Leafs Talk

27 May 2026 05:02:00
Had to finish the day off with a Satirical post (Actually most of our posts on here really lol).

Leafs new coach enters the Dressing room at training camp to address the main core that will probably make the team.

"Gentlemen we are employing a new strategy this year. As you know most teams 4th lines get roughly 8 to 12 minutes a game. You will all have to get in great shape because this year our 4th line with only get 20 seconds of 5 on 5 a period. However they will get significant power play time when we are in the other team's zone.

If any of you see one of these 3 players even thinking of going into our defensive zone with the intention of touching a puck, trip them immediately even if we have to take a delay of game penalty to send a message to them to not handle the puck in a zone they are not familiar with. We got these 3 players at a bargain at only $4 Million combined, only for offense on the power play. Give it up for Patrick Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi, and Jeff Skinner"

LOL LOL Oh my god the worst part is if Treliving was still here that could have happened.

30 May 2026 21:21:30
When Dubas was here, it pretty much did happen.

31 May 2026 13:51:19
Didn’t know Dubas changed the lines.
And Dubas is ancient history.

25 May 2026 14:38:38
Best news of the day
Domi is out, complications from surgery
Reevaluation at training camp!!!!


LTIR!!!!!!
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

25 May 2026 14:25:25
You have crossed the line on this one! I would never applaud and consider best news of the day when anyone other than guilty of horrible crimes or similar has Health complications from a surgery. Sorry Golftown, I am not joining your applauding or joy from this news.

25 May 2026 23:05:42
Yes I regret posting that.
My apologies.

26 May 2026 01:20:31
No Problem! We sometimes forget these players are real people too. Max is a really good guy and ambassador off the ice. Have met him a few times and with the public and fans he is a really nice guy, his dad who I encountered a few times, not so much.

22 May 2026 17:33:30
There is still so much talk going on about how well Marner is doing in the playoffs and it's a Toronto thing. Things like - there wasn't enough bottom 6 support in Toronto. The fan and media pressure is too much etc. The "see it wasn't Marner" narrative is running wild.
The one thing that isn't mentioned (at least I haven't heard it) is simply that the Vegas stars show up and up their game in the playoffs and Toronto's didn't. This isn't a knock on how well Marner is playing, he is playing well. His first 5 games though, he wasn't very noticeable, despite claims of he is playing great defensively so he's still playing great.

His name is now mentioned because of the point totals he is putting up through the offence provided, not the defensive game. From my point of view, the others picked up for Marner offensively in the first 5 games which allowed him to relax a bit and just play the game. That never happened in Toronto. Marner deserves credit for sure, but it's not a Toronto, the city thing, is was from Toronto having stars that don't want to play a hard game. In Vegas they will, and they get the results because of it.

22 May 2026 17:08:16
I think a big part is the competition he is playing against.
I don't mean just the quality of teams (Utah & Anaheim), but also the fact he's playing on their second line and not get the hardest match ups.

22 May 2026 19:44:40
No sense beating a dead horse. He doesn't play for us anymore. He is in a good place mentally and physically on and off the ice. We just need to close the book and worry about where our current roster is heading.

22 May 2026 21:50:37
Tags. Lower quality of competition would help.

Suffering. The horse isn't dead, it is talked about in the media daily. Even Vegas players, coaches and players from other teams put their two cents in. This post is about the Leafs roster though. That's my point. It's not the city, the fans, the media, it is about having built the team around too many support style stars.

Seldom do they impose their will on the other team. They wait for someone else to do that. It's hard to out skill someone with your face against the glass.
Let me ask you then, do you believe in the Leafs stars? (Matthews, Nylander).

22 May 2026 23:48:38
In regards to your question about Nylander and Matthews? No! I know everyone talks about retooling or trading them and rebuilding. To be honest years ago I could see Matthews becoming more and more a playing on the perimeter player, moreso when playoffs arrived. Nylander might be one of the most talented players to play the game for sheer skill in the last couple of decades for the insane things he can do with his speed and his hands. But he doesn't bring it consistently. In the last couple of years I have become completely open to trading both of them. Matthews stock has dropped in the past couple of years from where it was but even coming back from injury a team will offer a very good player and a good prospect and a 1st round pick. Nylander's stock has probably risen actually as his point per game production as gone up. So he would probably bring a good player and a couple of good prospects and a 1st if packaged with a lesser player.

Truthfully the return and the possibility of then using one of the better prospects and 1 if not 2 of the draft picks, puts us actually not in a rebuild as some would think. It would be more about adding 3 good players with more balance to replace the 2 big names that have also come to the end of the line with the failed Shanaplan.

I was watching the Canada game the other day at the World Championships and my Son in Law who is actually a Ottawa fan called me and said " Obviously a fantasy question but if you had a chance to Give up Nylander and Matthews and get 3 Dylan Holloways that could bang and score would you do it? " I didn't hesitate at all. I said "In a Heart Beat" That's the type of forwards we need. Big and strong but willing to give and take a hit, that every defencemen going into the corner knows they are going to get hit from that forward when he is on the ice.

23 May 2026 12:58:23
I would say you agree then that the 2 stars left are not the 2 that will lead to a Cup. The reason I posted what I did, because if this is true, and I believe it is, then moving forward the Leafs should be looking at moving them and building the team with new leaders instead of retooling around those 2.

23 May 2026 14:21:34
We are on the same page sir.

23 May 2026 15:45:05
Marner is not here anymore
Why are we still talking about him?
Move on already.

23 May 2026 16:39:33
Great post and comments, gentlemen. For what it’s worth I am on board with rebuilding and moving off them two as well. These young kids these days are coming in NHL ready and making immediate impacts. Get a young package now for them two, get some Vets in free agency for them to learn from.

Bring back Bobby McMann and let the rebuild begin. But before anyone, they need to find a trade for Reilly. He and Nylander would be my first two trades. Matthews and Stolarz to follow.

23 May 2026 17:28:17
Golftown. I explained the reason for the post as it was in regards to what Toronto should do with Matthews and Nylander if they aren't the type of players to lead. Marner, although the point leader for Vegas (only by 1 now), is not the only producer. The other Vegas stars have also played well and pick it up when Marner doesn't produce. Marner has 1 point in the 2 conference final games. Who has lead in the conference final so far - Eichel, Barbashev, Dorofeyev. Howden has 11 points. Theodore has 9 from the D.


Marner leaving and having success elsewhere shows as a group of stars, the Leafs were too flawed together. This should help more realize what some have been saying for a while, it wasn't the right formula. For me, it is move them now while they still have high value. It is not as much about Marner as it is about confirming Matthews, Nylander and Marner weren't the right mix, so let's move on and find the right mix instead of continuing the insanity. Retool, rebuild, remix, what ever you want to call it.

14 May 2026 13:22:27
So with Charlie Coyle at his age signing the 6 x $6m, does this throw a wrench into Pittsburgh's plans? Word is he wanted to stay in Pittsburgh and they were playing a bit of a waiting game and hoped to keep him but at a hometown discount for a couple years $4.5m up to $5m was bandied about. He also expressed interest in playing somewhere else depending how negotiations went.

With Coyle scoring 58 points in 82 games and Malkin scoring 61 points in only 56 games, if Pittsburgh doesn’t sign him, I would offer 2 years @ $6.75 per year. Then we have Matthew’s, Malkin and Tavares down the middle while we groom a few Centremen. Couldn’t hurt to have that experience and skillset.

14 May 2026 14:10:47
???? How would Pitt want to keep Coyle when he never played for them and how did he want to stay on a team he never played for? And how does him re-signing with CLB put a wrench in Pitts' plans?

14 May 2026 14:46:03
I had typed Malkin and the system changed it to “he” which obviously makes no sense. I had also posted it to rumours side but it ended up here. It says the site has the right to alter text and this has happened in the past a few times. I wish they would allow to do editing.

14 May 2026 14:47:38
Basically, with Coyle signing higher end, if Pittsburgh wants Malkin at the discount, I think it messed up Pittsburgh's plans.

14 May 2026 15:57:33
Got it, that makes more sense. With all Pitts cap space and so many players already signed, I think they can pay Malkin even $7M per for 2 years and still do whatever they want otherwise. They have $42M this year and a projected $87M the next year.

14 May 2026 23:47:42
It sounds though from Dubas end of the season conference the other day he is keeping spending of that cap tight.

He said: utilizing massive space simply because it is available is a "false flag" that can hinder long-term flexibility.

Cap Strategy: Dubas suggested he is cautious of overspending in a thin free-agent market and aims to avoid long-term deals for players in their 30s.

Focus on Youth/Assets: He plans to use cap space to acquire young players or take on contracts in exchange for assets.

Future Focus: The team is prioritizing accumulating draft capital and young talent to improve from the current roster.


Word is he wants Mantha back so he will be upping the salary there, he Defintely is going to re-sign Chinakov and he wants to Keep Ryan Shea so will have to up the ante there too.

None will be mind blowing contracts but could hit the $10,000,000 increase between the 3 of them. He also has no goalies under contract and wants to address that as well which depending on how he does it via trade or Possibly wooing Bobrovsky the budget is going to be in the $9 to $10 million range for a Tandem if not a little more.

Im not saying that saving Money on Malkin for hometown discount would be complete disaster if it didn't happen. But I think Dubas is trying to save every penny he can because I get the feeling he is loading up for a trade that will be a big one, and he might need the extra money for whoever he will be bringing in. The Coyle signing did though set a bit of a level on the Salary Barometer. I'm sure Tuch's agent is rubbing his hands in glee.

15 May 2026 13:45:27
I am trying to grasp what apparently Dubas plan is, on one hand;
"Cap Strategy: Dubas suggested he is cautious of overspending in a thin free-agent market and aims to avoid long-term deals for players in their 30s.
Focus on Youth/Assets: He plans to use cap space to acquire young players or take on contracts in exchange for assets."
Taking on contracts to get assets would typically be taking on contracts of players who aren't young or worth their money.


On the other hand, he also wants to re-sign Shea who is 29, Mantha 31 and possibly Bobrovsky at 37? Only younger player mentioned was definitely re-signing the 25 year old Chinakhov. That would fill up most of the roster spots they currently have available. Seems like a contradiction to what he said. Then again, it is Dubas, and he likes to say a lot of things.

15 May 2026 15:21:50
I will add, apparently he also wanted the 37 year old Malkin back on a home town discount.

15 May 2026 21:40:08
Yeah I think Dubas is throwing up a bit of a smoke screen on a few things. He is very sly.... I expect him to drop a bombshell trade if not just before the Draft on the actually Draft day.

They have a ton of top prospects in their system. So they could go that route. They also have all their draft picks in order should Dubas pull the trigger on a Jason Robertson Offer Sheet.

17 May 2026 18:55:27
Dubas being Dubas.
Still trying to prove to the world that he is the smartest executive in all of sports, not just hockey…
Still glad he’s gone…
Just sayin’.

13 May 2026 10:22:55
Solid ideas. If I was the GM, I’d probably be fine with all of them. Coyle’s obviously off the market now, though. Fun to toss around different scenarios and ideas.

My choice is Stenberg and Chase Reid but it's ok if Leafs draft McKenna and Reid.