Maple Leafs 2018 - 19
- Thread starter Insidious Von
- Start date
Tonight's game reminds me of a game against the Devils early last season. The young Devils overwhelmed the Leafs with their speed, hustle and great goldtending. Leafs were lucky tonight that they didn't lose in regulation and won the game with individual skills in ot.
Matthews has another great season opening game, but Marner was invisible.
Talent matters, the Canadiens played a gritty forechecking game it should have worked for them.
Matthews learned a lesson from the summer of 2017, he trained sensibly for his age. Last season he came to camp with too little body fat, he paid for it during the season. I don't expect any injuries this year, he can have a few more of his sexy mom's empanadas.
Matthews learned a lesson from the summer of 2017, he trained sensibly for his age. Last season he came to camp with too little body fat, he paid for it during the season. I don't expect any injuries this year, he can have a few more of his sexy mom's empanadas.
Marner was fine. Just because he didn't score any goals doesn't mean he was invisible. On first power play goal he hounded the puck and Leafs got it back. Marner pounces on player, Kadri picks up puck to Reilly to Mattews and goal. He took the puck away in overtime with a sweet stick down move. His shifts on PK were very good. That 2 on 1 with Matthews when Matthews couldn't get him the puck he was open. I can't believe you missed all this.
Maybe I should have said invisible on the score sheet lol. I was hoping to see him dominate in a season/home opener like he did in the preseason.
I hope I am wrong but I have no ideas why the Leafs insisting on keeping Levo. His days are probably numbered as a seat warmer for Nylander.
Was interesting to see Kadri playing a 5 on 5 shift with Tavaras and Marner. They looked good. If not Kadri Leafs should consider upgrading the skill from Hyman on that line and speaking of Hyman. After a PP good decision to play Hyman instead of Jonnson on the 4th line. Hyman is bigger, more experience, kills penalties so has that kill against the other teams best mentality going. If Jonnson played like he did in the Calder finals he would be a good consideration with Tavaras Marner.
Skill is a big asset of the Leafs. They used what they had and as a result I'd say they Leafs outplayed Montreal by playing to their strength.
One could say that Montreal had a territorial advantage, but the final score shows that the Leafs outplayed Montreal. Territorial advantage and outplaying are two different things.
Probably only made the team because of Nylander. Look at how many games he sat last year so they wouldn't lose him on waivers.
Nylander sitting out has a side benefit. Ennis playing with Matthews will hold him back 5 on 5. Matthews is a high scoring 5 on 5 player so a reduced point total will help Leafs in contract talks.
Stupid question...can the Leafs start contract talks on Matthews and Marner BEFORE signing Nylander? Say, they sign Matthews for 12M/per and Marner 8-9M/per. By doing this, Leafs will send Nylander and his camp a message where they think Nylander should be worth with the team. Just a thought during a slow Friday's afternoon. LOL
https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/mapleleafs
I'll take the first crack to answer your question. Just my opinion and guesses of course. Others may differ.
In theory they can, but the negotiations will drag on much longer. The players/agents are banking on a humongous season stats wise with the fire power this offence has. It's quite conceivable that Marner will do better than a point a game and Matthews' numbers approaching McDavid area. If so, Matthews maybe looking for 13mil per and Marner at 10m per. For now I don't think the Leafs would give much more than 10m per for Matthews and
7.5m per for Marner. So for that much difference it'll likely take the end of this season for any meaningful negotiations to take place.
If there's a downside to the Tavares signing, it would be the padding of Matthews and
Manner's point totals because of his presence. It can also work to the disadvantage of the Leafs in the negotiations if both Matthews and Marner have better numbers than Tavares.
UFA vs RFA. Tavaras first long term contract as a RFA he basically gave a huge home town discount. Half his salary now and those years were in his prime.
Sparks in on Sunday vs Chicago.
Sparks in on Sunday vs Chicago.
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It's not a question of who's to blame. Both sides are trying to get an upper hand in a negotiation. Shanahan was probably trying to help out Dubas when he said what he said.
If the speculation (that he's looking for 8mil per) is true, he's fighting a battle he has very little chance of winning. The only way that the Leafs would feel the pressure to bend, would be for both the team and Matthews to go on a really bad stretch, but even then, there's no way they would give 8mil per to Nylander.
Marleau is an upgrade to Hyman and Matthews is now getting first line PP time so Matthews is unlikely to crumble and he's getting better. But with Nylander that line can be dominant 5 on 5. Perhaps even match them up with the best line in the NHL Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Marchand for a playoff rematch.
No team in the league would pay Nylander 8 mil a year. Even a team with loads of cap space. Which is probably why there hasn't been an offer sheet.
$8 was the starting negotiation. Unrealistic. Rumours are that Gross (agent) wants $7 million a year for 6 or 7. Still too high.
I think the comparable is the % of the cap that similar players have...Pastrnak and Gaudreau. Problem is that they are better than Nylander and will score more since they are the #1/#2 on their teams. Nylander is 4th or 5th.
