Toronto Maple Leafs 2021-2022 Thread

[High cut]

We did the opposite. Took the Russian approach. Never skate without a puck. Otherwise when you do get the puck it slows you down.

Went to multiple OMHA/OHF Championships and OHL Cups. Won some of the 'biggest' tournaments including the Wonderland, McDonald and International Prospects. All at the AAA level. Played in front of a full house at the Colisee in the Quebec Peewee. Had a room full of tournament championship trophies.

4 players from one team made it to the NHL. The year that I formally 'stepped away' another player joined us who also made it to The Show. Ironically although we were considered a finesse team and other teams did try to intimidate us, 3 of the players who did make it to The Show did so as grit players/pugilists.

Another player from our summer team became a notorious minor league 'enforcer'.

And in the recent Canadiens-Leafs series there were 11 players that I either coached or coached against or trained in different camps.

Conditioning can be done with pucks and needs to these days. There is a time for off the glass and out (Leafs sure could have used that vs. Mtl) but you can't only bag skate these days. Finding the balance is key, a team like yours had a lot of internal drive and outside conditioning I would assume with that kind of record. Lot's of kids only want to play with the puck if you don't get them moving these days which also isn't good.

[High cut]

TB has done a good job at managing the cap and put their $ in the right spots. Nobody over $9.5 and a stud D-man and star goalie as opposed to $40M on 4 forwards, 2 of them wingers.

This...

They also built their team from day one with an eye towards balance. Some will point to them as proof you can win with little guys. They are also proof you need big guys to offset the little guys. A mix and everyone playing smart and within their own game shouldn't be a had concept.

[High cut]

Maybe we need to have some long term injuries that miraculously heal for the start of the playoffs.

Did you follow last year?

We did that very well, it was amazing how guys were suddenly ok to play in the playoffs but not until them or in Freddy's case right at the end of the season.

They would not have been cap compliant without the injuries. The capoligist knew how guys were feeling better than the doctors and trainers.

[SeanAvery2point0]

This...

They also built their team from day one with an eye towards balance. Some will point to them as proof you can win with little guys. They are also proof you need big guys to offset the little guys. A mix and everyone playing smart and within their own game shouldn't be a had concept.

How many years before MM and AM werr extended did Tampa Bay lockup Stamkos and Hedman?

[Pingeye2_fan]

Did you follow last year?

We did that very well, it was amazing how guys were suddenly ok to play in the playoffs but not until them or in Freddy's case right at the end of the season.

They would not have been cap compliant without the injuries. The capoligist knew how guys were feeling better than the doctors and trainers.

I’m thinking more of the Tampa model.

[SeanAvery2point0]

I’m thinking more of the Tampa model.

I dont know if the Leafs would be able to compete in the regular season without Marner like TB did without Kucherov.

[MapleMania]

At first, I thought Taylor Hall? Then, I figured it must've been Eichel, because all Kyle wanted to trade for was injured players last season.Then, I wondered, who retired in the last couple of years they may have wanted to bring in for one last Cup run? I heard Mario's back has never felt better.

Elliotte Friedman:

[4wedges]

I dont know if the Leafs would be able to compete in the regular season without Marner like TB did without Kucherov.

Unlike Marner, Kucherov has produced in the playoffs.

[Pingeye2_fan]

At first, I thought Taylor Hall? Then, I figured it must've been Eichel, because all Kyle wanted to trade for was injured players last season.Then, I wondered, who retired in the last couple of years they may have wanted to bring in for one last Cup run? I heard Mario's back has never felt better.

Elliotte Friedman:

We get it, you think Dubas is an idiot.

You have been repeating the same thing for pages upon pages now.

[Pingeye2_fan]

I dont know if the Leafs would be able to compete in the regular season without Marner like TB did without Kucherov.

Yeah, I know it’s within the rules but I find it a little greasy what Tampa did.

Happy for Kucherov that he recovered in time for the post season.

[High cut]

The leafs traded for a guy on the IR and intentionally left him there until the playoffs, it's very similar.

[Pingeye2_fan]

The leafs traded for a guy on the IR and intentionally left him there until the playoffs, it's very similar.

Yeah but there was a lot of skepticism the way Tampa did it.

[Arthur Dailey]

From Dave Poulin's column in today's Star.

The only way for the Leafs to take the next step is to be patient. The enormous task of winning needs time.

The model for patience and success is the reigning champion Tampa Bay Lightning. There have certainly been ebbs and flows. It’s important to understand how it happened, and that there has been significant pain along the way.

Changes could have been justified several times along the way — after missing the playoffs in 2012, 2013 and 2017, and first-round upsets in 2014 and 2019.

Key points to consider on the current Lightning roster:

Their longest standing player, Alex Killorn, was drafted in the third round in 2007.

Steven Stamkos (first overall in 2008) and Victor Hedman (second in 2009) set the foundation.

Each year since then, at least one key player has been added through the draft, including home runs on Nikita Kucherov (second round), Ondrej Palat (seventh round) and both Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli (successive third rounds).

Elite goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy was a first-round pick, albeit Tampa’s second choice in 2012 after selecting blueliner Slater Koekkoek.

From Kevin McGran

The GM’s biggest issue is salary-cap space. In his defence, had the pandemic never struck, the cap would have risen by at least $5 million (U.S.) by now, plenty to sign better support players than those who could only come in at the NHL’s minimum wage.

With eight forwards, five defencemen and one goalie from the playoff run under contract, plus the last year of Phil Kessel’s $1.2-million salary retention, the Leafs have already spent about $69 million of the $81.5-million cap. That leaves just $12.5 million for at least one defenceman (probably two), four forwards (probably five) and one goalie

And from Sean McIndoe (DGB) in The Athletic

The Lightning didn’t blow it all up after they were shocked by the Blue Jackets. The mid-90s Red Wings didn’t trade Steve Yzerman. The Bruins won just two rounds in a decade and blew a 3-0 series lead in 2010, didn’t go crazy, and won it all in 2011. And of course, even the Capitals eventually recovered and finally broke through.

[MapleMania]

Did the Lightning lose out in 5 straight series? Did Detroit? Did Boston? Did Washington?

These are all false equivalences. None of those teams have a history remotely like the Leafs do. None of those teams had 4 forwards eating half their cap.

Equating the Leafs to any other situation other than one where you can point to all the factors that encapsulate what has actually happened to them, is hollow. There is no precedent for success given the Leafs history. To suggest so is inaccurate.

As a fan, if you want to keep doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result, that is certainly a fan's right, but I adamantly oppose that notion because there is no Leafs comparable.

[Lefty17]

I’m to lazy to look it up but Washington for years lost in the first round and seem to blow series leads.