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Been around for years. Haven’t used it in probably 5-6 years, but it worked pretty well back then.
What I ordered : McJesus and DrySaddle
What I got : Matthews and Marner
Seriously though, the Leafs have never been able to roll four lines during the Core Four era. This roster is still very top heavy. If you shut down the Leafs top two lines, then they have nothing to answer with. Look at recent Cup winners: Tampa, Florida, Colorado, Vegas. None of them were nearly as top heavy as the Leafs. I mean, Marchand is on the third line in Florida.
And this lack of depth was true even with Marner in the lineup.
Subtract Marner and add two or three scrubs and the problem remains.
I hope Tree has a few tricks to pull out of his hat.
They have enough cap space to get some quality players, even with JT resigned as a hometown discount. But it really depends on what they want to do, and how far they want to go with matchup lines. There are other center options out there, more two-way guys, but goal-scoring might be a problem. JT could very well score another 30+ goals next year; hard to replace that.
It may not matter if we “change the DNA” around our core players because our core players simply do not elevate their game the way they do on Florida and Edmonton.
How many shifts do you think Maurice matches 3C Lindell on McJesus? I’m betting ZERO. It’ll be all Barkov. Just remember that Maurice did match Lindell against Matthews and he was able to shut his ass down.
When your stars cannot dominate another team’s 3rd line, you’re simply not winning.
If we let Marner and JT walk, that’s 2 of 4 gone. Not sure we get as much value back trying to replace JT though. Would rather keep him at an actual hometown discount and add another 2C.
Uggle Buggle, you let JT walk, now you need a 2C.
You now have to move Kampf and find a taker for him, and probably have to eat cap to do that and add a sweetener; Rielly has a full NMC and very likely is going to say no to any trade except maybe Vancouver, and we’ll have to eat salary as well to do that, or take a cap dump in return. Marner is very likely walking anyways, so are you just armchair GM circle-jerking like usual, or do you want to actually talk about realistic moves? I know that’s difficult for you, the air is foul in your mom’s basement what with her corpse rotting in the next room.
Uggie keeps going on and on about the top line, and yeah, they were evens, but THE REASON WHY THE OTHER LINES SUCKED IS BECAUSE THERE IS NO FUCKING MONEY TO SPEND ON THEM.
Go look at successful teams: they spend more than a 50% Groupon coupon for their 3rd lines.
Wrong.
Tkachuk was instrumental in the Panthers “turning” their team around. That’s who they got for Huberdeau. That’s a factual error people are making by believing they can lose a 100 point player just because Florida did. The Leafs won’t be getting a Tkachuk if Marner walks. Tkachuk has 24, 22 and now 16 playoff points (with the Final still to be played) in the past 3 Final runs in exchange for Huberdeau. What player are the Leafs getting that can do that if Marner walks…? It’s a dream.
The Leafs 1st line was evenly matched against the Barkov line. The Leafs 2nd line got obliterated defensively. The Leafs 3rd and 4th line scored 0 goals and couldn’t be effective shutdown lines at all. The Panthers 3rd line feasted. Losing Marner loses you the top line match-up and if Tavares comes back you lose the 2nd line match-up again. You won’t beat Florida if your top-six get caved in and your 3rd and 4th lines are slightly better because Florida’s 3rd line still kills whatever make shift bullshit UFA signings you can muster when Bennett and Marchand stay in Florida.
Say goodbye to Rielly, who has been here the longest, and say goodbye to the stripped captain Tavares. That’s as big a DNA change as anything else. And they won’t be losing a Selke nominated 100 point player in his prime for NOTHING while they do it either.
I was talking about Tkachuk this year, against us.
Moving JT and Rielly doesn’t really change the DNA of the team at all, and if the 2nd line was getting caved in before, how is it not going to get caved in again with a bargain bin 2C, whoever that is going to be for the pocket lint we have leftover if Marner stays.
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.
