Toronto Maple Leafs

[2014olympicgold]

Matthews DTD with upperbody injury. First game he'll miss as a Leaf

[2014olympicgold]

He claimed in the presser that it was a communications issue. They "couldn't see too good" but they've got it sorted out so that it doesn't happen again.
He said he should have challenged it for sure.

Ok, makes sense. Seems tho that that excuse could be used when you mess up a challenge.

It will be interesting to see how they play without him, considering how heavily they've leaned on him to this point. Top 5 in MVP voting, as of today, if you ask me.

Considering he takes over shifts/periods at a time, this could be a rough game. And the fact Nylander hasn't played that well (who will likely shift to centre) the last few games, and his defensive game is kinda...uhhh... suspect.

Does give a big opportunity for Marner, Kap, or Leivo who jumps in that top 6 minute roll now.

[lucafen4]

hockeyfeed.com had an article about a supposed rumour of Marner to Edm for Nurse - Kypreos. I read the article, it's no rumour. Kipper said he didn't see Marner fitting in long term in the Leafs top 6 (zero credit left already) -- then was asked what it would take to move Marner -- he then picked Edmonton as an example and said it would take Nurse at a minimum. So no rumour.

Although I would think JVR - Nurse would make a lot of sense, and hockeyfeed also has a rumour about JVR - Ekholm. We just need a big banging 2-way dman on that back end that will make forwards not feel so welcome back there. Zaitsev does it to a point, but he's not a bone crusher. Polak is too one dimensional & slow. There's no fear in our zone.

[The Black Panther]

Toronto Maple Leafs

Forward Lines

James van Riemsdyk - Patrick Marleau - Zach Hyman
Leo Komarov - Nazem Kadri - William Nylander
Connor Brown - Tyler Bozak - Mitch Marner
Matt Martin - Dominic Moore - Josh Leivo

Defence Pairings
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Andreas Borgman - Connor Carrick
Goaltenders

Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Minnesota Wild

Forward Lines

Jason Zucker - Eric Staal - Chris Stewart

Nino Neiderreiter - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Daniel Winnik - Joel Eriksson-Ek - Tyler Ennis
Marcus Foligno - Matt Cullen - Luke Kunin
Defence Pairings

Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Mathew Dumba
Kyle Quincey - Mike Reilly
Goaltenders

Devan Dubnyk

[2014olympicgold]

Hyman on the RW....hmmm.

[2014olympicgold]

Good to see Andersen steal a game.

[lucafen4]

I can't see the Oilers moving Nurse for a forward. Their D core is so bad they talked themselves into a Larsson for Hall swap. And continue to justify it to this day.
That's basically Hall for Carrick. Ok, ok I'll concede Larsson is better than Carrick but not by a lot.
Anyway, I digress.

Having said that, I could definitely see the Leafs moving Marner. It would be interesting to see who would win that power struggle (between Babs and Hunter, the latter being the one to defend Marner and want to keep him).
Babcock is a good modern-day coach, sure, but he still has his traditional tendencies, one of them being size. I think he'd jump at an opportunity to upgrade the D, even if it meant moving a skilled guy like Marner. Babs knows all about his skill, but he also knows about his puny frame and poor defensive game.

you know Marner is now listed on hockeydb as 6'0" 175lbs. He just needs to build strength. Let's be honest... JVR will most likely be the odd man out.

[Axeman33]

I can't see the Oilers moving Nurse for a forward. Their D core is so bad they talked themselves into a Larsson for Hall swap. And continue to justify it to this day.
That's basically Hall for Carrick. Ok, ok I'll concede Larsson is better than Carrick but not by a lot.
Anyway, I digress.

Having said that, I could definitely see the Leafs moving Marner. It would be interesting to see who would win that power struggle (between Babs and Hunter, the latter being the one to defend Marner and want to keep him).
Babcock is a good modern-day coach, sure, but he still has his traditional tendencies, one of them being size. I think he'd jump at an opportunity to upgrade the D, even if it meant moving a skilled guy like Marner. Babs knows all about his skill, but he also knows about his puny frame and poor defensive game.

If we are talking about a points only fantasy format, I'll agree with you. If we are talking about real life, then I disagree with this statement whole heartedly.

And the reason Larsson cost as much as he did is because he's a young, right handed defenseman, who was under control long term on a reasonable contract, which are always high in demand. Nurse shoots left.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think either team would want to make the rumored trade at this point.

[2014olympicgold]

With the Leafs if you hear the rumour, then it's 100% not true

[2014olympicgold]

Fair enough, but Hall is also much better than Marner, at this point anyway.
So, I do believe it's reasonable that Edmonton wouldn't part with Nurse for Marner.
Nor do I believe Lou would trade Marner for Nurse.
The whole rumour is bollocks.

Hall and Marner the last 2 yrs is actually kinda close in production.

Now I haven't seen much of Hall this yr, and i do and I do know he's playing well this yr. But everyone is down on Marner so much this yr that they forget that in his first 94 games in his career, he's pretty close to the production Hall has had over the last 2yrs. I heard something recently where it's pretty true. "one of the best abilities is availability".

Hall right now I would agree is better than Marner, Much better... I dunno about much.

[lucafen4]

Maybe.
I've been down on Marner for longer than this yr, though. He hasn't been the same guy (for whatever reason(s)) since about the half way point of last season.
First half of last year, he was terrific. As good as Hall even.
I don't know what happened.

the hit last year took something out of him, but this year his offensive zone starts are down almost 10%. There's a focus put on him becoming a complete 2-way player. That's impacting his offence - see Rielly the past two years. Kadri - two years ago. He's a thin frame, still building man strength. easiest way to limit him is to lean on him every shift. he'll adjust.. figure out how to get open space soon enough

[Axeman33]

Fair enough, but Hall is also much better than Marner, at this point anyway.
So, I do believe it's reasonable that Edmonton wouldn't part with Nurse for Marner.
Nor do I believe Lou would trade Marner for Nurse.
The whole rumour is bollocks.

I hope you are right.

[lucafen4]

I hope you are right.

I posted above, that Kypper basically connected his own dots and drew in the dots himself, which hockeyfeed wrote up as 'trade rumour' it was basically him speculating that Marner is on the outs with Babs, doesn't have a fit in Tor and that if Tor decided to trade him... Edmonton (which he seemed to pick only because of their need for a winger) would have to give up Nurse to get Marner because that is Tor's need. While forgetting all the while - Edm needs another Dman too.

I don't think Kypper meant for this to become a rumour, it was more of an example he was creating to answer a question Marner.

[blayze]

Highly doubt they would consider trading Marner. And Kypper is an idiot.

JVR will be the guy if they end up trading someone.

[lucafen4]

Highly doubt they would consider trading Marner. And Kypper is an idiot.

JVR will be the guy if they end up trading someone.

Depending on what Dman they are targeting.. I can also see Kapanen as part of a package