For the first time in forever they have a top goalie in Bobrovsky who statistically throughout his career has a bad year followed by a good year etc etc. Last year he had a down year, expect him to be Vezina like this year.

They added to their D core. Stralman is no slouch. And lets not forget coach Q. He will grab that room by the balls i guarantee it.
- Burkefection

Bobrovsky if he returns to the .920+
Goalies are weird and he is 30 now so...who knows

I like Stralman, but he is not what he was, slightly above average now.

all hinges on a 30yo Goalie imo if they are to be wayyyyy better

how have the leafs addressed defence?

Barrie is basically Gardiner 2.0......i get that Gardiner is the leafs fans favorite whipping boy, and Barrie is the new toy, but if you can't see that they're basically the same player, you're either blind, or just a massive homer

Ceci and Harpur are arguably the 2 worst dmen in the entire league

how exactly is your D corps better?
- haywoodjablome

Barrie is Gardiner?

Give over.

Love how Gardiner's value has skyrocketed since being a UFA. I can't stand the man but would love the Leafs to re-sign him just for the takes.

Bobrovsky if he returns to the .920+
Goalies are weird and he is 30 now so...who knows

I like Stralman, but he is not what he was, slightly above average now.

all hinges on a 30yo Goalie imo if they are to be wayyyyy better
- senstroll

Even in a down year, Bobrovsky would be a huge improvement over Reimer and 40 year old Luongo.

How can it even be debatable that they got better?

i love that you conveniently ignore the fact that Gardiner is also out........

Gardiner, Zaitsev, Hainsey out.....Barrie, Ceci, Harpur in

Barrie is a slight improvement over Gardiner

Zaitsev > Ceci
Hainsey >>>>>>>>> Harpur

you also point out that Ceci has played with poop partners.......He has played with some poop partners no doubt (including the other plug that you traded for) but he's also played with future HOF players like karlsson and Gonchar, and the one constant is that he's made absolutely EVERYONE he's played with worse......so like i said, poor Morgan, he's going to have a rough year dragging that anchor all over the ice
- haywoodjablome

Harpur is not going to be playing top pairing minutes, if he even cracks the top 6.

i love that you conveniently ignore the fact that Gardiner is also out........

Gardiner, Zaitsev, Hainsey out.....Barrie, Ceci, Harpur in

Barrie is a slight improvement over Gardiner

Zaitsev > Ceci
Hainsey >>>>>>>>> Harpur

you also point out that Ceci has played with poop partners.......He has played with some poop partners no doubt (including the other plug that you traded for) but he's also played with future HOF players like karlsson and Gonchar, and the one constant is that he's made absolutely EVERYONE he's played with worse......so like i said, poor Morgan, he's going to have a rough year dragging that anchor all over the ice
- haywoodjablome

And you left Muzzin out. Compared to how they started last season ....

..it's Muzzin, Barrie, Ceci in and Gardiner, Hainsey, Zaitsev out.

There's lot of time to add another Muzzin type at the deadline if needed. And I'm sure that's the plan.

lmfao, “with some serious coaching strategy by Babcock”. He is the main reason we have done nothing in the playoffs so far!

Some different defense this year and some new assistant coaches, but if we keep getting outshot on a 2:1 ration almost every game and burning Andersen out, there's going to be more heat on Babcock's shoulders.

last year people were saying 'crazy' when talking a 8year deal for over 8million AAV for Marner.
Dubas was being cheap and missed a golden opportunity to sign Marner with a discount of at least 2mln AAV on a long term deal.
- MaximusAurelius

Dude. You literally just got proven as wrong and instead of accepting it, you chose to double down?

You said Dubas didn't do his job and try to get a deal done. Fact is that he did.

You say that Dubas was cheap and that's why a deal didn't get done. Fact is, Marner's camp has said on numerous times that they were 100% waiting to be the last of the 3 to sign.

Some different defense this year and some new assistant coaches, but if we keep getting outshot on a 2:1 ration almost every game and burning Andersen out, there's going to be more heat on Babcock's shoulders.
- NewfieStud

I didn't realize they were outshot 2:1, almost every game last year.

Learn something new everyday. I have to practice my Newfie math I guess.

Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur.

Dude. You literally just got proven as wrong and instead of accepting it, you chose to double down?

You said Dubas didn't do his job and try to get a deal done. Fact is that he did.

You say that Dubas was cheap and that's why a deal didn't get done. Fact is, Marner's camp has said on numerous times that they were 100% waiting to be the last of the 3 to sign.
- GreatGigInTheSky

I see Max hasn't changed in the two weeks I've been away.

Some different defense this year and some new assistant coaches, but if we keep getting outshot on a 2:1 ration almost every game and burning Andersen out, there's going to be more heat on Babcock's shoulders.
- NewfieStud

Leafs give up a lot of low chance shots from the perimeter and they also had the lead in the 3rd period a lot. Teams tend to push harder when they're trailing in the 3rd period.

Two of the main reasons the Leafs give up so many shots.

1. Toronto
2. Tampa
3. Florida
--
4. Montreal (Wildcard1)
5. Boston (Wildcard2)

----
6. Buffalo
7. Detroit
8. Ottawa

Atlantic on par with Pacific as in strength of Division.

Home ice advantage will be decisive for Leafs in making 2nd round.
(Leafs to play either Boston or Montreal would be a great matchup)
- MaximusAurelius

Tampa will be first

Cody Ceci and Ben Harpur.
- BINGO!

Who are former Senators?

Seems like a fun game of jeopardy...

James Reimer and Brock McGinn

I see Max hasn't changed in the two weeks I've been away.
- PatC80

It's truly incredible.

Tampa will be first
- Leafsandbolts

do you mean the 1st team eliminated from the playoffs, like this past season?

Before the last ball dropped, at that point, the Leafs had the most lottery ball combinations left.
- GreatGigInTheSky

Thanks. I never knew we were that close. Now that I do

do you mean the 1st team eliminated from the playoffs, like this past season?
- PatC80

Yup

Can we just all agree that this season is just another wasted Leafs season because its inevitable we play Boston in round 1 and lose in 7 games again.

Yup
- Leafsandbolts

Can we just all agree that this season is just another wasted Leafs season because its inevitable we play Boston in round 1 and lose in 7 games again.
- Burkefection

What if we lose in 6? Does it become a successful season? I mean we still lose in the first round, but we lose faster..

Dude. You literally just got proven as wrong and instead of accepting it, you chose to double down?

You said Dubas didn't do his job and try to get a deal done. Fact is that he did.

You say that Dubas was cheap and that's why a deal didn't get done. Fact is, Marner's camp has said on numerous times that they were 100% waiting to be the last of the 3 to sign.
- GreatGigInTheSky

except Marner camp has gone on the record several times that they were willing to sign a deal before start camp last season. Dubas just didn't come up with the right proposal..

Can we just all agree that this season is just another wasted Leafs season because its inevitable we play Boston in round 1 and lose in 7 games again.
- Burkefection

Yes we can

except Marner camp has gone on the record several times that they were willing to sign a deal before start camp last season. Dubas just didn't come up with the right proposal..
- MaximusAurelius

The right proposal?
So Marner was asking for $11M last year as well?
What a putz that kid is.

The right proposal?
So Marner was asking for $11M last year as well?
What a putz that kid is.
- PatC80

Marner was definitely willing to sign for way less than 11million last season.
That's my whole point.
Dubas waited too long - being cheap not wanting to give him 8million AAV on a long term deal. Now he'll have to pay 2-3million AAV extra at least on a long term deal.

We can go back to last year's threads and discussions about Marner's contract value then if you want. (quite a few people then advocated for a similar deal for Marner as Nylander would get (then still unknown figure)).