Two points and Marincin is on waivers ....is it Christmas already?

Also, just a thought. Maybe it's Barrie that needs to be dealt for a 2-way dman to play with Rielly. He's Rielly's back-up offensively and he's poor defensively. Some team gotta need a PP QB.
- The Law

not a bad idea really

not a bad idea really
- daeth

I wouldn’t say that yet.

Give him time, soon I think we see a Rielly/Barrie pairing when Dermott proves to be good enough for Muzzin against top comp.

certainly something the Leafs management should be considering.

I would guess at some point in the season Barrie is going to be asking to play more of an offensive role or be moved... he's in his FreeAgency year... and at age 28 he needs to hit a home run with the upcoming contract.

it would seem pretty obvious that contractually that is not a good match for the Leafs.

Vegas related commentary over the past few weeks is that they are looking for an offensive defensive to compliment their group. I'm sure there are other teams as well -

a Nylander / Johnsson package might get a pretty decent return.
- BorjeFan4Ever

No trades for a while...of the big contracts.
Dubas will want to see this team healthy and together for a bit.
But.
Maybe come feb, wilie plus barrie could bring back a decent dman. I just dont see the leafs being able to sign barrie.long term.

No trades for a while...of the big contracts.
Dubas will want to see this team healthy and together for a bit.
But.
Maybe come feb, wilie plus barrie could bring back a decent dman. I just dont see the leafs being able to sign barrie.long term.
- Fakepartofme

I think signing Muzzin is more important.

The days of signing 31 year olds so massive huge dollar contracts are over...The leafs should be able to sign him to a slightly bigger Hjarmasonn contract.

I think signing Muzzin is more important.

The days of signing 31 year olds so massive huge dollar contracts are over...The leafs should be able to sign him to a slightly bigger Hjarmasonn contract.
- Santo_44

Yeah I'd rather re-sign Muzzin over Barrie at this point.

No trades for a while...of the big contracts.
Dubas will want to see this team healthy and together for a bit.
But.
Maybe come feb, wilie plus barrie could bring back a decent dman. I just dont see the leafs being able to sign barrie.long term.
- Fakepartofme

Agree on Barrie, and he hasn't done too much to impress so far. Three in a row....beauty, ugly wins that fill this blog with female doging....beauty, now time to learn how to score some ugly goals. #flipacoupleofsoftiestowardsthenet

Is it just me, or does something smell funny...?
- DrunkSkunk

It's the skunk weed that someone is puffing on

Yeah I'd rather re-sign Muzzin over Barrie at this point.
- LeafGuy89

its not even close.

Barrie has been a pretty big disappointment so far. I have to think its more about his usage and not that he just sucks.

its not even close.

Barrie has been a pretty big disappointment so far. I have to think its more about his usage and not that he just sucks.
- senstroll

Multiple 50+ point seasons. Not even on pace for 30.

Multiple 50+ point seasons. Not even on pace for 30.
- Steven_Seagull

he was expected to put up 70+pts with Matthews, Marner, Pinky and Nylander

its not even close.

Barrie has been a pretty big disappointment so far. I have to think its more about his usage and not that he just sucks.
- senstroll

He seems like the throw in for Kerfoot at this point.

Yeah I'd rather re-sign Muzzin over Barrie at this point.
- LeafGuy89

4 years, 20 million.

Multiple 50+ point seasons. Not even on pace for 30.
- Steven_Seagull

his cap hit is low, so I can live with a lot less points.
I just dont see him being a net positive so far.

He’s always done well in his career with huge amounts of d zone starts.

Babs wants his 4th line to start a lot in the D zone so his top lines can get lots of O zone starts.

So far in Shores career he’s been pretty great at not having the other team generate much or score much considering it.
- Santo_44

This year has been an exceptional jump for Shore. He is starting 77% of his starts in the defensive zone and just 3% in the offensive zone. Prior to this year his highest total of D-Zone starts had been 37% - and in that season, he still had 27% of his starts in the offensive zone.

He has always been a positive play driver, but this year he is getting absolutely caved in. He's -14 in High Danger Chances and -34 in shot opportunities. In LA he played with Dustin Brown, Clifford, Nolan and Lewis over a few years. In Calgary, for just 9 games, he was mostly with Lazar and Ferlund. I wouldn't count Ottawa since over the six games they seemed to just throw him out with anybody.

In MOST of those cases, he seemed to have a positive effect on the play.

I can see why it's a tough decision. Myself, I'm partial to Spezza because he offers flexibility. Shore does have a history of success in bottom 6 roles, so it's not as simple as this 10 game audition is really providing us.

He seems like the throw in for Kerfoot at this point.
- Aaron_85

Kerfoot has been good and I like his game.
Kadri will probably outscore him because of PP points, but everything else looks good

He’s always done well in his career with huge amounts of d zone starts.

Babs wants his 4th line to start a lot in the D zone so his top lines can get lots of O zone starts.

So far in Shores career he’s been pretty great at not having the other team generate much or score much considering it.
- Santo_44

Shore certainly hasn't seemed like a liability in his own zone... and between him and Goat the faceoff situation is much cleaned up.

While I understand the "fans" wanting to not "disrespect" Spezza... he's really not done much to differentiate himself, Shore has been better on faceoffs and that's obviously a big part of what Babcock "trusts".

This year has been an exceptional jump for Shore. He is starting 77% of his starts in the defensive zone and just 3% in the offensive zone. Prior to this year his highest total of D-Zone starts had been 37% - and in that season, he still had 27% of his starts in the offensive zone.

He has always been a positive play driver, but this year he is getting absolutely caved in. He's -14 in High Danger Chances and -34 in shot opportunities. In LA he played with Dustin Brown, Clifford, Nolan and Lewis over a few years. In Calgary, for just 9 games, he was mostly with Lazar and Ferlund. I wouldn't count Ottawa since over the six games they seemed to just throw him out with anybody.

In MOST of those cases, he seemed to have a positive effect on the play.

I can see why it's a tough decision. Myself, I'm partial to Spezza because he offers flexibility. Shore does have a history of success in bottom 6 roles, so it's not as simple as this 10 game audition is really providing us.
- Monkeypunk

the shore usage reminds me of the Carlyle/grabovski year, where he just used him as D center and he got caved in also.

its not even close.

Barrie has been a pretty big disappointment so far. I have to think its more about his usage and not that he just sucks.
- senstroll

I think we'll like Barrie by the end of the year.

Right now he's terrible defensively and not providing much offensively. Thanks to Tyson Barrie, we can all really appreciate Justin Holl. BTW, it should also be noted that even with this Tyson Barrie playing for us, it's obvious how bad Cody Ceci is.

ANYWAY, I think Barrie has to find his comfort zone and be let off the leash by the coaching staff. He is never going to win board battles. He's a small and weak defender. But his offensive tools outweigh his defensive short-comings - provided that he's allowed to just go. If they just let him go, we'll be as frustrated as we were with Gardiner at times, but his offensive output will surpass what we received from Jake.

I’m surprised more people aren’t talking about the focus on playing a sound defensive game.

When the big guns aren’t scoring, Babs gets them playing a safer, more defensive game. Its starting to look like his saving grace. After the LA game, he called it “beautiful”

He was just happy they won playing that style. When AM/WN/JT/MM heat up, he lets them free-wheel more..

The Leafs will be fine, Willy will be fine, Hutch will probably be fine.. They’ll keep playing this style until they get a ton of confidence by beating good teams. This is a really smart tactic by Babs, imo..

its not even close.

Barrie has been a pretty big disappointment so far. I have to think its more about his usage and not that he just sucks.
- senstroll

I think that’s exactly how it is. Babs is trying to teach him defence while it’s sacrificing his offensive tools.

The only other issue with trading Barrie is that he is on a good cap hit for the leafs. I don’t think that’s enough money to get someone else that would help the leafs for that money.

This year has been an exceptional jump for Shore. He is starting 77% of his starts in the defensive zone and just 3% in the offensive zone. Prior to this year his highest total of D-Zone starts had been 37% - and in that season, he still had 27% of his starts in the offensive zone.

He has always been a positive play driver, but this year he is getting absolutely caved in. He's -14 in High Danger Chances and -34 in shot opportunities. In LA he played with Dustin Brown, Clifford, Nolan and Lewis over a few years. In Calgary, for just 9 games, he was mostly with Lazar and Ferlund. I wouldn't count Ottawa since over the six games they seemed to just throw him out with anybody.

In MOST of those cases, he seemed to have a positive effect on the play.

I can see why it's a tough decision. Myself, I'm partial to Spezza because he offers flexibility. Shore does have a history of success in bottom 6 roles, so it's not as simple as this 10 game audition is really providing us.
- Monkeypunk

are the defensive / offensive zone stats 5v5 or all situations? just curious

I think we'll like Barrie by the end of the year.

Right now he's terrible defensively and not providing much offensively. Thanks to Tyson Barrie, we can all really appreciate Justin Holl. BTW, it should also be noted that even with this Tyson Barrie playing for us, it's obvious how bad Cody Ceci is.

ANYWAY, I think Barrie has to find his comfort zone and be let off the leash by the coaching staff. He is never going to win board battles. He's a small and weak defender. But his offensive tools outweigh his defensive short-comings - provided that he's allowed to just go. If they just let him go, we'll be as frustrated as we were with Gardiner at times, but his offensive output will surpass what we received from Jake.
- Monkeypunk

speaking of Ceci, he has those really bad plays (miss gardiner?) but hasnt been a train wreck...so thats good? Still hope he is gone after this season

https://twitter.com/Steve...tatus/1192811037675917312

are the defensive / offensive zone stats 5v5 or all situations? just curious
- BorjeFan4Ever

That was just 5v5. His PK stats are 30 D-Zone starts, 2 NZ starts, and 0 in the offensive zone.

I think we'll like Barrie by the end of the year.

Right now he's terrible defensively and not providing much offensively. Thanks to Tyson Barrie, we can all really appreciate Justin Holl. BTW, it should also be noted that even with this Tyson Barrie playing for us, it's obvious how bad Cody Ceci is.

ANYWAY, I think Barrie has to find his comfort zone and be let off the leash by the coaching staff. He is never going to win board battles. He's a small and weak defender. But his offensive tools outweigh his defensive short-comings - provided that he's allowed to just go. If they just let him go, we'll be as frustrated as we were with Gardiner at times, but his offensive output will surpass what we received from Jake.
- Monkeypunk

i think that’s it forsure. His first game he has a 360 spin move on the half boards and lays a perfect pass to mikhayev for a nice goal. As the games go on he seems to be losing his offensive instinct as the coaching staff is trying to limit him.

i think that’s it forsure. His first game he has a 360 spin move on the half boards and lays a perfect pass to mikhayev for a nice goal. As the games go on he seems to be losing his offensive instinct as the coaching staff is trying to limit him.
- bryant

Yep..

But I think the team now is starting to play in unison. That should help Barrie.