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2019-2020 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

Frycer14 said:
L K said:
The thing is Marner is still putting up a lot of points despite his overall play.
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I honestly don't see much difference in his play ly vs cy. He consistently makes high level plays, leads the team in ppg, runs the pp (3rd in league I think?), is good on the PK, and instead of opening up space for Tavares to hit a career best in goals, is now doing the same for matthews.

I'm not saying he's a steal at 11m, but I don't think he's anything even remotely close to the problem with the team.
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While Matthews is scoring at a better rate in goals per game, he's actually taken a step back in goals per 60 mins. Last year he was at 1.759 goals per 60, this year .976. Mitch has helped but not to the extent you may think. Matthews, next to OV is probably the best goal scorer in the league. Anyway, what I see with Marner this year is that he's a bit of a turnover machine. Yes he can make those plays but he's also guilty of making some pretty foolish plays. Something he didn't do much of last year. No doubt though, he'll get it straightened out.
 
Of all of our players Marner was the one most like to regress a little(with Nylander being the one most likely to improve obviously). That his regression is a 96 points/82 games pace while killing penalties is a pretty good testament to just how talented he is.
 
Zee said:
The Leafs got the day off but Ayres is back on the ice today. Lol this organization man
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At least he shows up to do his job everyday, he should be an example to some of the millionaires he cleans the ice for.
 
Pick said:
Do you see him making the Leafs next year?
Leafs are deep on both wings and with Robertson coming up, I wonder if there's any room for Malgin. He could replace Gauthier at centre, or Maybe Engvall replaces Gauthier and Malgin takes a spot on the left side, but with Hyman, Johnsson, Clifford and Robertson and maybe Mikheyev on that side, He may not even make the team.

I dunno, but even if Leafs move a winger or two to strengthen the defence, and a spot opens up for him up front, He'd still be a 4th liner at best and whatever more he could bring than a Marchment, Petan or Agostino would be marginal.

An NHLer for an AHLer sounds good, but in this instance, I don't believe it improves the team.
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Clifford?s a UFA, no guarantee he?s back. Robertson is probably not NHL ready yet. There will also be plenty of other changes. Guys like Malgin on cheap deals are very much what the Leafs need. If he impresses the rest of the way this year, he?ll absolutely be back.
 
Sifting through the wreckage of last night's epic encounter I can offer up an observation about the Leafs' back-end: offensive prowess aside (passing, speed, stick-handling, shooting etc.) they're being regularly exposed as small and weak in front of their own net, costing them dearly. Barrie, Dermott, Sandin, Holl and Marincin are all guilty of being small and weak (Barrie, Dermott, Sandin) or big and weak (Holl, Marincin) in front of the net, leading to goals on rebounds, tips, one-timers etc.

A strong man with good defensive IQ and battle would be an ideal partner for any of Barrie, Dermott or Sandin. When they're doubled up together it's been horrific. I'm sure they realize this and are doing what they can to remedy it. They miss Rielly terribly.
 
disco said:
Sifting through the wreckage of last night's epic encounter I can offer up an observation about the Leafs' back-end: offensive prowess aside (passing, speed, stick-handling, shooting etc.) they're being regularly exposed as small and weak in front of their own net, costing them dearly. Barrie, Dermott, Sandin, Holl and Marincin are all guilty of being small and weak (Barrie, Dermott, Sandin) or big and weak (Holl, Marincin) in front of the net, leading to goals on rebounds, tips, one-timers etc.

A strong man with good defensive IQ and battle would be an ideal partner for any of Barrie, Dermott or Sandin. When they're doubled up together it's been horrific. I'm sure they realize this and are doing what they can to remedy it. They miss Rielly terribly.
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Leafs certainly seem to have cornered the market on "size that doesn't act like it". Holl, Marincin, Gauthier are all BIG but they rarely use that size to their advantage. When someone like Timashov makes more of a physical impact than these guys, there is a problem. Even Muzzin doesn't really punish guys in the crease very often, though he at least crunches guys along the boards once or twice a game.

They do miss Rielly but he's not that big and not very physical (and not great defensively overall). His presence at least would push Marincin out of the lineup.

But you know what...a team can overcome these issues with attention to detail from both forwards and defenders. We've seen them play games like that every so often, they just don't seem to have the focus or desire to work that hard often enough.
 
How Kyle Lowry is important to the Raptors and what the Leafs can learn from it:  leadership and compete level.

No team is about one player, but it?s fair to wonder ? who is the Leafs? version of Lowry? Who among their collection of top-paid stars combines not only world-class skill but world-class will?

Lowry...a high-IQ bowling ball that knocks over every obstacle in his path unless it?s coming straight at his chest, in which case he takes the charge.

?I say this a lot, his compete level, I?ve never coached or seen anybody play as hard as this guy does in basketball,? said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse after the game. ?It?s the ultimate compliment and it rubs off on the other guys, and not only does he do it that way, he plays it smart, he knows the coverages, he knows the opponents, he studies film, he gives his body up, right? All those things kind of transfer to the other guys ? leadership, right??

...the Leafs ? who have invested more salary in their offensively gifted core-four forwards than any team in NHL history...When things get difficult ? physically or mentally ? they tend to shrink.
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https://www.sportsnet.ca/basketball/nba/raptors-kyle-lowry-illustrates-contrast-team-maple-leafs/
 
Funny, I remember The Raps getting their asses handed to them for years. They finally figured it out and the Leafs will too. Takes time.
 
bustaheims said:
https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1231974341291782146
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It's not exactly a good sign that we would have needed him for that game, but Rielly's someone who I think would have made a pretty big difference in the Carolina game. On and of the ice.
 
bustaheims said:
https://twitter.com/kristen_shilton/status/1231991687737729024

Curios. Probably meaningless, but curious.
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They just added Rosen and re-called Gravel, I don't think it's meaningless, maybe one of Barrie/Dermott is being traded.  I guess we'll see
 
https://twitter.com/TSNBobMcKenzie/status/1231996338793058304

Leafs like to practice with 8 defence, and with no forward to move back there (since Timashov is gone) they probably just pulled Gravel in like they did last time.
 
Nik brought it up but there was a good argument that trading him just for the sake of trading him isn't necessarily a good thing.  If the return sucks, there isn't much value in it but I have to say I'd be pretty disappointed if we don't trade him if only to send a message to the team that their effort sucks and maybe the organization doesn't have faith in them to step up given they have had ample opportunities to do it in the past with "embarrassment efforts' not jarring them.
 
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