I missed Mackenzie Blackwood - because he's unvaccinated he may not qualify. Even if he does get vaccinated, because he's currently unvaccinated he may not qualify. But that's a different issue altogether.

I'm not sold on Hart. Last year he had a 36% Quality Start rate. That's freaking awful. Brian Elliot who is a mediocre goalie outplayed him by a noticeable margin. Alex Lyon - who is not even really a plug at the NHL level - outplayed him in a small sample.

So far this year in 2 games Hart has been ok (one good, one bad). He needs to string something together to prove he's stable and consistent and actually good. Binnington has been more stable, but he's also off to a bad start this year.

I like Fleury for his big-game ability and how his teammates always seem to pick up the game for him - but in his limited 2 game sample in Chicago, he's getting absolutely reamed.
- Monkeypunk

I think CArter Hart was dealing with injuries last year.

But yeah, he hasn't proven a dang thing.

Stupid face aside, I wouldnt be upset if we had Ehlers, he has a lot skill and physicality.
That being said, Wilster has improved over the past two seasons, doesnt float as much, goes to the corners, goes to the net. Ive liked his game over that stretch.
- Fakepartofme

Leafs fans have a massive blind spot when it comes to Willy. Sure, he’s gotten a little better at battling, but he’s still terrible at it. He’s obviously a skilled player with a good shot who skates well and can handle the puck, but he still lacks in other areas.

Garnie pointed out him floating to the bench during 3-on-3. That first game vs OTT at the 1 minute mark before JT’s penalty, watch what he does and tell me that what you want in a player. Just a gutless display of effort.

Willy is wicked offensively, but is it enough to offset his glaring defensive shortcomings? Hard to say. Maybe he’s not in top cardio condition, or maybe he just doesn’t think it’s his responsibility to compete late in games.

Im not sure if Ritchie was on the ice for that or not....but that did stick as a "WTF leafs, do something about that".
But notta.
ah well.
- Fakepartofme

Pretty sure he was, because I yelled “where the (frank) you going” as he skates the other way.

Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought when it happened 🤣

Pretty sure he was, because I yelled “where the (frank) you going” as he skates the other way.

Maybe it wasn’t as bad as I thought when it happened 🤣
- annoyed

Leafs fans have a massive blind spot when it comes to Willy. Sure, he’s gotten a little better at battling, but he’s still terrible at it. He’s obviously a skilled player with a good shot who skates well and can handle the puck, but he still lacks in other areas.

Garnie pointed out him floating to the bench during 3-on-3. That first game vs OTT at the 1 minute mark before JT’s penalty, watch what he does and tell me that what you want in a player. Just a gutless display of effort.

Willy is wicked offensively, but is it enough to offset his glaring defensive shortcomings? Hard to say. Maybe he’s not in top cardio condition, or maybe he just doesn’t think it’s his responsibility to compete late in games.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

He's been the Leafs best player early on, and I think youre overstating defensive deficiencies.

Leafs fans have a massive blind spot when it comes to Willy. Sure, he’s gotten a little better at battling, but he’s still terrible at it. He’s obviously a skilled player with a good shot who skates well and can handle the puck, but he still lacks in other areas.

Garnie pointed out him floating to the bench during 3-on-3. That first game vs OTT at the 1 minute mark before JT’s penalty, watch what he does and tell me that what you want in a player. Just a gutless display of effort.

Willy is wicked offensively, but is it enough to offset his glaring defensive shortcomings? Hard to say. Maybe he’s not in top cardio condition, or maybe he just doesn’t think it’s his responsibility to compete late in games.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

He’s had a great start and looks to be way more involved…I like his game so far, hasn’t shied away from contact like the past. 10x better then Mitch so far.

-McGarnicle

But what pieces? We'll have no depth...or were you meaning strictly picks?
Kerfoot is needed on this team, I know many dont like his 3.5 cap, but he's consistently a good player both in the reg season and playoffs.
- Fakepartofme

This team has zero depth.

Ho-Sang could potentially step into a top 6 role, but I’m not sure. Liljegren could potential be a bottom pairing guy, but I don’t think he’s an NHL player. Robertson broke his leg, Amadio meh, no picks..

They gutted the system to “get rid of bad contracts.” There are some things I like about Dubas, but overall I think he’s mismanaged this team horribly and hoodwinked the fans into thinking everything he did was necessary. They’ve had ZERO success under his tenure. And don’t give some garbage about regular season success, it doesn’t matter.

Yes, we are happy to give Marner a longer leash at 4+ times the salary after all.
- joel878

All this talk about Ritchie when Marner has 1 assist, which is only one more than Ritchie and I think he was sitting on the bench while he got it.....is ridiculous.

- annoyed

Hey, I'm trying to each lunch here!

He's been the Leafs best player early on, and I think youre overstating defensive deficiencies.
- prock

This is what I’m saying, there’s a massive blind spot with the fans. He’s put up some points, but he hasn’t been their best player at all, Bunting has. Matthews and Marner do a lot more.

But what pieces? We'll have no depth...or were you meaning strictly picks?
Kerfoot is needed on this team, I know many dont like his 3.5 cap, but he's consistently a good player both in the reg season and playoffs.
- Fakepartofme

I'm not going to get dragged into another debate about Kerfoot's supposed "versatility" and how much we need him. He is mediocre, has never been a consistent scoring forward, only had 1 "great" game (Game 4) last playoff, and has never historically shown that he's a capable playoff performer.

As per packaging prospects in a deal to bring back a legit Top 6 LW, I don't think there's a single player who I wouldn't trade at this point to try to put the Leafs over the top. Robertson is probably the guy who has the most name recognition though the 10 week injury may have just deep-sixed his value.

But yes, Kerfoot + picks and prospects traded for a Top 6 LW with a bit of term sounds very nice to me.

Pretty sure someone ran Campbell over last night, where was the guy we signed to take care of that poop? Pretty sure he was on the ice when it happened. If Nicks not scoring he should be mushing faces.
- annoyed

That's Gabriel and we put him in the minors.

Ritchie was signed to do a lot more than goon it up.

All this talk about Ritchie when Marner has 1 assist, which is only one more than Ritchie and I think he was sitting on the bench while he got it.....is ridiculous.
- Barb34

Yup.

The narrative of him being too slow - both in speed and in reading the game - seems a bit of a stretch at this point. But hey, shiny new toys need to put up immediate numbers or they're trash, amirite/amirov?

That's Gabriel and we put him in the minors.

Ritchie was signed to do a lot more than goon it up.
- joel878

He’s a big boy, nothing wrong with him punching a face….once in a while. Especially when someone rams our goalie ( our only healthy goalie ) into the crossbar.

Hey, I'm trying to each lunch here!
- TheMussel

Leafs fans have a massive blind spot when it comes to Willy. Sure, he’s gotten a little better at battling, but he’s still terrible at it. He’s obviously a skilled player with a good shot who skates well and can handle the puck, but he still lacks in other areas.

Garnie pointed out him floating to the bench during 3-on-3. That first game vs OTT at the 1 minute mark before JT’s penalty, watch what he does and tell me that what you want in a player. Just a gutless display of effort.

Willy is wicked offensively, but is it enough to offset his glaring defensive shortcomings? Hard to say. Maybe he’s not in top cardio condition, or maybe he just doesn’t think it’s his responsibility to compete late in games.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

YOU have a massive blindspot when it comes to Willy. He is 25. Not even at his peak. Still learning the defensive side of the game - but he's progressing.
All players make mistakes and have bad moments. You are solely focused on his.

Just like others this year are solely focused on Marner's.

They all have moments when they are dog tired and have nothing to give. They all moments where the brain cramps up and they do something dumb. They all moments where they fall, or chip the puck wrong or get caught cheating.

ALL of them. But you only see Nylander when it happens. The rest of us see it. We just see the other stuff and recognize the good that comes with the bad - for the whole team. For most of them the good far outweighs the bad.

That's the difference here. No one is saying Willy's is infallible. Or they shouldn't be.

One thing I hear repeated often, in it's simplest form is this: Willy doesn't have to go as far to justify the value in his contract as Mitch does. Willy has to play like a $7m player and Mitch has to play like an $11m player. Those expectations are set by the contracts they demanded and received.

It's too early into 2021 to say how it'll all turn out, but after 4 games Willy is meeting his expectations and Mitch is not.

This is what I’m saying, there’s a massive blind spot with the fans. He’s put up some points, but he hasn’t been their best player at all, Bunting has. Matthews and Marner do a lot more.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

Bunting is a great surprise, but it's 3 games in, and when someone surprises you like that, your excitement can get the better of your, and you overthink/overstate things.

Bunting has been good, but no, Nylander (or Campbell really) has been the best Leaf. And while I would be ecstatic if Bunting keeps it up all year, I think it's highly unlikely.

If anyone deserves criticism right now, it's MArner. But it's 3 games in, so way premature anyway.

This is what I’m saying, there’s a massive blind spot with the fans. He’s put up some points, but he hasn’t been their best player at all, Bunting has. Matthews and Marner do a lot more.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

Nylander is #1 so far this season.


Not even close, but I expect MM and AM to start turning it up.

here you go:




https://www.hockeybuzz.co...?thread_id=57175&page=360
- prock

It was a controlled time series survey. Two scouts was a huge shift in the base. Headline kept the Matthews pump in place causing some people to believe he was the consensus pick. but if you checked in the body of the story it was apparent that the consensus had been downgraded. Laine had all the momentum coming into the draft. But way too much credibility had been spent on Matthews. He is a good hockey player and he will be fine. But Leafs will regret not taking the superstar.
-Spazzo

He’s a big boy, nothing wrong with him punching a face….once in a while. Especially when someone rams our goalie ( our only healthy goalie ) into the crossbar.
- Garnie

I do not disagree. Although I'm sure some would have been displeased with the penalty in a close game, I'd have advocated for it all the same. 🤷🏻‍♂️

This is what I’m saying, there’s a massive blind spot with the fans. He’s put up some points, but he hasn’t been their best player at all, Bunting has. Matthews and Marner do a lot more.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

We're all fond of Bunting, but you can't poop on Willy for not playing defense and then claim a guy who is terrible at playing defense is better than Willy because you haven't watched how he doesn't play defense.

Why did the last goal go in last night? There was someone who didn't bother to take his man off that face off? It wasn't Nylander, but it was Bunting.

YOU have a massive blindspot when it comes to Willy. He is 25. Not even at his peak. Still learning the defensive side of the game - but he's progressing.
All players make mistakes and have bad moments. You are solely focused on his.

Just like others this year are solely focused on Marner's.

They all have moments when they are dog tired and have nothing to give. They all moments where the brain cramps up and they do something dumb. They all moments where they fall, or chip the puck wrong or get caught cheating.

ALL of them. But you only see Nylander when it happens. The rest of us see it. We just see the other stuff and recognize the good that comes with the bad - for the whole team. For most of them the good far outweighs the bad.

That's the difference here. No one is saying Willy's is infallible. Or they shouldn't be.

One thing I hear repeated often, in it's simplest form is this: Willy doesn't have to go as far to justify the value in his contract as Mitch does. Willy has to play like a $7m player and Mitch has to play like an $11m player. Those expectations are set by the contracts they demanded and received.

It's too early into 2021 to say how it'll all turn out, but after 4 games Willy is meeting his expectations and Mitch is not.
- Monkeypunk

Willy just straight up doesn’t compete sometimes. He’ll coast to the bench when the play goes up the ice.

Yeah, he’s been in the league for six years, he’s not developing anymore, he is what he is. It’s obvious that Keefe is trying to make him a more complete player, and Willy is saying the right things in the media about wanting to be a better leader etc, but he still does the things that he’s always done.

No one is questioning his offence.

Idk what anyone’s point about Marner is supposed to be. What, you think he sucks? You think he won’t start getting points? What exactly are you trying to say? It’s a team game and Mitch is doing all the little things right, like he always does.

- GreatGigInTheSky

urban legend bruv.

This is what I’m saying, there’s a massive blind spot with the fans. He’s put up some points, but he hasn’t been their best player at all, Bunting has. Matthews and Marner do a lot more.
- Arctic_AARDVARK

Dude, Nylander has easily been the Leafs best player so far and it's not even close. He's lapped the field.

Excluding Campbell, as he's a goalie, but he's also been fantastic so far.