Are we the favorites to come out of East ?

[hotpaws]

I don’t think our next 3 drafts are gutted at all, if we need to recoup picks we have players/prospects and RFA’s we can move to recoup those picks. I think Dubas said it best, they are comfortable with the prospects they have. The leafs draft better in the later rounds anyways.

If two of Knies, Holmberg, Voit, Niemela, Hirovinen, Steeves, SDA, Robertson, Hollowell for example hit, that’s a huge win

Which one of our prospects outside of Knies wouldn’t you trade a 1st rd pick for ?

Also go to capfrienfly and take a look at the next 3 drafts if you think we haven’t gutted our drafts .

 

[Enga Olly]

Been a Leaf fan all my life, was 2 years old when they last won the cup - I've never thought of us as a favourite EVER. I view this very poll as a jinx

 

[TMLAM34]

I wouldn’t say we’re the favourites. I honestly don’t think there is any “favourite” in the East anymore.

I think Toronto, Boston and the Rangers (once they add Kane) have an edge over the Devils, Tampa and Carolina but all 6 of those teams are stacked and with a little bit of luck any of them can win.

 

[hotpaws]

Been a Leaf fan all my life, was 2 years old when they last won the cup - I've never thought of us as a favourite EVER. I view this very poll as a jinx

We can start similar polls for the rest of league to jinx them as well if you think it’ll help , lol .

 

[Enga Olly]

We can start similar polls for the rest of league to jinx them as well if you think it’ll help , lol .

I'll take anything - I still get the pyramid power going for PO every year - hey maybe that's been the curse all along!! F*(%^#!'n pyramids!

 

[francis246]

Which one of our prospects outside of Knies wouldn’t you trade a 1st rd pick for ?

Also go to capfrienfly and take a look at the next 3 drafts if you think we haven’t gutted our drafts .

I probably wouldn’t trade Voit, Niemela, Hirovinen for a 1st. I think those 3 outside of Knies are NHLers. And I’m not sure you’d find better players with a late first.

I understand we don’t have the picks but picks are something that can be recouped. We can move on from players and get those traded assets back. If they wanted to they could move Engvall, Hall or Kerfoot this week and get back draft capital. Opportunities to regain draft picks will present itself in the next 3 years.

 

[hotpaws]

I probably wouldn’t trade Voit, Niemela, Hirovinen for a 1st. I think those 3 outside of Knies are NHLers. And I’m not sure you’d find better players with a late first.

I understand we don’t have the picks but picks are something that can be recouped. We can move on from players and get those traded assets back. If they wanted to they could move Engvall, Hall or Kerfoot this week and get back draft capital. Opportunities to regain draft picks will present itself in the next 3 years.

none of those 3 would return a 1st and i'd put Grebenkin and Robertson despite his struggles ahead of them , of all our picks outside of Knies the only one one i would even think twice about trading for 1st is the Russian kid , now i've never seen him play outside of a few clips but his size/skill pkg combined with his production at his age is very promising

and sure we can recoup picks but unless we're rebuilding we won't be selling anything that will garner something in the top 2 rds

 

[notbias]

none of those 3 would return a 1st and i'd put Grebenkin and Robertson despite his struggles ahead of them , of all our picks outside of Knies the only one one i would even think twice about trading for 1st is the Russian kid , now i've never seen him play outside of a few clips but his size/skill pkg combined with his production at his age is very promising

and sure we can recoup picks but unless we're rebuilding we won't be selling anything that will garner something in the top 2 rds

Niemela might be worth a first, if Robertson can put together a complete season, he is probably worth one, and then Knies.

We have let go of a lot of picks, but we have gained a couple of players for multiple years too. I can see some prospects being traded, or even Sandin/Timmins to recoup some picks. We have too many D signed for next year already, and I think there is a log jam at forward coming up too where we can give up some mid-tier prospects for some mid-round picks.

 

[CelticDruid]

Obvious that Boston are the #1 contenders.

Silly poll.

 

[hotpaws]

Niemela might be worth a first, if Robertson can put together a complete season, he is probably worth one, and then Knies.

We have let go of a lot of picks, but we have gained a couple of players for multiple years too. I can see some prospects being traded, or even Sandin/Timmins to recoup some picks. We have too many D signed for next year already, and I think there is a log jam at forward coming up too where we can give up some mid-tier prospects for some mid-round picks.

the thing with Niemela is what type of player does he project out to be at the NHL level ?

he's listed a 170 at Karpet and he looks like a slightly built kid so say he adds another 10 lbs that's still light to be a guy who can be a defensively sound physical crease clearer , he has a decent skill set but it doesn't look like he'll be a high end offensive guy

so basically if he pans out he projects to be a positionally sound player that can move the puck and chip in a few points but with defensive limitations due to his frame so really if he reaches his high high end he's a much smaller version of Brodie but realistically he's he type that can play but doesn't add a dimension a team covets

 

[notbias]

the thing with Niemela is what type of player does he project out to be at the NHL level ?

he's listed a 170 at Karpet and he looks like a slightly built kid so say he adds another 10 lbs that's still light to be a guy who can be a defensively sound physical crease clearer , he has a decent skill set but it doesn't look like he'll be a high end offensive guy

so basically if he pans out he projects to be a positionally sound player that can move the puck and chip in a few points but with defensive limitations due to his frame so really if he reaches his high high end he's a much smaller version of Brodie but realistically he's he type that can play but doesn't add a dimension a team covets

Someone can correct me, but from my understanding, his points last year were some of the top ever for his age in the Finnish league, and he is thought to be a better defensive player than an offensive player.

He seems like a Brodie type who uses his stick more than his body, but it also seems like he has a higher upside.

I think his value is high first round at this point.



That's someone who I really like to watch near the draft time, I think he does a good job breaking down prospects.

I think Niemela's stock has risen since the draft and he was ranked higher than we got him on most draft boards.

I am not saying he is guaranteed to return a 1st (hope we don't find out, I like him), but I think he is.

 

[francis246]

none of those 3 would return a 1st and i'd put Grebenkin and Robertson despite his struggles ahead of them , of all our picks outside of Knies the only one one i would even think twice about trading for 1st is the Russian kid , now i've never seen him play outside of a few clips but his size/skill pkg combined with his production at his age is very promising

and sure we can recoup picks but unless we're rebuilding we won't be selling anything that will garner something in the top 2 rds

none of those 3 would return a 1st and i'd put Grebenkin and Robertson despite his struggles ahead of them , of all our picks outside of Knies the only one one i would even think twice about trading for 1st is the Russian kid , now i've never seen him play outside of a few clips but his size/skill pkg combined with his production at his age is very promising

and sure we can recoup picks but unless we're rebuilding we won't be selling anything that will garner something in the top 2 rds

Just like that we’ve got a first rounder back lmao

 

[hotpaws]

Just like that we’ve got a first rounder back lmao

and just like that picks are worth something again .lol

 

[Ashdown2]

imo , if healthy (big asterix) ....... nyr will cruise to the finals. .........
that team is ridiculous on paper, and have the best goalie in the league.

 

[The Apologist]

imo , if healthy (big asterix) ....... nyr will cruise to the finals. .........
that team is ridiculous on paper, and have the best goalie in the league.

Rangers don't really scare me. Adding Patty Kane in 2023 won't get them over the top.

 

[Nineteen67]

Toronto, NYR, Boston, TB are co-favourites, followed by Carolina and NJD.

 

[Gaberd2608]

Leafs can never be the favorites imo until they win a round. As a fan base we have been robbed of some playoff success for 50× years even with pretty good teams on paper.

I think there are still some big varliables with the leafs.

1. Goaltending - can they stay healthy, can they play well enough to steal a game if needed
2. Is our bottom 6 going to be effective enough to actually contribute
3. Can matthews, marner, and tavares all show up at the same time
4. Can our defense hold up for a long run. Seems to pretty pretty injury prone lot

Not withstanding these, on paper I feel good with the leafs going against any team in the league.

I would like to see them find a good 3c and then i think we are ready.

Bunting. Matthews. Marner
Tavares. ROR. Nylander
Kerfoot. Xxxxx. Jarnkrok
Laffery. Kampf. Acciari
ZAR,

Rielly. Lily
Mccabe. Brodie
Gio. Holl/schenn/gustafsson

Samsonov
Murray

 

[Puckstuff]

Knies Matthews Nylander
Bunting Tavares Marner
Kerfoot O'Reilly Jarnkrok
Acciari Kampf Lafferty


McCabe-Brodie
Giordano-Liljegren
Rielly-Schenn

Samsonov
Murray

 

[Sypher04]

Favorites? No. Among the favorites? Sure.