The Ditch part deux

Dubas is a very intelligent gm, not sure babbs will be around after next season if he can't go past the first round. I see a lot of smilarities with the leafs and the way the hawks had to lose players along the way. The difference is leafs don't have anything to show for it yet.
Look for Lilijegren to take over Gardiner on the ELC.

 

The Sabres have to make it happen, geez, talk about bad luck, every single player that they cut ties with had great seasons

 

Yeah, Muzzin was brought in to shore up LD for Gardiner's departure. Makes sense.

 

How many goals can Toronto give up per game and still win?

 

I think babbs is just letting them go now like he did the first few games, not much defensive accountability. There's little to play for except for home ice advantage.
You'll see a much different system when it's playoff time.

 

That would not be ironic. It would be a form of history repeating itself. The Sabres beat the Nucks in the first-ever draft lottery. Perreault or Tallon? Hmmmm.

What I'd really like to see is Vancouver (finally) winning; they have a thing for brothers there. And Buffalo winning #2; Kakko may prove to be the best player in the draft.

 

Saw them last night lose to the Ducks. I think they may have the worst * ownership situation in the league. (* The worst owner with franchise/financial stability. That is.)

Sajic has impressed me with what he's done under the circumstances. With Cale Maker killing it at UMass & coming to Denver soon, some other pieces from the Ottawa coming, one of which may be #1, Denver is likely to be improved next year.

But I don't see the Avs playing for the SC under Kroenke.

 

If that lasts more than a few hours I think you're supposed to see a doctor 'bout that.

I agree that the Leafs have a chance at sustained SC contention. However, IMO, their wunderkid GM has a lot to prove before he'll be compared to Stan. I think they royally f@c#ed up the Nylander negotiations and contract. They also missed on Montour, only to see him 90 miles down the QEW.

Obviously JT is gonna be there long term. AM should be, but his contract gives pause; does Matthews expect to play his prime years in blue & white? Mitch is a must-sign. I think they've gotta make a very smart and hard decision between Kap and Bill Nylander (screw promises that should never be made).

They just have to find a way to upgrade the blueline, and I think sacrificing one of that pair is the most feasible way to do that. Personnally. I'd much rather keep Kap if I were a TOR fan, but I think the other team (like CAR) would insist on the player without the shifty contract.

Can TOR do it? Absofuckinlutely! But they've built some major obstacles and I'd go see the doctor if I were a fan.

 

I think after paying out Marleaus bonus, the yotes would be smart to take him for veteren leadership. After they cut ties with Gardiner and Marleau, you're freeing up almost $11M in capspace. Rasmus is doing really well lately with the Marlies, I think he has 7 pts in his last 5 games. If you bring in the two Swedes (timothy and rasmus) on ELC, that would be a huge plus toward getting Marner, Kapp and possibly even Dermott to fit in, although travis has one more elc year left.

 

That's the smart money talking. And for that reason, I'd like to agree.

But emotion and fear of fan reaction are facts of life for a GM. Skinner has given Buffalo something they have not had since Molgilny: a true sniper. He also compliments Jack rather nicely. They literally gave up pooh, err Pu, to get him, but the trade becomes a steal only if they sign him.

Skinner cannot go to his jammy-days dream team like JT, so Buffalo is as close as it comes. He seems to genuinely like it there, and he'd be certifiably nuts to not want to stay in Jack's wing. Still, in a couple of weeks the siren song of UFA will be playing loudly. If he hits 40 G's down the stretch, then he knows some team will dump stupid money on him.

I think he'll get 8 years (mostly because that is the only leverage the Sabres have). Jeff wants, I hear, $9MM AAV, and the Sabres are offering $8MM per (source: The Athletic). That's a big spread, but both sides are motivated to get a deal done.

 

Yeah, I see this as realistic. And it could prove to be the solution.

Tim dropped badly in the draft - and often there's a good reason for that. It's good that he's been passed in the Leafs D depth chart, (good, as in a Rasmus came along). I just hate that Nylander contract. It's bad on its merits, but to me, it points to addled thinkin'. We'll see.

One thing for sure is TOR has left BUF in their dust.

 

Nylander produces close to his value when he plays alongside Matthews. If you stick him on another line, he's an overrated dud. He's really lucky to have played with Matthews the last couple of years.
Also his corsi stats 5 on 5 measure up to his value as well. Yeah and too bad he isn't a great finisher and goes on paid leave so often.

 

I think you pay a young F based on his (realistic) projected production. He has too small of a sample size to pay him based on past production. And, he played with AM; that would boost anyone's production. But, with Mitch, JT, and Kap, how much room is there - really - on the top six?

When I have seen him he looks like he's stoned, but he's being paid like he's stunning. I'm not hatin' on Bill; if anything I hope he proves me wrong. I want his brother to prove Sabres fans wrong, too.

I just think something has to give - to truly upgrade the D to SC contender status - the most likely path is to trade either Kap or Nylander. If I were a Leafs fan I'd pray fervently for Kap to be kept.

I want to put my comments in perspective. I'll put it this way: I wish the Sabres had this problem.

I maintain that the Boston Mattys are more likely to win in the playoffs vs. Toronto. In fact, I think Boston has decent odds of advancing to the SCF. And this year, the EC champ will have good odds at winning it all.

 

The Blues dump the Penguins, 5-1

Detroit dumps NY Islanders, 2-1

Currently in the 1st with 2:22 left, FLA 1, LA 1

 

You'll see a much different system when it's playoff time.


Q ...What do Leafs do every year ???
































A ...They Fall........lol......sorry Skinny you know how I feel.

 

Isn't it, what do the leaves do every April?

 

This was an interesting one, he definitely was overpaid, the question is, by how much?
Two consecutive 61 point seasons, and you have player like Zack Zajac that's getting paid $5.75M for barely getting over 40 points every other year.
I believe he should've got $6.1M, $800K shouldn't really be a cap issue.

 

You're right, skinny. I shouldn't really call this a bad contract. But I do think it's very confusing what they did, and I think it boxes the Leafs in. The team has young highly skilled F's that every team would covet.

IMO, they are dangerously top heavy* and not built for postseason success with their current D. There's only moderate help coming up through the pipeline. (* I mean org-structure and not top heavy from a F perspective. Looking just at 1 - 12 F's the Leafs probably have the best roster in the NHL.)

That overpay - accepting your number - is a whole roster spot eaten up. I think that makes trading Nylander much harder. Then there's that whole "promise to not trade" thing. I just don't like how they handled the entire saga.

 

The deal is very tradeable, a $24.5M signing bonus is attatched to the deal. The Canes would jump all over this and be willing to give up a Pesche or Slavin plus prospects.

 

The leafs more players like tyler ennis to fill their bottom six.