Good point. This is why I find the situation in Pittsburgh interesting. Before they drafted Mario in 1984 the Penguins were having attendance issues and there was talk of relocation. In the past 40 years they have had some great tems with 3 mega-superstars(Mario, Jaromir, and Sid) and 2 superstars(Malkin and Fleury). What happens when the team goes into rebuilding mode with no superstars, which appears to be starting? Will the fans still show up?
Leafs 2023-2024 Thread
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The NHL has only been rigged for the Habs...drafts, awards, overtime games.
Pasternak was picked 25th overall the year Nylander was drafted. So glad Hunter got his pick instead of BabCrock. But Mikko Rantanen would've been a nice pick that year too. Dylan Strome was coming off a great season in Eerie and the centre position is usually a higher priority than winger.
Strome most likely would have been picked by the Leafs if Arizona picked Marner. Leafs were in need of a number 1 center. They never had one since Sundin left. They were using Bozak in that role for years. Matthews was still in the future.
I was hoping Strome would fall to the Leafs at the time cause I never thought they would win the draft lottery and get Mathews.
And the the Toronto Maple Leafs would never allow two of them.
I know you are not personally doing it here, but its amazing how many people feel the lack of teams in those markets is a Bettman issue.
Eichel was the 2nd pick overall in Marner's draft year. A comparison could be made with Marner as to who better. Prior to Eichel winning a cup one could say Marner is better. Perhaps even still so. Eichel signed for 10 million in 2018 for 8 years. Marner signed a year after for 903 thousand more for 6 years. So if you compare Eichel to Marner if it is an over-payment for Marner it's not drastic.
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All the 4 major team sports leagues have 30 or more teams. I see no need to cut back to 28. But I sure as heck would move the Coyotes to a better locale.
Tavares throughout his career has been roughly a point a game player. Nothing more nothing less. He has been very consistent. Even last year he had 80 pts in 80 games. This season he has a slight dip but he hasn't fully fallen off the cliff. Analytics has him playing fine. Expected goals if you will. His shooting percentage is currently the lowest it has ever been in his whole career. Still a volume shooter though. 18th in the league. Considering it's the tail end of his contract this is I suppose expected. He still is the 4th best forward on the Leafs.
Speaking of volume shooters Matthews is 4th, Nylander is 6th. Hyman is 15th ahead of all Oilers including McC who is 25th
Speaking of volume shooters Matthews is 4th, Nylander is 6th. Hyman is 15th ahead of all Oilers including McC who is 25th
Exactly. People were lamenting that the odds are stacked against a Canadian team and how the new expansion teams have it so much easier than once upon a time.
So I figured getting in a whack of Canadian teams all at once would solve the problem. Whether they were viable options or not was immaterial.
The belief was that Tavares was a point a game player on a team with very little scoring talent and being surrounded with all of the young talent on the Leafs his numbers would hit the 100 point plateau every year but it hasn't.
