oldnews Posted August 24, 2013 Share Posted August 24, 2013 Boston, Detroit, NYR, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Montreal, Washington Philadelphia, NYI, Columbus Florida Toronto Tampa Buffalo Carolina I think the top 7 teams are clearly better than Toronto, and of the next tier, I don't give them much of a chance of topping that list. Toronto was actually a pretty poor puck possession team last year, their blueline is less than convincing, they played over their heads in a shortened season, but imo, they took a step backwards this summer, and still have some maneouvering to do having put themselves in a poor cap position. Grabovski, Macarthur, Komorov, and Frattin, imo made them a better team than Clarkson and Bolland will. My prediction is 10th, perhaps even as low as 12th, in the Eastern Conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THERETOOL Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 sadly ... I think they are built to be a better playoff team than the one that the canucks have been lately ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpt Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 All depends, looks challenging for them to sign Franson and Kadri, so with both of them, yes, without them no Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I just don't see it, I think think they'll end the season as 10th in the East. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amish Rake Fighter Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 I thought Franson was their best Dman toward the end of the year, especially in the playoffs. The Leafs got some good minutes from some unlikely sources last year, specifically Kadri and Franson, and now they're screwed because of it. The real fun starts at the end of next season though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 No. If they don't sign Kadri then for sure they won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CanuckBoss Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 not gonna lie burke eventually made a pretty solid team Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henrik Kesler Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 No. They lost MacArthur and Grabo who were their two best possession players on a poor possession team. Kadri had good point production, but his possession numbers were still piss poor, so he certainly won't be driving offense unless he has another step forward in development. Lupul has also put up good point production, but he always misses some time with injuries. To replace the losses of MacArthur and Grabo, the Leafs: Signed Clarkson who is a downgrade in terms of production from MacArthur. Added Bolland, who is a good hockey player, but he is also a downgrade on Grabo. TL;DR: They lost skill and added grit. Last time I checked, you had to out score your opponent to win, not out "tough" them, so no Toronto will NOT be making the playoffs this year, especially given the teams in their division. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angry Goose Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 As long as everyone plays up to their potential I think they have a solid chance. Goaltending looks good. D looks reliable. And the forward group is improved, but everyone on that team has to play well for them to succeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogbyte Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I very highly doubt it. Last year they were an anomoly in a shortened season. Bring in a bunch of changes, a real goalie controversey, no Kadri or Franson yet, and a division that has added the Red Wings to the list not to mention a Florida team that could be vastly improved. I doubt that the Leafs would have sustained that pace all last year if it was a real season and I don't think the upgrades they made were that tremendous. Lost out on Grabs, who was a great role player along with MaCarthur. I have my doubts that Clarkson will excel although Bolland should be decent. However, playing in Chicago is a heck of a lot easier than playing in TO. They will also be playing against the West again and that should be good for about 20-25 losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmen81 Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I think they either make it or they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SamJamIam Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Same as what a lot of people are saying. No because MacArthur and Grabovski are damn good. Letting them go (and likely either Franson or someone else to make room for him and Kadri) is a serious downgrade. Clarkson and Bolland won't make up for that and Bernier seems to be getting more credit than he deserves. A lot of GMs seem to be confusing potential with experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvoLu7ioN Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 No. The leafs as a team had by far the highest goal per shot/shooting % last year, much higher than every other team. That's impossible to maintain over the span of a season. Plus their division is filled with young teams who will improve at a faster pace than TO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldnews Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 One thing worth adding imo... there were a lot of murmurs out of Laffsland about the need to add a top four defenseman... Well, what became of that lol? Not only did they fail to upgrade their blueline, they actually failed to even sustain what they did have, and are poised to lose Franson. Herpaderp. Phaneuf Liles Gunnarsson Fraser Gardiner Ranger Holzer. Best of luck with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I love to crap on the Leafs. It's easy and it's fun. But I'm Natalie Imbruglia on this. On one hand, the Leafs got better better adding Clarkson and Bolland, while also getting some insurance with Bernier. One the other hand, they don't have enough cap space to re-sign both Franson and Kadri. Now smart money says that they need to re-sign Kadri, especially with the chance of losing Kessel to free agency next year. However, they are also looking thin on the blueline and need Franson on the backend. Nonis focused on adding forwards in the offseason, but that focus on offense and grit may come back to bite them with the lack of depth on defense and the question marks they have with both Reimer and Bernier in goal. The last thing to remember is that this is a contract year for both Kessel and Phaneuf, and they will want to get paid. I think the Leafs success hinges greatly on the play of those two guys as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Batmania Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 I love to crap on the Leafs. It's easy and it's fun. But I'm Natalie Imbruglia on this. On one hand, the Leafs got better better adding Clarkson and Bolland, while also getting some insurance with Bernier. One the other hand, they don't have enough cap space to re-sign both Franson and Kadri. Now smart money says that they need to re-sign Kadri, especially with the chance of losing Kessel to free agency next year. However, they are also looking thin on the blueline and need Franson on the backend. Nonis focused on adding forwards in the offseason, but that focus on offense and grit may come back to bite them with the lack of depth on defense and the question marks they have with both Reimer and Bernier in goal. The last thing to remember is that this is a contract year for both Kessel and Phaneuf, and they will want to get paid. I think the Leafs success hinges greatly on the play of those two guys as well. Holy christ congrats on the "torn" reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morrissex95 Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Replaced McCarther with Clarkson(Clarkson has never scored more than 46 Points. Not a good move) and Grabovski with Bolland(Bolland had the worst CORSI on the Hawks last season). With Kadri, they've got some of the best worst center depth in the league (Kadri(one dimensional), Bozak(not skilled enough to be first line centre. Brendan Morrison v2, Bolland--terrible attitude. terribly overrated). A very big, physical bunch of power forwards up front. (Sure, they're very good on the wings) However their defence is thin(I agree), especially without Franson signed. O'Byrne is still a UFA and they probably don't have money to sign him along with Franson and Kadri so expect to see Reilly come in(Ya, maybe) Their goalies could go either way. A young tandem, could have great success like they did last season or bomb out, Bernier is not starting material just yet. They should finish around 5th in the conference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John.Tallhouse Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 Nah... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyfan87 Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 I decided to bump this post that I made late in the summer. The Leafs currently are 7th in the East with a 3-5-2 record in their last ten games played. I would be interested to hear what people think about their chances now given what we've seen from them so far. I still believe there is a strong possibility they miss the playoffs, I don't think they are as bad as they have been lately, but there are several teams behind them that will make strong pushes to supplant them. Their shots against seem to be clear indication that their defensive play is very poor, which is surprising for a Randy Carlyle team. Clarkson, as many people predicted, has turned out to be a terrible signing so far. Kadri has regressed which should have been expected. They still lack a number one center that can really maximize JVR and Kessel I feel. If the rumoured Phaneuf deal comes to fruition I think it's a big mistake. I wouldn't want to be the general manager of a team that has big money tied up long term in both Phaneuf and Clarkson but it seems like they have backed themselves into a position of not having much of a choice. The biggest disappointment in the East seems to be Ottawa. I don't really know what's going on there, growing pains of a very young team. Ryan and Karlsson have played well, Spezza has been a little underwhelming, but I expect them to have a strong second half which could be disaster for the Leafs. What are you guys thinking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
people please Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 I believe Cory Schnieder ( not that big of a fan of his) will lead the Devils to the playoffs, and the leafs will miss out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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