Leafs talk 2

05 Dec 2023 16:56:05
Everybody wants to win now. This team could pull it off with Tenev trade soon then add ing more depth pieces at deadline

But if you hold your top prospects and I'm including Robertson Knies and Liljegren. This team is stronger next year and get stronger as the young talent get better each year.

I'm very unsure if Leafs want Domi or Bertuzzi back. Maybe you resign Domi but not more than three million on max 3 year deal I prefer 2 years with him. Bertuzzi is ok but at 6 million I want much more offence than he brings but at playoff time he could do well jury out on Tyler .

Leafs are just a lot better next year and your second waive of talent below will bring more than 1 Cup . Four good cheap players that outperform their contracts are already here but 4 more are coming next season. That's basically 8 ELC contracts a few will make a little more but Liljegren next contact may be short 2 years but it will be team friendly

Matthews
Nylander
Marner
Reilly
Tavaras next contract will be Leaf friendly. 4 to 6 million depending on how many years Tavaras wants

Hildeby
Woll
Cowan
Minten
Robertson
Knies
Liljegren
Niemela

05 Dec 2023 17:48:04
You have a lot more faith in Hildebeast, Topi, Lilly, and Robertson than I do.

Although Minten and Cowen look good, it's still unknown.

05 Dec 2023 19:27:23
Tavares next deal better be closer to 3 or else let him walk the leafs have found a few prospects who have done well in junior but it’s not the nhl if you think you can just throw in some young guys and it’s gonna work you will be disappointed I mean liljgren took 3-4 years to make the jump Robertson took a few years although injuries played a part I don’t see any leafs prospects being nhl ready next year.

05 Dec 2023 19:56:40
@Goat he won't be getting 3 lol. He's still producing about 30 goals and 80pts. He can easily ask for 6+, even at his age.

05 Dec 2023 22:03:14
3 Goat? This guy is in great shape and hasn’t lost a step. If he signs for 6M it’s cause he is taking a hometown deal.

04 Dec 2023 16:54:02
Leafs need to be careful that they don’t miss the boat. Watch for Boston to swoop in and get Hanifan or Tanev. Buffalo could get whichever one Boston doesn’t get. Leafs need an answer on Klingberg sooner than later. I suspect they are trying to convince him he’s done for the year and that’s the hold up.
I still like a deal built around Nylander, Samsonov, Minten for Konecny, Walker and Hart.

04 Dec 2023 19:25:37
Boston is definitely doing to load up, but I more see Buffalo being sellers.

Tampa may decide this is their last chance as well, and go hard for a stud D.

04 Dec 2023 23:14:58
Personally I would pass on Tanev if we'd be looking at trading Willy to acquire Konecny. I would focus on Willy for Konecny and Walker, then I would turn my attention to Hanifin and with a $7mil extension. that way we replace some of what Willy does and adds compete which he does not always do. if we could have that and then have a left side that looks like this, Rielly, Hanifin and McCabe, and ad Walker and then maybe a Peeke from Columbus i don't think we need Hart if our D improves. Hanifin can although not the physical D we need but he can make those plays to our offense. you get the toughness from Peeke, Walker and McCabe.

05 Dec 2023 04:48:57
@Loxley I like Tanev, but he does come with risks.

You know I'm all-in on Konecny as well.

05 Dec 2023 15:32:59
@LL i know you are. lol. and that is why i say go for Konecny deal and then get a better D that can add some of offense to get the puck to our top guys. take 1 "star" player out add t2 really good players in to areas of need.

04 Dec 2023 14:16:33
Are the leafs better to stay away from tanev and look for a better deal? Seems like conroy is gonna do tree no favours in a trade..

Tanev is a player they could probably resign but he is another guy with a long list of injury history he's 33 idk how much game he has left. I was all for him when zadorov was included but now that he's not to me it doesn't make much sense.

04 Dec 2023 19:26:10
I'd take Tanev over Zadorov anytime, but I'd avoid resigning Tanev unless it's 1-2 years.

04 Dec 2023 23:16:52
Why does no one talk about Hanifin to Leafs? That's who I would get. have him and Rielly as offense on first to D lines, then add Walker and Peeke to go along with Brodie for RD and McCabe also adds physical play.

05 Dec 2023 00:25:05
@LL I agree Tanev has more tools but he also has hard miles I think there’s better options

@loxey unless Hanifin agrees on a contract I wouldn’t put the assets there leafs need to stay away from overpriced rentals look at what happened this offseason.

05 Dec 2023 03:24:33
@Loxley Hanafin is a LHD isn't he? I assume that's why.

05 Dec 2023 14:23:50
I think with Hanafin it is the cost to acquire him that scares many off.

05 Dec 2023 15:36:53
@Goat. I get that, but talk is he wanted to extend before the flames shut it all down, so any trade would have to be where he signs first, might cost a bit more but get a much younger better player. Tanev worries me with his age and health. we can find cheaper shut down tough guys to play on right D like Schenn played with Rielly last year

@LL yes he is a LD, but i'd very happy with a D lineup like this, that left side looks set for a while and with Brodie off the books next yera it's just a couple extra million to have hanifin

Rielly. Brodie
Hanifin. Walker
McCabe. Peeke
Giordano.

05 Dec 2023 19:29:32
@loxey Hanifin shut down negotiations as soon as rubbish went sideways as a fan I would hope there would be an extension in place before the trade is made.

05 Dec 2023 23:40:56
@goat. rumor I heard is Hanifin wanted to renew. anyway any leaf trade involving him would require a sign and trade.

03 Dec 2023 11:41:30
WTF was the point of playing Reaves last night? As usual he sat on the bench when the game was on the line. Leafs don’t have the depth to have an enforcer who plays 5 minutes a night. Find someone with toughness who can play the game.

03 Dec 2023 15:07:19
I agree. Seems pointless, I feel bad for him too. What’s the point of dressing him for 4-5 shifts. I agree with you CK. If you don’t trust him to play the full game then dress someone you can. I’m sure Reaves would rather be in the press box instead of playing that embarrassing amount of minutes. How is he gonna get any confidence this way. Getting the Wayne Simmons treatment. I said this on another thread but Nylander looked so bad yesterday. Gives the puck away and no effort to get it back. Keeps playing like that and he is going to talk himself back down in the 8-9M range.

03 Dec 2023 18:51:37
Although many think I am crazy on this, it is why I said you play him a few shifts a game on offensive zone starts in the top 6. When Reaves has been deployed with mostly offensive zone starts throughout his career, most of the time he comes in around even 5on5 and puts up 10-20 points. Vegas gave him mostly offensive starts and about 10 mins a night. How is he supposed to have any impact physically or get into the flow of the games playing 5-6 mins?
Knies is struggling a bit right now to produce and has a couple of defensive mental lapses a game. Bertuzzi has no points since they switched up the lines.
You could even tell Reaves if the Leafs win the draw on an offensive faceoff, go to the net and create some havoc. If we lose the draw and it's into your corner, play the body and go dig for it. If they lose the draw clean and it looks like a breakout, hustle to the bench for a change. Matthews, Marner, Nylander and JT should be talented enough to have Reaves on their line for a shift or two a game in the offensive zone and still produce.

03 Dec 2023 19:34:32
@RLF biggest issue with Reaves is the team around him imo.

He has succeeded starting in the O-zone and grinding. He doesn't have the speed to keep up with anyone on this team as it's currently constructed which really doesn't help him.

03 Dec 2023 21:51:49
LL. Has he ever really had the speed to keep up?

To me, this is about a coach that relies too heavily on the top 6. Do something a little different.

03 Dec 2023 23:34:06
@RLF no, but the Leafs like to play end to end more than most.

04 Dec 2023 00:36:29
Hence the offensive zone starts. To me it makes more sense to do my idea than stapling him to the bench.

04 Dec 2023 02:00:30
@RLF I don't understand stapling him to the bench either.

Why even have him on the team at that point?

04 Dec 2023 12:34:26
@LL. Exactly. Reaves sits for great lengths of time and then Keefe throws him out for a shift and he doesn't do much and people get mad at Reaves. What does anyone expect really? After sitting on a bench for 15 real minutes to expect him to jump over the boards with lots of energy and bang and crash doesn't seem reasonable.

03 Dec 2023 05:29:09
Sens are at the bottom of the standings and not looking good to make the playoffs. What would it take to get Chychrun or is it not attainable. Just looking for discussion.

03 Dec 2023 07:39:05
Too much.

I didn't want him when he was a yote and I don't want him now.

04 Dec 2023 12:36:28
The injury history on Chyc is just to scary to give up valuable assets for. imo.

01 Dec 2023 20:53:13
Apparently, Kyper says that Calgary upper management isn't too keen on doing Tre any favors.
Why is Calgary so petty, if this is true? I thought both parties left on good terms. Am I wrong?

01 Dec 2023 21:03:07
Someone just posted this fr9m another site:

From the president of hockey operations

Today is not a good day for me, ” Maloney said, holding back tears. “It’s not. The Stanley Cup playoffs start tonight and we’re not playing. No. 2. Brad Treliving is a good friend, and I think a very good hockey man. He left us, for his reasons. But we move on. ”

On Monday, the Flames and Treliving announced the decision to mutually part ways ahead of his contract’s expiration on June 30. Maloney revealed that Treliving told him Wednesday morning before the Flames’ last regular season game against the San Jose Sharks that he wasn’t likely to return.

“I thought for sure that he would re-sign, ” Maloney said.

This info makes me believe that it really wasn't a mutual split. So perhaps Calgary upper management is still bitter. Who knows?

01 Dec 2023 21:40:41
Two things on the subject:

1.Kyper isn't my favourite source. Can't stand the guy.

2. It's hard to say how execs feel. They aren't going to say "we hate tree now, screw that guy" when he leaves.

01 Dec 2023 23:07:23
@LL agreed on Kyper. I've never even watched 5 minutes of his show, ever.
It's just something I've seen, which probably has no merit.
Hopefully Tre can get Tanev. He's still atop 4 Dman who has very good defensive metrics. And I'm sure we'd be able to resign him at a decent cap hit moving forward. Only worry is his age, 34 in a couple of weeks, so hopefully not too much regression.

02 Dec 2023 00:22:12
@Tags I like Tanev as well, it's his injury history I find scary. Is he going to be available for the playoffs? It's a toss up.

02 Dec 2023 03:07:13
@LL he definitely has injury history, but the majority of his injuries were prior to the 2019 season. He's played all games in 3 of the last 4 seasons, last year he missed 17 games and so far healthy this year.
I get his age is another issue going forward, but I would definitely take a flyer on him. He's been posting excellent defensive metrics.

02 Dec 2023 03:28:09
@Tags when he's healthy, he's a monster on the backend, no argument here. I wouldn't sign him longterm, and I would like to have him, I just might say hold him out until playoffs lol.

02 Dec 2023 14:11:30
Hard to say what is going to happen. I am not sure what Tree is really thinking. I just speculate. Dubas was pretty easy to predict. He wanted skill over grit for the regular season and then started trading whatever picks he had left at the TDL to get experience with grit. Flawed formula, but it was what it was.

01 Dec 2023 03:32:35
Nylander looked like the old Nylander tonight. And that’s not a good thing. Floating around, trying to poke the puck away from opponents instead of skating hard.

01 Dec 2023 18:34:08
and that's my issue with Willy. his lazy and uninterested attitude. i don't wanna get into an 8 year deal for 11mil.

01 Dec 2023 18:57:05
That's exactly why we all said don't sign him.

As Loxley said, we've all seen this song and dance enough over the years.

I'm getting kind of tired of Mitchy and Auston as well tbh. The only player you can count on giving an effort every night is Mo. The guy that was passed over foe captain, and has been here his entire career.

01 Dec 2023 19:40:12
Yes, Willy is slowly tailing off. Hopefully just a short term thing. I am tired of Marner's whining more than anything. Matthews can't be replaced though imo. Yes, Mo seems to give his all most nights, but I have JT in that category as well.
Until Keefe starts benching poor play and sends a message that poor play or effort is not tolerated, nothing is likely to change.
Keefe coaches like a guy afraid to be fired, instead of one that coaches to win.

01 Dec 2023 22:19:04
willy is Kessel 2.0 they used to say kesselhad the perfect attitude and swagger if not listening to the outside noise. much like they say about willy. but the other resemblance they hate is they march to the beat of their own drum. they play gard when they want too.

@LL. I agree on mithcy needing to go with willy. but like RLF said would be tough to get rid of Matthews. maybe if we got rid of his two buddies it might change his ways.

@LL I know you said you're not a fan of kyper and I get that in part. I don't mind him just have to really filter what he says. the one guy I really like is Jay Rosshill he really hit the nail on the head that we can't win win these streaky high end forwards. porous defense and shaky goaltending.

02 Dec 2023 14:12:50
@Loxley. I think it would help Matthews to move his two buddies. Hard to have a pack mentality when the the leaders of the pack don't want to engage.

02 Dec 2023 15:24:59
@Loxley never paid attention to Rosehill because of the podcast he requests lol. Only thing worse than Kyper is SDPN.

Mathews has a bit of the Willy no effort in him. He's the franchise player you really can't move, but I get tired of his lack of effort as well.

02 Dec 2023 20:20:41
@LL what podcast does rosehill request?

@RLF. agreed. these 3 live in there wn little dabtasy world and run the show. time to break them up.

30 Nov 2023 23:27:05
Zadorov went for a 3rd and 5th, to a team in division?

Tree must have been willing to give up at least that much.

Really surprised by that trade.

01 Dec 2023 04:15:32
@LL seems like a steal for Vancouver. I'm not huge on Zadorov, but for that price I would have liked the Leafs to get him.
I'm thinking that the Leafs hands may still be tied until they get confirmation on Klingberg?

01 Dec 2023 04:52:14
@Tags that's all I could think of as well. Maybe he wanted retention and Conroy said no.

I'm not super high on Zadorov either. He's a bottom pairing D that can barely play top 4 if need be, but for that price I would have been elated.

01 Dec 2023 09:50:44
To me it seems like conroy stiff armed tree because if that was the price I’m sure he would be a leaf. But I also think klingberg kinda screwed the leafs because they can’t do anything until he lets the leafs know what he’s doing with his injury…. All in all I think there’s been all this hype around the flames and leafs and I don’t think tree gets any of them and we end up with lybushkin.

01 Dec 2023 12:49:19
For that price, you would assume Tree would beat it. No definite on Klingberg I am sure had a lot to do with it. Tree may have said can you hold off until I have confirmation on Klingebrg and Conroy said no because injuries can happen.

Also, like I said before, maybe Tree doesn't see this as the year he would spend assets on rentals. Maybe he wants guys with term. If he has Zadorov in his sights, he may just wait until free agency next summer and it costs him no assets.

30 Nov 2023 23:24:02
Have we all noticed the complete lack of care Mathews is displaying lately? Reminding me a lot of the end of Babs reign. Kaskisuo got his first shot in net and the entire team decided they'd rather sit in the dressing room than take the ice and waited for the game to end. Babs got angrier, the team cared less.

We're now starting to see some serious frustration from Keefe. The bench minors must have his blood pressure up alone. It's just lazy most of the time from everyone.

I know the team is winning, and most of us agree Keefe needs to go, but it looks like this season is lost if playoffs start with Sheldon behind the bench.

01 Dec 2023 12:50:14
He lacks jump. Is he injured again?

30 Nov 2023 14:54:46
Sorry last post. But is it not time to move up Gregor? He is doing a lot more than Jarnkrok with a lot less ice time (at least 5 on 5). I know it won’t happen but would love to see a major line mix up.

Bertuzzi Tavares Nylander - was working well

Knies. Matthews Gregor - speed and tough on pucks, less fancy rubbish and more pucks in deep.

Robertson Domi Marner - I think there would be real chemistry on this line making 3 tough offensive lines

Steeves Kampf Jarnkrok - I think once Steeves gets his chance, they won’t want to send him back down. They can play Teaves sparingly when opposition has tough guys.

30 Nov 2023 16:08:09
I'm with you on Gregor. Liked what he's doing since game one.

30 Nov 2023 17:11:23
I have no problem giving Gregor more ice time, but reducing Jarnkrok to me makes no sense. Robertson has 1 point in his last 5 games while being a -3 over that time at even. Jarnkrok has 2 points in the last 3 games and a +2 at even. Sit Robertson and hopefully it puts a spark under him and play McMann.
Put Marner with Domi and Jarnkrok.

30 Nov 2023 18:08:42
I think Robertson could be a big piece to our secondary scoring. Seems like the more we have trouble scoring the less everyone but the rope two lines play. I think when that line is steady in rotation, they have been good. I think adding Marner with Domi and Robertson could help boost all 3 lines. IMO.

30 Nov 2023 18:16:47
@RLF isn't this what Robwrtson always does? Comes in and scores like a superstar for 3 games, then falls off a cliff.

I'm with you there.

Gregor has 3g and 4 points on the fourth line so far. If he's producing at a 20 or so pts pace and 12 goals, he needs to be given more ice time.

30 Nov 2023 19:39:08
@Clarky I'm not sure Marner with Domi and Robertson works. They'll get bullied off the puck constantly and have only one shooter. Domi and Mitchy have two od the ugliest shots I've ever seen.

30 Nov 2023 19:50:45
Clarky. IMO-Robertson should be in the minors playing tons of minutes on the top lines and hopefully being a dominate AHL player. If he can, what a great call-up come playoff time. He always comes out hard and tails off. He even did that in the minors this year. He needs to learn to be more consistent.
I say Jarnkrok should be there because Jarnkrok has a very underrated shot and is much better defensively than Robertson. Domi with Jarnkrok and Marner could be a line that scores, but also play a solid defensive game.

LL. Yep. I posted it when they called him up. I tried to tell weathermackin that when he was going on about Robertson, but he insisted again that Robertson will score 30 and work his way into the top 6. He had 4 points in his first 4 games and a +2. He has 1 point in his last 5 games and a -3. He is inconsistent. Always has been as a pro.

30 Nov 2023 20:48:04
I agree with the inconsistencies but the last few games, Keefe has been relying on his top two lines heavily, plus special teams on top. Doesn’t seem like they are playing much especially if the game is tight. The last couple games we have played teams that rolls 4 lines because their coach trusts them. These guys barely see the 3rd period if the game is close. Keefe runs those top two lines into the ground to where they have nothing left by end of the game or OT.

30 Nov 2023 21:03:05
Lather, rinse, repeat
Nothing changes with Keefe in charge, time for change.

30 Nov 2023 21:45:09
@Clark not sure I blame Keefe most nights. Robertson is very hit or miss and Domi+Robertson is a train wreck defensively.

30 Nov 2023 14:07:40
Prediction tonight:
Knies 2 goals one assist. Leafs win 5-2 or 5-1 depends if it was double tapped. Any other predictions? Winner gets 5 Leaf bucks.