Leafs 2019/2020 pre/regular season game thread

[GoRapstheoriginal]

Agreed

[ATLTimekeeper]

Nylander is worth what he gets paid. You're not going to get a top pairing Dman for him, and the Leafs have plenty of 3-6 level D.

Let's face it, they got Big Brained this year. Dubas was feeling himself, screwed up the back-up goaltender situation badly and had to cough up more picks to resolve it. The team wasted a portion of the season sandbagging Babcock, never a good look. I thought putting all three money players on one line last night was symbolic of their flaws. Guys that make that money ARE the line, and we had to load them up because they weren't able to score consistently in the series.

I think Keefe deserves some scrutiny, he put in Gauthier over Engvall in game 1, and then didn't play that line at all and the top guys were completely gassed in the 3rd period. Once Engvall returned he was the main driver of the 4th line, which was effective the rest of the series. He also took out one of the guys who scored in favour of Johnsson, who was completely out of shape and ineffective, in the elimination game. And then the decision to play Marincin over Sandin was questionable. We saw throughout the series that the Jackets were content to keep the skill to the outside and leave the points wide open. There were just too many plodders that didn't want to risk getting their shot blocked.

Also, Werenski straight out labelled your captain into the boards headfirst and no one got in his face.

[whysoserious]

Nylander is worth what he gets paid. You're not going to get a top pairing Dman for him, and the Leafs have plenty of 3-6 level D.

Let's face it, they got Big Brained this year. Dubas was feeling himself, screwed up the back-up goaltender situation badly and had to cough up more picks to resolve it. The team wasted a portion of the season sandbagging Babcock, never a good look. I thought putting all three money players on one line last night was symbolic of their flaws. Guys that make that money ARE the line, and we had to load them up because they weren't able to score consistently in the series.

I think Keefe deserves some scrutiny, he put in Gauthier over Engvall in game 1, and then didn't play that line at all and the top guys were completely gassed in the 3rd period. Once Engvall returned he was the main driver of the 4th line, which was effective the rest of the series. He also took out one of the guys who scored in favour of Johnsson, who was completely out of shape and ineffective, in the elimination game. And then the decision to play Marincin over Sandin was questionable. We saw throughout the series that the Jackets were content to keep the skill to the outside and leave the points wide open. There were just too many plodders that didn't want to risk getting their shot blocked.

Also, Werenski straight out labelled your captain into the boards headfirst and no one got in his face.

All excellent points. As i read many reactions to this year and this series though, the ridiculousness is beyond me. There are some issues but not anything that can't be fixed. Yet the calls to blow it up are rampant. We waited like 50 years for them to actually build the right way and build and we need to be patient. The core is still young and there's still prospects coming.

There are changes that need to be made, they need some toughness and grit but not a fighter. They need some vet leadership and slight improvements on the defensive end. Nylander or Marner could legit be dealt but I wouldn't rush trading them just for this year. Heck, they could win the lottery tonight and everything changes.