Around the League - 2023/24

[Balthazar]

He's a good guy...that job probably took a few years off his life. Glad he's getting paid.

 

[Balthazar]

Alright... kick in motion Sully to New Jersey, Keefe to Pittsburgh, and Berube to Toronto.

Berube to NJ and Todd McLellan to Toronto.

 

[Chiarelli]

classy and accountable

 

[NOTENOUGHRYJOTHINGS]

Why do people say the flat cap hurt the Leafs specifically?

Yes they locked up their stars. To too much money and couldn't sign any depth F or good D.

In a rising cap world they can get some help. But the teams that were better on ice and at managing assets and the cap also get to improve.

 

[dmac7719]

Is he filming this from Robidas Island?

 

[dahrougem2]

Berube to NJ and Todd McLellan to Toronto.

I'll be a monkey's uncle if McLellan ends up in Toronto.

 

[Pokecheque]

Berube to NJ and Todd McLellan to Toronto.

Matthews & Co. will love going from Babcock to Keefe to Babcock-Lite.

 

[Foppa2118]

"Leafs nation. Time has come to say goodbye."

 

[The Moops]

"Leafs nation. Time has come to say goodbye."

Shanny holding the camera?

 

[Foppa2118]

Shanny holding the camera?

 

[UncleRisto]

Is he filming this from Robidas Island?

He's tied to a weight, jumped off immediately after.

 

[henchman21]

He's tied to a weight, jumped off immediately after.

 

[SirLoinOfCloth]

He's tied to a weight, jumped off immediately after.

Or was he pushed?

 

[Pokecheque]

Why do people say the flat cap hurt the Leafs specifically?

Yes they locked up their stars. To too much money and couldn't sign any depth F or good D.

In a rising cap world they can get some help. But the teams that were better on ice and at managing assets and the cap also get to improve.

It was just bad timing. Right when they committed so much cap to the "core four," the cap froze, so their depth kinda went out the window.

That said, I think the Leafs ruined themselves the moment they decided Nazem Kadri and his very team-friendly deal were not worth building around. Should've stuck with him and fired Babcock's dumb ass (but of course I'm glad they didn't). Chasing down Tavares with a dump truck full of money destroyed their salary structure and it didn't need to be that way.

 

[LOFIN]

He's tied to a weight, jumped off immediately after.

If he had ended that video on a George Bush "Now, watch this dive" and had jumped to the ocean (or lake whatever it is), that would've been legendary.

 

[McMetal]

It was just bad timing. Right when they committed so much cap to the "core four," the cap froze, so their depth kinda went out the window.

That said, I think the Leafs ruined themselves the moment they decided Nazem Kadri and his very team-friendly deal were not worth building around. Should've stuck with him and fired Babcock's dumb ass (but of course I'm glad they didn't). Chasing down Tavares with a dump truck full of money destroyed their salary structure and it didn't need to be that way.

Yeah, the fact that Nazem Kadri is now indisputably proven to be a good enough 2C to win a Cup with makes their decision to replace him with a high ticket UFA look even worse in hindsight. Maybe the trade from Toronto is what pushed Kadri to get to that level, but nevertheless the Tavares move is arguably what started this whole mess.

 

[LOFIN]

That said, I think the Leafs ruined themselves the moment they decided Nazem Kadri and his very team-friendly deal were not worth building around.

That's not what happened. They kept him around after signing Tavares, they thought they would have this amazing luxury of having three top centers down the middle (Tavares, Matthews, Kadri). They traded Kadri because he was their best asset to land a defenceman at that point, and because Kadri then got himself into trouble once again in the playoffs. Kinda like Keefe being fired today, it's not about not liking the player. It's just that the situation became untenable.

What ruined them was going after the big name UFA center and handing him top dollar without realizing that they have two rookies on the roster that will become better players than said UFA player before their ELCs are up. And these rookies and their agents are going to take that into the negotiations instead of being pushed around like rookies 10 years ago.

 

[Balthazar]

That's not what happened. They kept him around after signing Tavares, they thought they would have this amazing luxury of having three top centers down the middle (Tavares, Matthews, Kadri). They traded Kadri because he was their best asset to land a defenceman at that point.

What ruined them was going after the big name UFA center and handing him top dollar without realizing that they have two rookies on the roster that will become better players than said UFA player before their ELCs are up. And these rookies and their agents are going to take that into the negotiations instead of being pushed around like rookies 10 years ago.

The Tavares signing ruined the Matthews and Marner era in Toronto. For many reasons.

 

[LOFIN]

The Tavares signing ruined the Matthews and Marner era in Toronto. For many reasons.

It did, the root cause of everything. And I think the MLSE board and Shanahan are to blame for that. It was one of the first order of business for a fresh GM in Dubas, but did he really have a choice? Nah, remeber the hype around that deal? Nothing comes close to that in the recent years. Not even Panarin. The order to sign Tavares came from the top.

 

[Balthazar]

It did, the root cause of everything.

Yea there's a huge list of things:

1- Tavares' contract screwed the salary structure of that team
2- They gave captaincy to him, an outsider, instead of giving it to Matthews who was part of the new core with Nylander and Marner.
3- His 11M cap hit prevented the team from adding adequate depth.
4- He never lived up to the expectations.

In short at one point there was 3 kids in Toronto who were ready to carry the future of that team. Then Tavares happened and everything went south.

 

[expatriatedtexan]

I feel like the biggest problem with the Tavares signing was that he isn't a defensemen.

That team, even without him, had offense for days. What they could not do and still can't do is defend.

 

[GeoRox89]

I feel like the biggest problem with the Tavares signing was that he isn't a defensemen.

That team, even without him, had offense for days. What they could not do and still can't do is defend.

The Leafs should’ve moved mountains to get Pietro when he was a UFA in 2020 and figured out what they needed to jettison from that roster to make it work. He was the leader, Cup winner and big physical 1D that team needed more than a bunch of overpaid forwards

 

[LOFIN]

I feel like the biggest problem with the Tavares signing was that he isn't a defensemen.

That team, even without him, had offense for days. What they could not do and still can't do is defend.

Did you even watch the Boston series? The Leafs absolutely could defend, what they couldn't do was create offence. And it was the same story every single year. They scored less than 3 goals in a playoff game for like 13 straight games. Contrast that to us, we scored 5 in the first round against the Vezina winner and the best defensive team in the league. We put 4 in G1 against a top goalie and another top defensive team.

A lot of that has to do with their D-corps. When your defence consists of a poor mans Girard in Rielly, a bunch of poor mans Mansons and few Jack Johnsons to boot, you are not going to be able to attack as a unit.

The star forwards of the team deserve a lot of blame. I have a feeling that MacKinnon would drive the puck to the opposing end himself if he had to. We know he does. But that defence just was so poor with the puck.

 

[AllAboutAvs]

Did you even watch the Boston series? The Leafs absolutely could defend, what they couldn't do was create offence. And it was the same story every single year. They scored less than 3 goals in a playoff game for like 13 straight games. Contrast that to us, we scored 5 in the first round against the Vezina winner and the best defensive team in the league. We put 4 in G1 against a top goalie and another top defensive team.

A lot of that has to do with their D-corps. When your defence consists of a poor mans Girard in Rielly, a bunch of poor mans Mansons and few Jack Johnsons to boot, you are not going to be able to attack as a unit.

The star forwards of the team deserve a lot of blame. I have a feeling that MacKinnon would drive the puck to the opposing end himself if he had to. We know he does. But that defence just was so poor with the puck.

You are both correct. Expat is right when he says they couldn't defend at the time. They should have put the Tavares money towards their D.

You are also right that right now they can defend pretty good but their D is the old days type of Dmen. They need dmen that can move the puck a lot better than the ones they have now.

 

[The Abusement Park]

The Leafs biggest issue more than anything right now is the defense. They want to be “tougher” so they get a bunch of Lybushkins because they’re “tough and good defensively”. But if you watch them at all two things happens and dmen not named Rielly gets the puck and either A) panics and ices the puck or B) has to flip the puck out of the zone which then means the forwards have to chase down the puck.

That’s not to say the forwards don’t deserve some blame because they do. But the complete lack of puck moving ability destroys their offensive ability in a 7 game series.