Toronto is already set for goaltending. Woll - Sammy is going to be good. The thing we lack is depth as of heading into this season. Rielly was a stud in the playoffs, thats are number one. McCabe was good, Brodie was meh, gio was okay, lily didn’t play that much so I can’t say much.
Are defence as of right now has more puck moving but worse defensively.
I think leafs are set just need a better fourth line and better bottom pair for defence

Toronto has their 1D already thank you very much... Rielly is so underrated... Especially in the playoffs

As for goaltending, I'll agree with you only until Sammy has another good season this year, then I might disagree but until then, you can argue for it...

The Canucks' biggest issue IMO is their guys minus Petey, Kuzmenko, Hughes and Demko, That lineup compared to the Leafs or Vegas for example is very weak, leading to if there's an injury to those 4 guys, the Canucks are screwed whereas if Petro gets hurt for Vegas or Matthews gets hurt for the Leafs (like he was basically all of last year), Toronto and Vegas move on and can afford it during the RS

An example with Toronto is when their entire defensive core was decimated for a month and the Leafs went on a winning streak (They didn't have Rielly, Lilly, Brodie, Sandin and Jordie Benn whom was their 3rd defensemen during that few games stretch got hurt... They had pairings of:
Gio - Holl
Mete - Hollowell
Kral - random AHL guy)

And they were still able to succeed

McCabe was not good. He just hits. He should be the 3LD with either Brodie as the #2 LD or we find someone else and Brodie stays with Rielly on the top pair. In any case, TO is without a doubt a top team in the regular season once again but they will need to make a couple additions to the blueline this season for the playoffs.

This post is small man syndrome.

I think that if the biggest issues that you see are the 4rth line and 3rd pairings heading into the season and it's not a complete disaster, you've got a pretty good team

Funny how this post was written about the Canucks team.It turned into another Leafs post.lol

Anaheim doesn’t have a roster spot for Myers anymore

Toronto already has a #1 D and it's Rielly. He was a beauty and a warrior for the last two playoffs and could argue he should be the captain of the Leafs

As for goaltending, we have Samsonov and Woll showed huge upside in the playoffs

I talked about the Canucks and the Leafs bc he said the leafs didn't have a 1D or a 1G which at least one of those isn't true but here's what I said about the Canucks:


And I used Toronto as an example to show what happens if x doesn't go according to plan

I pretty sure Colorado has their starter in Georgiev. Tampa has point for a number 1 center, Hedman and Sergachev are both capable for a number one D, and Vasilevskiy is one of the best goalies in the league.

tampa had a top center in Point both times plus they had Kucherov and a crap ton of cheap depth.

Also Demko is not very good. could he bounce back? Yea. Hell id bet he will, but will he become a top 6 goalie? Nah. Saros, Shesterkin, Sorokin, Hellebucyk, Vasi, Oettinger are all easily better, plus Samsonov and Gustavsson are looking to enter the top tier as well. Is he a starting goalie? Obviously but not a top one imo. very middle of the pack

You look at this roster and there are many holes. Middle 6 needs a few more guys who can be gritty, physical, good defensively and score goals. None of those guys really have that besides JT

And the defense sucks. Hronek and Hughes are good but besides that... sheesh. I love Soucy but as a 3LD.

But this team does have potential. Lekkermaki and Willander will both really help a lot. Imo if you offload the Beauvillier, Mikeheyv, Myers, pearson, and Garland deals (or let them expire), develop for a few years then go all in youll really have a good shot at a cup

I feel I should clarify something.

This post was not intended to say the Canucks are better than any of those teams.

It's just telling you the logic behind how the Canucks are building their team this year. I'm fully aware that those teams all have multiple stars and are better all round teams.

What most fans don't understand is that the playoffs are largely down to luck. In the NHL even the 1st place team only has a ~60% chance of beating the worst team on any given night.

Since many Leafs fans are here, I'd ask you this. How many times have you been "goalied" or run into a hot player in the playoffs. Now how many times have you done the same to another team?

Having a deep team is great if 4 times in a row the favourite wins. Even if you are a 60% favourite in every playoff round you only have a 12% chance of winning 4 in a row.

My point here is the Canucks logic isn't flawed. Management isn't saying that the Canucks can best the Leafs. They are saying that in a series against the Leafs (for example). Pettersson, Hughes or Demko could single handedly win the series for the Canucks (two of them have already proved that). On the Leafs it's Matthews? (He's also had 8 chances and never done it).

When we talk about #1s it's McDavid, Karlsson (2017), Bob, Mackinnon, Makar, Hedman, Stamkos, these guys can win a round on their own and carry their team.

Maybe Samsonov or Woll can do it but neither give anyone much reason to believe they can. Rielly can't do it. He played tremendous last year and that quality of play was equivalent to Karlsson/Makar/Fox in the regular season. Not the Karlsson or Makar performances we've seen in the playoffs.

So that's some clarification. The Canucks just believe if they make the playoffs they can steal rounds because generally only a #1C, #1D, #1G can do that and they have all three, most teams don't.

IMO, Rielly is a good enough #1 D for Toronto. He lacks a great partner though, Luke Schenn was that, but he left. Oilers might not yet have a true #1 D-man, but I think Ekholm, Bouchard and Nurse are good enough to get the job done(all solid #2 guys, so it averages out). Tampa Bay has 2 #1 D-men: Hedman and Sergachev. While I do think that the Nucks have the right pieces to make the playoffs, they are missing a good partner for Hughes(had it with Schenn, but dealt him) and a solid backup goalie.

VAN have no reason to move Joshua, they like the grit/toughness he brings.

I understand the logic from the Canucks, but if you want my thoughts, check out my last post on this thread... But here's the rebuttal on the Leafs:

Rielly's always been a playoff performer, that's his shtick... He needs a Pesce type player on the backend to help him which I believe Treliving will find... He was also playing hurt for a majority of this past season (Until his hip injury he had 16 assists in 20 games, roughly a 65 assist pace). He's a number 1, no doubt about it... He's also fantastic 5v5, especially in the playoffs

As for Samsonov, you're right until he proves you wrong this season, Sammy had 1 top 7 goaltending season and he's been mid besides that, he also played up to par in the playoffs until G3, when he got hurt (I fully believe Leafs if Sammy doesn't get hurt, as great as Woll was, the Leafs win G3 and G5 and go back to Florida with a 3-2 lead)... But you're right about luck and running into a hot goaltender.

You've also got to include Matthews after the RD1 he had vs Tampa, he was the best player in RD 1 at that time bc of the defence and the threat he constantly posed offensively... And he just got very unlucky in RD 2 (led the league in shots and attempts in RD 2)

I think if you get rid of the 1D claim that the Leafs don't have, I don't find any problems with it