Toronto Maple Leafs

[2014olympicgold]

Bracco is nothing to be excited about. He was a waste of a second round pick. He'll likely never play more than a few game here and there in the NHL.

In his first OHL season he’s got 57pts in 45games on the Rangers… I don’t think he’ll be a top 2 center, but I do think he can be an NHLer in a couple of yrs.

[butch]

I come in peace .How has Freddy Gauthier looked this year ?

I've been holding him in a minors spot for what seems like an eternity .Any comparisons ? Poor mans Couturier I suppose .

[2014olympicgold]

I come in peace .How has Freddy Gauthier looked this year ?

I've been holding him in a minors spot for what seems like an eternity .Any comparisons ? Poor mans Couturier I suppose .

3^rd line FW, PK specialist is his ceiling I think. 4^th line is where I expect him at one point. Coupled with maybe Laich and Komarov I can see them trying to push for a NYI 4^th line style. But something tells me Gauthier is still a bit away.

[Goldendelicious]

In his first OHL season he’s got 57pts in 45games on the Rangers… I don’t think he’ll be a top 2 center, but I do think he can be an NHLer in a couple of yrs.

I've seen him play pretty much every single game since his arrival in Kitchener. He 'beats up' on weak teams. He has for the most part been invisible against any decent team like London, Erie, Kingston, Barrie, etc...basically any team that plays with the slightest bit of a physical edge. I'm not saying he isn't talented, he has great puck skill but there are peripheral observations that are worrisome for his attempt to jump to the next level. He's not aggressive on the puck, except when he is mad because he got hit. He has no idea about what anything below his own red line looks like let alone his own zone. He also causes a multitude of turnovers at the opposing blueline as he tries to do waaaayyyy too much out there. He has put up points, but his overall game has not looked good at all out there. He needs a lot of work, especially on the part of his game when he doesn't have the puck. Unless he makes major changes to that, he's going to crash out hard at the AHL level.

At the pro level, he would not be a C, he'll be a winger...he is too small and doesn't play with enough tenacity to play C...and he doesn't play C now on Kitchener team who is weak up the middle.

[lucafen4]

I come in peace. How has Freddy Gauthier looked this year ?

I've been holding him in a minors spot for what seems like an eternity .Any comparisons ? Poor mans Couturier I suppose .

Puzzles is a really hard kid to project. I don't see him putting up anything beyond 15 goals - 40 pts in his best year. He's likely 2-3 years away from a call up. He's a project.

There's at least 10 other Leaf prospects (not including Nylander/Marner) I'd rather have in a fantasy pool before even considering Gauthier. He's a coaches dream though, smart as hell & does all the teeny tiny defensive things you could ever want a forward to do. He seems to lack the finesse to every be anything significant offensively though.

[2014olympicgold]

#StropGettingPoints.

[JagrBomb]

#StropGettingPoints.

how sad is it that there's a good chance we eclipse the oilers in the standings soon?

McDavid
Hall
Draisaitl
Yakupov
RNH

vs

the marlies

[Godin]

They need to go back to their #1 goalie and send Bernier to the Marlies. Sheez.

[JagrBomb]

I'll say this much. We're very lucky to be in last.
It is night and day watching a Babcock team vs. a Carlyle team.
There is definitely something to be said for "it's easier to play well, when there's nothing to play for" but the Leafs were playing solid hockey months ago too. It's the complete opposite of the Carlyle era where they were consistently playing poorly and often winning games they didn't deserve to win. Now, they're consistently playing well, even with a crappy roster, and losing games they deserved to win.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if Babcock gets this team into the playoffs in 2017 or 2018.

i'd certainly be surprised. no way that happens unless we get stamkos and/or matthews to speed up the rebuild. leafs will be a bottom 10 team for the next few years minimum otherwise. i'd even go to say we're a bottom 5 team next year too.

all depends on what happens this summer though, which i think will be huge for the leafs.

[JagrBomb]

Probably fair to say both are long-shots, so we should probably expect Bozak and Nylander up the middle instead.
How many people here think Kadri gets dealt for a 2nd rounder in the summer? I do.

Someone pointed out recently (I think Mike Augello, but I don't remember) that Babcock was sure praising Kadri a lot pre-deadline and very little post-deadline. I hadn't noticed until I read that, but it's definitely true - he's been less vocal about Naz.
Let's face it... he's had enough time to establish himself, and never has. If I'm a betting man, I say they cut him loose soon.

i think Kadri is gone too but not for a pick (As the main piece of the deal). i don't think he'll get us a top 4 D straight up but perhaps if we package some extra assets that might get it done.

[blayze]

Who do these Leafs think they are... winning games?!?!?

Bernier needs to return to his normal stinky self before we play our way out of the Matthews sweepstakes

[JagrBomb]

How about something like this?

Kadri
Hunwick

for

Howard
Sheahan
Brendan Smith
2017 pick


At some point, The Wings and Leafs are making a significant deal. No doubt in my mind.
Same thing with the Devils and Leafs.
Babs and Lou know those organizations inside out.
Naz is a holdover from the old regime.
Leafs need to improve their goaltending depth... badly.
Wings will be happy to move Howard's salary, especially since they'll lose him in the expansion draft for sure. They'll have to protect Mrazek.
Something's gotta give.

heck no. howard's contract is pretty long, no way i want that anchor unless we're sending a similar one back (Lupul).

and Howard won't be any significant upgrade on Bernier with the current D we have.

once we draft an elite prospect forward this summer we'll have a good group of guys that can potentially be in our top 6 longterm (nylander, kapanen, marner, 1st'16, JVR).

so i'm sure we'll start working on beefing up our D soon. kadri is likely gone to try and acquire a 2nd pairing D, but he certainly won't be enough to land one straight up.

the only way i see the leafs acquiring a goalie this summer is if:

1) we get stamkos and/or matthews to speed up the rebuild. then i can see them acquiring a proven goalie (i.e andersen...if not i think he goes to the flames)

2) we are somehow able to trade for a prospect goalie with good upside. don't see this as likely since you won't get fair value if you trade a prospect goalie so most teams prefer to hang on to them even if they have a starter locked. same reason why vas, subban, fucale etc haven't been trade imo.

3) expansion draft somehow causes teams to try and trade a goalie. not even going to bother trying to understand how the draft works at this point.


my guess is:

- leafs package kadri for a top 4 D

- trade bernier for wideman

reilly + top 4D
wideman + gardiner
two D (zaitsev/percy/loov etc)


so...top 10 pick again next year.

[lucafen4]

heck no. howard's contract is pretty long, no way i want that anchor unless we're sending a similar one back (Lupul).

and Howard won't be any significant upgrade on Bernier with the current D we have.

once we draft an elite prospect forward this summer we'll have a good group of guys that can potentially be in our top 6 longterm (nylander, kapanen, marner, 1st'16, JVR).

so i'm sure we'll start working on beefing up our D soon. kadri is likely gone to try and acquire a 2nd pairing D, but he certainly won't be enough to land one straight up.

the only way i see the leafs acquiring a goalie this summer is if:

1) we get stamkos and/or matthews to speed up the rebuild. then i can see them acquiring a proven goalie (i.e andersen...if not i think he goes to the flames)

2) we are somehow able to trade for a prospect goalie with good upside. don't see this as likely since you won't get fair value if you trade a prospect goalie so most teams prefer to hang on to them even if they have a starter locked. same reason why vas, subban, fucale etc haven't been trade imo.

3) expansion draft somehow causes teams to try and trade a goalie. not even going to bother trying to understand how the draft works at this point.


my guess is:

- leafs package kadri for a top 4 D

- trade bernier for wideman

reilly + top 4D
wideman + gardiner
two D (zaitsev/percy/loov etc)


so...top 10 pick again next year.

1. No Stamkos, no Matthews, likely we'll be drafting 3-5, both Edm & Wpg will sink below us and lessen those chances of #1 Significantly --- think Dubois or Tkachuk.
2. The Leafs will target and find a way to take Carey Hart late 1st round
3. This is possible I see as possible, but unlikely as to get a prospect, you gotta give one, and I don't really see the Leafs giving up any assets unless they have shown they lack skill & hockey sense, then the other team really needs to questions why did they give him up??

As for trades...

Kadri... maybe? There's been a lot of pumping his tires. He's really the enigma player to me in this rebuild. No question he has busted his ass the off season and this season. But I have a really hard time figuring where he fits both short & long term. He's the most interesting piece moving forward this offseason. Every other player on that roster you can guess to a better degree where they stand.

Bernier for Wideman... not happening. Wideman is 33 years old and while he's the type of defenseman they need/want.. he'll be deteriorating by the time they are ready to seriously compete. I also don't see Bernier being worth Wideman 1-1, Leafs would need to give up more. They won't. I think they run Bernier/Sparks as a tandem next season & either let Bernier walk at the end of the year or trade him for a 3rd-5th rounder at the deadline.

I'm not sure where Marincin found this game, but he's been a different player the last couple weeks.

The Leafs will sign 2-3 1 year $1m contracts to flip at the deadline and take on another 2 tryout contracts. That'll be it. The rest will be the kids working line up space.

Likely will also try to move Lupul, Bozak this summer, with Bozak having the best shot of being traded. I won't be surprised if both return.

[lucafen4]

I wouldn't read too much into that. I think Rielly is the type of player who will usually make his partners play better. It happened with Hunwick too.

Fair point, although it didn't matter who Marincin played with for the first 60 games of the year... he struggled. Hasn't he been playing more with Gardiner of late though?

[2014olympicgold]

Hunwick wasn’t playing the way Marincin has tho. I think he just took a while to get the Edmonton tendencies out of his system. I couldn’t put my finger on it before, but he was either a smart player that lacked the skill he was trying to pull off, or he was a dumb player with skill. Either way, he’s figured out how to work with his abilities. So I think he was a dumb player with skill, he just had to be taught what to do in the situations.

Gardiner, confidence up the whazoo right now. His play he does now where he skates up the ice and slams on the breaks to create separation is a great move. He never would have done stuff like that before. Personally, I like him and his contract, and I want him sticking around (4.05mill till 2019).

Babcock got Kadri a shooting coach recently. I think Kadri hasn’t be smart about training at all the second that news came out. How does a professional hockey player of 6yrs need a shooting coach? I think he’s working on skating, and muscle, but honestly, how does he need a shooting coach at this level? And it wasn’t even him who hired the shooting coach, it was Babcock.

Nylander, I love his patience, I love his back checking, I don’t get how he always ends up with the puck down low, dudes a star in the making. Babcock/Leafs may have seen him as a LW/C in the future because of size, no way am I taking him off center duties. You can see he’s playing a 200ft game the way a rookie would (incomplete), but I haven’t seen a play where he’s way behind the guy he should be covering. In the last 12 games, you’ve seen him adjust to the NHL speed, and he’s ripping it. Him on the PP on the side wall will be great. From game 1 to now, he’s gotten used to what he can do on the NHL. I’m liking it.

The GOAT, he has played well. Coaches dream, Fantasy nightmare is what I see in him. He needs to get low tho on faceoffs. He’s standing upright too much. Spread those legs and get your low hand about 8” from the blade on your stick. If he can turn into a specialist in the NHL, I can see him having a good career, but he’ll need to invest in good luggage. He’s the kind of guy who could be moved around a lot, not because he’s bad, but he’s the kind of player teams want for the playoffs. IF he turns into that specialist.

Bernier. Damn Bernier, stop doing well. Can’t believe he’s found his game again. No weak goals in the last few games. Last night’s vs Calgary tho, can’t do much about those 2. I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but could Bernier be that goalie now? Maybe he just needs no pressure from the backup goalie? Maybe he hated Reimer? Hopefully he’s figured this all out and can win games (next yr).

Very solid looking team. But stop winning…