Then he will have to be like Marner, and dodge hits.
- Fakepartofme

It doesn’t work that way. He is a dman. You have to get the puck in the corners, along teh boards, etc. You also have to move guys from in front of the net.

A young forward is completely different then a young dman...

This is BS

They have some grit grinder forwards that are fearless PLUS Crosby and Malkin... lets not get crazy.... plus a goalie that could stop a beach ball under pressure...
- Hockey_Reverend

They also had a worse D. And we haven't seen our stars fully maximixed.

Remember 2 years ago when only a goal post saved Washington from beating them and they would have won the cup? The Nhl can be a game of inches. The Leafs if coached differently may have well gone to the finals last year.

The Pens last 2 cups they won they were built similarly to the Leafs.
- RogerRoeper

They had the two best players in the league (HOF), goalies who turned into walls, decent D who played their defensive system to a tee, and overall a team that stuck to the defensive game plan.

And enough with the "had the coach been different they would have gone to the finals" BS, jesus.

They also had a worse D. And we haven't seen our stars fully maximixed.
- RogerRoeper

But they didnt.
Mistake people always make is they only look at the names on the back. They had quality D (not stars or superstars) that filled in and was able to play their defensive system perfectly.
They stuck to their game and strategy. Kept it simple.

It doesn’t work that way. He is a dman. You have to get the puck in the corners, along teh boards, etc. You also have to move guys from in front of the net.

A young forward is completely different then a young dman...
- Hockey_Reverend

agreed.

it's not a knock on sandin. another ~30 games this year + 5-10 playoff games (hopefully more for the leafs :thumbsup would do him a world of good.

if he can play 80 games next year, the kid will have enough experience under his belt to hopefully be a bigger contributor next year.

It doesn’t work that way. He is a dman. You have to get the puck in the corners, along teh boards, etc. You also have to move guys from in front of the net.

A young forward is completely different then a young dman...
- Hockey_Reverend

He can still deliver hits and move guys.
just has to be heads up to avoid big hits.
We'll see next year.
So far, he's played pretty darn good.

But they didnt.
Mistake people always make is they only look at the names on the back. They had quality D (not stars or superstars) that filled in and was able to play their defensive system perfectly.
They stuck to their game and strategy. Kept it simple.
- Fakepartofme

They had a poop D dude.

he's being paid 9 mill this season .... but with a cap of 6.9 ish
- zazzle

the only time people mention actual $$, which nobody gives a poop about..is when they have run out of legit complaints about a player.

Willy Marner and Matthews are at the moment preforming well enough to say they are paid fair and there is an argument Willy is the best value at the moment.

They also had a worse D. And we haven't seen our stars fully maximixed.
- RogerRoeper

you need to stop focusing on what the penguins D was not or what was wrong with them. what they were, was for the most part big and experienced. those were the 2 advantages they had.

shultz 6'2" 26
cole 6'1" 27
hainsey 6'3" 35
dumolin 6'4" 25
daley 5'11" 33
maata 6'2" 22

Time will tell.
We'll see after the playoffs.
But.
You have to admit, Willie has been great the past several months. He's changed his play a bit, still floats, but is less of perimeter player like the previous years.
Goes to net, takes great shots....he actually chases down pucks.
Whether you like him or not. You have to agree to the above.
Will get 30/70 this year. That's great!
- Fakepartofme

let's first see if he gets to the 70 points.
hyman is producing, mikheyev was producing well as well.
my point with Nylander is that he is two levels down from Matthews, Marner, Tavares.
Lots of players can get to points when playing with the right teammates.
In my opinion Nylander is like Guentzel in that he gets a lot of points because of being on lines and pp with superb teammates (unlike Guentzel in playing styles of course).
6.9million caphit is not a bad caphit for him, but a luxury leafs cannot afford since they can bring in other players (mikheyev, hyman, others) who can be on (almost) similar point production levels, while at 1/3rd or half of the caphit ánd bring other things to the team as well (PK skills etc.)

He can still deliver hits and move guys.
just has to be heads up to avoid big hits.
We'll see next year.
So far, he's played pretty darn good.
- Fakepartofme

Yes, not saying it wont work...

But lets say we play Washington in the playoffs. Do you want him getting the puck in our corner with Wilson on the ice?

you need to stop focusing on what the penguins D was not or what was wrong with them. what they were, was for the most part big and experienced. those were the 2 advantages they had.

shultz 6'2" 26
cole 6'1" 27
hainsey 6'3" 35
dumolin 6'4" 25
daley 5'11" 33
maata 6'2" 22
- Tumbleweed

Who cares about size? Now you're overrating that.

Leafers over the last 25 games are inching towards the right corner, its taken a couple months to get the Bableafs stink off.

A good sign

also TB is doing stuff

let's first see if he gets to the 70 points.
hyman is producing, mikheyev was producing well as well.
my point with Nylander is that he is two levels down from Matthews, Marner, Tavares.
Lots of players can get to points when playing with the right teammates.
In my opinion Nylander is like Guentzel in that he gets a lot of points because of being on lines and pp with superb teammates (unlike Guentzel in playing styles of course).
6.9million caphit is not a bad caphit for him, but a luxury leafs cannot afford since they can bring in other players (mikheyev, hyman, others) who can be on (almost) similar point production levels, while at 1/3rd or half of the caphit ánd bring other things to the team as well (PK skills etc.)
- MaximusAurelius

Tavares isn't even getting many points when Nylander scores. And yes, the Leafs can absolutely afford 6.9 for a Nylander who's not even hit his peak yet.+

And saying Mikheyev can hit similar production is ludicrous.He has 8 career NHL goals. Nylander has never scored less than 61 points in a full season. Soupman is a nice bottom 6 supporting piece. Nylander is a 1st line winger.

They had a poop D dude.
- RogerRoeper

One year, they had fill ins that played their system perfectly.
That wins you games.

We've seen years how the Rangers have faired with big names players who dont play their system well.

One year, they had fill ins that played their system perfectly.
That wins you games.

We've seen years how the Rangers have faired with big names players who dont play their system well.
- Fakepartofme

Do you hinestly feel Leafs are just :"Big names"? I certainly don't.

Tavares isn't even getting many points when Nylander scores. And yes, the Leafs can absolutely afford 6.9 for a Nylander who's not even hit his peak yet.+

And saying Mikheyev can hit similar production is ludicrous.He has 8 career NHL goals. Nylander has never scored less than 61 points in a full season.
- RogerRoeper

convenientlyl forgetting about his 27point season of last year - he still played 54 games, not exactly on a 60+ point pace...
and in three playoffs series, 11 points (3g, 8a) in 20 games isn't exactly superstar stuff.

let's first see if he gets to the 70 points.
hyman is producing, mikheyev was producing well as well.
my point with Nylander is that he is two levels down from Matthews, Marner, Tavares.
Lots of players can get to points when playing with the right teammates.
In my opinion Nylander is like Guentzel in that he gets a lot of points because of being on lines and pp with superb teammates (unlike Guentzel in playing styles of course).
6.9million caphit is not a bad caphit for him, but a luxury leafs cannot afford since they can bring in other players (mikheyev, hyman, others) who can be on (almost) similar point production levels, while at 1/3rd or half of the caphit ánd bring other things to the team as well (PK skills etc.)
- MaximusAurelius

Not a bad cap hit for him?

So since Hintz is better would you pay Hintz 7.5 million?

Leafers over the last 25 games are inching towards the right corner, its taken a couple months to get the Bableafs stink off.

A good sign

also TB is doing stuff


- senstroll

There's a Penguin on top of us.. Frisky little buggers

Who cares about size? Now you're overrating that.
- RogerRoeper

you're right.

cancel the pens 2017 stanley cup.

They are physical.
They are top 10 in hits/game.
They are continually on top the opposing team.
Admittedly there is more to being physical that simply hit stats.
When they are on their game they use their speed, skill and grind.

they just havent done that most of the season. Starting to though.
- Fakepartofme

Tampa's turnaround is because they started to "grind"?

you're right.

cancel the pens 2017 stanley cup.
- Tumbleweed

Not a bad cap hit for him?

So since Hintz is better would you pay Hintz 7.5 million?
- Santo_44

Don't you ever speak negative of Hintz again..

One year, they had fill ins that played their system perfectly.
That wins you games.

We've seen years how the Rangers have faired with big names players who dont play their system well.
- Fakepartofme

They had some pretty deep playoff runs. One cup final as well....there is a lot of parity in the NHL. The Rangers had the talent and it gave them some deep runs but at the end of the day they just missed it.

convenientlyl forgetting about his 27point season of last year - he still played 54 games, not exactly on a 60+ point pace...
and in three playoffs series, 11 points (3g, 8a) in 20 games isn't exactly superstar stuff.
- MaximusAurelius

So soupman is close to Nylander?

We know why Nylander struggled last year. People who said it was due to missing training camp/preseason were correct.


Nylander is a 23 year-old 1st line winger. Well worth 6.9.