The Leafs just need to sit upon the sports throne of Toronto again... Im so sick of talking about the raptors and Jays with bandwagon fans.. I consider myself a bandwagon Raptors fan, but ive always kept an eye on them, same with the Jays... But now people watch it everynight and text me poop about Pillar or Lowry.. just (frank) off already, go back to watching the bachelorette and leave me to my sports.. at least when the Leafs are the talk of the town everything is normal again.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

The talk during the Burke was never positive...but they were a little more positive than the jays/raps only because they were both bad. However, the leafs sucked to.
Very different now.
The Raps have been in the playoffs that past three years, the Jays were the talk of the country last year.
If the Jays dont make the playoffs, the leafs will garner some more attention.
If the Jays do make the playoffs, the leafs will be back burner...as they should be...as they havent won sh!t yet.
Jays/Raps still the talk of the town....which is great. Its great to have a city with several of its sports team getting positive headlines


Could be wishfull thinking about a quick turnaround....we'l see.
- Fakepartofme

Well the Raps will always play 3rd fiddle to the Leafs and Jays.. their season is done so that chatter will die down.. Draft and Stamkos will dominate the headlines over the summer.

That's not true... they were the talk during the Burke era.. Jays and Raps sucked..

A likely scenario is the Jays don't make the playoffs and Leafs get off to a decent start... Matthews, Marner, Nylander, and Zaits will turn this team around fast.. They'll string a few wins together and beat Buf and Ott and discussion will be is this team legit?!?!?
- Arctic_AARDVARK

I agree - even fleeting success for the Leafs will push the Leafs to the top of foodchain. Jays and Raps support is phenomenal but the moment this town decides it can come out of the closet and support the Leafs again everything will fall back into is natural order.

I'm not sure those kids are going to 'turn things around fast' though. McDavid and Eichel couldn't push Buffalo and Edmonton that quickly. Quick change will require a Stamkos and some reliable goaltending.

The talk during the Burke was never positive...but they were a little more positive than the jays/raps only because they were both bad. However, the leafs sucked to.
Very different now.
The Raps have been in the playoffs that past three years, the Jays were the talk of the country last year.
If the Jays dont make the playoffs, the leafs will garner some more attention.
If the Jays do make the playoffs, the leafs will be back burner...as they should be...as they havent won sh!t yet.
Jays/Raps still the talk of the town....which is great. Its great to have a city with several of its sports team getting positive headlines


Could be wishfull thinking about a quick turnaround....we'l see.
- Fakepartofme

It's nothing but good if our sports teams are all doing well. With the Raps and Jays succeeding, it takes a bit of pressure and focus off the Leafs, which will be good for the kids moving forward as they grow into being e everyday NHLers.

so we know adding some size up front is imperative. JVR doesn't utilize his as effectively as possible so actually using your size would clearly be a need. Other than Stammer then, who should we target via trade/FA/Draft? And where do they fit?

The way I see the lineup as of now is this: (assuming we sign Stamkos)

JVR - Stamkos - Nylander
Kadri - Matthews - Soshnikov
Komorov - Bozak - Michalek
Holland - Laich - Hyman
Greening

Rielly - ?
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Hunwick - Carrick
Marincin

Bernier
Sparks

Shattenkirk shoots right. Think we could formulate a trade for him to play with Reilly. Speed for days in this lineup!
- steve362

Replace Holland with Brown, put Brown on the 3rd line and Michalek on the 4th

I agree - even fleeting success for the Leafs will push the Leafs to the top of foodchain. Jays and Raps support is phenomenal but the moment this town decides it can come out of the closet and support the Leafs again everything will fall back into is natural order.

I'm not sure those kids are going to 'turn things around fast' though. McDavid and Eichel couldn't push Buffalo and Edmonton that quickly. Quick change will require a Stamkos and some reliable goaltending.
- The Law

They need a goalie for sure... but their defence is better than those two teams.. also you cant compare Edmontons team to Toronto.. The Leafs have a way better staff and minors system.. I think you need to consider all factors instead of saying buf and edm couldnt do it so neither can the Leafs... JVR is our best player and he was hurt most of the season.. bernier was atrocious.. lost many 1 goal games.. Zaits will be a huge boost to the D core..

They need a goalie for sure... but their defence is better than those two teams.. also you cant compare Edmontons team to Toronto.. The Leafs have a way better staff and minors system.. I think you need to consider all factors instead of saying buf and edm couldnt do it so neither can the Leafs... JVR is our best player and he was hurt most of the season.. bernier was atrocious.. lost many 1 goal games.. Zaits will be a huge boost to the D core..
- Arctic_AARDVARK

This is a huge factor that can't be understated.

15 1 goal losses. Not counting OT or empty net 2-goal losses.

Add half of those points to the Leafs total and they are battling for a wild card.

Adding more offense and getting a competent goalie will do wonders

so we know adding some size up front is imperative. JVR doesn't utilize his as effectively as possible so actually using your size would clearly be a need. Other than Stammer then, who should we target via trade/FA/Draft? And where do they fit?

The way I see the lineup as of now is this: (assuming we sign Stamkos)

JVR - Stamkos - Nylander
Kadri - Matthews - Soshnikov
Komorov - Bozak - Michalek
Holland - Laich - Hyman
Greening

Rielly - ?
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Hunwick - Carrick
Marincin

Bernier
Sparks

Shattenkirk shoots right. Think we could formulate a trade for him to play with Reilly. Speed for days in this lineup!
- steve362

I hope we get Stamkos but will leave him off the lineup

JVR - Kadri - Marner
Komorov - Mathews - Brown
Soshnikov - Nylander - Michalek
Hyman - Laich - Greening


Lots of names to still figure out
- Lupul (will be tough to see him play and take one of the rookies spots in the lineup)
- Bozak
- Holland
Corrado

I hope we get Stamkos but will leave him off the lineup

JVR - Kadri - Marner
Komorov - Mathews - Brown
Soshnikov - Nylander - Michalek
Hyman - Laich - Greening


Lots of names to still figure out
- Lupul (will be tough to see him play and take one of the rookies spots in the lineup)
- Bozak
- Holland
Corrado
- BKups

I could see Corrado playing ahead of Marincin.

Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Corrado
Hunwick-Carrick
Marincin

As our D for example

I don't hate that defense. I think the top priority is still a goalie and I'm praying Lou grabs one at the draft

What a beautiful throw by Lawrie.

I hope we get Stamkos but will leave him off the lineup

JVR - Kadri - Marner
Komorov - Mathews - Brown
Soshnikov - Nylander - Michalek
Hyman - Laich - Greening


Lots of names to still figure out
- Lupul (will be tough to see him play and take one of the rookies spots in the lineup)
- Bozak
- Holland
Corrado
- BKups

I think we'll see Lupul and a pick get moved for a prospect or goalie..

They need a goalie for sure... but their defence is better than those two teams.. also you cant compare Edmontons team to Toronto.. The Leafs have a way better staff and minors system.. I think you need to consider all factors instead of saying buf and edm couldnt do it so neither can the Leafs... JVR is our best player and he was hurt most of the season.. bernier was atrocious.. lost many 1 goal games.. Zaits will be a huge boost to the D core..
- Arctic_AARDVARK

They were just the obvious comparisons but I'm not sure there are too many examples in hockey of teams jumping up the standings b/c of 18-20 yr olds. I could have used florida or the Isles, etc ..... I think hockey more than most sports takes time to build b/c it's 20+ guys rather than a handful.

They were just the obvious comparisons but I'm not sure there are too many examples in hockey of teams jumping up the standings b/c of 18-20 yr olds. I could have used florida or the Isles, etc ..... I think hockey more than most sports takes time to build b/c it's 20+ guys rather than a handful.
- The Law

Colorado added MacKinnon, and Landeskog before that, plus a couple of others and jumped a bunch.

Calgary did the same last year

The problem with that is the regression, though. It was lightning in a bottle and not necessarily indicative of improvement

They were just the obvious comparisons but I'm not sure there are too many examples in hockey of teams jumping up the standings b/c of 18-20 yr olds. I could have used florida or the Isles, etc ..... I think hockey more than most sports takes time to build b/c it's 20+ guys rather than a handful.
- The Law

And you're right it is.

Thats just a lot of factors.. theres been many examples of teams falling down the standings because of injuries.. Matthews is ready to step in and be a big help.. hes not one of those prospects who need to learn the pro game for a few seasons.. hopefully Marner is the same, although i suspect he will have a growing phase...

I was listening to 1050 this morning and they had Simmons on, I started to tune out but then they started talking about Marner.

Simmons said something along the lines that if Marner makes it next season but for whatever reason struggles in the NHL Lou will work his magic to send him down to the AHL. Basically saying that the hope is he will thrive but if he doesn't he could see him sent to the world juniors, then some sort of injury and then sent to the AHL for a conditioning stint.

I don't know if that's possible

I was listening to 1050 this morning and they had Simmons on, I started to tune out but then they started talking about Marner.

Simmons said something along the lines that if Marner makes it next season but for whatever reason struggles in the NHL Lou will work his magic to send him down to the AHL. Basically saying that the hope is he will thrive but if he doesn't he could see him sent to the world juniors, then some sort of injury and then sent to the AHL for a conditioning stint.

I don't know if that's possible
- BKups

That's usually 2 weeks.

The Leafs just need to sit upon the sports throne of Toronto again... Im so sick of talking about the raptors and Jays with bandwagon fans.. I consider myself a bandwagon Raptors fan, but ive always kept an eye on them, same with the Jays... But now people watch it everynight and text me poop about Pillar or Lowry.. just (frank) off already, go back to watching the bachelorette and leave me to my sports.. at least when the Leafs are the talk of the town everything is normal again.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

now you know how the rest of us feel.

Colorado added MacKinnon, and Landeskog before that, plus a couple of others and jumped a bunch.

Calgary did the same last year

The problem with that is the regression, though. It was lightning in a bottle and not necessarily indicative of improvement
- WingmanWillie

Av's big year was 13/14'. They had drafted Duchene and RoR in 09' and had Varlamov, Statsny and a pretty good core. Landaskog was a man-child too.

Calgary was a blip like you say. Plus there blue-line were the heros that year.

I'm just thinking it'll take some time unless they some experienced core players ..and a goalie.

And you're right it is.

Thats just a lot of factors.. theres been many examples of teams falling down the standings because of injuries.. Matthews is ready to step in and be a big help.. hes not one of those prospects who need to learn the pro game for a few seasons.. hopefully Marner is the same, although i suspect he will have a growing phase...
- Arctic_AARDVARK

This is another reason I hope they sign Stamkos

When you think of the leadership core, designed to help these kids become pros, would you rather them learning from the Robidas' and Hunwicks of the world? Or how about superstars in their prime, been captain and done it all?

I look at a guy like Kuznetsov in Washington. Flew under the radar a bit and really became quite the solid player. Does he do this with guys like Roman Polak and Komagod (no offense to Leo) being his point of inspiration? Or how much does having Ovie contribute to that?

I was listening to 1050 this morning and they had Simmons on, I started to tune out but then they started talking about Marner.

Simmons said something along the lines that if Marner makes it next season but for whatever reason struggles in the NHL Lou will work his magic to send him down to the AHL. Basically saying that the hope is he will thrive but if he doesn't he could see him sent to the world juniors, then some sort of injury and then sent to the AHL for a conditioning stint.

I don't know if that's possible
- BKups

What? No really, what?

now you know how the rest of us feel.
- bloatedmosquito

Irrelevant?

And you're right it is.

Thats just a lot of factors.. theres been many examples of teams falling down the standings because of injuries.. Matthews is ready to step in and be a big help.. hes not one of those prospects who need to learn the pro game for a few seasons.. hopefully Marner is the same, although i suspect he will have a growing phase...
- Arctic_AARDVARK

I agree on Matthews. He's different. He should have been a 15' draft pick and he's just played (and excelled) for a year of pro hockey. He's more ready than most. I think Marner will blow hot and cold this year and that's totally natural for a guy just getting his feet wet. Nylander's a wildcard in terms of how ready he is. He's had a year and a half in the AHL and he looks ready to contribute but I'm not ready to pen him in for big things just yet.

Irrelevant?
- systemtool

Sure, why not.

I agree on Matthews. He's different. He should have been a 15' draft pick and he's just played (and excelled) for a year of pro hockey. He's more ready than most. I think Marner will blow hot and cold this year and that's totally natural for a guy just getting his feet wet. Nylander's a wildcard in terms of how ready he is. He's had a year and a half in the AHL and he looks ready to contribute but I'm not ready to pen him in for big things just yet.
- The Law

I think Marner will surpass expectations.

I can't wait for all the tape-to-tape, wide open net goals Bozak is going to miss

Sure, why not.
- bloatedmosquito

Great! Cause I felt the Canucks were irrelevant but thought you might disagree. What a relief.