New 2019-20 Maple Leafs thread
- Thread starter gcostanza
- Start date
There was a time, back in January to shop Marner and Riley for a top of the line dman, maybe two to stop the bleeding and maybe even anchor the power play with a point shot. Dubas did nothing to stiffen the team's back bone. I don't think that they can get past TB or Boston, even if they make the playoffs. Another season down the drain.
Marner is making $16mm this season (cap hit is $11mm) and he has only 16 goals (at least one into an empty net). Yeah, yeah, I know he has a shitload of assists.
Rielly was already hurt before he broke his foot but the Leafs kept playing him.
This is the kind of attitude that keeps sinking this team, year after year, decade after decade. If it ain't broke doesn't apply to team sports. You always need to be improving and anticipating. That hasn't happened since Cliff's first stint.
This team was broken last year, and IMO, the cracks were starting to show at the end of the year before that.
Shanahan needs to look at his end of the year press conference before he started stripping the team apart.
I'm paraphrasing, "We have a lot of good pieces here, but for whatever reason, it's just not working, and if it's not working changes are going to come."
The team is, on the whole, too small and not tough enough. They do have a lot of individuals with strong skating, puck handling, and shooting skills, but too many are not equipped to play in the rough and tumble of the NHL game. Nylander, Marner, Kerfoot, Barrie, Mikheyev, Johnsson, Timashov, Sandin, Rosen, Liljegren, Malgin, Aberg, Kapanen....all are under 200lbs.
Marner and Kapanen play well in the dirty zones - Kap is simply a tougher than average guy, and Marner gets a pass because he's so slick with the puck he rarely gets knocked off the puck or gives up a bad pass because he's under pressure. But if you look at team size and the fact most are kids, the team isn't balanced enough to compete every game. Look at the Tavares line...who is supposed to dig out the puck in the corners and get it to Tavares...Nylander or Malgin? No wonder JT looks pissed most nights.
They need a few more Hymans out there...guys who can skate, are tough enough to dig for takeaways, and who are tenacious.
To get a better blend of size, toughness and talent, these are guys I'd look to move down, out, or let go this summer to establish a better blend out there:
Tyson Barrie
Alex Kerfoot
P. Engvall
Denis Malgin
Kasimir Kaskisuo
Pontus Aberg
Martin Marincin
Dmytro Timashov
Freddy Gauthier
I'd be willing to give Slick Willie one more half season to show he can step up his game with the right third piece to play with him and JT, but if he's still floating by Xmas, he should be gone.
Marner and Kapanen play well in the dirty zones - Kap is simply a tougher than average guy, and Marner gets a pass because he's so slick with the puck he rarely gets knocked off the puck or gives up a bad pass because he's under pressure. But if you look at team size and the fact most are kids, the team isn't balanced enough to compete every game. Look at the Tavares line...who is supposed to dig out the puck in the corners and get it to Tavares...Nylander or Malgin? No wonder JT looks pissed most nights.
They need a few more Hymans out there...guys who can skate, are tough enough to dig for takeaways, and who are tenacious.
To get a better blend of size, toughness and talent, these are guys I'd look to move down, out, or let go this summer to establish a better blend out there:
Tyson Barrie
Alex Kerfoot
P. Engvall
Denis Malgin
Kasimir Kaskisuo
Pontus Aberg
Martin Marincin
Dmytro Timashov
Freddy Gauthier
I'd be willing to give Slick Willie one more half season to show he can step up his game with the right third piece to play with him and JT, but if he's still floating by Xmas, he should be gone.
One down....
Dmytro Timashov is not a member of the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.
He thinks Timashov still plays for the Leafs. Someone give him a TV guide on when the next game is so he can start watching some games.
Floating his way to lead the team in game winning goals, that's the sort of player a team wants to get rid of.
Game winning goals on a team that doesn't win many games - is that really an important statistic?
Game winning goals is one of the most useless stats in the NHL.
A better stat would be game tying goal or game winning overtime goals. Those stats show how "clutch" a player is and that they have the ability to step up at the most important time in a game.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_statistics
Agreed. As useless as a "save" in baseball. Come in with a 3 run lead, allow 2 runs in one inning and still get a "save".
I would add a goal to break a tie like in a shootout. The shootout attempts by Matthews and Marner were nothing short of embarrassing.
Re: Marner
I think he's a nice guy but what was Dubas thinking? First, he (Dubas) traded away the Leaf's first draft choice to create more cap space. Second, Marner was a RFA, repeat, RESTRICTED, where was he going to go?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_hockey_statistics[/QUOTE]
I'ld be shocked if you've ever played one game in a competitive league of hockey including house league, or any other sport.
You have no idea of what a winner is or what it takes to win...at anything.
Keep celebrating fluke goals, shootout goals in a lost game, rare displays of competing.
Go on streaming out your useless stats, they're worthless, just like your opinions of the game are worthless.
couldnt agree more! but thats our boy BIFF:applouse: mr know it all, [ sheldon cooper]:encouragement:.
Leafs had a great chance to pull away on that Cali road trip.
Now Florida's 1 point behind with a more favourable schedule, although they haven't been anything to brag about either.
