Comedy Platinum out of Toronto - "Canada's Team" quest for the Cup

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Or they trade him to a cheap ass team that needs to hit the cap floor but doesn't want to spend real dollars. If only there were such a team.

Still the problem of his NMC but if you threaten to scratch him, maybe he accepts a move somewhere that will play him every game.

Right. There’s a lot of talk about the NMC but when the alternative for him could be scratching I think he’d be logical.

Or maybe they’re just fuckin stuck with an expensive cap hit that everyone knew would be a massive burden two years ago.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Yeah that sounds rather uncomfortable.

Hyman to undergo surgery for torn ACL - TSN.ca

 

[elocomotive]

Yeah that sounds rather uncomfortable.

Hyman to undergo surgery for torn ACL - TSN.ca

If you injure your ACL, they shouldn't be operating on your hymen. Sounds like a bad doctor!!

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Auston Matthews: "Nah, it was alright."

 

[BGDave]

My offseason post-playoff take:

Overall I hope the Leafs stay the course and keep working the Shanaplan. Endgame is a Cup, not a first round victory. The team did make progress this year in some ways, need to keep the momentum moving forward.

Coaching - something needs to change here. If for no other reason than "someone" needs to pay the price. PK is widely known to be suboptimal. I have never seen a team struggle with line changes like the Leafs. Well, not a pro team. Not blaming the coaches for Kadri being Kadri or Freddie's annual Game 7 choke, etc. Something needs to change here though.

Goal - Freddy is what he is. And at this point, I think his career upside is MAF. Maybe. If he plays solidly, Leafs win at least one of the last 2 Game 7s. Something isn't quite right with him, and I doubt it is just bad luck. Not sure he is good enough to backstop a Cup champion. He isn't going anywhere and is serviceable, but would not surprise me if Joseph Woll is the starter when the Leafs break the Cup drought. Obviously need to improve the back up spot.

Defence - There are some great prospects in the pipeline, will the team "sacrifice" next year and give them exposure to the NHL level? For the long-term, I would give Rosen/Liljegren/Sandin all shots at the big club. The regular season will be rough though. Rielly/Muzzin/Dermott are locks to be back. Jake is an interesting one. His back woes will probably cost him in UFA, maybe to the point where the Leafs can resign him (which I am OK with, at the right price).

Forwards - Yes, they will sign Mitch. Yes, it will be too much money. Yes it will create some cap challenges. The forward group will be tweaked. As I said in another thread, I am looking for Nylander to move on. Brown too. Marleau's contract needs to be jettisoned in some fashion. Kadri, Kadri, Kadri. I love the guy and am probably the only person who wants him back. Plus, who is the 3C if he goes?

NO regrets on the JT signing. A lot of $$ but dude scored 47. Oh, and Mitch, you owe him some of that fat contract you are about to sign.

Finally, AM34. Dude keeps getting better and better. I really liked how he selectively is starting to use his big body. For me, he is worth his contract.

All in all, I hope it is a quiet offseason. Line up a back up G, maybe a RD, sort out F and the cap issues they create, and thats all I expect.


Oh, and the Captaincy. Feels like they need to name one. No idea who the right person is though. Whoever it is needs to be someone that commands the room. Is it Matthews? JT? Rielly? No idea, but pick someone.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

My take on the Leafs going forward is that they may drop down to the WC spot next year and them missing the playoffs entirely wouldn't be a surprise.

I think the cap issues won't cost them anyone they want (except Jake, but due to age and his back issues I'm against signing him despite being a huge fan) but it will cost them the downstream players they need to both play their strongest game and to plug in up the lineup if they have an injury/Kadri goes nuts again.

And i'd be fine with it, TBH. I don't think they can really do anything to win the Cup in 14 months given their current circumstances. Hopefully Muzzin re-signs at a decent number, Kadri scores 25-30 goals and can be traded for a good package, Sandin and Liljegren bleed into the lineup, Zaitsev figures out how to not ice the puck all the time and the Big 3 continue to grow. Get a lottery chance in June, have $40 mil in cap space in a UFA year where Taylor Hall, Tyson Barrie, Justin Schultz, Torey Krug, Alex Pietrangelo, Justin Faulk, Chris Kreider and Roman Josi could all potentially be UFA, trade for a 3C and take a real Cup shot with a complete roster.

 

[dash]

Yikes...

 

[BGDave]

Oh a more positive note


/edit just noticed he is in hainsey's bed. Shame on that hospital...

 

[KennyBanyeah]

????

Do teams really think locals will take significant discounts? Especially star players.

 

[BGDave]

Do teams really think locals will take significant discounts? Especially star players.

Yes, yes we do

All kidding aside, nothing wrong with the first tweet. The second tweet though is Dreger-esque. Me, not interested in alleged public posturing.

Dreger-ific? Dreger-idiculous? Hmm will work on a better term

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

????

Do teams really think locals will take significant discounts? Especially star players.

No, Elliotte Friedman thinks people will talk about him talking about teams thinking guys will take significant discounts.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

This guy has been doing the Story of Harold Ballard in Lego form since March 30. So far he's at Ballard making Muhammed Ali lay his prayer mat in the bathroom.

Joel Cadieux (@JoelCadieux) | Twitter

There's a lot of good posts but I think this one is my favourite:

 

[DragonfromTO]

????

Do teams really think locals will take significant discounts? Especially star players.

While I don't take issue with the general point that you're making I would definitely argue that $9.5 million bucks for Mitch Marner is not a "significant discount".

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

While I don't take issue with the general point that you're making I would definitely argue that $9.5 million bucks for Mitch Marner is not a "significant discount".

I mean, at the very least it’s about the same discount John Tavares and David Clarkson took to play in Toronto compared to other offers they got.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Hooray, more KHL experiments.

 

[BGDave]

Hooray, more KHL experiments.

So he plays about 40 games then sits the rest of the year?

i guess you can never have too many talented players but. . .

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

So he plays about 40 games then sits the rest of the year?

i guess you can never have too many talented players but. . .

I mean, he'd be a ready-made replacement for Connor Brown.

He may be just as bad though so I guess the plus side is they save $2 mil.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Seems like they did have to talk it out a bit to get here.

 

[dash]

Seems like they did have to talk it out a bit to get here.

I'll keep the Mike Babcock death watch thread just in case