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I’m sure Matthews is going to absolutely love trying to score in the playoffs with even less help.
Tkachuk has barely scored — and didn’t against us — and the team had no problem potting goals against our team, because we lost all the matchups or at best, came out evens, so our entire offense was nullified when the top 2 lines were shutdown.
Like it’s not as if this is a recent thing either: it’s been 8 years of this man. Way overdue for a change in the makeup of this team and it starts with saying goodbye to Marner. There is absolutely no way you can build a balanced team with that much allocated to so few players. So easy to shutdown and let your depth feast on our perennially weak bottom 6 that will always be at a disadvantage thanks to no money to spend on it.
So maybe this year isnt the off season the leafs sign long term deals….sign short term/1 year deals if possible, with talented enough players to get you into the playoffs. Then put more money into next years off season. Better players it seems.
But Im not sure Marchand will be as affective here as he is in Florida. In florida hes on the 3rd line….here, he will mostly like be used on 2nd.
If bennett would sign for $8m per….sure….but I think for Toronto its closer to $10 per…..not interested in thatI’ve been hearing that for years, “next year’s UFA crop is going to be amazing” and most of the time, those players end up signing long-term deals.
Do you take a step back next year so you can take a swing at McDavid? That’s a big risk.
I think as long as we come out with a balanced top 9, even if the top line takes a step back, we’ll be in better shape, and the only way to do that is to add this off-season and let Marner walk.
The Leafs were 29th at 5v5 expected goals last year; that’s lottery team level right there.
They won the division because they had excellent goaltending and a much better defensive group.
Matthews doesn’t need Marner to exceed at this point in his career. I would say Marner needs Matthews far more than the other way around.
Marner plays slow, was incapable of getting in on the forecheck, so any winger capable of doing that is going to suit Berube’s systems.
With Marner gone, they can build out a balanced team, it’s really that simple.
As for Marner’s replacement numbers/impact:
Hard to say, but FLA for example, TBL, etc. are never using the standings as any kind of metric: it’s all about mile markers towards playoff preparedness, individually and as a team. They’ve fully embraced the “playoffs is like a different league” mentality and built a team around that.
Like I think if the Leafs got Bennett and Marchand, for example, this team would still be a 95+ point team, assuming Matthews is healthy.
Leafs should’ve shut down Matthews for the last 8-10 weeks, spent over the cap like all the good teams do when their star players are hurt, and worried less about home-ice advantage, which clearly didn’t do much in the grand scheme of things.
Let’s say we get Bennett and Marchard, DNA changing players built for playoffs, proven playoff performers; generally clutch guys.
Knies Matthews Domi: the line is a little less effective defensively, but you still have a Selke nominee center, plus Knies is a responsible 200′ player in the making, so it’s not like a huge drop-off there at 5v5.
It’s a little less crafty/shifty, but it’s also quite a bit more intense, physical, puck battle-winning line with Domi on it.
McMann Tavares Nylander: no changes obviously, although McMann has room to improve and I don’t think Tavares takes a really step back here.
Robertson Bennett Marchand: a massive upgrade over the 3rd lines we’ve had, and we’re now truly capable of scoring across all three (maybe 4) lines. Robertson will get a lot of time/space with that line, and he has a Mighty Midget in Marchand to look up to, not to mention Bennett. Maybe Robertson’s gone, but a scoring complementary winger here who can pot 15+ goals would be great and I think a full season of Robbie here could definitely work.
Lorentz Laughton Holmberg: a line that will get buried in DZ starts and will probably come out even, and maybe even pot a few here and there, but will be relied upon for majority of the PK duties. Definitely opportunity to tinker here for not a lot of cap space.
It’s a chicken/egg problem: because this organization is always lacking outside the top 6, they blow all their draft picks on depth players that cost a premium at the deadline. When the draft comes around, they’re desperately trying to recoup some picks so that they have something to draft, but since they’re always short early picks, the chances of landing an impact player are low.
It all stems from the top-down approach this team has had to filling out the roster: ditch Marner, sign JT to a discount, and start balancing out the lineup and maybe we don’t need to cough up picks every deadline for Laughtons and Folignos.
Incorrect.
This is exactly what happens when the only impact players the franchise is capable of drafting is lottery picks.
If this Leafs team was constructed by Jim Nill, it would have all the superstar players along with drafted, developed depth players.
Any homegrown talent we’ve run out of town, so I don’t know what to tell you.
But putting all your eggs in one basket and that basket falling off the counter and shattering in a pile of goop and shell fragments — which can describe our Core 4 playoff performance for like 8 years — is never going to work.
Bye-bye Marndawg, hello weaponized cap space. Bennett, Marchand, let’s go.
I’m not judging the trade until this upcoming season is done. Laughton has long been touted as a leader who leads by example and off the ice. Tortorella has nothing but good things to say about him, and he’s not typically the complimenting type. Whether he never found his footing here or his role or his linemates, I don’t know – but I’d like to give him another year before that 1st rounder is considered a waste of a pick. At this point if we’re spending draft picks, I like the idea of paying to acquire term and retention.
For two months of O’Reilly and Acciari they gave up a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, Gaudette and Abramov; for eleven games of Foligno they gave up a 1st and 2 4ths.
I’m not saying that makes the Laughton look any better right now – a bad trade is a bad trade, even if there are worse ones – but I am saying that Laughton still has time here to make that trade worthwhile.
This is exactly what happens when you don’t have a balanced team and are spending a huge chunk of your cap on a 4 players: you have to overpay for complimentary players, in the hopes that you can inject some scoring into the bottom half of your lineup because your expensive guys can’t elevate their game in the playoffs.
Right now, the only way is to copy/paste the quote and use “B-Quote” on it.
We’re still at the early stages of this website so I’m sure it’ll improve sooner than later.
Also, just a PSA about WordPress and plugins: make sure you are regularly updating it, plugins especially. WP Security, WordFence, etc. are good add-ons, as is CloudFlare for botnet protection.
Have you looked at this? Been around for a long time.
