A+. Lot of wisdom in this comment.

There is a huge gap between those who think skill and statistical profiles alone can help you assemble a winning team. There are others who place a premium on character and believe the will and desire to win is the essential leadership ingredient for a championship contender.
- spatso

Yeah, nobody in the organization understands this.

Does the derp ever end with you?

No sid

Get killed 6-1

No Malkin
Get killed 5-2.

Turn this around boys.

Dubas doesn’t have the courage to do either something bold to give the leafs a real chance against Boston or Tampa, or realize his team is currently playoff inferior and sell off assets for the future.
- malcolmthornton

this is such bullpoop.
Dubas has made several moves to try to address the known issues.

Also TB and Boston have been buzzsaws the last 2 seasons, Dubas/Keefe probably see that the Leafs have not matured and grown to the level of those 2 teams yet. And thats fine, you have to go through ups and downs to get to the ultimate goal. If it doesnt work this season, they go again and again.. Just like Boston and TB have done for years

Trading jt is not the answer.
I think the kids just need to mature.
- Fakepartofme

But trading Nylander is....

Disagree. He is the piece to move. They kept him over Kadri, and it has handcuffed this team.
- fifty__missions

Agree Leafs should move Nylander.
Who are we getting for him though?

Ya ya we get it, you blame it all on freddy.
He needs to better for sure

Freddy wasnt the issue last night at all though.
- Fakepartofme

right in my post I mention the team D.

Also, like last night I am looking at the season, I dont care about 1 game samples.
The pens are one of the Elite teams, might be the best in the League. i didnt expect a win last night.

Agree Leafs should move Nylander.
Who are we getting for him though?
- plantheparade

Good question. GM is paid good $ to do that job, though.

Sweet. So turn it into a 1 line team and trade away the centre depth that was missed for so long here.

Trade Nylander for a dman - sure. Depending on the dman. You don't go trading the guy you just named captain. The guy who not even 2 years ago was hailed as the greatest free agent signing ever.

Edit: A massive failure that is still in a playoff spot.
- Kinger34

Tavares for captain was a mistake.... nylander is soft as (frank) and you already have soft with marner and matthews....obviously you dont see the problem here which is THE TEAM IS TOO (frank)ING SOFT

But trading Nylander is....
- fifty__missions

Has to be a great young D coming back.

He wont be traded this season for sure.

Most of the team is soft.
Overall, not much intensity
Pitts finished every check, leafs simply couldnt respond.
They can only play one way.
- Fakepartofme

Yes.

I guess we just have to hope that one day it dawns on them and the give-a-poop switch gets flipped.

I don't know what it will take. So far it seems this team has a limitless capacity to be embarrassed and not care.

And anybody who thinks Keefe and Dubas don't believe that to be true isn't paying attention.

If Keefe and Dubas fail it's because the system they believe in failed. The concept of highly skilled players outscoring teams isn't mutually exclusive from the concept of a highly competitive team that battles.

Keefe has spoken of the need to improve the compete, maturity, urgency, etc.. over and over again. This narrative that they don't care about it is naive.
- The Law

I would caution here that the system that they want to place in effect is not one that is easily adapted to. It relies on asking the forwards to play a defensive role, which means they need to place aside their instincts and perform a role that they have spent most of their life not playing. The forward is not only covering for the D-Man at the point as in traditional roles, but the forward is asked to make reliable defensive decisions as to when to pinch, when to flex back, how to read your partner, and so on - things that guys who have playing D for years don't always do that well.

Can be employed to effect? Probably. But expecting it to be employed without a lot of bumps along the way is probably also naive. There are going to be players who are simply not smart enough or aware enough to be inserted into the system.

Tavares for captain was a mistake.... nylander is soft as (frank) and you already have soft with marner and matthews....obviously you dont see the problem here which is THE TEAM IS TOO (frank)ING SOFT
- CarlitoBrigante

Or doesn't care.

which is probably the same thing.

Has to be a great young D coming back.

He wont be traded this season for sure.
- Fakepartofme

Agreed.

Ryan
@ryanfancey
37 goalies have started 10+ games in 2020. Andersen is 37th in sv% with .880

Fred didnt have a chance on any of them

I would caution here that the system that they want to place in effect is not one that is easily adapted to. It relies on asking the forwards to play a defensive role, which means they need to place aside their instincts and perform a role that they have spent most of their life not playing. The forward is not only covering for the D-Man at the point as in traditional roles, but the forward is asked to make reliable defensive decisions as to when to pinch, when to flex back, how to read your partner, and so on - things that guys who have playing D for years don't always do that well.

Can be employed to effect? Probably. But expecting it to be employed without a lot of bumps along the way is probably also naive. There are going to be players who are simply not smart enough or aware enough to be inserted into the system.
- Monkeypunk

I dunno Monkey, How likely is it that the whole team is this stupid?

I suspect heart, not brains is the problem.

Tavares for captain was a mistake.... nylander is soft as (frank) and you already have soft with marner and matthews....obviously you dont see the problem here which is THE TEAM IS TOO (frank)ING SOFT
- CarlitoBrigante

Truculence! Pugnacity!! Belligerence!!! Testosterone!!!!

We can, and we will!!!!!

I dunno Monkey, How likely is it that the whole team is this stupid?

I suspect heart, not brains is the problem.
- Aetherial

Have you...have you seen their instagrams?

Jeff skinner wins the most overpaid player in the league award.
pas 10 weeks - no goals
2 assists in last 20 gp
10m salary this year
9m cap for 7 more years.

Saw this on a tweet.

Unbelievable, why you dont spend big cash on someone after one great season.

Oh buffalo.

Fred didnt have a chance on any of them
- senstroll

Hutchinson has played 15 games this season, many of them b2b, and is sporting a .886 sv%.

This was universally regarded as a disaster and held up as a key reason why the Leafs were not right up there with Boston and Tampa.

Andersen 13 games in 2020 .880 sv% during the WEAKEST part of the Leafs schedule.

This is OK.

Jeff skinner wins the most overpaid player in the league award.
pas 10 weeks - no goals
2 assists in last 20 gp
10m salary this year
9m cap for 7 more years.

Saw this on a tweet.

Unbelievable, why you dont spend big cash on someone after one great season.

Oh buffalo.


- Fakepartofme

And literally everyone pointed out this would happen as soon as that contract was signed. Only some Buffalo fans thought it was a good contract.

Hutchinson has played 15 games this season, many of them b2b, and is sporting a .886 sv%.

This was universally regarded as a disaster and held up as a key reason why the Leafs were not right up there with Boston and Tampa.

Andersen 13 games in 2020 .880 sv% during the WEAKEST part of the Leafs schedule.

This is OK.
- Aetherial

haha

Active Stick
@TheOakLeafs
Here's a mental exercise some fans can try at home if they are still unable to reconcile how much our goaltending is killing us recently.

Close your eyes...

Now imagine Vesa Toskala in a Leafs sweater...

Now reduce his sv% by .10 ...

i miss toskala....wait what?

Have you...have you seen their instagrams?
- AdamFrench

I am too old for snapface or instatweet or tinderbook or any of that stuff.

Or doesn't care.

which is probably the same thing.
- Aetherial

or is just too (frank)ing slow now and tired.... either way he looks like poop most of the time

definitely bad news at 11 million for another 5 (frank)ing years

haha



i miss toskala....wait what?
- senstroll

And literally everyone pointed out this would happen as soon as that contract was signed. Only some Buffalo fans thought it was a good contract.
- Aetherial

Yup. Everyone saw it coming.

Except the guy paid to see it coming for Buffalo.