This team scares me. they arent built to win now, and they are already so good. Theres no doubt in my mind, that if Kadri hadnt been suspended last year, the Leafs wouldve beat the bruins and gone far in the playoffs. This year they ran into a brick wall in Korpisalo, They definitely outplayed the Blue Jackets in the play-ins.
In my opinion, they have the best forward group in the entire NHL
Matthews and Tavares are a top 3 centre duo in the NHL
Marner and Nylander are both top 20 wingers and give the Leafs areguably the best 1-2 punch on the right wing.
Hyman, Johnsson, Kerfoot and Mikheyev are all top 6 forwards on most teams and yet 2 of them will be on their 3rd line
Their bottom 6 isnt anything to laugh at either. With some combination of Kerfoot, Mikheyev, Engvall, Spezza, Clifford, Barabanov and Johnsson.
Bout of course, we all know that. They defense is where they have issues
Morgan Rielly and Jake Muzzin are untouchable, Rielly is a top 10 defenseman and Muzzin is top 20.
Dermott is an excellent 3rd pairing defenseman but always fails when moved into the top 4, They have to look at this player and ask themselves its worth it to have him on their team if he is going to be a career 3rd pairing guy.
Holl was terrible last year, but played great in a shutdown role with Jake Muzzin this year.
Ceci gets too much hate. No he is not a top pair defenseman, but they should look at mabye bringing him back at around 800k for as a 6th or 7th defenseman. Hes a good defensive player, but hes offense SUCKS.
However their blueline wasnt the problem this year, it was the goaltending. Andersen was terrible, Hutchinson was terrible and Campbell was good but he only played 6 games with them.
After Sheldon Keefe took over as head coach head coach, the defense was around league average, however the goaltending sucked. They ranked 2th in 5v5 SV% and 15th in expected goals against. They were 16th in high danger chances against. Something to note is Morgan Rielly missed 50% of the games they played under Keefe and Muzzin missed 33% of those games. A fully healthy blueline likely finishes around 13th. The powerplay has struggled at times, but it should be fine when you look at the firepower that it has. The penaltykill has been surprisingly good ranking top 10 in many stats after Keefe took over (excluding save percentage where it ranked 23rd) 4th best in xGA and 4th in high danger chances against. Mikheyev and Engvall are both elite penalty killers while Hyman and Kerfoot have both also been pretty good. Kapanen was NOT a good PKer, he was just really fast and relied on his speed to hop on breakaways.
They also have a couple of really good prospects in their system incuding Nick Robertson, Rasmus Sandin and Timothy Liljegren. Not to mention that they also have the 15th pick in this year's draft.
All in all, Kyle Dubas has done a great job as the general manager and should not be taking the blame for this team's struggles. That should go to Andersen and Babcock
Let me know what team you would want to see me look at next
I'd like to see on a team in the midst of rebuilding. A Sens/Ducks/Kings/etc. I think the Ducks might be the most interesting to have a brutal look at.
Hutch was abysmal, yes. Freddy was alright, but he didn't bail the D out quite as much as usual - I'd argue otherwise in the play-ins, but anyways. But the defence was certainly bad too - yes there were lots of injuries, but that happens. The Leafs need sturdy defensemen as depth, and they need a shutdown guy to play top pair - doesn't have to be a big name like Pietrangelo or Parayko, but someone who can be relied on as a stay at home D beside Rielly
Hutch was abysmal, yes. Freddy was alright, but he didn't bail the D out quite as much as usual - I'd argue otherwise in the play-ins, but anyways. But the defence was certainly bad too - yes there were lots of injuries, but that happens. The Leafs need sturdy defensemen as depth, and they need a shutdown guy to play top pair - doesn't have to be a big name like Pietrangelo or Parayko, but someone who can be relied on as a stay at home D beside Rielly
I'd like to see on a team in the midst of rebuilding. A Sens/Ducks/Kings/etc. I think the Ducks might be the most interesting to have a brutal look at.
If the Leafs can get rid of Andersen and sign a guy like Markstrom/Lehner as well as trade for a guy like Savard/Weegar to play with Rielly, I think they can do some damage
Hutch was abysmal, yes. Freddy was alright, but he didn't bail the D out quite as much as usual - I'd argue otherwise in the play-ins, but anyways. But the defence was certainly bad too - yes there were lots of injuries, but that happens. The Leafs need sturdy defensemen as depth, and they need a shutdown guy to play top pair - doesn't have to be a big name like Pietrangelo or Parayko, but someone who can be relied on as a stay at home D beside Rielly
Would u trade your 1st for Demko? You get a guy who’s only owed 1 mill next year and save the cap to upgrade the D
If the Leafs can get rid of Andersen and sign a guy like Markstrom/Lehner as well as trade for a guy like Savard/Weegar to play with Rielly, I think they can do some damage
Ehh, Markstrom and Lehner wlll both demand a ton of money. I dont think the Leafs can afford that.
Savard will be a 1 year rental, but Weegar would be excellent for them
Would u trade your 1st for Demko? You get a guy who’s only owed 1 mill next year and save the cap to upgrade the D
The Canucks would take that and run with it.
The Leafs are better off taking a goalie in the 3rd/4th round and banking on him to be really good. Studies show that the career GSAx of goalies drafted in any round is pretty similar. Plus goaltending is so random that its possible for Andersen to go from terrible to Vezina calibre in 1 season. I wouldnt trade a 1st for a goalie unless its a guy like Hellebuyck or Gibson where you know exectly how good they are and how good they will be
that's a hard overrated on Muzzin being a top 20 defensemen, I don't even know if Rielly was a top 20 defence man last year...
When hes at his best, Rielly is nearly unstoppable.
Muzzin plays a nearly flawless game and often gets forgetten since hes on a team with so many other storylines surrounding them. He would defnitely be recognized as a top 20 defenseman if he was on a different team with less drama surrouning them
Toronto really better hope that the Panthers, Habs, Sabres or Sens don't get marginally better, because if the Leafs fail to land the 3rd seed in their division than they'll be missing the playoffs because the 2 wild card spots are 100% going to Metro teams.
Than again the same can be said about the Bruins, their "dynasty" looks to be over if Rask retires from the NHL.
Toronto really better hope the the Panthers, Habs, Sabres or Sens don't get marginally better, because if the Leafs fail to land the 3rd seed in their division than they'll be missing the playoffs because the 2 wild card spots are 100% going to Metro teams.
The Bruins will likely also regress a bit since Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Chara, Rask and Halak are all on the wrong side of 30
The Bruins will likely also regress a bit since Bergeron, Marchand, Krejci, Chara, Rask and Halak are all on the wrong side of 30
damn just opened an ACGM for the B's 20-21 season....they have 20 players signed and have 15 under the cap....their cap management makes all the other team's look like they're run by beer league managers.
Worse if Rask retires than they have 22 million to spend on depth forward and couple D and a starting goalie.
damn just opened an ACGM for the B's 20-21 season....they have 20 players signed and have 15 under the cap....their cap management makes all the other team's look like they're run by beer league managers.
Yeah, im not sure how they convinced everyone on their team to take significant paycuts. But Fathertime is undefeated
Chara is on the wrong side of 40 and still plays 20+ mins a night... Whenever he retires people will be saying he still had another year left in him.
He has played a ton of minutes but hasnt been very good. Ive seen many bruins fans saying that hes had a great career and all, but they dont want him back.
He has played a ton of minutes but hasnt been very good. Ive seen many bruins fans saying that hes had a great career and all, but they dont want him back.
He wasn't been good by his standards, but he still isn't to the "why are you here" point yet.
csick a aimé ceci.
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