Leafs Talk

22 Jan 2022 01:26:19
Well after a few days of being upset I am finally going to do the top 5 best moves from dubas in his time with the leafs.

1: LA trades

I am lumping the two trades together here but both have been wins for dubas. The first trade was the muzzin trade in 2019 it was muzzin for a 2019 1st durzi and grundstrom all players that had not played an nhl game yet. Muzzin has been our go to guy to shut teams down he hasn't been as good this year due to the fact that his partner forgot how to play but muzz is a warrior reminds me a lot of Ryan Ellis. The second trade brought Campbell and Clifford to Toronto for Moore a 3rd and a conditional 3rd so we all know how this only played out Campbell was finally given a shot and he has ran with it being tops in the nhl in every category Clifford found his way back too but he is simply a depth piece.

2: Reilly contract
7.5x8 with all the criticism of the top 3 contracts dubas did well here now idk if it was dubas or Reilly wanting to be in Toronto but either way with most guys Reilly's caliber signing for 9-9.5 it's a steal not much else to say about it.

3: drafting
The leafs have come a long way when it's come to drafting I know I've been critical of some players that they chose but where dubas has really been good is finding higher end prospects in the mid rounds of the draft such as Robertson knies neimela hirvonen voit to name a few this has allowed the leafs to be more aggressive with their first round picks now I know it's early cause some or maybe all of these guys may not play an nhl game but they for sure have some promising guys.

4: brodie signing
So after not getting him via trade dubas was able to sign brodie as a free agent. Brodie to me has been the most consistent and reliable blue liner the last two years and as good as he has been he doesn't get enough love in this market but he didn't in Calgary either when he was playing with gio.

5: value signings
Since the leafs are so top heavy they have had to make so interesting signings to fill out their roster this year has been the best example so far with guys like bunting kase kampf you can add Spezza to that as well if you look at top teams like Tampa Pittsburg etc the one thing they are able to do is have guys who are relatively unknown and have success it's a key part of a team becoming contenders for a long time.

Hope you guys enjoyed

20 Jan 2022 21:39:14
Pierre Engvall for a 7th Round Pick in 2022 and a bag of 47 frozen pucks
Justin Holl for a 2nd Rd pick only because he is a right-shot defenceman? Give me a break Mike Babcock but last time I checked you don't coach in the NHL anymore and
a right-shot defenceman should not have any more value than a left-shot defenceman. More like Justin Holl for a 5th Rd pick in 2022. Can we get a 5th Rd pick in 2022 for Wayne Simmonds and a 4th Rd pick in 2022 for Nick Ritchie?

20 Jan 2022 23:07:58
Right shot defenceman are held in higher regard.

At the top of the league they're generally paid the same because a top pairing D is still rare.

Engvall probably is only worth a 7th but he's bury-able.

20 Jan 2022 16:32:29
After watching the Leafs get manhandled by the Rangers, I think Dubas needs to go all in on getting two solid defence men. They are in a win now zone and if they have to unload the farm go for it. They cannot win with this defence and I don't think one will make them significantly better. They need to have Muzzin and Sandin as their third pair along with Reilly and Brodie as number 1 pair. That means trading for two Bonifield top 4.
I would suggest Chychrun and Oleksiak.
I'm not knowledgeable enough to put together a fair trade for these two so if someone wants to pick up this thread and put a solid trade together, please help.

20 Jan 2022 16:41:38
Muzzin wasn't even playing in the game. Not sure why the Muzzin hate is coming out now lol.

20 Jan 2022 18:20:43
Muzzin has been bad all season. He didn’t get better by not playing against the Rangers.

20 Jan 2022 20:31:23
He hasn't been horrible. He also hasn't been Muzzin level though. I think the bigger thing we learned is what's up with Holl. Muzzin isn't in top form and Holl collapses.

20 Jan 2022 09:11:14
Last night was hard to watch leafs had another great first period but when they came out for the second they looked like they just ran a bag skate no hustle or determination just a lot of standing around.

If anyone knows where Tavares went can you ask him to come back he has been a non factor in games since before Christmas. The fourth line same thing our fourth line needs to have a thing a purpose something cause they have been a line just taking up space if your not scoring then get physical look at the rangers their fourth line is physical and the leafs were scared to play the puck near the boards which ended up getting reaves two goals.

And for the love of god can we stop burying our goalies Campbell is clearly burnt out you have a healthy backup yea he hasn't been good but Campbell hasn't been great either or to what he was give the guy some rest he's played 95% of the games this year

20 Jan 2022 17:59:30
When we're blaming the fourth line for losses we have bigger problems.

20 Jan 2022 18:47:18
It’s not just them I’m just pointing out the fact that just because they are fourth liners doesn’t mean they get to float around out there we have ahl kids that can do that.

20 Jan 2022 20:33:50
@l1994 I agree they can do more for sure. Big issue with the fourth line to me is the lack of physical play.

Bring Clifford up and let him play with Simmonds and Spezza. Let's have a couple leaders and some scrappers.

I know you can't make guys fight anymore but you can still "encourage" a big hit or scrap to get the team going.

20 Jan 2022 23:44:08
A big hit can be as much as a game changer as a fight in my opinion last night the rangers fourth line had the leafs scared to make a play on the puck that’s what simmonds and Clifford need to do I’m kinda on the fence with both player at this point they don’t really bring anything to the team in my eyes Ritchie brings more.

21 Jan 2022 02:00:41
A big hit can totally change a game, I agree there. I know the game has changed a lot but I really miss watching Marchmont and Stevens type guys play.

The way they're playing isn't a matter of personal players (completely) in my opinion right now. A lot of it comes from coaching staff which are given certain direction from higher.

Ever wonder why Boston has this bad ass culture regardless of who they get? It's just something surrounding the team. That isn't here.