Mitch Marner for Jack Eichel?
- chilliard77

Hell no.
Thank you

everybody loves matt duchene tho
- TheMussel

Hell no.
Thank you
- Fakepartofme

Even if Eichel had a new artificial disk in his spine and was fully healthy?

Even if Eichel had a new artificial disk in his spine and was fully healthy?
- Scabeh

Eichel > Marner

If he was guaranteed to be back to 100% upon his return I'd make this deal in a heartbeat.

But... can he recover?

If that deal ever happened you'd have to shift one of AM34 or Snake to the wing to make room for Jack. I'm guessing the latter?

Never going to happen but it's fun to speculate.

Eichel > Marner

If he was guaranteed to be back to 100% upon his return I'd make this deal in a heartbeat.

But... can he recover?

If that deal ever happened you'd have to shift one of AM34 or Snake to the wing to make room for Jack. I'm guessing the latter?

Never going to happen but it's fun to speculate.
- mjones242

It's (frank)ing incredible that Jack is still in Buffalo.

(frank)ing trade him and operate him already.

Spezza-Matthews-Kase
Bunting-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kampf-Marner
Ritchie-Kerfoot-Simmonds

Roll the dice on insanity!

Interesting points, I agree some players are still making the same mistakes but some (like Willy) are showing that they are growing and becoming more well rounded players.

Matthews showed in the playoffs last year what I thought was a much more balanced focus on offense and defense and I hope to see that carry over into this year. Marner seems to have regressed and as many have pointed out maybe it's him feeling the pressure, maybe that combined with the new new PP 'role' who knows but he doesn't look like the Marner we have seen in past years right now.

You have to wonder if accountability is the major issue here and the players at the top end of the pay scale not really being held accountable to perform by the coaching staff? Sure the media and fans try to hold them accountable but it's Toronto so it's washed over really and the reality is in today's world of social media etc. what fanbase or media source actually has the ability to hold players accountable?

The only real tool a coach has is ice time but you have to wonder if Keefe would get support from up the chain if he moved Spezza up a line or 2 and bumped the non-performing stars down or even benched a star for a period as a wake up call? I mean if the only people saying you have to be better are the crazy Toronto media and fans on social media and hearing that is the only consequence to not changing how motivated are you really?

I would like to say none of that matters because they are motivated internally to win a cup but I'm not seeing that right now. Sometimes fear is the motivator that is needed, fear of being embarrassed because you have been bumped to the 3rd or 4th line or stapled to the bench for a full period....maybe?

I mean poor Garnie who correctly points out that his long necked hero gets to ride the pine if he makes one small mistake.....maybe the level of accountability needs to be alot closer to even no matter what your salary and / or role on the team is? I sure don't think that culture exists on this team and I'm not sure when it last existed on a Leafs team? If I had to guess it would probably have been under the 2 big Irish guys who ran the teams and coincidentally had success (Burns and Quinn).

I'm also very aware that this isn't the 'norm' for the way teams are run anymore and upsetting star players and/or not treating them differently than the 4th line plugs isn't generally something teams do.....but maybe they need to give that a try?

How do teams like Tampa create that accountability? I think we know how the Hawks did it when they were rocking and rolling......coach Q demanded and got accountability, so does Captain Serious.
- Cush29

Keefe benched Nick Ritchie for the 3rd against SJ and not Marner or Matthews, when they were playing worse than Ritchie.

I mean, there's your answer right? Keefe will bench the lower end guys and hope the high paid guys get the message some how?

teams like Tampa create accountability because Cooper has benched Kucherov and Stamkos in the past..
Quenneville did it too..

We have a coach that swears a lot, but hasn't done anything to be considered a pain the a$$ coach

It's (frank)ing incredible that Jack is still in Buffalo.

(frank)ing trade him and operate him already.
- Scabeh

I think he should have been dealt with already. I know he wants a surgery that has never been performed on a pro athlete before but man, his choice if he truly wants to risk his career.

Your appeal to authority has been duly noted. But you're right, I should just take it on faith that strangers on the internet are gleaning factual information from "sources" on the internet (or personal relationships) and posting them - with accurate context - for all of us to consume and assume the information is trustworthy.

But yes, let's move on to something far more interesting and skews to our true expertise:

Bunting-AM34-Willie
Ritchie-Tavares-Marner
Kerf-Kampf-Kase
Engvall-Spezza-Simmonds

If I really wanted to send a message (and I do!):

Bunting-AM34-Willie
kerf-Tavares-Kase
Engvall-Kampf-Marner
Ritchie-Spezza-Simmonds


- mjones242

I get that critical thinking is tough. Does the information make sense or not? You kind of have to decide that on your own no matter where it comes from.

I think Marner goes onto line two. They really do want to get him going but not slow dow Matthews and not facing top checking lines might help. I’d do JT and Engvall but I think they’ll keep running Ritchie out for a while.

Keefe benched Nick Ritchie for the 3rd against SJ and not Marner or Matthews, when they were playing worse than Ritchie.

I mean, there's your answer right? Keefe will bench the lower end guys and hope the high paid guys get the message some how?

teams like Tampa create accountability because Cooper has benched Kucherov and Stamkos in the past..
Quenneville did it too..

We have a coach that swears a lot, but hasn't done anything to be considered a pain the a$$ coach
- PatC80

I thought he did bench Marner a bit in the third against the sharks.

I would like to see him bench some of these guys considering you still have Tavares, Matthews, Nylander and to a lesser extent Spez Daddy.

Even if Eichel had a new artificial disk in his spine and was fully healthy?
- Scabeh

100%...hmm. Maybe.
But because of leafs luck and the fact the buffalo usually has the leafs number, I'd still be apprehensive. Cause I know, Marner would light up the leafs every single time they met. Leafs are soft and predictable which is perfect for mitch to feast on.

Spezza-Matthews-Kase
Bunting-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kampf-Marner
Ritchie-Kerfoot-Simmonds

Roll the dice on insanity!
- AdamFrench

In general I agree.

Put Marner on the 3rd or 4th line and give him an opportunity against weaker competition. Spezza might have a hard time playin 20 minutes though...

In general I agree.

Put Marner on the 3rd or 4th line and give him an opportunity against weaker competition. Spezza might have a hard time playin 20 minutes though...
- TheMussel

You simply move Spezza off the first line after they score 3 goals. Come on man! Think!

Spezza-Matthews-Kase
Bunting-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kampf-Marner
Ritchie-Kerfoot-Simmonds

Roll the dice on insanity!
- AdamFrench

First I would like to see a couple of games with Marner back on the 2nd with JT and Willie back up on the top line.
Not just part of one period.

Matthews' game will turn around.. Collectively, though, the team is fragile.. Not just Marner.. The Rangers game, the Leafs deserved that win. The other 5 games played, they've been below average.
- PatC80

I heard on the radio this morning that the fancy stats show the Leafs have been horrifically unlucky so far.

Hopefully it starts to even out.

I heard on the radio this morning that the fancy stats show the Leafs have been horrifically unlucky so far.

Hopefully it starts to even out.
- Atomic Wedgie

Other than the pens game that seems plausible.

It's (frank)ing incredible that Jack is still in Buffalo.

(frank)ing trade him and operate him already.
- Scabeh

It's absolutely insane and just underlines what a dumpster fire the BUF organization is.

Who the (frank) is going to want to play there after this massive mishandling? Did they forget that they're already an undesirable small market to play in? They should be making up for this with top notch player management, health, and development policies.

But nope.

Spezza-Matthews-Kase
Bunting-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kampf-Marner
Ritchie-Kerfoot-Simmonds

Roll the dice on insanity!
- AdamFrench

You gotta give Mitch at least one guy who can kinda shoot, no?

I heard on the radio this morning that the fancy stats show the Leafs have been horrifically unlucky so far.

Hopefully it starts to even out.
- Atomic Wedgie

Story of their existence.

I guess this bodes well with Dubas and Keefes "do the same thing over and over again, no matter how much it fails cause eventually it will work" mentality.

Spezza-Matthews-Kase
Bunting-Tavares-Nylander
Engvall-Kampf-Marner
Ritchie-Kerfoot-Simmonds

Roll the dice on insanity!
- AdamFrench

Put Spezza higher in the lineup.

Manson would look good on the oilers.
Hope it happens, of course I doubt it.

I think he should have been dealt with already. I know he wants a surgery that has never been performed on a pro athlete before but man, his choice if he truly wants to risk his career.
- Aaron_85

Except the CBA gives the final say to the Sabres.

Except the CBA gives the final say to the Sabres.
- Canada Cup

So I'm going to have to do some more innerwebs investimigation, but from what I understand, if Eichel gets his preferred surgery, the Sabres can void his contract.

I'm seriously wondering what the downside is to this.

His contract is a straight $10M per year, so I can't imagine Sabres could sue to get him to return money.

I think he'd be UFA after this year.

new blog everyone

Keefe benched Nick Ritchie for the 3rd against SJ and not Marner or Matthews, when they were playing worse than Ritchie.

I mean, there's your answer right? Keefe will bench the lower end guys and hope the high paid guys get the message some how?

teams like Tampa create accountability because Cooper has benched Kucherov and Stamkos in the past..
Quenneville did it too..

We have a coach that swears a lot, but hasn't done anything to be considered a pain the a$$ coach
- PatC80

If he benches Matthews he’d have to fly to Arizona to apologize and bring gifts. 😑