Guilt Trip
Well-known member
Kampf and Marner are great at PKing. Kampf doesn't have the offensive chops to play with Marner.
Armchair GM Thread 2024-25
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Andy007
Well-known member
Furthermore, I'd also think you'd want to mix the better defensive players along those lines. Domi with Matthews works, but Nylander-Tavares is a mess in the defensive zone. Putting Marner with Tavares and Nylander with Kampf imo would work alot better
Marner's 4th in the league in points. You can't play him with a 4th line centre who's on pace for 15 points this season, you just can't.
I'm all for wanting to spread things out over 4 lines, but I think the team still needs an additional piece somewhere to make that work.
Except maybe he's not a 4th line center. It's all they ever asked of him. He usually puts up points internationally when given more of an opportunity and it's not about how many points any one player gets, it's about winning a Stanley Cup.
I don't give a shit about how many regular season points a Marner gets. I really mean this, who cares about how many points the core gets, let's win!
herman
Well-known member
Kampf is underrated offensively, but this is absolutely correct. Marner can drive play but he needs a finisher (or at least a credible threat that opens up Marner's own shot). Kampf complements Nylander's complete offensive skillset more readily (just break a cycle and scoot the puck to the middle of the NZ for Nylander to swoop through).
I think McMann-x-Nylander can succeed in a playoff softer matchup, as long as the centre is fast enough and not a complete defensive liability.
Tavares-Marner is a very credible shutdown duo (as long as the opposing forward line is not MacKinnon/McDavid fast).
Knies-Matthews-Domi is a bit of a wildcard defensively, but should be able to cook in the OZ.
I wonder if there's any chance of a Donato for Domi swap with Chicago. From the article: "He’s exactly the kind of player — an energy guy, a depth scorer, a versatile forward who can play any position — who helps make decent teams good, and good teams very good." He almost seems like a mix between Robertson and Domi. High motor, versatile, shoots a ton.
Domi by all accounts I think was well liked in Chicago. Kyle Davidson is still the GM there who signed him. They've struggled to find a line mate for Bedard there and Domi, who thrived as a passer to Kane in his first time around there, might be able to replicate that type of success again. If Treliving sees the Domi signing as a mistake that needs fixing trying to work something out with Chicago might be one of the few options that makes sense.
azzurri63
Well-known member
Don't know about any others but haven't heard a single word about where we are in the playoff race. Looking good where we are atop the division but we are 7 points out of the playoffs. Injuries have been a concern and some performances on the ice have been putrid at best. Going to be an interesting last 2 months or so.
If we're talking about the potential of missing the playoffs, well the team would need to play at below .500 hockey for the rest of the season for that to probably happen. So yeah I don't want to say we're a lock but it's pretty darn close. Playoff position is still obviously up for grabs but I'd say we have a pretty firm grasp on even home ice advantage for the 1st round at this point.
L K
Well-known member
We haven't heard anything about the playoff race because we are at the top of the pile. 7 points is a massive gap 50 games into the season. If the Leafs played at .500 hockey from here on out they would have 94 points.
Columbus is at .550 PT% on the season with 32 games left. That's 90 point pace.
Thanks to Zee we have the Leafs's 10-game stretches so far this year
5-4-1; 7-2-1; 6-4-0; 7-3-0; 5-5-0
We have 5 more games until the 4 Nations break and half of our injured players will be back before it and the rest should be good to go by the 22nd when we come back.
The roster needs to be upgraded but being concerned about missing the playoffs at this point seems kind of silly.
Columbus is at .550 PT% on the season with 32 games left. That's 90 point pace.
Thanks to Zee we have the Leafs's 10-game stretches so far this year
5-4-1; 7-2-1; 6-4-0; 7-3-0; 5-5-0
We have 5 more games until the 4 Nations break and half of our injured players will be back before it and the rest should be good to go by the 22nd when we come back.
The roster needs to be upgraded but being concerned about missing the playoffs at this point seems kind of silly.
Ozzie
Active member
What to expect from the Maple Leafs by the 2025 trade deadline
With the NHL's trade season in full swing and eyeing the 4 Nations break as an early deadline before the real thing on March 7, Justin Bourne writes about what he expects the Leafs to do.
Jason Bourne predicting Robertson and one of Cowan or Minten to get moved.
I'd be happy for Robertson to get moved because there are teams out there that would play him top six and might utilize his explosive one timer on the PP..... which for some reason the Leafs never explored.
Guilt Trip
Well-known member
Never understand why he wasn't given a shot on PP1, especially when it was struggling badly and Matthews was out. Hey let's replace our best shooter with arguably our 2nd best left shooter....nope forget that. Hey they still had/have Rielly on the PP so...What to expect from the Maple Leafs by the 2025 trade deadline
With the NHL's trade season in full swing and eyeing the 4 Nations break as an early deadline before the real thing on March 7, Justin Bourne writes about what he expects the Leafs to do.www.sportsnet.ca
Jason Bourne predicting Robertson and one of Cowan or Minten to get moved.
I'd be happy for Robertson to get moved because there are teams out there that would play him top six and might utilize his explosive one timer on the PP..... which for some reason the Leafs never explored.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
Baffling.
Everyone's favorite, Damien Cox, suggested something interesting today on the radio regarding Marner. Pay more to get a contract with an out for the Leafs meaning a contract without a NMC. I am good with an inflated contract that allows the Leafs to pivot if they choose to. It was a surprising suggestion that for whatever reason I haven't heard before.
herman
Well-known member
I didn't hear this directly, so I can only comment based on my interpretation here.
This isn't the best idea vs an NMC at a regular cap hit because the team can just ask Marner to waive the NMC if it's clearly not working (if it's not working for us, it definitely will not work for him). A higher cap hit also restricts the team's flexibility in pulling the trigger on a trade even in a m-NTC situation, so Cox's suggestion here is tantamount to paying Marner more for an NMC in everything but name.
bustaheims
Well-known member
Yeah. The AAV is the more important factor, for sure. Getting players to waive their NTCs/NMCs when there's a clear need for a divorce has generally not been an issue. It can sometimes dampen the return - but, truthfully, in situations where a divorce is necessary, the return tends to be muted, as it is, so it may not really be a factor - but it's rarely been an unsurmountable obstacle when there's term left on the contract.
bustaheims
Well-known member
Typically, once one side wants a divorce, the other side will recognize that sticking around would be detrimental to their future/quality of life/mental health/etc., and they accept the need to move on.