Toronto Maple Leafs 2017 - 2018 thread

[Pingeye2_fan]

People obviously welcome to their opinions, but I think if you don't recognize a very different approach to operations since Shanahan took over than you are missing something very significant.

The new playoff format is wonky and had two of the top three teams in the conference facing off in the first round in an attempt by the NHL to create as many long series as possible.

Boston was 8 points better than the Leafs from Jan on, and arguably played more meaningful hockey down the stretch as they had something play for. With home ice advantage, its hard to say Boston wasn't a favorite in the series and the Leafs took them to 7 only to lose in the final period of the series.

In short, we gave a very good team, and one of the conference favorites everything they could handle, and did so with a team whose top end are very young and are unlikely near their ceiling, with a good stock of capable youth still in the system (if Kap/Dermott/Johnsson hit the Marlies for the playoffs should be fun!)

As others have said, this is not more of the same. It's disappointing for sure but from just making the playoffs a year ago and giving the top team a hard 6, to coasting into the playoffs and due to the new format facing another top team and giving them a hard 7, I see progress there. Offseason will be interesting but I expect mid term we'll see the progress continue unlike in the past where we presided over a card house propped up by our ability to outspend.

P

Very well said.

[Weirfan]

If they really like each other like Babcock says they do, then that could work in their favour at contract time. They got Kadri and Reilly on pretty team friendly deals.

'There was no trust anymore': Maple Leafs' Mike Babcock 'lost' Auston Matthews

http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/news/nhl-playoffs-2018-toronto-maple-leafs-mike-babcock-auston-matthews-trust-issues-first-round-boston-bruins-game-7/tz6zuglbdt1l1lchom7ascoc7

[Jeffc]

It will be interesting to see how the negotiations go, and whether the players are committed to getting all they can, or do they want to win.

I can't see any of them taking home town discounts and why should they? They play in the biggest hockey market in the world. Kadri got signed while he was still a work in progress and Babcock has helped shape him into a better play all around and he's benefiting from a stronger team around him so they're getting him at a good price. Reilly had a bit of a break out year this year as well so looks to be on a good contract for the next 4 years.

[Pingeye2_fan]

'There was no trust anymore': Maple Leafs' Mike Babcock 'lost' Auston Matthews

http://www.sportingnews.com/ca/nhl/n...l1lchom7ascoc7

A theory, maybe Babcock treats all players the same and Matthews needs to earn that trust like Marner did.

Babcock strikes me a s guy that wants players to prove themselves.

[Doba]

You know whos not making excuses. Vegas! Unreal

^^ I've read multiple articles now about this Matthews Babcock fued. Its kinda scary, this ones about trust the other about not getting along.

[Pingeye2_fan]

I can't see any of them taking home town discounts and why should they? They play in the biggest hockey market in the world. Kadri got signed while he was still a work in progress and Babcock has helped shape him into a better play all around and he's benefiting from a stronger team around him so they're getting him at a good price. Reilly had a bit of a break out year this year as well so looks to be on a good contract for the next 4 years.

Maybe they might look at winning and creating a legacy as a player rather than chasing the almighty buck.

[Pingeye2_fan]

Can't believe some douche bag idiot fans started a gofundme account to payoff Gardiner's salary.

[Jeffc]

Maybe they might look at winning and creating a legacy as a player rather than chasing the almighty buck.

doesn't happy very often with star players. especially young ones on the upswing of their careers about to sign their first big contract.

[Weirfan]

doesn't happy very often with star players. especially young ones on the upswing of their careers about to sign their first big contract.

agree with this

[4wedges]

I can't see any of them taking home town discounts and why should they? They play in the biggest hockey market in the world. Kadri got signed while he was still a work in progress and Babcock has helped shape him into a better play all around and he's benefiting from a stronger team around him so they're getting him at a good price. Reilly had a bit of a break out year this year as well so looks to be on a good contract for the next 4 years.

It's got nothing to do with home town discounts. If players only care about getting the most money, then there will be less left over to acquire or keep other talented players. You fall into the Chicago trap - paying a few players very high salaries and the rest get lower salaries. That's certainly their right, but if they want other quality players to play with, leaving some money on the table will help. It's the reality of the salary cap world.

[Weirfan]

Can't believe some douche bag idiot fans started a gofundme account to payoff Gardiner's salary.

probably one of the immature dolts on Leafs HF board

[Jeffc]

It's got nothing to do with home town discounts. If players only care about getting the most money, then there will be less left over to acquire or keep other talented players. You fall into the Chicago trap - paying a few players very high salaries and the rest get lower salaries. That's certainly their right, but if they want other quality players to play with, leaving some money on the table will help. It's the reality of the salary cap world.

I get it - no need to explain it. I just don't really see it happening with Marner, Nylander and especially Matthews. Matthews will likely be $10.5-$11M for 8 years.

[4wedges]

I get it - no need to explain it. I just don't really see it happening with Marner, Nylander and especially Matthews. Matthews will likely be $10.5-$11M for 8 years.

I think you are right, it is rare when a player leaves $$ on the table.

[TMAzng01f3R]

So the season's over and while there's disappointment for sure after losing a game 7, here's my take on everything as a whole - many of which have been echoed from other posters:

- two years ago, we were the worst team in hockey; last year, we clinched a playoff game in game 81 and this year, we had our best regular season ever.

- this year in the playoffs, despite the first two blowout losses, we were technically better in this year's playoffs than last year by one game.

- despite having a 4-3 lead going into the third, my take on this was that Boston in the locker room during intermission must've commented amongst themselves saying that they can't lose this game and thus, should win the period - they were up 3-1 in the series and ended up winning it 4-3 based on a 4-0 third period of game 7. If the Leafs could've STOLE the series, they would've needed Freddie to come up with just a few more timely saves; I believe the fourth and fifth goals he let in (that third period) could've rattled the Leafs and jacked up the Bruins. Mind you and at the same time, the Leafs didn't help matters either by not getting too many shots in that third period and Boston simply had the puck more, from what I saw. Plus Boston had home ice advantage that they earned but MAYBE if the Leafs had home ice advantage, they could've won this series...

- based on what happened a lot in this series, mainly shots against, the Leafs D has been exposed as their weakness (nothing new, mind you); but I believe a few tweaks can fix this. Dermott at the moment looks like a defensively better version of Gardiner with less offense but is at least younger and doesn't take as many risks so I'm thinking he can replace Gardiner down the road. Hainsey's old and in the next few years should be replaced; Polak's okay I suppose but can be replaced with someone better. Zaitsev still has potential despite Don Cherry constantly ragging on him so hopefully he can get better; in the long-term, here's HOPEFULLY what happens to their D:

- Rielly and STUD DEFENCEMAN (likely through trade but hopefully not similar to what happened with Edmonton-NJ; I think NJ getting Taylor Hall over Edmonton getting Adam Larsson was the better trade)

- Zaitsev and a good top 4 DEFENCEMAN

- Dermott and a Marlie; Holl looked pretty good - MAYBE Timothy Liljegren

- I can't comment on the articles about Babcock losing Matthews but I'm going to assume that Matthews played a bit hurt in the series (3 injuries this season); plus he was tightly checked but at the same time, he was playing against guys in their primes (Bergeron and Marchand are late 20's-early 30's) - he's only 20 though so he'll only get better. From a stats perspective, his playoffs this year (1 goal - 1 assist) wasn't as good as last year's (4 goals - 1 assist) but Boston IMO's a different animal than Washington. On the other hand, Nylander I think just didn't want to get hit so this needs to be addressed.

- all-in-all, with the core in the late 2000's (Phaneuf, Kessel, Lupul to name a few), we had a team that would show flashes, only to crumble in the second half (usually). I'm convinced that in 2013, despite that "Boston Meltdown", it was a shortened season and a part of me thinks if it was a full season, we might not have made the playoffs that year - but now with Babcock/Lamoriello/Shanahan/Hunter/Dubas managing the team, they're not idiots and know what they're doing (from what I've seen) and in 2 of their 3 years collectively, they Leafs have made the playoffs. This is a good sign.

- this off-season, I think losing Bozak, van Riemsdyk, and Komarov won't hurt us - despite the goals he's scored, JVR looks slow out there and the only reason I think he had that many goals to begin with was because of Marner on the PP.

Overall, I'm optimistic for the next few years - they just have to "stay the course", which I believe they've been doing a good job with so far. Brown and Hyman had pretty good playoffs so hopefully, this can carry forward into the next, upcoming regular season - let's see what happens!

[Arthur Dailey]

So the season's over and while there's disappointment for sure after losing a game 7, here's my take on everything as a whole - many of which have been echoed from other posters:

- two years ago, we were the worst team in hockey; last year, we clinched a playoff game in game 81 and this year, we had our best regular season ever.

- this year in the playoffs, despite the first two blowout losses, we were technically better in this year's playoffs than last year by one game.

- despite having a 4-3 lead going into the third, my take on this was that Boston in the locker room during intermission must've commented amongst themselves saying that they can't lose this game and thus, should win the period - they were up 3-1 in the series and ended up winning it 4-3 based on a 4-0 third period of game 7. If the Leafs could've STOLE the series, they would've needed Freddie to come up with just a few more timely saves; I believe the fourth and fifth goals he let in (that third period) could've rattled the Leafs and jacked up the Bruins. Mind you and at the same time, the Leafs didn't help matters either by not getting too many shots in that third period and Boston simply had the puck more, from what I saw. Plus Boston had home ice advantage that they earned but MAYBE if the Leafs had home ice advantage, they could've won this series...

- based on what happened a lot in this series, mainly shots against, the Leafs D has been exposed as their weakness (nothing new, mind you); but I believe a few tweaks can fix this. Dermott at the moment looks like a defensively better version of Gardiner with less offense but is at least younger and doesn't take as many risks so I'm thinking he can replace Gardiner down the road. Hainsey's old and in the next few years should be replaced; Polak's okay I suppose but can be replaced with someone better. Zaitsev still has potential despite Don Cherry constantly ragging on him so hopefully he can get better; in the long-term, here's HOPEFULLY what happens to their D:

- Rielly and STUD DEFENCEMAN (likely through trade but hopefully not similar to what happened with Edmonton-NJ; I think NJ getting Taylor Hall over Edmonton getting Adam Larsson was the better trade)

- Zaitsev and a good top 4 DEFENCEMAN

- Dermott and a Marlie; Holl looked pretty good - MAYBE Timothy Liljegren

- I can't comment on the articles about Babcock losing Matthews but I'm going to assume that Matthews played a bit hurt in the series (3 injuries this season); plus he was tightly checked but at the same time, he was playing against guys in their primes (Bergeron and Marchand are late 20's-early 30's) - he's only 20 though so he'll only get better. From a stats perspective, his playoffs this year (1 goal - 1 assist) wasn't as good as last year's (4 goals - 1 assist) but Boston IMO's a different animal than Washington. On the other hand, Nylander I think just didn't want to get hit so this needs to be addressed.

- all-in-all, with the core in the late 2000's (Phaneuf, Kessel, Lupul to name a few), we had a team that would show flashes, only to crumble in the second half (usually). I'm convinced that in 2013, despite that "Boston Meltdown", it was a shortened season and a part of me thinks if it was a full season, we might not have made the playoffs that year - but now with Babcock/Lamoriello/Shanahan/Hunter/Dubas managing the team, they're not idiots and know what they're doing (from what I've seen) and in 2 of their 3 years collectively, they Leafs have made the playoffs. This is a good sign.

- this off-season, I think losing Bozak, van Riemsdyk, and Komarov won't hurt us - despite the goals he's scored, JVR looks slow out there and the only reason I think he had that many goals to begin with was because of Marner on the PP.

Overall, I'm optimistic for the next few years - they just have to "stay the course", which I believe they've been doing a good job with so far. Brown and Hyman had pretty good playoffs so hopefully, this can carry forward into the next, upcoming regular season - let's see what happens!

A good summary.
People forget that in Bergeron and Chara the Bruins had the dominant shutdown defenseman and shutdown centre of their generation. Those guys are just hard to play against.

Getting a true 'stud' defenseman is, and has been for many years a problem for most franchises. There just are not that many of them out there. Perhaps the best solution is how the Leafs are currently approaching it. Develop a solid 6 or 7 person defense. Roll them as much as possible and don't have a weakness in the chain. The Pat Burns Leafs were very successful doing this, their record with their top 6 in the line-up was quite remarkable.

The current Leaf team is the best collection of young talent that the franchise has had in decades. And based on the performance of the Marlies the organization finally has depth.