Nylander’s back baby, Matthews scored twice right? 🥰

Nylander’s back baby, Matthews scored twice right? 🥰
- Garnie

Correct, how are things this morning?

Correct
- bixll

I seen the second one, where Matthews caught the pass on his crest 😊

I seen the second one, where Matthews caught the pass on his crest 😊
- Garnie

First was a wrister from his new spot on the right side.

Babcock was impressed with harpur
- burn

take it with a grain of salt...

Babcock has said in the past he's impressed with Marincin as well.

did Babcock indicate he was impressed with Petan.. at how quickly Petan got back up the 237 times he was knocked down in the game yesterday? (yeeeesh)

take it with a grain of salt...

Babcock has said in the past he's impressed with Marincin as well.

did Babcock indicate he was impressed with Petan.. at how quickly Petan got back up the 237 times he was knocked down in the game yesterday? (yeeeesh)
- BorjeFan4Ever

Harpur got better as the game went on, but there's really no room for him once Dermott's back. I'd rather play Sandin for ~9 games of the 12 that Dermott's going to miss.

Nylander’s back baby, Matthews scored twice right? 🥰
- Garnie

Nylander's back to playing completely on the periphery... even the TSN guys were calling him out on it..

down the wing ... turn back - must have done it 5-6 times

Nylander's back to playing completely on the periphery... even the TSN guys were calling him out on it..

down the wing ... turn back - must have done it 5-6 times
- BorjeFan4Ever

pre-season. I very much doubt he wants to drive to the net and have an AHL nobody run him feet first into the boards.

take it with a grain of salt...

Babcock has said in the past he's impressed with Marincin as well.

did Babcock indicate he was impressed with Petan.. at how quickly Petan got back up the 237 times he was knocked down in the game yesterday? (yeeeesh)
- BorjeFan4Ever

Waste of space. Looks like Bambi out there

Harpur got better as the game went on, but there's really no room for him once Dermott's back. I'd rather play Sandin for ~9 games of the 12 that Dermott's going to miss.
- gravyface

Harpur didn't look bad to me.. and at least he was attempting to engage physically - which couldn't have been easy... he's playing against a bunch of guys he knows fairly well.... so good on him for that.

Thought Kivihalme looked pretty confident, made some good plays as did Sandin(who unfortunately got crunched a few times)... so did Liljegren.




I'm going to go way out on a limb here... I wouldn't be surprised to see the Leafs move Dermott, after he's returned from injury and a forward such as Johnsson out for a right shot D-man who has contract term.

This will happen to replace Ceci who will be going to Winnipeg as a replacement for the retiring Byfuglein.

Clearly, they have a bunch of options on the left side who could replace Dermott, who certainly has some trade value, and this assumes that Dubas resigns Muzzin at some point mid-season

Nylander's back to playing completely on the periphery... even the TSN guys were calling him out on it..

down the wing ... turn back - must have done it 5-6 times
- BorjeFan4Ever

Ya its so predictable. Drive the net buddy, do something different.
But its only his 1st game.
Give him 20 reg games to see if he changes it up.

Waste of space. Looks like Bambi out there
- walshyleafsfan

no kidding - this is very true... and the issue really is "do the guys that they have on the edge of making the team another bunch of offensive guys who aren't as good as Nylander, Kapanen, Marner, Johnsson, etc....

my impression is that guys like Petan, Bracco, Aberg, Brooks, Kossila, Luchuk, Der-ARGUCHINTSEV, Timashov, Trevor Moore (to a degree) are all very similar.... young smallish offensive oriented guys... very similar.

fortunately a few of the other guys who were brought in have at least a bit of size and grit... but no one seems to get excited about D'agastino, Shore, Gaudet etc... even though they represent at least an opportunity to be address the issues outside of the top 6.

the Leafs clearly have no intention at this point of adding grit or even a small amount of it to the top 6, yet it would seem that is exactly what they need to do in the bottom 6 as a result.

if they fill those bottom 6 roles exclusively or even largely with more little quick guys (e.g Petan) who can't make the top 6 on this team, what was the point of the roster turnover? It can't just be cheap guys regardless of their capabilities. But as we clearly saw last year at the end of the season and in the playoffs, you need more than just Top6 talent to win.

I wish they would stop wasting time with guys which are poorer versions of the what they already have (e.g Petan, Aberg, Brooks, Timashov) and legitimately give guys like Engvall, Gaudet, Marchment at least a chance to fill those lower 6 minutes.

Reminds me of the 92-93, 93-94 Leafs, each player when interviewed after those seasons with Pat Burns clearly knew their roles, and some of those non-Top6 guys were really big contributors particularly defensively. "You can't do what Doug Gilmour does... so find something else that needs to be done and do that"....

"You aren't taking Matthews or Tavares or Marner's spots"... so find something else

no kidding - this is very true... and the issue really is "do the guys that they have on the edge of making the team another bunch of offensive guys who aren't as good as Nylander, Kapanen, Marner, Johnsson, etc....

my impression is that guys like Petan, Bracco, Aberg, Brooks, Kossila, Luchuk, Der-ARGUCHINTSEV, Timashov, Trevor Moore (to a degree) are all very similar.... young smallish offensive oriented guys... very similar.

fortunately a few of the other guys who were brought in have at least a bit of size and grit... but no one seems to get excited about D'agastino, Shore, Gaudet etc... even though they represent at least an opportunity to be address the issues outside of the top 6.

the Leafs clearly have no intention at this point of adding grit or even a small amount of it to the top 6, yet it would seem that is exactly what they need to do in the bottom 6 as a result.

if they fill those bottom 6 roles exclusively or even largely with more little quick guys (e.g Petan) who can't make the top 6 on this team, what was the point of the roster turnover? It can't just be cheap guys regardless of their capabilities. But as we clearly saw last year at the end of the season and in the playoffs, you need more than just Top6 talent to win.

I wish they would stop wasting time with guys which are poorer versions of the what they already have (e.g Petan, Aberg, Brooks, Timashov) and legitimately give guys like Engvall, Gaudet, Marchment at least a chance to fill those lower 6 minutes.

Reminds me of the 92-93, 93-94 Leafs, each player when interviewed after those seasons with Pat Burns clearly knew their roles, and some of those non-Top6 guys were really big contributors particularly defensively. "You can't do what Doug Gilmour does... so find something else that needs to be done and do that"....

"You aren't taking Matthews or Tavares or Marner's spots"... so find something else
- BorjeFan4Ever

Yup. They want nothing to do with grit or guys who play big. If anything they'll probably try to triple down and become a tad more smaller and softer.

It is what it is, but it's a fruitless exercise. We'll go through a few more years before someone actually thinks a bit of grit, size, toughness, grinding mentality would be a good idea.

Until then, we'll keep trying to search for a back up making pennies, and roll out a poop bottom pair and a not so great 4th line.

no kidding - this is very true... and the issue really is "do the guys that they have on the edge of making the team another bunch of offensive guys who aren't as good as Nylander, Kapanen, Marner, Johnsson, etc....

my impression is that guys like Petan, Bracco, Aberg, Brooks, Kossila, Luchuk, Der-ARGUCHINTSEV, Timashov, Trevor Moore (to a degree) are all very similar.... young smallish offensive oriented guys... very similar.

fortunately a few of the other guys who were brought in have at least a bit of size and grit... but no one seems to get excited about D'agastino, Shore, Gaudet etc... even though they represent at least an opportunity to be address the issues outside of the top 6.

the Leafs clearly have no intention at this point of adding grit or even a small amount of it to the top 6, yet it would seem that is exactly what they need to do in the bottom 6 as a result.

if they fill those bottom 6 roles exclusively or even largely with more little quick guys (e.g Petan) who can't make the top 6 on this team, what was the point of the roster turnover? It can't just be cheap guys regardless of their capabilities. But as we clearly saw last year at the end of the season and in the playoffs, you need more than just Top6 talent to win.

I wish they would stop wasting time with guys which are poorer versions of the what they already have (e.g Petan, Aberg, Brooks, Timashov) and legitimately give guys like Engvall, Gaudet, Marchment at least a chance to fill those lower 6 minutes.

Reminds me of the 92-93, 93-94 Leafs, each player when interviewed after those seasons with Pat Burns clearly knew their roles, and some of those non-Top6 guys were really big contributors particularly defensively. "You can't do what Doug Gilmour does... so find something else that needs to be done and do that"....

"You aren't taking Matthews or Tavares or Marner's spots"... so find something else
- BorjeFan4Ever

Burns was a great coach, but we are now in an era where the players don't have the same amount of respect for coaches.. Wendel and Dougie would run through a fire for Burns.. I don't think anyone on this roster is willing to do that for Babcock.

I recall an interview Dougie did, and he said;
"Things were different back then, you would do whatever you were asked, just to stay in the league, and now players are asking why? Why? do I need to do that?"

Harpur didn't look bad to me.. and at least he was attempting to engage physically - which couldn't have been easy... he's playing against a bunch of guys he knows fairly well.... so good on him for that.

Thought Kivihalme looked pretty confident, made some good plays as did Sandin(who unfortunately got crunched a few times)... so did Liljegren.




I'm going to go way out on a limb here... I wouldn't be surprised to see the Leafs move Dermott, after he's returned from injury and a forward such as Johnsson out for a right shot D-man who has contract term.

This will happen to replace Ceci who will be going to Winnipeg as a replacement for the retiring Byfuglein.

Clearly, they have a bunch of options on the left side who could replace Dermott, who certainly has some trade value, and this assumes that Dubas resigns Muzzin at some point mid-season
- BorjeFan4Ever

I would be exteremely surprised to see Dermott moved. He is just scratching the surface of his potential IMO. Would be a Leafs of old move IMO.

Yup. They want nothing to do with grit or guys who play big. If anything they'll probably try to triple down and become a tad more smaller and softer.

It is what it is, but it's a fruitless exercise. We'll go through a few more years before someone actually thinks a bit of grit, size, toughness, grinding mentality would be a good idea.

Until then, we'll keep trying to search for a back up making pennies, and roll out a poop bottom pair and a not so great 4th line.
- walshyleafsfan

Dubas is trying something different, for now at least.. I think another early playoff exit and then we will see big changes.

I would also be giving guys like Marchment and Engvall a chance, they can play a physical game

Yup. They want nothing to do with grit or guys who play big. If anything they'll probably try to triple down and become a tad more smaller and softer.

It is what it is, but it's a fruitless exercise. We'll go through a few more years before someone actually thinks a bit of grit, size, toughness, grinding mentality would be a good idea.

Until then, we'll keep trying to search for a back up making pennies, and roll out a poop bottom pair and a not so great 4th line.
- walshyleafsfan

Yeah, I'm not even looking for fighters really, just people who come away with the puck out of the corner more than 50% of the time.

It would be nice if Babcock would show Spezza just a bit of respect. Dissing him in the media shows that this was not his choice for a forth line centre. There are times I wish he would realize that his knees don't quite hit the table. Not sure he's the right coach/leader for this team.

Yup. They want nothing to do with grit or guys who play big. If anything they'll probably try to triple down and become a tad more smaller and softer.

It is what it is, but it's a fruitless exercise. We'll go through a few more years before someone actually thinks a bit of grit, size, toughness, grinding mentality would be a good idea.

Until then, we'll keep trying to search for a back up making pennies, and roll out a poop bottom pair and a not so great 4th line.
- walshyleafsfan

Im not sure I agree here. I just dont think they want to sacrafice skill for grit. If a player is available to meet both theyll go for it, but there just arent a bunch available. I am kind of surprised they didnt at least inquire into a player like McQuaid though, even though he might be a 6/7.

IMO opinion they are find for forwards, is their D that needs a bit more grit to deal with the other team.

Burns was a great coach, but we are now in an era where the players don't have the same amount of respect for coaches.. Wendel and Dougie would run through a fire for Burns.. I don't think anyone on this roster is willing to do that for Babcock.

I recall an interview Dougie did, and he said;
"Things were different back then, you would do whatever you were asked, just to stay in the league, and now players are asking why? Why? do I need to do that?"
- PatC80

that's kind of exactly the point... the Top6 guys currently don't have to... but the current slated bottom 6 better 'go thru hell" if that's what the coach asks... they are all playing for careers or contracts at this point..

I just think its unrealistic to expect a guy who's been the offensive star on his junior club to all of sudden become Guy Carbonneau...

the Leafs don't need a 3rd line that looks exactly like their 2nd line or a 4th line that mimics their 2nd line just worse.

give those guys an identity and ownership.

"kill the penalties"
"don't get scored on"
"hit the oppositions skill guys"

I'm sure that Nic Petan is a skilled player... but he isn't the name that comes to mind when looking at the three tasks described above.

Im not sure I agree here. I just dont think they want to sacrafice skill for grit. If a player is available to meet both theyll go for it, but there just arent a bunch available. I am kind of surprised they didnt at least inquire into a player like McQuaid though, even though he might be a 6/7.

IMO opinion they are find for forwards, is their D that needs a bit more grit to deal with the other team.
- Archaic

Its been a soft team top to bottom but they have skill.
Great for regular season. Hasnt worked in the playoffs yet.
But we'll see.
Plus its only game 2 of the preseason.
Give the team 20 reg games and then we'll judge if they are a little grittier.

https://twitter.com/Brady...tatus/1174501843851890688

https://twitter.com/BradyTrett/status/1174501843851890688
- PatC80

that's kind of exactly the point... the Top6 guys currently don't have to... but the current slated bottom 6 better 'go thru hell" if that's what the coach asks... they are all playing for careers or contracts at this point..

I just think its unrealistic to expect a guy who's been the offensive star on his junior club to all of sudden become Guy Carbonneau...

the Leafs don't need a 3rd line that looks exactly like their 2nd line or a 4th line that mimics their 2nd line just worse.

give those guys an identity and ownership.

"kill the penalties"
"don't get scored on"
"hit the oppositions skill guys"

I'm sure that Nic Petan is a skilled player... but he isn't the name that comes to mind when looking at the three tasks described above.
- BorjeFan4Ever

I hear ya. But in this nhl you need skill on all 4 lines. Thats what dubie is trying to do. Hes also trying to add skill and size....spezza. lol

that's kind of exactly the point... the Top6 guys currently don't have to... but the current slated bottom 6 better 'go thru hell" if that's what the coach asks... they are all playing for careers or contracts at this point..

I just think its unrealistic to expect a guy who's been the offensive star on his junior club to all of sudden become Guy Carbonneau...

the Leafs don't need a 3rd line that looks exactly like their 2nd line or a 4th line that mimics their 2nd line just worse.

give those guys an identity and ownership.

"kill the penalties"
"don't get scored on"
"hit the oppositions skill guys"

I'm sure that Nic Petan is a skilled player... but he isn't the name that comes to mind when looking at the three tasks described above.
- BorjeFan4Ever

I think we need a modern version of the Osborne-Zezel-Berg line..