2021 Training Camp Thread
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
First look at the D pairings. Glad they arranged the top-4 that way, at least to start.
bustaheims
Active member
Guilt Trip said:
As long as they clear waivers the first time, they're exempt until they spend 30 days on the roster or get into 10 games. There will be plenty flexibility built up as the season progresses.
herman
Well-known member
bustaheims said:
Errybody and their grandmas are going to be putting a whack of players on waivers at the end of camp, and nobody wants to limit their own roster flexibility. We can pop down Lehtonen/Barabanov/Robertson for any game we want to rest Thornton/Spezza and bring up taximan#3 (Engvall/Boyd/Anderson/Agostino?!). In the regular season, the make up of the bottom 3 is relatively inconsequential, and getting key contributors properly rested and healthy during the sprint should be the priority, followed by increasing cap flexibility. Other needs like developing/evaluating prospects at the NHL level or making UFAs (who are basically one-year interns) happy are going to lose any tie-breaking scenarios.
herman
Well-known member
Dubas/Keefe Leafs are setting up the lineup to veer away from fastbreak hockey. Players are still capable, but it is not built into the system that way it was in 2016-2019. We're going to see something pretty similar to Team Russia/Finland Juniors in playstyle: D to D hinge and skate out to bypass the forecheck on breakouts, NZ regroups instead of dumps, entries with possession where possible, and OZ funnel (i.e. middle ice cycle), hopefully with more forward movement a la Tampa, than the juniors do.
Heroic Shrimp
New member
https://twitter.com/MapleLeafs/status/1346156176778682368?s=19
Looks better than Pittsburgh's...
Looks better than Pittsburgh's...
herman
Well-known member
herman said:
This makes sense to me with the primary purpose of the camp to get your core guys rounding into form for the season, and secondarily evaluating your taxi squad options. Group 2's build gives the fringe guys a chance to stand out from the Marlies pack instead of being clearly not as good as the regulars (that is already known). When they change gears in the last couple of days of camp, they'll probably go Offense vs Defense to get the competitiveness up and we'll see from those rosters who are on the inside track.
https://twitter.com/koshtorontosun/status/1346187771053039620
dappleganger
Active member
Heroic Shrimp said:
Blue helmet looks fine. White helmets with red logo... ugh. :-\
Wow. Pittsburgh is bad.
Capitals have to be the best. ;D
louisstamos
Active member
Dappleganger said:
Should have gotten Maple Leaf Foods as a sponsor.
MLHS with a transcription of Keefe's meetings with the media today: https://mapleleafshotstove.com/2021/01/04/sheldon-keefe-on-toronto-maple-leafs-blue-line/
Interesting to hear him describe how the Thornton-Matthews-Marner idea came about. Basically explains that it was more about putting Hyman and Kerfoot together on a defensive line, which is actually something he attempted to do around when he was first brought in but injuries to Johnsson and Mikheyev forced him to keep Hyman in the top-6.
He also explains that it's unlikely Thornton plays as many 5-on-5 minutes as Matthews and Marner so other guys will get slotted in there depending on the situation.
Interesting to hear him describe how the Thornton-Matthews-Marner idea came about. Basically explains that it was more about putting Hyman and Kerfoot together on a defensive line, which is actually something he attempted to do around when he was first brought in but injuries to Johnsson and Mikheyev forced him to keep Hyman in the top-6.
He also explains that it's unlikely Thornton plays as many 5-on-5 minutes as Matthews and Marner so other guys will get slotted in there depending on the situation.
herman said:
Literally promising us some Martin Marincin this season
Is it really a Leafs season if Martin Marincin doesn't play in it?
Phileas Fogg
New member
Bullfrog said:
I was thinking that if Thornton was going to be used in the top 6, he'd be a better fit with Tavares and Nylander. But hey, there'll be probably a bazillion combo mashups by the time the season's over, so whatever.