GhostofPotvin29
New member
CarltonTheBear said:
I keep forgetting Matt Hunwick exists.
Decisions, decisions
- Thread starter slapshot
- Start date
I keep forgetting Matt Hunwick exists.
Potvin29 said:
I don't, but that's only because I wake up every day terrified Babcock will keep playing him with Rielly.
McGarnagle
New member
Coco-puffs said:
I was down on him for a lot of the season due to him leading the team in being burned on glaring giveaways, but the way he closed out the season, I'd put Marincin right up there on the priority list as well. Maybe for even a cap friendly long term gamble.
Regarding Holland, he's a bit of a frustration. He's shows remarkable skill at times, but consistency is lacking. If they move JVR, perhaps he gets a longer opportunity, but you have to figure it's getting to a fish or cut bait scenario.
Al14
New member
McGarnagle said:
Holland's days are numbered if he doesn't show up early next season and remain consistent. He can no longer float and expect to stay with our Leafs.
I'm sure Babcock will make him aware that he has to bring it every game or he can expect to be dumped for a 2nd or 3rd round pick.
herman
Well-known member
Holland's days make me think of Eggs Benedict.
In other news:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/p-a-parenteau-unrestricted-free-agent-toronto-maple-leafs-discussions-mike-babcock-loved/
Refresher on forward depth at the moment, not including waiver exempt Marlies and contracts expiring to UFA this season.
+ is likely LTIR, italics is UFA next season, * is RFA pending offer
Of course, this list does not include Nylander, Marner, and the 2016 first overall pick. We are at 13 live bodies before adding those three, and dreadfully sparse on the right side, with Komarov already playing his off wing. If Lupul is actually active next season, he struggles on the RW anyway.
Fortunately, we are a few weeks away from the draft and free agency starting up, which should churn the roster a bit and clear up the picture somewhat.
Internal RW options are (very) good: Nylander, Marner, Brown, Soshnikov, Kapanen
Bozak can shift to RW too and looked pretty good alongside Kadri for brief stretches, as can Colin Smith and Byron Froese at the bottom of the line up.
In other news:
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/p-a-parenteau-unrestricted-free-agent-toronto-maple-leafs-discussions-mike-babcock-loved/
Refresher on forward depth at the moment, not including waiver exempt Marlies and contracts expiring to UFA this season.
+ is likely LTIR, italics is UFA next season, * is RFA pending offer
| Left Wing | Centre | Right Wing | ||
| JvR | Kadri | Komarov | ||
| Michalek | Bozak | Lupul +? | ||
| Greening | Holland * | Horton + | ||
| Laich | Froese | |||
| Leivo * | S. Carrick * | |||
| C. Smith * |
Of course, this list does not include Nylander, Marner, and the 2016 first overall pick. We are at 13 live bodies before adding those three, and dreadfully sparse on the right side, with Komarov already playing his off wing. If Lupul is actually active next season, he struggles on the RW anyway.
Fortunately, we are a few weeks away from the draft and free agency starting up, which should churn the roster a bit and clear up the picture somewhat.
Internal RW options are (very) good: Nylander, Marner, Brown, Soshnikov, Kapanen
Bozak can shift to RW too and looked pretty good alongside Kadri for brief stretches, as can Colin Smith and Byron Froese at the bottom of the line up.
Nik the Trik said:
Yeah if at minimum two of Michalek/Laich/Greening/Lupul disappeared then I'd consider it. But as things stand there's no way.
herman
Well-known member
CarltonTheBear said:
I wouldn't want to sign him either. Could be that they want to insulate the right side a bit seeing how thin it is on the depth chart, and make PAP the new Winnik, but I've always preferred to roll the youth this upcoming season and take those lumps as they come. Would be kind of neat to dedicate the RW entirely to the rookies where applicable, other than Komarov on the Kadri shutdown line.
JvR - Kadri - Komarov
Michalek/Hyman - Nylander - Brown
Greening/Holland - Matthews - Marner
Laich/Leivo - Bozak/S. Carrick/C. Smith - Soshnikov
I'm expecting some of the names on the left side to be moved. The UFA trio might not get moved until the deadline, and they seem like good solid veterans to learn from. JvR and any of the pending RFAs are draft day bait in my opinion.
Kin
New member
herman said:
I think though that knowing Babcock he's probably not going to want to have any lines that are entirely composed of rookies. So I doubt you see JVR-Kadri-Komarov. I think it might be pretty likely that what we see is a pretty set group of LW-C combinations and then you rotate the RW's through depending on what you find that works and wanting to not have a line like Hyman-Nylander-Brown where everyone's a kid.
herman said:
Sosh played on the left side with the Leafs, so assuming that's something that will carry over I could see:
JVR-Matthews-PAP
Soshnikov-Kadri-Komarov
Hyman-Nylander-Brown
Laich-Bozak/Holland-Marner
That leaves you with a lot of veteran presence in the top-6, and one kid line that would get very favourable minutes. And it's probably important to note that those 3 kids on that line aren't exactly coming straight from junior.
One of Bozak or Holland would have to go. 2 of Greening/Michalek/Lupul would have to disappear with the other being used as the 13th forward.
CarltonTheBear said:
Although, wasn't McDavid even insulated from the top line during his rookie season, aside from the occasional look?
This is how the Oilers' season ended.
http://www2.dailyfaceoff.com/teams/lines/24/edmonton-oilers
McDavid on 2nd line with Maroon and Eberle.
TBLeafer said:
The Oilers didn't like the McDavid-Hall combo for whatever reason, so they rarely played together. For that reason it's probably difficult to say which of those lines was truly the top line. But McDavid did finish the season 3rd in average ice-time among forward at 18:53. Hall (19:12) and RNH (19:03) were only barely ahead of him.
Kin
New member
TBLeafer said:
That's only if you include SH ice time. Typically who the #1 line is doesn't have much to do with penalty killing situations.
Obviously because they both missed so much of last year using ATOI is tricky because RNH's ice time was likely to be higher when McDavid was hurt and vice-versa so their ice time in a lot of games isn't really a reflection of a coach choosing one or the other but just who was healthy.
For the last 9 games of the season where they were both in the line-up, McDavid had more ice-time than RNH in every game having 8 games where he had 20+ minutes to RNH having 0.
Kin
New member
btw the reason I use the last 9 games above as opposed to a larger, more significant number is just because of how much the two guys were hurt and how little their seasons overlapped. Prior to March 12th the last game the two were both in the line-up(and the last game with the two of them where RNH had more ice-time) was October 31st.
Nik the Trik said:
Okay, so admittedly having only looked at where he was listed at season's end and not going as far as into finding TOI over the last nine games, McDavid did see some sheltered ice to start his rookie season up until (or near) the end of it. We all knew where he was headed, but he certainly didn't start there is my point.
TBLeafer said:
I did note that there was only a 10-second gap there though, so they were basically even using ATOI.