In part 6 I discussed the Canucks and Wild series. By a landslide, the Canucks move on past the play in round.
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Today We will be talking about the Leafs vs Bluejackets series.
Forwards:
Leafs: Obvious firepower up front Matthews is now a borderline top 5 center in the league, and Tavares is a disgusting 2C. Marner and Nylander are legit first line wingers who are both solid. The depth is pretty nice with players like Kapanen, Kerfoot, and Johnson. Zach Hyman is a big wildcard as well with solid defensive play.
Blue Jackets: After the departure of Panarin, Pierre-Luc Dubois is now leading the charge offensively as well as large breakout player Oliver Bjorkstrand, who was elite offensively and defensively. Cam Atkinson is still a player who could break out offensively in a shortened series like this.
Advantage leafs: Just no question here as to who has more firepower.
Defence:
Leafs: Not as bad as everyone thinks. Morgan Rielly is one of the best offensive defenceman in the league, but had his struggles defensively this year. Jake Muzzin, Travis Dermott, and Justin Holl are all pretty solid two way players.
Blue Jackets: Seth Jones has what it takes to be super elite, but hasn't shown that this year despite his injury. Zach Werenski is real good offensively. They have some good depth in players like Gavrikov, Savard, and Nutivaara.
Advantage: Blue Jackets. While the difference isn't as dramatic between the two sides as a lot of people may think, if Jones and Werenski can play at their highest level that makes it real tough for Toronto.
Goalies:
Leafs: This was Freddy's worst season as a member of the leafs. However, this rest could prove to be just what he needed to return to his great form. When he is on, he is a great goalie.
Blue Jackets: Merzlikins had a great rookie season. I would think they lean towards him in the over Korpisalo to start.
Tie: If Freddy can return to form, I think he is the better goalie, and it is unknown if Merzlikins can keep us his short sample size of really strong play, so this is a push for me.
My consensus: Since I think the Goalies are a push as of right now, the match up really boils down to the Leafs forwards and the BlueJackets blueline. I think the leafs best players are high powered enough to break through and I am going to say the leafs take this in 5 in a really close series.
Players to watch our listed below.
I will give everyone 2 hours to vote using the poll, and the winner will move on!
Really depends on whether Jones is healthy or not. If he is Toronto is in trouble, if not Leafs can probably sweep
Who does he defend though? Hard match against Matthews and JT is going to have it easy, go after JT and then Matthews is taking on your 2nd pair. If the Blue Jackets had some extra depth upfront I'd say it would be closer but TO arguably has the best 4 forwards in the series and the guys behind them are all on part with most of the top forwards in Columbus. If they can't keep one of the top lines 2 lines in check, Columbus could be in trouble quickly.
I think all of these play in rounds will be a bit of a crap shoot. Especially for teams that are pretty offensive. Matthews has been such a hot starter that if he goes off in the first game or two, the series is over before it really gets going. Its something I can see with Chicago vs Edmonton as well. Kane goes off and Smith or Koskinen struggle at all, they are done so fast. It does make these rounds really hard to predict. You only need 3 wins to advance.
Even as a blue jacket fan it’s hard to see Columbus winning this series.
I think it will all come down to the forward play from the play from the jackets. Can they help out defensively and limit the time and space for Toronto and can we score enough on the rush and counter attacks.
Toronto plays a puck possession game and it makes it hard for the other team to get tons of shots, but it can sometimes lead to some high danger scoring opportunities against. Columbus’s only chance is if they can capitalize on the limited opportunities they get.
They will also have to keep Toronto to bad shooting angles in the defensive zone, if not it’ll be a short series.
This is one of those series where it’s the strong offense for the though defense. We'll just have to wait and see which one comes out on top.
I think Leafs win in 4. Only way Columbus wins is if Merzlikins stands on his head and Freddy doesn't play well (he often doesn't play well after long breaks).
I think all of these play in rounds will be a bit of a crap shoot. Especially for teams that are pretty offensive. Matthews has been such a hot starter that if he goes off in the first game or two, the series is over before it really gets going. Its something I can see with Chicago vs Edmonton as well. Kane goes off and Smith or Koskinen struggle at all, they are done so fast. It does make these rounds really hard to predict. You only need 3 wins to advance.
Being a leafs fan I recognize the fact that Matthews and Marner thrive under fresh starts and Freddy needs some time to get going, but nevertheless it will be an entertaining series
Really depends on whether Jones is healthy or not. If he is Toronto is in trouble, if not Leafs can probably sweep
Jones, Texier and Kukan are healthy. Anderson and Dubinsky are out for Columbus, depending on when the series starts if it’s August there’s a chance Anderson is back, it’ll be 4 month after shoulder surgery which is the short end of the return date.
Being a leafs fan I recognize the fact that Matthews and Marner thrive under fresh starts and Freddy needs some time to get going, but nevertheless it will be an entertaining series
The emotions of it will be so weird. The game play will be preseason esq and that very much favours TO. If Matthews fires a 2 in quick, which is absolutely possible, the feelings on the Columbus bench will deflate fast. I can see a lot of these series ending quick.
Who does he defend though? Hard match against Matthews and JT is going to have it easy, go after JT and then Matthews is taking on your 2nd pair. If the Blue Jackets had some extra depth upfront I'd say it would be closer but TO arguably has the best 4 forwards in the series and the guys behind them are all on part with most of the top forwards in Columbus. If they can't keep one of the top lines 2 lines in check, Columbus could be in trouble quickly.
Odd question, having Jones back also supplies depth to the team. Jones does everything but yes, can only defend 1. However having Jones back means CBJ has Murray, Savars, Nutivaara, and the rest of their very defensive D-core to shut down the other lines.
As for skill among players PLD is probably above Nylander, then Atkinson, Nyqvist, Bjorkstrand before a fairly marginal gap to the rest of the players.
Even as a blue jacket fan it’s hard to see Columbus winning this series.
I think it will all come down to the forward play from the play from the jackets. Can they help out defensively and limit the time and space for Toronto and can we score enough on the rush and counter attacks.
Toronto plays a puck possession game and it makes it hard for the other team to get tons of shots, but it can sometimes lead to some high danger scoring opportunities against. Columbus’s only chance is if they can capitalize on the limited opportunities they get.
They will also have to keep Toronto to bad shooting angles in the defensive zone, if not it’ll be a short series.
This is one of those series where it’s the strong offense for the though defense. We'll just have to wait and see which one comes out on top.
Couldn't have said it better myself, except I am not a jackets fan, so I really think the leafs will win. But after the jackets swept Tampa last year, I can't say they don't have any chance. They could win very easily.
Odd question, having Jones back also supplies depth to the team. Jones does everything but yes, can only defend 1. However having Jones back means CBJ has Murray, Savars, Nutivaara, and the rest of their very defensive D-core to shut down the other lines.
As for skill among players PLD is probably above Nylander, then Atkinson, Nyqvist, Bjorkstrand before a fairly marginal gap to the rest of the players.
I think PLD is going to be a good player but he isn't as good as Nylander is. Nylander is right there with Marner skill wise. The problem with him up until Keefe arrived was his motor, he just didn't seem to want to be better than he was. I think its pretty clear by now, he's elite. The guy is almost as fast as Kapanen and has loads of skill.
As for the rest of your statement. Jones is a top level defenceman for sure the rest I don't think are going to keep the Leafs forwards at bay over a long stretch. So the question is who does Jones matchup against? Then who gets the task of trying to shut down the other guy.
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