Things that have surprised, things that haven't

[mr grieves]

I was going to wait till the half-way mark or try to get this out at the quarter pole. And now (mired in slump, about to his a really rough stretch) mightn't be the most time to evaluate fairly, but I thought I'd try this anyway...

Pleasant surprises
1. Bolland looking like the versatile center he was advertised as. I thought we'd have a cheaper Grabo replacement, but, in that role, he's been better than Grabo.
2. Raymond looking good on the contract was predictable (those late off-season signings tend to look best), but how good he's been at points has been a pleasant surprise.
3. Morgan Rielly's play.

Unpleasant surprises
1. The team's more skilled, puck moving defense leaving them worse at breakouts than last season. On paper, i thought this was the off-season improvement.
2. The PK dropping off despite having most of the same personnel as last season.
3. Bozak's having trouble in the faceoff circle.
4. Kessel's last month -- he doesn't look disappeared to me so much as nursing an injury
5. The invisibility of Clarkson's intangibles -- at the very least, I thought he'd jump start the team
6. Randy getting his team and apparently not knowing how to get much decent hockey out of it

Predictably Not Good
1. Regression, mostly. That the Leafs would be shooting nearer the high end of the league average
3. Loss of speed resulting from losing Grabo, MacArthur, and Komarov. Though I'm not sure if this has as much to do with the unpleasant surprise of the defensemen as it does the personnel change up front
4. Getting boned by the lack of center depth and not having a fourth line that can iced for more than 5 minutes a game
5. Kadri dropping off a bit.

Predictably Good (or Fine)
1. Bernier improving the goaltending tandem somewhat, helping steal several games
2. That Clarkson wouldn't be much more than a serviceable third liner in his actual play

 

[Seymore Pucks]

Pleasant surprises
Goalie tandem
Bollands play

Unpleasant surprises
Bollands injury
No scoring from D
No scoring from 3rd / 4th lines

Predictably Not Good
Team defense
Phanuef hating continues despite the fact that Phanuef is by far the best Dman on this team.

Predictably Good (or Fine)
Phanuef hating continues despite the fact that Phanuef is by far the best Dman on this team.
Reimer is still good

 

[TML fan]

Not learning a damn thing from game 7.

 

[lamajama]

That Carlyle is apparently made of teflon.

 

[moon111]

Pleasant surprises
1. Phaneuf. 
2. Goaltending.
3. JVR and Mason Raymond being this good.

Unpleasant surprises
1. Bozak's contract.
2. Clarkson's contract.
3. Declining defensive play/optimism of Carlyle's coaching.
4. John-Michael Liles, perhaps being cut just for cap considerations.
5. Grabovski buy-out/optimism of Carlyle's handling of players.

Predictably Not Good
1. Loss of Komarov.  If Clarkson is worth $5,250,000...

Predictably Good (or Fine)
1. Kessel.

 

[Peter D.]

Pleasant surprises
- Goaltending  -- pretty much the only reason the team is holding a playoff spot.
- Morgan Rielly -- struggles at times, but did not expect his skill set to translate this quickly.
- Dion Phaneuf -- playing above what we have seen previously. 
- Dave Bolland -- what we've seen out of Bolland is what I expected out of Clarkson.
- Mason Raymond -- a steal for a million bucks.
- Trevor Smith.

Unpleasant surprises
- Lupul's injury troubles -- thought he turned a corner on that.
- Carlyle's coaching tactics/methods -- this team is far too often outchanced and outworked and I point my finger primarily to his system.
- Jake Gardiner -- can't help but admit that I was expecting way more.
- David Clarkson -- see Bolland.
- Lack of goals from the D.  Not an overly huge issue in my eyes, but only 3 goals thus far.  Really?
- Kulemin (offensively) -- his 30-goal season may have been the worst thing for him from an expectation standpoint.  As a third liner, you can't ask for many better.

Predictably Not Good
- Bottom six forwards and lack of scoring from them.
- Carlyle's infatuation with McLaren, Orr and Fraser.
- Based on the above point, the complete myth that McLaren and Orr motivate this team and make them play with more confidence (less scared).
- Carl Gunnarsson -- my vote for most overrated Leaf.  I've just never seen what others do in him.

Predictably Good (or Fine)
- Kessel and JvR.
- Reimer's willingness to battle through any adversary thrown at him in a professional manner.  Just goes about his business with a smile on his face but surely a burn deep down inside.

 

[Bill_Berg]

Pleasant surprises
- Dave Bolland - I figured he'd improve the team, but he quickly became a player the team depends on
- Mason Raymond - on the cheap!
- Oct's record

Unpleasant surprises
- Jake Gardiner - No improvement, no offense
- David Clarkson - All I notice when he has the puck are mistakes. Where's the beef?
- Lack of truculence
- Nov's record

Predictably Not Good
- Defense

Predictably Good (or Fine)
- JvR-goals
- Goaltending-up until the last week or so