2017-18 Toronto Maple Leafs - General Discussion

[Guilt Trip]

In more important news, Rielly has been put on the IR.
As for the lines, I think most of us would put these lines together like this. Leo belongs on the 4th line. Brown adds some much needed defensive help to the Bozak line. Kadri and Marleau get a very talented winger. It's about time...

 

[herman]

JvR-Bozak-Brown don?t really have a transition driver, so once they?re in their own zone it?s pretty much stuck.

 

[Zee]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955848912757145600

It's almost like Babcock read the Athletic article by Mirtle and copied his line combinations just to troll the fans.  By game time tomorrow Martin will be back on the 4th line and Komarov with Kadri.

 

[ZBBM]

Thank god. I know Gauthier still has some believers around here but aside from that one game the other week he hasn't done anything at this level to suggest he's a NHLer to me. And that includes his play last season too. 38.2% CF in 9 games this season. That's just not going to cut it.

This.  Too slow.  End of story.

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955848912757145600

It's almost like Babcock read the Athletic article by Mirtle and copied his line combinations just to troll the fans.  By game time tomorrow Martin will be back on the 4th line and Komarov with Kadri.

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

 

[Zee]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955848912757145600

It's almost like Babcock read the Athletic article by Mirtle and copied his line combinations just to troll the fans.  By game time tomorrow Martin will be back on the 4th line and Komarov with Kadri.

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

He's only played 47 out of 49 games so he was out twice.

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955848912757145600

It's almost like Babcock read the Athletic article by Mirtle and copied his line combinations just to troll the fans.  By game time tomorrow Martin will be back on the 4th line and Komarov with Kadri.

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

He's only played 47 out of 49 games so he was out twice.

OK, thanks.

 

[Zee]

I hope Babcock sticks with those lines and the Leafs win big in the next 2 games.  Give him some recency bias to sway his lineup decisions.

 

[herman]

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

He's only played 47 out of 49 games so he was out twice.

One was a minor health related thing, the other was a healthy scratch.

 

[ZBBM]

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

He's only played 47 out of 49 games so he was out twice.

One was a minor health related thing, the other was a healthy scratch.

Thanks, I didn't remember that.

 

[Zee]

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

He's only played 47 out of 49 games so he was out twice.

One was a minor health related thing, the other was a healthy scratch.

Thanks, I didn't remember that.

Admittedly I don't track Matt Martin as closely as I should.  8)

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955863086514212864

He's ALREADY decided that these lines won't stick hahahahahah

 

[WhatIfGodWasALeaf]

Sad to see the Goat go, if he can get back to his pre-injury level I?d give him another go, wasn?t good enough this time though.

 

[Zee]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955863086514212864

He's ALREADY decided that these lines won't stick hahahahahah

Unreal.  "We need an offensive jolt on the road, but back at home I can go back to having no offense on that 2nd line thanks to Komarov"

 

[herman]

Martin has yet to be scratched this year, yes?

He's only played 47 out of 49 games so he was out twice.

One was a minor health related thing, the other was a healthy scratch.

Thanks, I didn't remember that.

It was a big deal for him and a big deal for me ;D.

We played Carolina that night, and won 5-4.

His 'rest' day scratch alongside JvR was at the end of October (lost to Philadelphia).

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Unreal.  "We need an offensive jolt on the road, but back at home I can go back to having no offense on that 2nd line thanks to Komarov"

It's just such a weird thing to be announcing a line-up change 8 days before you have to make it too. What's the point of saying that? What if we absolutely roll over Chicago and Dallas with these lines?

 

[Coco-puffs]

These lines are so good. I'd maayybbee swap Brown and Marner just because the Kadri line is going to get hard-matched but I'm willing to give Mitch the challenge here to see if he can rise to the occasion. Kadri can use someone with a bit more offence in his game to try and get him going too.

It's going to suck if we lose tomorrow and never see them again.

Not surprisingly, Babcock already suggested that Komarov will be back beside Kadri after the next two games.  Specifically because he doesn't control the matchups in the next two, so Marner won't be getting hard-matched with Kadri.

I honestly want Marner on that line even if they are hard-matching.  He's going to make some defensive mistakes but he's also going to help transition the puck and keep it in the offensive zone.  I'd rather our shutdown line was shutting the other team down by making the other team suffer in their own zone.  And I'm fine with Komarov getting spot duty late in games, with D-zone draws, etc.  But he shouldn't be a fixture right from the start of a game, even when putting Kadri against the other teams top line.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/jonassiegel/status/955863086514212864

He's ALREADY decided that these lines won't stick hahahahahah

Unreal.  "We need an offensive jolt on the road, but back at home I can go back to having no offense on that 2nd line thanks to Komarov"

Joy was short lived.

I get what he's trying to do though. Zero out their top line while we're at home. Matthews, Marner lines can feast on easier matchups generally speaking. It's the same as when Nylander and Brown were swapping and that was also around this time of year, if I'm not mistaken. He'll settle on his real lines after the deadline.

The point system currently rewards conservative play, if all you're looking for is a consistent stream of points in the bank.
https://twitter.com/SteveBurtch/status/954796929925316608

 

[herman]

I honestly want Marner on that line even if they are hard-matching.  He's going to make some defensive mistakes but he's also going to help transition the puck and keep it in the offensive zone.  I'd rather our shutdown line was shutting the other team down by making the other team suffer in their own zone.  And I'm fine with Komarov getting spot duty late in games, with D-zone draws, etc.  But he shouldn't be a fixture right from the start of a game, even when putting Kadri against the other teams top line.

I agree with this a lot. Give Marner some of that Rielly treatment and build him into a better player. He's a competitive guy and it'll be good for him to go head to head against the stars he grew up watching. What a boost it'll be for him when he realizes he is surpassing them. Look at how much faster McDavid looks when he's on the ice against Bozak 

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Komarov's situation is clarified but we can still fantasize about what this means for Martin for awhile. If Komarov goes back to the shutdown line next week does Martin come back into the line-up? Or do we see a line a 4th line of Kapanen-Moore-Marner, which would be absolutely bonkers.

I'm just kidding, of course Martin goes back into the line-up.