HockeyBuzz Hotstove: Hotstove: Are The Toronto Maple Leafs A Legitimate Contender In The East?

Re-post this article at game 65 and we'll let you know! Still December!

Considering the east is abysmal and they're one of the teams not actively trying to lose, yes I'd say they make the playoffs by default this year.

playoffs are a likely outcome this year.

round 1 winner is a possibility but totally depends on wether the Good leafs show up

Round 2 is extremely unlikely

Round 3 is not within the realm of realistic possibility

Round 4 is just fantasy stuff.

When the leafs play well they are as god as any team inhte east. unfortuneately they don't often play a full 60 minutes of perfect hockey.

They'll make the playoffs.

But will they win the cup? Of course not.

......



of course this gets posted the day after my work x-mas party



as for contender.. noooooooo

playoffs? maybe.. this team can collapse in heroic fashion

There is of course one way the Leafs can contend - trade the future to the Coyotes for Yandle and Hanzal.

I am not really great at reading sarcasm.... but this best be just that.

HockeyBuzz Hotstove: Hotstove: Are The Toronto Maple Leafs A Legitimate Contender In The East?
- ToddCordellVAN

no

It would hilariously soon after back-to-back blowouts for Leafs fans to be agreeing too strongly with this... Obviously, their recent run has shown they are not as bad as Leafs fans thought they were when they were racing to jump off bridges in November, but I'm pretty sure they're also not as good as their record over the last 10 games...

They'll probably make the playoffs, though, because really... Who currently outside the playoff picture looks better than the Leafs?

Edit: never mind, I was just repeating what French said

Lots of ebbs and flows throughout the season, as we've seen in the recent past with this team, lets see where they're at come Feb.

They will make the playoffs. How much noise they make is somewhat academic. Teams that go all the way have 2-3 playoff runs that are less than successful. If this young group has truly bought into Carlyle's system, and have left some of their bad habits behind, then we have a playoff team and NOT a contender. Some tweaks and 2-3 winning seasons should make this team a true contender.

Why u hafta poop on our party

round 2 here leafs come

I am not really great at reading sarcasm.... but this best be just that.
- BoxLoXZer

My point here is not sarcastic. The Leafs are sort of at a crossroads. On one hand, they don't have the top line C or D that is necessary to compete, but on the other hand they have a deep team that could probably compete if they had those pieces.

To further complicate things, the Leafs have finally built up their system to the point where guys like Kadri, Holland, Rielly, Gardiner, Percey,Holzer, Nylander, are starting to or are close to making a difference. Then there's the second tier of guys like Brown, Finn, Gauthier, Kozun and whoever they draft this year.

Thats not a bad group of prospects and guys under 24, but it does lack a true elite level talent. Couple this with the fact that these guys are all a couple years away at least from being impact players (outside of Kadri) and they currently have Kessel/Dion/Bernier/JVR in their primes, it might make sense to trade some kids or youth to try and win now, especially when the East is never likely to be this weak again (with so many bad teams/teams that might just not mind losing this year).

So if they like their recent run and think that augmenting it makes them a contender, it makes sense to go for it - and Keith Yandle is who they should target because the stats say he's one of the NHL's best defenseman. He plays in PHX so I'll forgive you if you don't know how good he is, but in Toronto he's a superstar on an Erik Karlsson level - he is just frankly an outstanding player and the most underrated player in the league in my opinion.

As for Hanzal, he'd give the Leafs size down the middle. He's only 27 he could still flourish.

The Leafs will regress because they don't have the talent and NO TEAM, EVER plays at their pace of the last 11 games for long.

They have had some recent luck in shootouts, and stellar goaltending. Neither are likely to continue at that level.

They will battle for one of the wildcards in the east.

A good season for this team would be to make the playoffs.
A great season for this team would be to win a playoff round.
An outstanding result would be to win 2 playoff rounds.

Anything else, would be shocking.

You don't need any "advanced" stats to conclude that.

They'll make the playoffs.

But will they win the cup? Of course not.
- BINGO!

I'm not even confident about them making the playoffs.

It would hilariously soon after back-to-back blowouts for Leafs fans to be agreeing too strongly with this... Obviously, their recent run has shown they are not as bad as Leafs fans thought they were when they were racing to jump off bridges in November, but I'm pretty sure they're also not as good as their record over the last 10 games...

They'll probably make the playoffs, though, because really... Who currently outside the playoff picture looks better than the Leafs?

Edit: never mind, I was just repeating what French said
- Mr_Clean

Pretty much sums it up.

They will make the playoffs. How much noise they make is somewhat academic. Teams that go all the way have 2-3 playoff runs that are less than successful. If this young group has truly bought into Carlyle's system, and have left some of their bad habits behind, then we have a playoff team and NOT a contender. Some tweaks and 2-3 winning seasons should make this team a true contender.
- teppy1954

"Carlyle's system" whatever it is, still has this team giving up too many shots. They need more than "tweeks" to become a true contender. They aren't in the ballpark yet.

This is a hot streak. It's fun, but we have seen it before.

My point here is not sarcastic. The Leafs are sort of at a crossroads. On one hand, they don't have the top line C or D that is necessary to compete, but on the other hand they have a deep team that could probably compete if they had those pieces.

To further complicate things, the Leafs have finally built up their system to the point where guys like Kadri, Holland, Rielly, Gardiner, Percey,Holzer, Nylander, are starting to or are close to making a difference. Then there's the second tier of guys like Brown, Finn, Gauthier, Kozun and whoever they draft this year.

Thats not a bad group of prospects and guys under 24, but it does lack a true elite level talent. Couple this with the fact that these guys are all a couple years away at least from being impact players (outside of Kadri) and they currently have Kessel/Dion/Bernier/JVR in their primes, it might make sense to trade some kids or youth to try and win now, especially when the East is never likely to be this weak again (with so many bad teams/teams that might just not mind losing this year).

So if they like their recent run and think that augmenting it makes them a contender, it makes sense to go for it - and Keith Yandle is who they should target because the stats say he's one of the NHL's best defenseman. He plays in PHX so I'll forgive you if you don't know how good he is, but in Toronto he's a superstar on an Erik Karlsson level - he is just frankly an outstanding player and the most underrated player in the league in my opinion.

As for Hanzal, he'd give the Leafs size down the middle. He's only 27 he could still flourish.
- James_Tanner

I'm all for Yandle and Hanzal. It just comes down to the cost. I don't think they are a Yandle and Hanzal away from being true contenders.

I'm all for Yandle and Hanzal. It just comes down to the cost. I don't think they are a Yandle and Hanzal away from being true contenders.
- Aetherial

Me neither, they'd still need a new coach and a little development from kadri, Holland, Reilly, Gardiner, but they are really close if they get those two.

But you wouldn't like the package Maloney would want for them. Which kind of leaves the team in a bad spot, because if they aren't willing to move Nylander, their first rounder and maybe even Rielly or JVR, they are going to have a hard time improving their roster.

It gets really freaking old seeing posts like this everytime the Leafs string together a couple wins. Give up planning the parade route and hell don't be so sure of the playoffs either.

A leadership group of Neon Dion and Phil "I'm a video game programmer" Kessel does not a winner make.

There are some decent pieces in Toronto, but all in all they aren't good enough. Hell one more save by Riemer and we'll have another goalie battle going on.

Please just stop with this and enjoy the fact your team has done better than they should and strung some wins together.

Me neither, they'd still need a new coach and a little development from kadri, Holland, Reilly, Gardiner, but they are really close if they get those two.

But you wouldn't like the package Maloney would want for them. Which kind of leaves the team in a bad spot, because if they aren't willing to move Nylander, their first rounder and maybe even Rielly or JVR, they are going to have a hard time improving their roster.
- James_Tanner

They are not gonna sell the farm for yandle and hanzal. Do those guys make us better than tampa or pitts? No

If the leafs are gonna trade away the future, they will get more than an offensive d-man and 3rd line center

It gets really freaking old seeing posts like this everytime the Leafs string together a couple wins. Give up planning the parade route and hell don't be so sure of the playoffs either.

A leadership group of Neon Dion and Phil "I'm a video game programmer" Kessel does not a winner make.

There are some decent pieces in Toronto, but all in all they aren't good enough. Hell one more save by Riemer and we'll have another goalie battle going on.

Please just stop with this and enjoy the fact your team has done better than they should and strung some wins together.
- Kaden

Do you realize the fans didnt write this article?

Tops in goals per game and over the past couple of weeks have had just as many games where they have outshot the opposition as being outshot. The depth in goal has been evident by them being able to steal a game when the team is not on top of their game. I find that we deal a lot with "they can't sustain this" and we have heard that shooting percentage thing for about 3 years, yet Babcock said that the Leafs are a team that can score in a hurry and do not need the puck that long in order to score. They have just beating 2 pretty tough teams and are on a run of beating 9 of the last 11 teams they have faced. That sounds pretty solid to me.

Me neither, they'd still need a new coach and a little development from kadri, Holland, Reilly, Gardiner, but they are really close if they get those two.

But you wouldn't like the package Maloney would want for them. Which kind of leaves the team in a bad spot, because if they aren't willing to move Nylander, their first rounder and maybe even Rielly or JVR, they are going to have a hard time improving their roster.
- James_Tanner

D

Tanner your an idiot! First of all....how could the leafs even fit Yandle or Hanzel without shipping back salary like Lupul or Clarkson......no GM not even JFJ would trade Reilly nylander or any of the above mentioned for What your suggesting. The Yotes suck....your knowledge of hockey is a joke.....and your constant suggestions of trading Yandle to toronto are just ridiculous. After reading your posts I truly believe you make everyone on this site a little dumber.