6.7 x 6, and he had better numbers. Willy should consider himself lucky if he gets the same deal. He has great skills but floats too often. One play that sticks out was in a playoff game, he had to be pushed by Rielly to cover the point. It's only one play but it that's indicative of how he could lose focus even during an important game.

2) Leafs defence : being able to move the puck up now has become ever so vital in modern day NHL. Given time and space this defence as a group did very well to supplement the offence. The trouble is/was, this defence loses puck battles more often than not. When pressured, especially by more physical forwards, this defence play scared. Rielly and Gardiner would stick check rather than engage in physical battles. Zaitsev since injured became tentative. Carrick is undersized. Hainsey slowed down from about mid season after having been over used. Having JVR and Bozak floating around didn't help, and it'll be interesting to see it's going to mean better team defence with Tavares, Johnssan and Kapanan as replacements.

3) Team toughness: when you get the reputation for being a "soft" team, you bet the first introduction from the other teams' coaches will be, hit them every chance you get. The notion that "you can't hit them if you can't catch them" only works if you spend all your time worrying about getting hit instead of taking time to make plays. Against a soft team like the Leafs, the other teams' pests will play a lot b**********. The best strategy would be to let the other teams know that if you go after our stars, we'll be after yours ; but other than Kadri, there was no one who would make other team feel uncomfortable playing against. Komarov was eager to do the dirty work until he was blind sided by OV and was never the same again. Hopefully Grundstrom and Marchment will provide some of that truculence if and when they make the team.

4) Tavares, Matthews and Marner will be the three studs that drive this offence. Marner will benefit the most because he'll be playing with either Taraves or Matthews. Whichever line he's on with will be scary good, I hope. Johnsson and Kapanan will play more prominent roles and I particularly like the upside of Johnsson. He may be the guy that make us not miss the offence of JVR too much.
 

superstar_88

The Chiseler
Jan 4, 2008
5,277
964
113
Marner played with Kadri and Marleau last year. Marner was driving that line and it was a good one. Tavaras can drive a line. He's pumped up the stats of every one he's played with. Tavaras and Marner could make a super line though. They need a line that can compete with the super line Boston has.
 

smuddan

Well-known member
Mar 7, 2007
2,235
259
83
Both RFA Morrissey/Jets and Nurse/Oilers signed bridge deal for 2 years 6.3 and 6.4 respectively. Maybe Nylander and Leafs are closer on a similar bridge deal. Dubas has said he'd like to sign Nylander to a long term deal but it doesn't look like they're close.
 

saxon

Well-known member
Dec 2, 2009
4,748
507
113
From what I gather Nylander wants $7 million a year for a bridge contract and $8 million a year if it’s long term. No wonder he hasn’t signed yet. Add in the fact that Dubas is expecting Nylander, Matthews and Marner to all take a hometown discount could cause contract issues with all three.
 

superstar_88

The Chiseler
Jan 4, 2008
5,277
964
113
do they want a better chance to win? Max money goes contrary to helping the team win. Do it for the team or do it for self. Tavaras already took less money to come here so he set the precedent. Tavaras first long term contract with NYI he was way undervalued also.
 

GameBoy27

Well-known member
Nov 23, 2004
12,514
2,365
113
do they want a better chance to win? Max money goes contrary to helping the team win. Do it for the team or do it for self. Tavaras already took less money to come here so he set the precedent. Tavaras first long term contract with NYI he was way undervalued also.
Totally agree. ^^^

You've got to wonder if Willy would be happy making a million a year more than he might with the Leafs but on a team that doesn't even have a chance of making the playoffs for the next 5 years. Or he could take a haircut, sign with Toronto and play with the dynamic crew we have. There's also the added benefit of richer endorsements playing in a market like Toronto. I look at him as a $6 million player.

I know it was only the first preseason game last night, but Tavares and Marner were flying. Really looking forward to this season!

GO LEAFS GO!!!
 

superstar_88

The Chiseler
Jan 4, 2008
5,277
964
113
Ennis is small and gets bounced around. Lievo looked much better. Bigger, has hands and can shoot. They need Nylander on that line with Matthews and Marleau. That would be a tremendous line.
 

smuddan

Well-known member
Mar 7, 2007
2,235
259
83
Ennis is small and gets bounced around. Lievo looked much better. Bigger, has hands and can shoot. They need Nylander on that line with Matthews and Marleau. That would be a tremendous line.
Dubas is in a good negotiating position and I'm sure he'd much rather have Nylander to start the season, as long as he can sign him to a contract that's reasonable in his eyes. I hope he holds his ground and not budge to any unreasonable demand because of outside pressure. You bet the agents of Matthews and Marner are paying keen interest in how he handles this negotiation.
 
Toronto Escorts