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Are the Leafs gonna be tougher to play against?

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kevsh said:
No, not until the rest of the team play tougher instead of relying on the new guys.

After Columbus swept Tampa Bay it wasn't just adding guys like Coleman that made Tampa Bay champions it was a philosophy change starting with the top players. They added nasty to their high level of talent.

The next year Toronto got beat soundly by a weaker Columbus team and the answer was "Ok, we'll just bring in a tough guy or two and the rest of us just keep doing what we're doing." We've seen the result.

As long as the top players refuse to change their approach this team is destined for more playoff misery. And what's so sad was that the blueprint could not have been laid out more obviously, they simply refuse to do what it takes.

tldr; No, still not a tough team to play against.
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this. matthews being bullied by stamkos was hard to watch. punched repeatedly in the face while matthews looks at the ref. and marner looking like he was going to cry when engaged by tkatchuk at the end of a game. that’s why this team doesn’t win. those are your top competitors? adding a few guys with higher compete level helps. but at the end of the day, your top guys should set the tone.
 
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Go4soda said:
this. matthews being bullied by stamkos was hard to watch. punched repeatedly in the face while matthews looks at the ref. and marner looking like he was going to cry when engaged by tkatchuk at the end of a game. that’s why this team doesn’t win. those are your top competitors? adding a few guys with higher compete level helps. but at the end of the day, your top guys should set the tone.
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Ummm... the same thing happened where players on Vegas (Eichel and Stephenson) wouldn't engage with Florida guys.

Wonder if Vegas will ever win anything.

Half this board is speculation and making mountains out of molehills.
 
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notbias said:
Ummm... the same thing happened where players on Vegas (Eichel and Stephenson) wouldn't engage with Florida guys.

Wonder if Vegas will ever win anything.

Half this board is speculation and making mountains out of molehills.
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notbias said:
That second pairing is bad. Zadorov has not done anything good since he hit Scheifele
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Ideally I would want that to be the third pairing but the cap is almost maxed out.

Rielly Pesce
------------- -------------
Zadorov Klingberg
Gio
 
Definitely need to add some toughness on the backend.

I don't see us being any tougher than last year.

Reaves will be as insignificant as Simmonds and Clifford.
 
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The Iceman said:
Schenn's earnings have been
2016-$1.25
2017-$1.25
2018-$800K
2019-$750K-Won Cup
2020-$800K-Won Cup
2021-$850K
2022-$850K

Now as a 33 year old
2023-$2.75 million
2024-$2.75 million
2025 $2.75 million

He wins 2 Cups with TB and off a 12 game playoff run with TML over triples his annual salary with 3 years tagged to it as a 33 year old.

YES, Toronto is the centre of the hockey universe.
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$2.75 million seems like an extreme over pay, but Schenn was arguably more effective in the playoffs than Marner- and he's a $10.9 million cap hit.
 
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notbias said:
There will be more shenanigans after the whistle... but during the play, Domi and Bertuzzi don't hit, so you are relying on Reaves to make us tougher to play against.
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Reaves won't be on the ice against guys who matter though, unfortunately.
 
notbias said:
There will be more shenanigans after the whistle... but during the play, Domi and Bertuzzi don't hit, so you are relying on Reaves to make us tougher to play against.
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He’s not a high quantity hitter particularly. Like 1 per game. But he does at least hit hard usually when he does hit.
 
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All depends on deployment doesn't it?

Keefe hasn't been too keen on icing his toughest lineups.

He's holding all the cards on this one.
 
I hate to pick on him, but Gio’s spot in the lineup is where I’d look to add a mean son of a bitch on the blue line. I know Gio did us a huge favour taking a small contract for these two years but he really struggled in the playoffs, and was having issues even leading up to them. He’ll be 40 in October too and I doubt his body can handle another near 82 game season.

Of course that’s easier said than done. Even if we can dump Murray and Samsonov comes back at a decent price (less than $3 million) that doesn’t leave the Leafs anything work with, and even if you moved Gio you’d only be able to bring in a near league minimum defenseman.

Brodie also had a rough time in the playoffs but I have more faith in him bouncing back than Giordano. But if the Leafs really want to radically change the look on defence maybe they move both.
 
No, they won't. They were already tough to play against. However, the narrative will be that they are, because that's what many want to be true.
 
ACC1224 said:
Easily tougher.
Bunting wasn't tough at all, never understood why people think yapping = tough.
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That’s all that Domi does as well though.

We’ve lost Schenn, and Bertuzzi doesn’t make up for that. RoR isn’t tough, but he has some grit.

So far, I think we are easier to play against.
 
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Fogelhund said:
That’s all that Domi does as well though.

We’ve lost Schenn, and Bertuzzi doesn’t make up for that. RoR isn’t tough, but he has some grit.

So far, I think we are easier to play against.
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In terms of toughness:

Domi>>Bunting
Bertuzzi>>>>ROR
Reaves>Schenn

Wish we kept Schenn though
 
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Duffman955 said:
In terms of toughness:

Domi>>Bunting
Bertuzzi>>>>ROR
Reaves>Schenn

Wish we kept Schenn though
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Domi isn’t tougher than Bunting. Domi is a fake tough guy, who does dirty stuff and then turtles. It’s weird how having the name distorts what he actually does.

Schenn played 17:27 for us a game in the playoffs. Reaves will play 6-8 minutes in the few games he plays. That doesn’t really equate to Reaves having a greater toughness impact than a guy playing every night at double + the minutes.
 
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