Are things as bad as we're saying?

[Apotheosis]

Record doesn't indicate anything in this case. The Leafs have been a .500 team since dating back to the halfway point last season. The on ice product is putrid and inconsistent. We're just preparing for the inevitable bad/subpar record relative to the talent on the team (that isn't even playing well to begin with). It's kind of pathetic to be honest.

 

[Nineteen67]

As I hope I said, no way a Toronto expert! Pens fan. But have a soft spot for the Leafs as I'm a huge fan of the city of Toronto. Don't really follow teams outside the Met division.

Don't take offense, but it's odd to me that the Leafs have languished for so long. Guess I'm just hoping the worm has turned for you guys.

Toronto is a very difficult place to play.

 

[meefer]

Why are you breaking teams' points % into those who've played 12 or 13 games? The difference between those samples is absolutely minute.

At the time of writing the post the lowest percentage of points belonged to the group having played 13 games, the 2nd lowest 12 and the highest for those having played 11 games. I don't know if there is a statistical value to it, but I found it curious and it 'supported' my opinion ...which certainly can be criticized.

 

[Bloomberg]

I think it's okay for the Leafs to be bad. They just signed their biggest stars to significant cap hits. They are suppose to take a step back this year from last. Just like how Edmonton is bad after signing McDavid and Drai to big deals. It'll take some time for the salary cap to rise to a level, where the salaries that our GM signed the stars to becomes manageable. That said, it doesn't help that we traded our 1st round pick this year and we traded a undervalved contract in Kadri. What's concerning is the lack of heart shown by our big signings.

 

[Ms Maggie]

Toronto is a very difficult place to play.

Yeah get that. Kinda ironic though. The city that is arguably one of the most identified with hockey.

In any event, best of luck!

 

[meefer]

This team is under .500 in the entire calandar year of 2019. It IS a problem.

And before the whole "new faces" this year argument, other than Barrie, it's only been depth players that were replaced. Not core.

This CORE has been sub .500 for the calendar year.

This team is not a calendar year old, it has existed since the end of training camp this year. That can't be argued other than using the crest on the jersey to say 'this team'. 13 games imo is not sufficient to determine what the team is. This CORE, adding Barrie to it, I agree has been not good enough. However, we know Andersen to be a slow starter, Tavares has been injured and Barrie is, as you say, new. I want them to play better, I want Tavares back, I want Barrie to improve, I won't make a judgement call as to the CORE's abilities until all are present and playing within a team environment allowing them a chance to prove their value.

 

[hector morrison]

It doesn't look good . It isn't as bad as it looks.

 

[Duke Silver]

Pretty sure the Pens at the end of 2015 were closer to the bottom of the Metro division than the top? Then went on to win the 2016 Cup. And again. it's October.

And again, this is an issue spanning almost a calendar year, not just one month of a season.

 

[Duke Silver]

At the time of writing the post the lowest percentage of points belonged to the group having played 13 games, the 2nd lowest 12 and the highest for those having played 11 games. I don't know if there is a statistical value to it, but I found it curious and it 'supported' my opinion ...which certainly can be criticized.

There's no statistical value to it.

 

[Community]

List of Leafs' players who have more ES points than Connor Brown (despite the Leafs' having played 2 more games than Ottawa has):

It is posts like this that make me respond with a resounding No. The Leafs have been bad, but not as bad as we make them out to be.

Your post doesnt include the part where Brown is top 10 in even strength points, or the Leafs have 2 players tied with Brown for even strength points (therefore 2 guys in the top 10 in even strength points), or that the Leafs have 5 players in the top 25 for even stengh points.

You are literally trying to spin one of the brightest spots of the season (our even strength scoring) as a negative. Ridiculous.

 

[TheProspector]

lol

It's 13 games into the season. We're in a playoff spot. We don't have Tavares, Dermott, and Hyman. We've played *FOUR* back to backs in the past MONTH - insane. Our backup is sporting an .885 -- and has played five times already. (f***ing back to backs.) And Freddie has only got a .904.

Freddie is a .917-918 goalie with eerie consistency. He's going to be fine.

This team's going to be fine. Yeah, I realise Buffalo is leading the league. Don't worry about it. They won't be in a playoff spot in April.

 

[Nineteen67]

This team is not a calendar year old, it has existed since the end of training camp this year. That can't be argued other than using the crest on the jersey to say 'this team'. 13 games imo is not sufficient to determine what the team is. This CORE, adding Barrie to it, I agree has been not good enough. However, we know Andersen to be a slow starter, Tavares has been injured and Barrie is, as you say, new. I want them to play better, I want Tavares back, I want Barrie to improve, I won't make a judgement call as to the CORE's abilities until all are present and playing within a team environment allowing them a chance to prove their value.

Exactly. In fact, if they bring up a player from the minors, we clean the slate and disregard everything in the past when said player wasn’t on the team.

in all seriousness you want to keep on doing the same things they’ve been doing? Keep repeating the same mistakes.


Boston added a few new faces and go rid of few guys and they picked up where they left off because they play the right way.
When will the Leafs play 10 straight games the right way?

 

[Nineteen67]

lol

It's 13 games into the season. We're in a playoff spot. We don't have Tavares, Dermott, and Hyman. We've played *FOUR* back to backs in the past MONTH - insane. Our backup is sporting an .885 -- and has played five times already. (****ing back to backs.) And Freddie has only got a .904.

Freddie is a .917-918 goalie with eerie consistency. He's going to be fine.

This team's going to be fine. Yeah, I realise Buffalo is leading the league. Don't worry about it. They won't be in a playoff spot in April.

What makes you think Buffalo won’t make the playoffs?

 

[6ix]

The good old saying it’s not as bad as it seems, but it’s never as good as it seems probably best suits this situation.

We’re a .500 team that’s had a brutal schedule with 3 back to backs already. I think there’s room to improve. The bothering thing though is how uncompetitive they play on the 2nd game of the back to back.

True contenders find ways to win those games, were 0-3 on them.

 

[Randy870624]

It's still October

 

[Randy870624]

Not a Leafs fan. But probably following hockey longer than a lot of you have been alive.

My totally unsolicited advice: calm the hell down. It's October. You have serious talent, give it some time.

/Thread

 

[GrizzLeaf]

Wen your team is under performing after 13 games, it's not a huge deal. Specially with the heavy amount of games and back-to-backs they have had.

But this team has been under performing since January. That's a lot more worrisome. They did have some player turn over over the off season which gives them a chance to improve. But by the 20 game mark, they're still a .500 team we will see a significant change.

Isn't there a common belief that a team's placement at the 20 mark usually reflects what their end of season placement will be. There are always a couple of exceptions but counting on that without a significant change would be foolish.

 

[Legion34]

Not sure if the relevancy....but...

St Louis’ record made them Stanley Cup Champions. Tampa won the Presidents trophy, the other 2 won some playoff rounds.

If you are what your record makes you.
Then Tampa was the cup champs last year. the blues were first round fodder.

This year Tampa and Dallas and San Jose are out of the playoffs and we are looking at a buffalo Edmonton final.

there might be more to it

 

[Martin Skoula]

"Don't worry, we'll still probably make the playoffs" isn't a conversation we should be having about this team. It's close enough to an all-in year, if this isn't the one we need to start looking at retooling.

 

[mccabe2424]

It sure feels that way I've had to distance myself from hockey after every loss because I'm just so frustrated

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

It's not like the latter part of last year at all to me. At that point, the Leafs were actually playing good hockey as a team but getting poor luck and probably deserved a better record than they got. I think if it went on for longer, the record would've improved. Now, there's no doubt the Leafs deserve their 6 wins and 7 losses. They're playing like a mediocre team, maybe a bit worse. It's not something that will eventually correct itself as the sample gets bigger

 

[sxvnert]

Yes but Kyle "needs" to give Babs a full four years with this roster so the entire fanbase demands his firing.

 

[7even]

The team's PDO is like 14, so no, we're not this bad. But that's not really the point either.

Say the luck turns. Andersen puts up his clockwork .918, Tavares and Marner remember how to play together, and we finish top 3 in the division. Great, we already knew this team could do that. The question this season is, can the players and staff collectively figure out how to get their heel into the River Styx? The early answer is no.

 

[Dekes For Days]

No, things aren't as bad as people are saying.

You'd think we were 0-40 with the way some people are overreacting.

I can't imagine, with all of these back to backs, that the team has had much practice time together either.

 

[Terrible GM]

Not concerned right now. If the team is playing like this around Christmas time, than yeah I would be concerned. If the Leafs still are showing very little defense awareness come February, EVEN with a good record, then I likely jump on the "something has to change" boat. But panicking right now is just a waste of time.