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Best player available does include more than points, which is why pretty much everyone has Mckenna/Stenberg as very very close.
If it does then Stenberg is the better overall player, full stop. McKenna brings next to nothing other than scoring and given his size, that could disappear too as the defense gets physical with him and he’s at a high risk of injury than most other players.
projecting how well a player will do in the NHL relies heavily one how they score in junior leagues.
Which is stupid. There are plenty of players who scored a lot of points in junior which became total busts. There are plenty of NHL players, Cup winners, who didn’t score that much in junior who are very valuable players.
If the Leafs want one of the D, they should look at trading for another pick in the top 3-10, not trading down. Also, I very much doubt there is a Schaefer, Makar or Hughes in this draft. they could also be Gudbranson, Larsson, Ryan Murray, Griffin Reinhart, Juolevi
Nah, Reid and Verhoeff are legit top end prospects and there are solid options in the 20s. McKenna could be Lafreniere. Leafs would be just fine trading down if they did their due diligence.
Also the Leafs doing well in the reg season exit in the 1st round included Mitch Marner for 9 consecutive seasons. the second he leaves hes on a team in the finals, its takes more than 1 player. The GM has to build the team.
And Marner is proving this year he wasn’t the problem. One player was the difference between the Leafs being 1st in the division and last in the division. One player was the difference between Vegas losing in the 2nd round and going to the Cup Final. One player that does more than just score points and nothing else is a difference maker.
The rest of the team was filled with guys who play the exact same way as McKenna. The problem was sacks of shit like Nylander and defensively useless cap hit slugs like Tavares who both play soft, one-way hockey. The second Marner leaves, he leads the playoffs in scoring, playing in all situations like a two-way beast despite having Eichel who has 2 goals in 3.5 rounds of playoffs, doing his best impression of Matthews.
I agree, the GM has to build the team but this team needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and McKenna is the wrong type of foundational piece. He doesn’t win them playoff games if they “re-tool” and he doesn’t fit a rebuild either. The Leafs have failed too many times already with that recipe and it’s time they build a different kind of team.
Marlies/Wolves for the Calder Cup is going to run a week past the NHL playoffs. I don’t know why they’re not going to telecast those games on our Cable sports packages. TSN has 5 channels, Sportsnet 6. They could at least use the Toronto area market to show those games. Of course we get the World Cup stinking up the dial, as well as the dismal Jays. Such a lost opportunity for MLS&E to promote one of their franchises, even if it’s for a week to 10 days only.
Captchas are for losers!
Get IPTV. You’ll see everything you could dream of watching including high school table tennis in 4K.
Its a nice story and I can see why teams would want to have Mckenna to market, its an easy sell.
Iv consumed all the draft content I can, and Mckenna seems like a real one, from a good family who values the right things. He also comes off as someone who gives a shit and wants to improve, and like you said has a bit if a chip and something to proveif he does end up on the Leafs my guess is he puts up 50-60 points next season, PP time is a big factor for over/under on that.
The concept of “best player available” should include more than just points. Looking at the entire picture based on more than just scoring, Stenberg is the better overall player because he provides most of the same scoring ability but has a better compete level, players better defense and does more than just score points and float.
The vast majority of these scouting reports disproportionately rely on scoring points. The reality is, we’ve seen the leaders in scoring lose in the playoffs. That includes McDavid and MacKinnon in recent years. That’s not to say they aren’t great players but it shows that even the elite scorers lose. If McKenna isn’t scoring points, he’s usually useless and that’s exactly the problem the Leafs have had with players like Nylander for the past decade. Generally, the elite scorers only win when they blow away their competition with generational scoring that they simply can’t be caught. McKenna isn’t generational which means the rest of his game, which is abysmal, is what will determine if he succeeds or fails when it matters.
Then there’s also Reid who could become the Schaefer, Makar or Hughes of this draft. As a RHD, top pair, offensive D, he could easily be more valuable (despite scoring less points) than McKenna on a winning team. Same with Verhoeff as a top pair, big body, two-way RHD. These other players won’t score the most points but they will have the most ice-time, they will play defense, they will kill penalties, they will QB a PP and so on.
Everybody is so hyper focused on the points McKenna COULD score but they forget how the rest of the game is played and how the rest of the game is what matters in the playoffs. McKenna fits the mold of everything that is wrong with the Leafs current structure of: do well in the regular season, exit in the 1st round.
it just seems very unlikely they Leafs trade down.
Mckenna is going to go #1, and be a nice playmaker for the Leafs which is something they lost when Marner rode his donkey out of townI’m guessing that will be the case. It’s why the price will be high. Vancouver and Calgary want McKenna for more than his hockey ability. Both want an elite talent, Western Canadian, for marketing purposes. Although the other top prospects have very similar worth, they aren’t local in the eyes of the Western Canadian teams. McKenna will be similar to Marner, but in one difference, he has a bit of a chip on his shoulder, if pushed. Marner never had that. He was all skill with no grit to his game. This is where the two players are different. I think Knies gets dealt before McKenna. With Montreal sniffing around, Chicago might want to take a run at him, but it’ll be costly.
Captchas are bullshit!
No, the big difference is that Marner can play elite level defense. McKenna has zero grit to his game. He avoids contact and is physically weak. The only time he showed any kind of “fight” is in a parking lot bar fight.
my best guess I have the Leafs taking Mckenna at 90% and 5% they pick someone else and 5% they trade the #1 pick
The Leafs having a 10% chance at doing the correct thing tracks.
still could happen.
we will not know if choosing McKenna is a mistake. only time will tell.
Damn, Mr. French’s take would be nice about now.It’s a mistake. He’s not a generational player. He’s small. He plays wing. He’s not physical. He can’t play defense.
Absolutely everything about his player profile is the opposite of what the Leafs should want or need. Even in a “win now” mode, he doesn’t keep Matthews here. He doesn’t win you playoff games. And in a “rebuild” mode he gives the Leafs none of the qualities you want from a cornerstone player. He will score points and lose games that matter, that’s what time will tell.
The trade proposal moves Rielly and Nick Robertson to Vancouver for Elias Pettersson.
this potential trade is intriging.
I’d do the trade.
Pettersson and Nylander would be a soft line but very skilled one.
someone like Bunting to get them the puck could work out.Taking one of the most overpaid, overrated players from the worst team in the NHL is a joke, right?
The Sedins are going to keep their Swede boy right where he is. Sundin shouldn’t be that stupid.
Pettersson and Nylander would get obliterated defensively, especially in the playoffs (wouldn’t make it anyway).
I just saw that the Leafs told McKenna is going 1st overall at this upcoming draft
Which would be a mistake. Stenberg is better. Trading down is also better for an extra 1st round pick and taking a top pair RHD like Reid or Verhoeff which the Leafs need much more than another Nylander.
At the same time, the Leafs have been super leaky lately. It could just be a test to see who is leaking information. It could also be to change the way trade negotiations are going. There’s half a dozen scenarios it could be.
