Ya, it's insane they didn't LTIR him going into playoffs.
2025 Offseason Thread: Spring Cleaning
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
I know an absolute manic who grew up a Leafs fan and is a free agent this summer.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
dappleganger
Well-known member
It's kinda like that situation where you catch the computer hacker, but instead of sending him to jail you hire him to help prevent future computer hacks.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
Taking out Stolarz shows just how much he really really really really wants to be a Leaf.
dappleganger
Well-known member
He was basically saying, "There's only on way to stop me!"
Woah, woah, woah I was referring to Marchand. I want nothing to do with Bennett.
L K
Well-known member
We might be veering into paying Patrick Marleau territory to get Marchand to come to Toronto but I'd sooner do that on a 1-3 year deal than sign Bennett to a 6-7 year deal only for the officials to magically view head shots to be bad all of a sudden.
Agreed entirely that they need a loud leader in the locker room to offset a more Sundin kind of external personality. You can't have that guy be Ryan "I shouldn't have received a 3 year deal" Reaves who shouldn't be in the lineup. It needs to be from a guy who either plays in your top 6 consistently or at least is a guy who plays top 6 minutes in important games.
I'm not sure that I love the secrecy behind Matthews' injuries but I guess it doesn't change anything. It does seem like sitting him for the stretch run even if it cost the Leafs a division would have been the better approach. It's hard to argue that he wasn't hurt when he went from a guy setting scoring records for the era to a guy who struggled to hit 30. Hopefully it really is a thing where he comes into camp healthy because a healthy Matthews putting up 100 points and another 20+ goals does help to mitigate the loss of Marner.
If Tavares is coming back I think it would really set a tone if he signs for a real team friendly deal to set a standard for everyone else. I think they also have to be a bit hardline on Knies. He's a great player. I think it would be awesome to sign him to a long-term deal but I think this might be a scenario where a bridge deal is the better answer. Keep the AAV a bit lower and allow the team to really focus on building out the depth of the 2nd/3rd lines.
You can accept a 4th line of Holmberg/Lorentz/Generic Grunt guys who also don't score if you top 9 are all lines who will. The Leafs had too many games where there was only one line scoring.
I'm not agains the idea of Knies-Matthews-Nylander but I think there is a fair argument that we don't have anyone who justifies being on L2 right now if you don't have Matthews and Nylander split up. McMann is a massive wildcard right now. Older guy who has a bit of success and a lot of empty games. I wouldn't be banking on him being a 20 goal guy next year. Domi is such a wildcard. We saw great efforts at times and other games he is basically unplayable between his bad penalties, non-existent defence and passing up excellent shooting opportunities into turnovers. Robertson has to be gone at this point. He got the new coach. I think overall played well and still got benched for guys who went on to do absolutely nothing with their minutes and for a guy who can put the puck in the net he watched from the press box as we couldn't score when it mattered.
I think there are a lot of teams with big cap dollars right now and the free agent market isn't amazing. We are really going to have to sell players on why they should come to Toronto and that's going to be tough.
Agreed entirely that they need a loud leader in the locker room to offset a more Sundin kind of external personality. You can't have that guy be Ryan "I shouldn't have received a 3 year deal" Reaves who shouldn't be in the lineup. It needs to be from a guy who either plays in your top 6 consistently or at least is a guy who plays top 6 minutes in important games.
I'm not sure that I love the secrecy behind Matthews' injuries but I guess it doesn't change anything. It does seem like sitting him for the stretch run even if it cost the Leafs a division would have been the better approach. It's hard to argue that he wasn't hurt when he went from a guy setting scoring records for the era to a guy who struggled to hit 30. Hopefully it really is a thing where he comes into camp healthy because a healthy Matthews putting up 100 points and another 20+ goals does help to mitigate the loss of Marner.
If Tavares is coming back I think it would really set a tone if he signs for a real team friendly deal to set a standard for everyone else. I think they also have to be a bit hardline on Knies. He's a great player. I think it would be awesome to sign him to a long-term deal but I think this might be a scenario where a bridge deal is the better answer. Keep the AAV a bit lower and allow the team to really focus on building out the depth of the 2nd/3rd lines.
You can accept a 4th line of Holmberg/Lorentz/Generic Grunt guys who also don't score if you top 9 are all lines who will. The Leafs had too many games where there was only one line scoring.
I'm not agains the idea of Knies-Matthews-Nylander but I think there is a fair argument that we don't have anyone who justifies being on L2 right now if you don't have Matthews and Nylander split up. McMann is a massive wildcard right now. Older guy who has a bit of success and a lot of empty games. I wouldn't be banking on him being a 20 goal guy next year. Domi is such a wildcard. We saw great efforts at times and other games he is basically unplayable between his bad penalties, non-existent defence and passing up excellent shooting opportunities into turnovers. Robertson has to be gone at this point. He got the new coach. I think overall played well and still got benched for guys who went on to do absolutely nothing with their minutes and for a guy who can put the puck in the net he watched from the press box as we couldn't score when it mattered.
I think there are a lot of teams with big cap dollars right now and the free agent market isn't amazing. We are really going to have to sell players on why they should come to Toronto and that's going to be tough.
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Bill_Berg
Well-known member
I have to doubt Marchand would sign here after his post series comments.
The ultimate troll would for him to suck for the balance of his career on Toronto's cap. It sounds Leafy enough to be plausible.
dappleganger
Well-known member
Why not both? I would like to have nothing to do with Bennett, I really do, but sometimes you have to do uncomfortable things when forced.
They (Berube and Treliving) never really sorted out the bottom-6. It was pretty much just a collection of spare parts thrown together in various combinations, hoping something would take. They need to figure out what those 2 lines are supposed to be, and adjust the personnel accordingly. Do they want two shut down lines, a sheltered scoring line and a crash line, some other combination...identify what that is and make the changes needed to get there.
Personally, I'd love to see some type of "crash" line that is willing and able to consistently punish opposing defenders. You would think Lorentz maybe could be that guy, but he doesn't really seem to be into that kind of game. Most of his "hits" on Florida defenders appeared to be half-hearted at best. Some of that was the interference that kept Leaf forwards from getting in on time though. Maybe that isn't important to Berube and Treliving and fine, if that's the case - but identify what you want and make it happen.
Someone in that group needs to be capable of putting the odd puck in the net, regardless of what they decide on.
Bennett...I would hate to have him on the team, but that would probably be preferable to having him on Florida. I suspect he'd be suspended for the first borderline hit as a Leaf.
Personally, I'd love to see some type of "crash" line that is willing and able to consistently punish opposing defenders. You would think Lorentz maybe could be that guy, but he doesn't really seem to be into that kind of game. Most of his "hits" on Florida defenders appeared to be half-hearted at best. Some of that was the interference that kept Leaf forwards from getting in on time though. Maybe that isn't important to Berube and Treliving and fine, if that's the case - but identify what you want and make it happen.
Someone in that group needs to be capable of putting the odd puck in the net, regardless of what they decide on.
Bennett...I would hate to have him on the team, but that would probably be preferable to having him on Florida. I suspect he'd be suspended for the first borderline hit as a Leaf.
His contract is going to be for way too much and for way too long. And I think his effectiveness (i.e. ability to do dumb stuff and not get suspended) will significantly diminish the moment he puts on a Leaf jersey.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
OK then, who the hell are you talking about?
Yeah Lorentz is a weird one. I knew he wasn't the most physical player in the world, especially since it's tough to play that way throughout an 82-game season, but I really expected him to stay up in that regard in the playoffs. For a guy his size wish he was a little meaner.
L K
Well-known member
I'm not against bringing Lorentz back, but that entire line was bad against Florida when it mattered. They provided absolutely nothing that led to real offence and eventually Florida got favourable lines against them and scored. We can't keep relying on lines of guys who put up 1-2A over 10+ games and end up -3/-4 because they never put the puck in themselves.
As a 13th forward in and out of the lineup, fine, but if we are watching 11.9M of Marner + 11M of Tavares gone that money has to partially go to making sure that we sign some guys generate grunt goals.
dappleganger
Well-known member
I dunno CTB, Bennett seems to score some key goals. Doesn't fade when the spotlight shines brighter.
Peter D.
Moderator
I'd agree that shoring up the bottom six forwards would/could make a huge difference. Two lines that play with jam and wear teams down with some hard and dirty play, and every so often be considered an offensive threat.
Domi and Laughton in the bottom six are good starts. Re-uniting the Tanev brothers and having Brandon come here would certainly help in a bit way there too. A guy like Drouin if you can get him at a reasonable price would be a solid 2nd/3rd line winger option. I've always liked Brandon Saad in a 3rd line role. A repaired Connor Brown would be a good get. Heck, if you can somehow squeeze something out of a Kasperi Kapanen like the Oilers have when needed would go a long way.
There always seems to be a plethora of options to round things out. Cheaper too. It's a matter of hitting on the right one(s) who become unheralded heroes when you expect it the least.