The worst part of 'catch-up' posting ...when Mike "New blog"'s you ....fack.

Wodsie, for next time you're in Kensington - El Trompo is a great patio with meh food. El Rey a block over is great food and the mezcal lineup is en fuego - but the patio typically has no vibe (too much shade).

Wedgie - on the "why do we feel the need to fix the blueline" discussion. You're right the team has been pretty good at keeping GA down in the playoffs. They've been average at both 5v5 for goals scored and given up. They're losing on the margins. Special teams was the killer this year ..and it has been in the past as well.

For me, the blueline needs to be better at creating offense while not sacrificing defence. Just better all around and I think that is at least a part of the solution to fixing the "how to we make the Core better" question.

You look at the top 4 of the teams that go deep and the Leafs just don't even come close to comparing. Improve the blueline with 1 or 2 good additions and that's 45-50 minutes per night of improved play all around.

Benoit and Boosh ...love them both ...but we're fooling ourselves if we think we are making deep playoff runs with both of them in the top 4.

One thing to consider in the likelihood that the Core 4 stays next year.

Can we try Marner as 2C and JT as 3C?

Marner should be able to play center. He did in Junior, he's very good defensively and reads the game at a high level. He lacks physicality and likely faceoff prowess, but those can be worked on.

Knies Matthews Whomever
Whomever Marner Nylander
Holmberg Tavares Whomever
Whomever Kampf Reaves
- gravyface

With his low cap hit and good PPG, I would imagine McMann will be in the lineup next year - 2nd or 3rd line.

Heads are going to explode either way. 🤷
- mjones242

It's the exploding heads that unite us all.

[quote=Zezel]

When Z holds a grudge it’s hilarious

Keep in mind I haven't watched 5 minutes of junior in the past 25 years, but I have been told on quite a few occasions that Marner only played a very, very small amount of centre in London.
- Atomic Wedgie

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Dvorak was his centre for the vast majority of time he played on the Knights.

Keep in mind I haven't watched 5 minutes of junior in the past 25 years, but I have been told on quite a few occasions that Marner only played a very, very small amount of centre in London.
- Atomic Wedgie

I watched quite a bit that year, he played a fair amount iirc. Although I was drunk a lot at the games.

Actually the best head explosions would result from Marner winning the Conn Smythe with another team while the Leafs' side of the trade eat poop.

In Woll we trust 💙

Wish list: (any 2)
Zadorov
Tanev
Pesce
Edmundson
Lyubushkin
- mr.sir

How about 1 of :
Pesce
Tanev
Skjei
Montour
Parayko

And a 3rd pairing type that can move the puck.

[quote=Santo_44]

What was hilarious was people touting Derpluzzi's playoff resumé of 7 games.

Varsho

https://x.com/DownToBlack...tatus/1795145474707509277

only good thing about this season.

also related..was as at the fri/sat games in det. happened to be staying at the same hotel the jays use...players were coming into the lobby.. Varsho is really short

Actually the best head explosions would result from Marner winning the Conn Smythe with another team while the Leafs' side of the trade eat poop.
- Zezel

Yeah, the Leafs would get an absolutely poop return for Marner.

With his low cap hit and good PPG, I would imagine McMann will be in the lineup next year - 2nd or 3rd line.
- Atomic Wedgie

and Dewar on the 4th

I watched quite a bit that year, he played a fair amount iirc. Although I was drunk a lot at the games.
- gravyface

Just doing some googling.

Apparently after drafting him, the Leafs told him they eventually wanted him to play centre:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/...e-on-toronto-maple-leafs/

And an interesting post from a guy on Reddit three years ago (his name is now deleted), answering the question of why don't the Leafs play Mitchie at centre :

"There was actually a controversy in 2015 about listing Marner as a center. He hadn't played center in his draft year (I think over his entire OHL career to that point, but am not certain of this), and his dad pushed for elite prospects to list him as a center/right wing.

After the draft Hunter took heat because the leafs needed a center and defenseman and drafted a kid who was exclusively a winger in his draft year. Hunter said he thought marner could transition to center and we were all relaxed about that because his brother ran the Knights and would make it happen.

Marner put up his worst numbers at center in the first month of his D+1 year (still decent, but not top fifteen prospect good, let alone top five), and so they moved him back to the wing. Over the rest of the season, Marner was so good at wing that he won the scoring race, beating out other top prospect Dylan Strome. I don't think anyone on Reddit mentioned him moving to center for years after that failed experiment.

The Nylander example is also wrong. Nylander played center his entire career and spent his Marlies season being groomed to take over a 2C role on the leafs -- he was given 1C role and minutes for the Marlies to prep him. He was called up for the first time at the end of the 15-16 season and played center between Hyman (significantly worse than he is now) and Greening (who was out of the NHL for good after that). Nylander was so effective at 19 in the 3C role that Greening put up a .5 points per game pace next to him. Before winning the Matthews sweepstakes there was talk about how high his potential was at center, since he was already a .5 points per game center in the NHL (albeit in a small sample).

When Keefe trusted Nylander at center, it was because Keefe literally groomed him to be an NHL center and saw tape of him play as a good NHL center at 19. Was it smart to try and get Nylander to forget four straight years of timing and duties on the wing in an elimination game? No. But that doesn't mean Nylander is a random experiment that didn't work out.

A lot of professional scouts and even the athletic staff project Nylander to play 2C more over the next few seasons in preparation for Tavares' decline and shift to the wing, a la Giroux and Stamkos in the last few years."

- - - - - - - -

I believe the bolded is incorrect, with Strome putting up 6 points in the final night of the regular season to beat out Mitchie.

Heads are going to explode either way. 🤷
- mjones242

I dont recall many being against signing domi.
5-6 million per, well that was a different story

What was hilarious was people touting Derpluzzi's playoff resumé of 7 games.
- Zezel

So here's a weird one for you:

Bertuzzi was supposed to bring the physical element to the Leafs' lineup.

According to the NHL stats (so take it with a grain of salt), Bertuzzi was waaaaay down the list of hits per 60 minutes:

https://www.nhl.com/stats...sPer60&page=0&pageSize=50

Tavares was a bigger hitter/60.

And weirdly, Rielly also was very low on the list.

Yeah, the Leafs would get an absolutely poop return for Marner.
- mjones242

Probably, his contract is utterly horrible and he can't get points without Matthews, and other teams know that. The Leafs will have to give teams picks as sweeteners just to give him away like with Marleau. /s

So here's a weird one for you:

Bertuzzi was supposed to bring the physical element to the Leafs' lineup.

According to the NHL stats (so take it with a grain of salt), Bertuzzi was waaaaay down the list of hits per 60 minutes:

https://www.nhl.com/stats...sPer60&page=0&pageSize=50

Tavares was a bigger hitter/60.

And weirdly, Rielly also was very low on the list.
- Atomic Wedgie

and in case you were wondering, Tavares and Matthews stepped up in the playoffs - top 5 in hits/60*.

The lowest three guys on the list?

Nylander, Domi and Marner.

- - - - - - - - - - -

*all stats quoted here are for Leafs' lineup only - NOT NHL-wide.

How about 1 of :
Pesce
Tanev
Skjei
Montour
Parayko

And a 3rd pairing type that can move the puck.
- The Law

I prefer Zadorov Pesce and Tanev UFA’s over Parayko, only because we don’t lose assets
Montour I feel is more O than D
Skjei, not a fan for the price

Zadorov at 5m max
Edmundson at 2m max
Tanev at 4.5m max
Pesce will likely be 6m+🤨
Myers at under 3m - maybe?
Boosh at 2m max

Niemela can move the puck, but likely 4th pair

Varsho

https://x.com/DownToBlack...tatus/1795145474707509277

only good thing about this season.

also related..was as at the fri/sat games in det. happened to be staying at the same hotel the jays use...players were coming into the lobby.. Varsho is really short
- senstroll

Hopefully you got some autos?

Just doing some googling.

Apparently after drafting him, the Leafs told him they eventually wanted him to play centre:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/...e-on-toronto-maple-leafs/

And an interesting post from a guy on Reddit three years ago (his name is now deleted), answering the question of why don't the Leafs play Mitchie at centre :

"There was actually a controversy in 2015 about listing Marner as a center. He hadn't played center in his draft year (I think over his entire OHL career to that point, but am not certain of this), and his dad pushed for elite prospects to list him as a center/right wing.

After the draft Hunter took heat because the leafs needed a center and defenseman and drafted a kid who was exclusively a winger in his draft year. Hunter said he thought marner could transition to center and we were all relaxed about that because his brother ran the Knights and would make it happen.

Marner put up his worst numbers at center in the first month of his D+1 year (still decent, but not top fifteen prospect good, let alone top five), and so they moved him back to the wing. Over the rest of the season, Marner was so good at wing that he won the scoring race, beating out other top prospect Dylan Strome. I don't think anyone on Reddit mentioned him moving to center for years after that failed experiment.

The Nylander example is also wrong. Nylander played center his entire career and spent his Marlies season being groomed to take over a 2C role on the leafs -- he was given 1C role and minutes for the Marlies to prep him. He was called up for the first time at the end of the 15-16 season and played center between Hyman (significantly worse than he is now) and Greening (who was out of the NHL for good after that). Nylander was so effective at 19 in the 3C role that Greening put up a .5 points per game pace next to him. Before winning the Matthews sweepstakes there was talk about how high his potential was at center, since he was already a .5 points per game center in the NHL (albeit in a small sample).

When Keefe trusted Nylander at center, it was because Keefe literally groomed him to be an NHL center and saw tape of him play as a good NHL center at 19. Was it smart to try and get Nylander to forget four straight years of timing and duties on the wing in an elimination game? No. But that doesn't mean Nylander is a random experiment that didn't work out.

A lot of professional scouts and even the athletic staff project Nylander to play 2C more over the next few seasons in preparation for Tavares' decline and shift to the wing, a la Giroux and Stamkos in the last few years."

- - - - - - - -

I believe the bolded is incorrect, with Strome putting up 6 points in the final night of the regular season to beat out Mitchie.
- Atomic Wedgie

I think this kind of jives with my understanding of things. Willie stands a better chance of being tried (for a longer period) at 2C than Marner does.

But given that they didn't like the short experiment last year I don't think either guy is destined for C and it's more likely that they try to find a new one.

One of the most egregious non-calls ever, especially given the circumstances.
- Aetherial

this is the year i was condemned to a life of futile laff fandom 😭

i was doing the normal college thing;playing big time d1 football, jacking steel, drinking beer, smoking weed and getting more ass than a toilet seat👍🏿

a buddy of mine who’d grown up in the gta invited me over to drink beer and watch the game👍

as any friend would do, i watched this strange game with my buddy and rooted for his team👍🏿

beyond knowing who the big 3 were, blades of steel and ea sports nhl ‘91 were my only exposures to hockey🤦‍♂️

as a consequence, i really enjoyed the game and the pace and physicality of hockey 👍

i ended up watching the entirety of the laffs postseason with this guy and falling hopelessly in love with the loafs and the cast of characters on that team👍🏿

mccoun, the baumer, zezel, Clark, felix the cat, Gilmore, the wussy with the extra helmet padding,burns et al😍

it’s bittersweet because i still love our laffs but this guy condemned me to hell on earth wondering if i will ever be alive to see them win a cup 🤦🏿‍♂️

what a (frank)ing joke 🤦‍♂️

edit:nice alliteration👍🏿

So here's a weird one for you:

Bertuzzi was supposed to bring the physical element to the Leafs' lineup.

According to the NHL stats (so take it with a grain of salt), Bertuzzi was waaaaay down the list of hits per 60 minutes:

https://www.nhl.com/stats...sPer60&page=0&pageSize=50

Tavares was a bigger hitter/60.

And weirdly, Rielly also was very low on the list.
- Atomic Wedgie

Yeah that hot take about Bertuzzi died on the vine.

this is the year i was condemned to a life of futile laff fandom 😭

i was doing the normal college thing;playing big time d1 football, jacking steel, drinking beer, smoking weed and getting more ass than a toilet seat👍🏿

a buddy of mine who’d grown up in the gta invited me over to drink beer and watch the game👍

as any friend would do, i watched this strange game with my buddy and rooted for his team👍🏿

beyond knowing who the big 3 were, blades of steel and ea sports nhl ‘91 were my only exposures to hockey🤦‍♂️

as a consequence, i really enjoyed the game and the pace and physicality of hockey 👍

i ended up watching the entirety of the laffs postseason with this guy and falling hopelessly in love with the loafs and the cast of characters on that team👍🏿

mccoun, the baumer, zezel, Clark, felix the cat, Gilmore, the wussy with the extra helmet padding,burns et al😍

it’s bittersweet because i still love our laffs but this guy condemned me to hell on earth wondering if i will ever be alive to see them win a cup 🤦🏿‍♂️

what a (frank)ing joke 🤦‍♂️

edit:nice alliteration👍🏿
- Skalapy

Yeah that guy (frank)ed you forever man

Hopefully you got some autos?
- mr.sir

no, I didnt even try. they werent having any of it anyways... not sure if thats normal but they just bolted in quick, most with headphones on and ignored everyone. including some kids begging for an auto or a pic

How about 1 of :
Pesce
Tanev
Skjei
Montour
Parayko

And a 3rd pairing type that can move the puck.
- The Law

Parayko would have to ve via trade.