I’m not sure how much confidence I have in this team to go deep. That bottom 6 is shaky. Mikheyev is good, but I don’t think Robertson is ready. I think he should have 1/2-1 year in the AHL.

imo, I'm hoping for:

1. freddy bounceback
2. thornton can still play
3. dermott takes the next step

the rest, well, whatever. robertson can develop another year, simmonds is only gonna be a 4th liner anyways, barabanov who cares we have like 80 other forwards, holl/lehtonen idc we have depth.

i still think all of these are plausible scenarios though, but those main 3 are most important for us imo

I agree. Top 3 for me would be similar.

1. Freddie bounce back now that he has a better backup
2. Tie: Thornton being a 3rd liner and/or Robertson being a 3rd liner.
3. One of Dermott, Holl, or Lehtonen being able to play 2nd pair well.

And I don't think that's outrageous

I'm not that optimistic that Robertson is NHL ready.
As indicated the Leafs are hoping the aging Simmons, Thornton and Spezza have enough gas for one more season.
Gee, I think the Leafs Dmen look average to good...which is better than most fellows CapFriendly think. Reilly, Muzzin, Brodie and Holl are competent NHLers. So is Dermot. That's five. Then Bogosian, Lehoten, Sandin, Marincin, Liljegren. More good depth than a long time.
Keefe and his staff should be more NHL ready this season.

Make the playoffs and then "hope". No reason to think the Leafs aren't as good as any Canadian division team.

Only 2 really matter Freddie and our D.

We have so many 3rd/4th line options and with the expanded rosters we will have them all with the team. They will pan out well .

How is it shaky? with all the options they have the bottom 6 is solid

Gonna throw one more out there. Liljegren makes the jump at some point this season and makes us all look stupid for not putting him in at atleast 3RD to start the season

Idk why the bottom 6 is controversial tbh, even if the 3 old guys are literally so bad that they cannot play hockey, the leafs can still ice a pretty competent bottom 6


simmonds is 32, hasn't played a hockey game in 10 months, he's had a long offseason to rest, get healthy. He says he's healthier than he's felt since 2017-18. Combine that with the outstanding medical/sports science staff the leafs have and I think he could be fantastic for us, especially in a bottom 6 role, with the odd game off (if he needs it)

thornton just had 11p in 12gp playing in davos, ik it's not comparable to the NHL, but clearly the guy is at the very least a decent hockey player still. He's a big dude, strong, a leader, a wicked passer, and has a long reach. He's effectively a freddy gauthier upgrade in our absolute WORST case scenario, which I view as a huge win

spezza, in an interview, has said that he's spent the last few months working with the leafs to basically rejuvinate his physicality, he says he's starting sprinting again, how he feels better than ever - he's still a year younger than marleau was when we gave him that 3 year deal. worst case, he's a 4th liner, and a solid one at that who has a good shot and makes some smart veteran passes. and the guy wants to win so bad, he's the exact kind of heart and soul player this team needs, he was great for us in the playoffs, in a leadership role, lots of hits, a fight etc. just a great guy to have around, and by all accounts he can still play

bUt He'S a BuSt

he literally has 2 years left on his ELC, a calder cup ring and finished last season with .75 points per game as a RHD in the minors and he's no longer known as an OFD. I'll never understand the hate for this guy

it's amazing because you can have leaf fans salivating over this mysterious RD who:

is 21 years old, 6'0" 192lbs
overcame mono in his draft year and jumped straight to the AHL as a teenager (and won a championship that year)
already made his NHL debut, with the club wanting him up a year earlier at age 19 (derailed by injury)
prides himself on his 2 way game & skating ability
plays the powerplay and penalty kill
is on an ELC for two more years
was 11th in the minors in points per game by dmen at age 20 on a bottom-of-the-division team

then you say it's timothy liljegren and the hype deflates and he's a bust because he wasn't erik karlsson from age 18

people forget that muzzin, brodie, and dermott all didn't make their NHL debut until age 21-22. Liljegren made his at 20 and might crack the roster at age 21, or at the very worst age 22. he still has a pathway to being a viable top 4 guy - definitely not a superstar, but he will be in the leafs top 4 one day imo

Shouldn't matter what the bottom 6 looks like. When Matthews, Marner, Tavares and Nylander combined for 3 5v5 points in the play-in and couldn't get anything going during an elimination game with Marner, Tavares and Matthews on the same line, no realistic person should have confidence that this team can go deep.

I really hope this is true. It's a shame how quick we write off developing Dmen.

Too 6 doesn’t matter come playoff time.

- 2020 Tampa Bay Lightning: Palat, Gourde, Coleman, Goodrow, Bogosian,
- 2019 Blues: Bozak, Thomas, Maroon, Sundqvist,
- 2018 Caps: Elle, Wilson, Connolly, DSP,

I’m not saying the leafs’ are screwed come playoff time, but if you don’t have depth m, your not making it past the first round. All I said in my original comment was I’m not sure if Thornton and Simmonds are the answer for the bottom 6.

He's somehow become the throw in guy for 50% of Leafs ACGMs and often in the same damn ACGM they're bringing an older RHD with less pedigree and NHL experience. It's something I'll never understand

I got more faith in him eventually being a top 4 guy then him not making it at all. Nothing is ever guaranteed but the only D the Leafs have drafted that I have had as much confidence in were Rielly and Sandin (I watched a lot of Greyhound games that year)

Top-6 totally matters at playoff time. Palat and Wilson were on the top line, Sundqvist was on the second line. Bottom 6s have holes in them. The Leafs' bottom 6 is not perfect, but still completely fine. The Leafs' will go as far as their top players take them, which based on past experience is not far.

idk, tampa won because point, kuch and hedman were all conn smythe candidates lmao

hedman worked his way up to 3rd in goals by a defenceman in the playoffs all time, behind leech and coffey

I would argue the bottom 6's importance isn't so much scoring (on a loaded team like tampa or the leafs who have high end star power) as it's about defence, grinding and physicality.

The leafs are gonna win if the top guys perform, but the bottom guys also gotta play a role, and it doesn't necessarily have to be scoring. We paid kappy/kerfoot/johnsson to score and they didn't - and they weren't really that good at anything else (except kerfoot was decent on the PK). Simmonds/thornton don't have to score to make an impact on the game

All reasonable IMO.

If we get these three things, we will be a better team than last year. I'd be more than happy if that were the outcome.

If 0 of those things happen the team is ridiculous.. The most underachieving team in history. 4 top 50 Fwds plus hyman, mikeyev, robertson. solid top 3 D and up and coming to fill the other spots. Top end G. Fighting for a playoff spot shouldn't ever be a discussion, let alone missing playoffs.. They had one of if not the best coach in recent history as well. Can't believe Toronto hasn't had riots like Vancouver when they lose cups..

Because when Toronto ****s up, it's par for the course.

They've also not been a cup final in like 3 generations.

Lijegren will probably get some games if Bogo and Holl aren't doing well.

I'd say 1, 6, and 8 are most likely.

I feel the bottom six needs to do three major things come playoff time: 1.able to to consistently have cycle shifts that comfortably allow your top six to get proper rest, which leads to: 2.score a timely goal, 3.not allow an untimely goal. Number 1 is especially important if they can have a cycle shift against the other teams top d pair to allow for matchup issues the following shift.