Are the Toronto Maple Leafs Stanley Cup contenders?

[Divine]

And that's surprising given his history over the last five seasons?

And it's .882, not .875...

But you must be a graduate of sn unnamed politician University.

It’s not surprising.

The Leafs have to play him due to injuries is exactly my point.

Take any team in the league and give them below .900 goaltending and most of them are going to start losing games.

Usually teams don’t have a third string NHL-calibre goalie.

 

[jcs0218]

That Hyman nogoal was sweet but he's not really wrong. Everyone standing around getting cooked by Hyman, and it gets disallowed. You'd think they would count their blessings and wake up, instead Ryan is just free infront of the net for a tap in. Crazy amounts of apathy in that level of defending.

The only top 4 defenseman they have is Rielly. All other defensemen are 5th, 6th, 7th calibre defensemen.

And Rielly isn't known for his defensive acumen.

This is what paying Matthews, Marner, Tavares, and Nylander so much has caused. It has caused them to use bargain-bin players throughout the rest of their roster.

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

New title idea:

Are the Leafs a wildcard contender?

 

[PaulD]

Wings pass leafs in standings.
Flyers pass them couple days ago.
Even the Habs closing the gap with another regulation win tonight.
Devils Islanders, Caps , Pens will likely pass them soon enough.

Contenders ? Nah

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

It’s not surprising.

The Leafs have to play him due to injuries is exactly my point.

Take any team in the league and give them below .900 goaltending and most of them are going to start losing games.

Usually teams don’t have a third string NHL-calibre goalie.

My brother, YOUR TEAM chose to sign Samsonov...to be your #1G.

This is kinda the whole point here, that the Leafs are an extremely poorly constructed team.

 

[Divine]

My brother, YOUR TEAM chose to sign Samsonov...to be your #1G.

This is kinda the whole point here, that the Leafs are an extremely poorly constructed team.

He’s on a one year deal. He was never considered the future. If he was, why did they take him to arbitration?

Everyone was expecting Joseph Woll to be the starter this year. If not, why do you only give Samsonov one year straight to UFA when he was asking for a multi-year deal after coming off a .919 season?

 

[Michel Beauchamp]

He’s on a one year deal. He was never considered the future. If he was, why did they take him to arbitration?

Everyone was expecting Joseph Woll to be the starter this year. If not, why do you only give Samsonov one year straight to UFA when he was asking for a multi-year deal after coming off a .919 season?

So investing all your hpoes in a goalie who has suffered 3 major injuries in his first 4 1/2 seasons as a pro was the right move?

 

[Divine]

So investing all your hpoes in a goalie who has suffered 3 major injuries in his first 4 1/2 seasons as a pro was the right move?

Sure - it worked for Tampa with Vasi.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

New title idea:

Are the Leafs a wildcard contender?

Literally just came in this thread to watch it burn after realizing Detroit won today and Toronto were in a wild card spot. lol.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Literally just came in this thread to watch it burn after realizing Detroit won today and Toronto were in a wild card spot. lol.

We're a mere 2 points ahead of the Kyle Dubas Penguins.


THINK of the DRAMA.

 

[I Hate Philadelphia]

Sure - it worked for Tampa with Vasi.

So you think Woll is comparable to Vasilevskiy...Damn that Leafs Delusion Syndrome is a real thing eh.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

We're a mere 2 points ahead of the Kyle Dubas Penguins.


THINK of the DRAMA.

Oh man. Can’t wait!

Leafs have the hardest remaining schedule and an insanely hard rest of Jan.

18 wheeler, you ready cause you’re going! (Clap)

Cliff, you ready cause you’re going! (Clap!)

 

[TheImpatientPanther]

Literally just came in this thread to watch it burn after realizing Detroit won today and Toronto were in a wild card spot. lol.

Panthers helping create some chaos in the Atlantic and wildcard race is what the hockey world needs.

 

[Luigi Lemieux]

We're a mere 2 points ahead of the Kyle Dubas Penguins.


THINK of the DRAMA.

Pens are starting to look good. 10-3-3 since that 7-0 spanking from the leafs.

 

[Commander Clueless]

Pens are starting to look good. 10-3-3 since that 7-0 spanking from the leafs.

Glad to hear it.

Could you return the favour?


You kick our ass we'll kick yours! ....or something?



Make it like, real embarrassing too. We need a good solid wake up call....and maybe a coach change.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

Pens are starting to look good. 10-3-3 since that 7-0 spanking from the leafs.

As a jets fan I will be cheering for an overtime win against you to help the cause.

We need the lightning to win tomorrow and the flames to win tomorrow.

Let’s keep the good times going!

 

[KevinRedkey]

My brother, YOUR TEAM chose to sign Samsonov...to be your #1G.

This is kinda the whole point here, that the Leafs are an extremely poorly constructed team.

The Leafs traded for Matt Murray to be the starter, and Samsonov was essentially waived by Washington, so they signed him as a kind-of insurance backup for if (when) Murray got hurt.

Kinda crazy to think that was the plan. lol

 

[Divine]

So you think Woll is comparable to Vasilevskiy...Damn that Leafs Delusion Syndrome is a real thing eh.

He doesn’t have to be. The Leafs beat Tampa with Samsonov in net.

Ironically, Samsonov was compared to Vasi when he was drafted. Goalies are unpredictable - but Woll had a great season last year. Why wouldn’t you give him a chance? Even this year he had good numbers prior to injury.

I don’t think Vegas was too upset with Hill last year either despite him never playing a full season.

 

[Commander Clueless]

The Leafs traded for Matt Murray to be the starter, and Samsonov was essentially waived by Washington, so they signed him as a kind-of insurance backup for if (when) Murray got hurt.

Kinda crazy to think that was the plan. lol

I'm not convinced that was the plan so much as the "oh crap we don't have a goalie".


To be fair, I don't really blame anyone too much for not being able to secure solid goaltending. It's pure chaos these days. We can be mad about it but we'd have to get in line.....


I do wonder if the trauma from that year is part of the reason Kyle immediately locked up Jarry. Didn't want to deal with THAT again....

 

[JKG33]

The Leafs traded for Matt Murray to be the starter, and Samsonov was essentially waived by Washington, so they signed him as a kind-of insurance backup for if (when) Murray got hurt.

Kinda crazy to think that was the plan. lol

This never fails to make me laugh. A supposed contender takes on a salary cap dump as their starter from one of the worst teams in the league.

The backup plan? A goalie with known attitude issues that another team walked away from, and said team was searching for a solution.

What a f***ing tandem

 

[TheNumber4]

He doesn’t have to be. The Leafs beat Tampa with Samsonov in net.

Ironically, Samsonov was compared to Vasi when he was drafted. Goalies are unpredictable - but Woll had a great season last year. Why wouldn’t you give him a chance? Even this year he had good numbers prior to injury.

I don’t think Vegas was too upset with Hill last year either despite him never playing a full season.

Samsonov? Woll? Give me a break.

Do you ever get tired of all the mental gymnastics required to continue to defend the Leafs? You may be the only one left willing to.

 

[Commander Clueless]

This never fails to make me laugh. A supposed contender takes on a salary cap dump as their starter from one of the worst teams in the league.

The backup plan? A goalie with known attitude issues that another team walked away from, and said team was searching for a solution.

What a f***ing tandem

To me, the more surprising thing was they were actually pretty good last year. I was sure we were headed for goaltending disaster. Turns out I was right, just a year too early.....

To be fair on the Murray trade, goalies do seem to have a pretty good record once they leave Ottawa.

Naturally it didn't work out quite so well for the Leafs as say the Wild or Kings, but hey.

 

[JKG33]

To me, the more surprising thing was they were actually pretty good last year.

To be fair on the Murray trade, goalies do seem to have a pretty good record once they leave Ottawa.

Naturally it didn't work out quite so well for the Leafs as say the Wild or Kings, but hey.

I mean the best thing Murray did was go on LTIR. The fact that Samsonov was serviceable was shocking yes. But that was an outlier of a season for him, and anyone that knows anything about hockey knew he's as reliable as a wet fart.

 

[Commander Clueless]

I mean the best thing Murray did was go on LTIR. The fact that Samsonov was serviceable was shocking yes. But that was an outlier of a season for him, and anyone that knows anything about hockey knew he's as reliable as a wet fart.

He was solid for a short time, though you ain't wrong. If he wasn't on LTIR this year we could have never spent his cap space on John Kli.....oh damn.

 

[PaulD]

He’s on a one year deal. He was never considered the future. If he was, why did they take him to arbitration?

Everyone was expecting Joseph Woll to be the starter this year. If not, why do you only give Samsonov one year straight to UFA when he was asking for a multi-year deal after coming off a .919 season?

His point still stands.....the leafs have treated the goaltending position almost as an after thought. When was their last real stud? Belfour?
Posters boys up front getting their cookies is the teams focus and identity. A coaches nightmare.

I mean the best thing Murray did was go on LTIR. The fact that Samsonov was serviceable was shocking yes. But that was an outlier of a season for him, and anyone that knows anything about hockey knew he's as reliable as a wet fart.

and Ovechkin totally agrees.