Honestly even though they winning 3-1 man net front defense be an issue with this team. Luke Schenn helped fix it but now that hes gone its been noticeable these 2 games

McCabe was supposed to be the answer but idk seems be struggling with it. Still early but something to keep an eye on

Anyways Matthews looks dialed in lul

5 goals in 2 games nice

Also I think yea that theme we heard was the O6 theme thanks god

As this is better

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-K5qd-s0hU

Net front defense is just non existent for us isnt it. Or you can just argue our defense isnt the best rn

Also need your first NHL goal play the Leafs just why is that a thing lul


I swear if we blow a 4-1 lead like the Marlies did

Dont think I have seen B2B Hat tricks since Early Ovie

https://twitter.com/Steve_Dangle/status/1713338614153671063

Hes not wrong. Despite our offense looking great defensively man we are just bad.

Zone exits, board battles and net front defense especially need work

Now its still early but scoring your problems away might not be the best method for success.

Noel Acciari would like a word

Samsonov, Liljegren, and Brodie need to be way better

I think everyone especially all members of the Dcore

Besides McCabe (who has not been great at it) nobody seems to want to defend the front of the net. Defensive zone coverage has been awful and while Sammy hasnt been shark still needs help with the rebounds and stuff. Cant be giving those quality shots

As I said still early but man they might need to go shopping

Expect things to stabilize by November as thats usually what happens

https://twitter.com/thegoldenmuzzy/status/1713357562756657266?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

Makes sense honestly I like the new one much better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0UaZLNuVU8

Has hype
Is catchy
And just feels nice

Reaves has definitely surprised me with his on-ice play so far!

Hes been exactly what I thought he was gonna be

Keefe has been deploying him properly and its been working

Now if we can just sharpen our defense lul

Just once I would love TOR to have a capable 4th line.


Just hope Matthews continues to go God mode every night.

Meh its a 4th line who cares. Lots of teams 4th lines have stats like this. In general rely to much on stats and we end up like Baseball teams and we all know where thats gotten the blue jays.

Now if this was top line like TBL is going through would have concerns.

Defence be more of a priority but then again its Oct Leafs are always like this

Should straighten up by November as it always seems to happen

Gonna wait till Nov before saying saying they for sure need X-Player

But yea I do think if we see more games like this

1. We will see Woll potentially get more games

2. Brad will start hunting for a Dman or two.

https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2023/01/03133320/Screenshot-2023-04-03-at-1.14.21-PM.png

Would be a good FA option

Trade options

Bogosian (cleared waivers so interesting choice), but yea not much else

In 27 min TOI at 5v5 last year ZAR - Kampf - NAK we’re rocking a: CF%28, GF 0 GA 2, XGF%19, HDCF 2 HDCA 12

Currently in 14 min TOI at 5v5 Gregor - Kampf - Reaves are sporting a: CF%33, GF 0 GA 2, XGF%17, HDCF 1 HDCA 7

Awesome!

As I said keep relying to much on stats we become a baseball team and we saw where that got the jays

In general lot of teams 4th lines have not looked great stats wise as with a lot of top Dpairings but per eye test are fine.

Hedman and Perbix are per stats the worst pairing rn with XGA of 3.47

Its early lot of teams still figuring things out and October Leafs are always like this. More they play the more things will straighten out

As honestly come Nov probs will see the team who twice almost went undefeated and who put up stellar offense and defense

Those guys definitely need to be better but generally we kind of knew this team was going to be worse defensively when you lose Kerfoot and Accari who both are dependable defensive players in favor of more offensive players like Domi for example. In game one of the season I watched him get his pocket picked in the D-zone which eventually led to the puck in the net.

Just 2 games but definitely need to improve on the defensive side.

McCabe has never been good at net front stuff or defence in general. He's not all that good

I wouldn’t mind me some Nikita Zadorov at some point this season

I feel adding a guy like that's not the answer alone

First I feel they need to look for a net front defenseman someone who will clear the front of yhe net. Gudas would have worked but yea that contract would have sucked

Also the guy seems to get beat a lot in front of his net.

I dont know where you keep getting hes not good considering hes put up good numbers on 2 non contenders (Buffalo and Chicago)

Hes a good top 4 Dman who has brought net-front toughness to Buffalo and Chicago lul. Now is he the full time solution no but he has been a guy you can rely on in net front battles when he gets help




The reason he hasnt looked great is 1. Its oct and Leafs Dman never look great in Oct 2. The pairing of him and Klingberg is not compatible. Still early but the sense rn is those 2 dont mesh.

I'd love him. Absolute monster who actually puts up good results and can move the puck pretty decently too. The only thing for me is for a guy his size who throws bone-crushing hits, he can tend to be a bit soft in front of his own net and that's an area we really need to improve on.

Yea thats the one headache rn

Like whose available whose can help improve the net front defense. There was an attempt at Desharnais but Edmonton said no and idk if he was the full time solution. We know they reached out to Gudas but I would not have been a fan of that contract.

But yea from those 2 attempts it seems clear Brad's looking for someone. FLA got a **** tonne of Dman especially once Ekblad and Montour came over. Got a feeling they would try and move one of Kulikov or Reilly but they dont seem like the solution either.

While I have mentioned Bear to be a FA option hes not a net front defender so eliminate that and idk if theres a trade out there rn. Might need to wait and see

It's so telling when you use numbers like these to support your argument but then also say stats aren't everything. Just watch McCabe. He's never in the right position in our own zone. He's got the worse plus minus on the team through 2 games and if you watch the replay on the goals he was on the ice for, he's just not covering his man. He gets lost often, takes weird routes to guys and is in fact not at all good at clearing the net. He gets his chances in the ozone but fires the puck at the goalies chest or misses the net entirely. I didn't like the trade and definitely don't like it now. Despite what most think, the right side isn't TO's weakness, it's the left side. Rielly is great. McCabe is not a top 4 defenceman on a contender and Gio just isn't good enough anymore. Moving Brodie to the left side of Klingberg, and shifting McCabe and Gio down and out would make the team better.

Klingberg definitely isn't as terrible as many said he'd be and will get better the longer he plays under Keefe. A net positive for sure, anything he gives up defensively he makes up for offensively.

The reason hes out of position is hes covering for 2 Dman lul. Klingberg's not good at defense leaving McCabe to do all the work. When he and Brodie were together along with Liligren they looked great together. We saw this years ago with Muzzin-Barrie. Muzzin's numbers dipped and he was often out of position covering for Barrie. Also needs to work on his Odd bad-timed pinches but those should be gone by Nov. As in the end hes a very underrated good defenseman

Pushing Klingberg down to be with Giordano and either moving Liligren up or Brodie down should help

And yes the right side is Toronto's weakness idk what else to tell you

Brodie looks like his playoff self (bad)

Liligren looks like he did after the TDL (bad)

And while Klingberg has done what we needed offensively he is not good defensively and if our 2 guys above who are supposed to be good defensively are struggling this makes things bad.

McCabe, Rielly, and Giordano at least have looked good but not great. Each with their own flaws. Gio especially has had good moments in front of his net and on the PK blocking shots and doing his thing. Only problem is playing the puck with Liligren. Going and getting another LD would be a mistake for this team as the weakness is the right side. A RD who is a good net front defender is a must. Someone who either can push Brodie to third pair LD or who will push Liligren into playing better to keep his spot