rekker Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Toronto is an interesting study. Are they as good as the media makes them out to be? Are the players as good as the media makes them out to be? Marner is overrated. Gardiner is overrated and cant play D. Interesting that Mathews sits somewhere around 140th in the league in PP time for forwards. Then there is the bald god Lamarillo. I remember rumour was when they signed Kovulchuk to the big contract back in Jersey Lamarillo wanted nothing to do with it. Will he give Mathews the big contract? Is he holding back Mathews PP time to hold his stats back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mephnick Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 6 minutes ago, rekker said: Toronto is an interesting study. Are they as good as the media makes them out to be? They're pretty solid, but not good enough to win yet...maybe. I'd say their greatest boon going forward is that the colossi of the Eastern Conference (Pit, Wash) are set for a decline going forward, or have already declined, leaving the conference wide open. These are the years that a team can slip through and win a Cup with beneficial match-ups. Avoid Tampa on your way to the Cup Final and you have a shot. I could see any team in contention in the East making the final this year and winning over whoever limps out of the West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReggieBush Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 13 minutes ago, rekker said: Toronto is an interesting study. Are they as good as the media makes them out to be? Are the players as good as the media makes them out to be? Marner is overrated. Gardiner is overrated and cant play D. Interesting that Mathews sits somewhere around 140th in the league in PP time for forwards. Then there is the bald god Lamarillo. I remember rumour was when they signed Kovulchuk to the big contract back in Jersey Lamarillo wanted nothing to do with it. Will he give Mathews the big contract? Is he holding back Mathews PP time to hold his stats back? Babcock is pretty strong headed. Lou is not in his ear about anything, and if he his, Mike has tuned him out. The problem is the defense. Its bad. The only top 4 guy they have is Reilly and he is a borderline #2 defenseman. And no Liljigren is not the answer. They need a guy that can play the tough minutes. That is why we are so fortunate in Vancouver having Chris Tanev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
250Integra Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 In comparison to the Oilers, they're doing a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucker 67 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 As much as I dislike the Leafs, they'll be fine. Lamoriello as a GM and Babcock as a coach. Young players to build around: Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Brown, Gardiner, Rielly, Liljegren etc. The GM doesn't decide on who gets what ice time. Why would the Leafs want Matthews to stop scoring? Geez. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift-4 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 to hell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekker Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 3 minutes ago, ReggieBush said: Babcock is pretty strong headed. Lou is not in his ear about anything, and if he his, Mike has tuned him out. The problem is the defense. Its bad. The only top 4 guy they have is Reilly and he is a borderline #2 defenseman. And no Liljigren is not the answer. They need a guy that can play the tough minutes. That is why we are so fortunate in Vancouver having Chris Tanev I agree on Tanev. He has such a calming effect on the D. Looks good on TO for not stepping up last draft and making a big pitch for Tanev. Maybe they did. I doubt it though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Appears an unbalanced roster with too much cap % allotted to the fwd core..soon to be even more uneven(expiring expensive fwd ELC's). For this reason, don't understand the Marleau signing. Expect they'll try to swap some of that fwd depth, for a more competent blueline. League wants them to succeed(market's a cash-cow), so not surprised if they get any deficiency filled via trade. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucker 67 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Benning: We need to cut Boeser's ice time. He's too good and the more he scores, the more money and term he'll want later. Green: Do your own job, I'm trying to win games here Linden: Jim, you're fired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekker Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 4 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said: As much as I dislike the Leafs, they'll be fine. Lamoriello as a GM and Babcock as a coach. Young players to build around: Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Brown, Gardiner, Rielly, Liljegren etc. The GM doesn't decide on who gets what ice time. Why would the Leafs want Matthews to stop scoring? Geez. If Mathews doesn't put up big numbers his extension is a lot less. Babcock has been getting more and more edgy with the press. I don't think all is as rosy as appear there. Babcock is somewhat overrated as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekker Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 2 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said: Benning: We need to cut Boeser's ice time. He's too good and the more he scores, the more money and term he'll want later. Green: Do your own job, I'm trying to win games here I wouldn't put it past Lamarillo to try and steer Babcock on that direction to keep Mathews ice time down. Lamarillo is a slime ball. He has trap doored player after player. I don't think to much is beneath him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kloubek Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Toronto has a ridiculous riches of forward talent. I do think that the talent likely needs another year or so of seasoning and they need to improve their D before they make a true run. I am not a fan of Toronto and absolutely despise the attention they get from our media, but they are a good team and I'd like to see the cup come back to Canada. Hopefully they don't encounter the same situation as Edmonton where they have all the talent but somehow it just doesn't come together. At least they can say they've built the team the usual way, as opposed to Edmonton who had every draft handed to them and still managed to screw it up somehow. As far as Matthews is concerned - he will be just fine. The guy is a superstar and they are just sheltering him early in his career. I don't actually mind doing that - ensure his confidence doesn't get shattered and let him grow with the club; he has his whole career ahead of him to lead the charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Blight Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Toronto knows they are going to either finish 2nd or 3rd in their division and they will play Boston in the 1st round. There is not a lot to play for so Babcock is going to focus on their defensive play to ready them for the playoffs......no more run and gun hockey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nucker 67 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Everyone in the organization wants to win. That's the nature of sports. There is a big difference between a primadonna Russian and an American superstar. Matthews will get term and salary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GB5 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Wherever they go, I don't really care. I just do not want this team to win because we will never hear the end of it from the Toronto Sports Networks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinny in Vancouver Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I haven't seen a lot of their games, but if I were to base it on when the Canucks played them last time, then on the plus side: they generate some good chances with their forward speed and skill they have a good goaltender On the minus side: they gave up quite a bit of good chances they need to clamp down on D their effort was up and down throughout the game they're not heavy to play against - something that may hurt in the playoffs In all honesty, I was expecting a lot more maturity from their young guys or better leadership from their vets, but I guess it takes time. Imho, that game showed me exactly why Matthews still doesn't have the 'C'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EternalCanuckFan Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 The Leafs are a solid young team missing a few key pieces, namely on D. Liljegren could be a solid D for them though I'm not sure if he will be a #1 guy which is something they need. Rielly is a solid young D so a top pairing of Rielly and Liljegren may be a legit top pairing of very mobile D if Liljegren develops well. Gudbranson may be a good add for them for depth as it looks like he could be an OK top 6 Dman (though not top 4). Andersen's a solid #1 goalie having cut his teeth with the Ducks. They have reasonable depth at forward as well so there's quite a bit for Leafs fans to look forward to, as much as it pains a Canucks fan to admit it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekker Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 10 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said: Everyone in the organization wants to win. That's the nature of sports. There is a big difference between a primadonna Russian and an American superstar. Matthews will get term and salary. The cheaper Mathews contract. The more they can spend on other players. The more talent may increase their chance of winning. I expect to hear something about Mathews agent wondering why his client see so little PP time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekker Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 13 minutes ago, GarthButcher5 said: Wherever they go, I don't really care. I just do not want this team to win because we will never hear the end of it from the Toronto Sports Networks Oh man. TSN. Stories on how Marleu takes the kids to the movies. Anytime Babcock says anything it's front page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rekker Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 40 minutes ago, Nuxfanabroad said: Appears an unbalanced roster with too much cap % allotted to the fwd core..soon to be even more uneven(expiring expensive fwd ELC's). For this reason, don't understand the Marleau signing. Expect they'll try to swap some of that fwd depth, for a more competent blueline. League wants them to succeed(market's a cash-cow), so not surprised if they get any deficiency filled via trade. But I thought their rebuild was done when they traded a second for Boyle, Signed old men in Marleu and Hainsey. Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.