Around the League - PLAYOFFS!?

[Metroid]

This will be the year a Canadian team can win it. 30 years now.

Then another one in 30 years? Bettman special. Every 30 years Canada team allowed to win the cup.

 

[thewave]

Then another one in 30 years? Bettman special. Every 30 years Canada team allowed to win the cup.

At this rate there wont be an America in 3 years let alone 30. NHL name will be accurate as we live in a North American Union of sorts. Its happening sooner or later.

 

[Superstar]

This has never made any sense.

If Matthews, Nylander and Marner are frauds, didn't Dubas inherit a bunch of magic beans?

Dubas overpaid them as RFAs, ,depriving himself of the cap space to put meaningful pieces around them....adding Tavares to the mix, you got 4 forwards making half of the cap...we all know that has never been done before in the NHL and it failed...it's completely Dubas' doing.

 

[Mess]

Ehh the Oilers aren’t that great at cap management. The Nurse deal is going to hurt them big time when they need to re-up Draisaitl and Bouchard.

Campbell was an awful signing.

Don’t forgot Drai is in the 7th year of his 8 year contract

I'm not forgetting.

Instead upping Marner to +$12 mil, the Leafs could use that cap and $$ to recruit Leon Draisaitl to Toronto and invest that in him instead.

Draisaitl is playoff money player .. Quickest player to 100 playoff points only Gretzky and Lemeiux got there quicker.

 

[thewave]

I'm not forgetting.

Instead upping Marner to +$12 mil, the Leafs could use that cap and $$ to recruit Leon Draisaitl to Toronto and invest that in him instead.

Dump JT and MM and recruit LD and CM. If we are going to spend 50m on 4 players may as well be those 4

 

[3blizzard4]

I'm not forgetting.

Instead upping Marner to +$12 mil, the Leafs could use that cap and $$ to recruit Leon Draisaitl to Toronto and invest that in him instead.

Draisaitl is playoff money player .. Quickest player to 100 playoff points only Gretzky and Lemeiux got there quicker.

That would be a dream. Drai is worth every penny. The only question is can he do it without McDavid?

 

[ToneDog]

I have said this in another thread, the more accurate historical comparsion should be Marcel Dionne. Dionne only made out of the first round 3 times and never reached the 3rd round in his career.

Mitch couldn't carry Dionne's jock strap.

 

[MSZ]

Mitch couldn't carry Dionne's jock strap.

Matthews is in Dionne's tier though. It's still possible for Matthews to change this narrative if the team can get rid of Marner and replace him with better playoff pieces.

 

[keonsbitterness]

That would be a dream. Drai is worth every penny. The only question is can he do it without McDavid?

Bigger question is whether he'd leave EDM.

 

[Stephen]

I'm not forgetting.

Instead upping Marner to +$12 mil, the Leafs could use that cap and $$ to recruit Leon Draisaitl to Toronto and invest that in him instead.

Draisaitl is playoff money player .. Quickest player to 100 playoff points only Gretzky and Lemeiux got there quicker.

Leon Draisaitl now has more than double the career playoff points as Auston Matthews in only 11 more games, at 104 to 48.

Hell, Leafs draft pick Carter Verhaeghe has 3 more playoff points and 1 more goal than Auston Matthews in only 6 more games.

It's astounding how awful and indefensible the Big 4 have been in their playoff careers while you watch a whole cast of characters just steam roll in the playoffs. I get it's a different kind of game and harder than the regular season... but it's that different a sport.

 

[ULF_55]

That's a generous comparison to our guys. While those Sharks team definitely have the choker label attached to them, they made it out of the first round more often than not.

1 SCF appearance, 4 WCF appearances, and 9 WCSF apperances from Thornton's arrival in 2005 to their final appearance in 2019. Those Sharks teams peaked higher in the regular season as well, winning the Presidents trophy once.

Our guys and their futility are in a league of their own.

I was pointing out how far below Thornton and Marleau they are.

 

[ToneDog]

Matthews is in Dionne's tier though. It's still possible for Matthews to change this narrative if the team can get rid of Marner and replace him with better playoff pieces.

Matthews and Dionne are alpha dogs. With Nylander and Matthews out, Mitch showed he is not even close. Make him a take it or waive offer of $8.5m.

I was pointing out how far below Thornton and Marleau they are.

Yet you think they will continue the charade and resign Marner.

 

[ULF_55]

Matthews and Dionne are alpha dogs. With Nylander and Matthews out, Mitch showed he is not even close. Make him a take it or waive offer of $8.5m.


Yet you think they will continue the charade and resign Marner.

Yep.

I would be extremely amused if marner asked the Leafs to trade him.

 

[Stephen]

Matthews is in Dionne's tier though. It's still possible for Matthews to change this narrative if the team can get rid of Marner and replace him with better playoff pieces.

Auston Matthews seems like a player who could benefit from his own "coming to Jesus" moment about why his game completely falls apart in the playoffs and you get these little drips and drops while far less heralded players push him out of a series. This is related to a flawed partnership with Marner but ultimately his own problem as well.

No one can take the Rockets and 60 goal seasons away from him, but what is he doing that seems so easy in the regular season that doesn't translate whatsoever in the playoffs?

Is it a lack of fundamental details work and the over reliance on "switch flipping" and not using the regular season as a runway to be seriously playoff ready?

Is it a physical conditioning issue that makes the pace and physicality of the playoffs an issue?

Whatever he's doing to get himself ready for the playoffs, whatever flaws the team has around him, none of it is good enough.

 

[Stephen]

That's a generous comparison to our guys. While those Sharks team definitely have the choker label attached to them, they made it out of the first round more often than not.

1 SCF appearance, 4 WCF appearances, and 9 WCSF apperances from Thornton's arrival in 2005 to their final appearance in 2019. Those Sharks teams peaked higher in the regular season as well, winning the Presidents trophy once.

Our guys and their futility are in a league of their own.

The San Jose Sharks were more like the Carolina Hurricanes in terms of being playoff failures. Typically the malfunction would happen in the second round... but also some conference finals years and one late run to the cup finals when there wasn't a chance to seriously win.

The Leafs are probably stuck at the developmental level of the 1992-93 Quebec Nordiques, when Sakic, Sundin and co. were too young and inexperienced to go on a serious playoff run, with defensive flaws and suspect goaltending. But like 8x long years in a row.

 

[Stephen]

Ehh the Oilers aren’t that great at cap management. The Nurse deal is going to hurt them big time when they need to re-up Draisaitl and Bouchard.

Campbell was an awful signing.

Don’t forgot Drai is in the 7th year of his 8 year contract

The Oilers are awful at cap management for sure, but goes to show how if your superstars are actually superstars and you get a developmental bonus on a Bouchard or something things can be overcome.

We have cheap everything in support of a too expensive core that is fundamentally unserious and unfit for competing.

 

[ToneDog]

Yep.

I would be extremely amused if marner asked the Leafs to trade him.

Then I guess you should prepare to be assumed. Another season of this gong show is coming to an arena near you.

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Watching Bouchard dominate offensively in the playoffs makes how the Leafs “developed” Sandin and Liljegren seem like amateur hour. This franchise has been so obsessed with being safe and defensively responsible that Keefe practically beat whatever offensive instincts those guys had right out of them. Heaven forbid anyone besides Rielly gets any offensive assignments or you don’t immediately bench or scratch a young guy because a risk he took didn’t work out.

Not saying either man would’ve had the same impact as Bouchard but it’s embarrassing that two defensemen praised for their offensive instincts heading into their draft years have topped out as sub-25 point defensemen. Washington may still get more out of Sandin, and if Liljegren sticks around I’d like to think Berube will be better for him.

 

[Gallagbi]

Watching Bouchard dominate offensively in the playoffs makes how the Leafs “developed” Sandin and Liljegren seem like amateur hour. This franchise has been so obsessed with being safe and defensively responsible that Keefe practically beat whatever offensive instincts those guys had right out of them. Heaven forbid anyone besides Rielly gets any offensive assignments or you don’t immediately bench or scratch a young guy because a risk he took didn’t work out.

Not saying either man would’ve had the same impact as Bouchard but it’s embarrassing that two defensemen praised for their offensive instincts heading into their draft years have topped out as sub-25 point defensemen. Washington may still get more out of Sandin, and if Liljegren sticks around I’d like to think Berube will be better for him.

Didn't they insert Sandin into a playoff series and immediately give him PP1 time? Pretty sure they let Sandin roam often and he showed great offensive instincts.

 

[PromisedLand]

Imagine your starting goalie rocking an .890 SV% like it's circa 1980s NHL era and getting to the SCF.

Oilers' special teams is special. Both PP and PK. Especially the PK. They've had the best PK in playoffs of all the teams

When you have McDavid playing hard on the body/taking body instead of poke checking like a little bitch you know the entire team would follow and play hard because their highest paid player is the hardest worker out there

 

[Burnie97]

Edmonton and Florida in the finals lol.

f*** sakes.

2 of the teams of the fans I hate the most... are probably going to the cup finals. Obnoxious ones and ones that only show up when their team makes the playoffs.

Official off season can't come soon enough.

 

[PromisedLand]

Ehh the Oilers aren’t that great at cap management. The Nurse deal is going to hurt them big time when they need to re-up Draisaitl and Bouchard.

Campbell was an awful signing.

Don’t forgot Drai is in the 7th year of his 8 year contract

E. Kane's deal is up the following year both Drai and Bouchard are up for new contracts; Kane may be traded to facilitate that.

Also, Nurse doesn't have full NTC for the duration of 8 years; he can and potentially may be moved if required

But all of this contract talk may be a non-factor if oilers win the cup.

Their star players made a claim "cup or bust" last season; and their star players are backing up the talk with the walk!

 

[Jimmy Firecracker]

Didn't they insert Sandin into a playoff series and immediately give him PP1 time? Pretty sure they let Sandin roam often and he showed great offensive instincts.

Yeah and then Keefe beefed it. Montreal series early on Sandin looked decent, then Keefe took out Sandin for Dermott in Game 4 and theLeafs played their best game that series. Then for whatever reason Keefe got cute and put Sandin back on for Dermott for Game 5 and Sandin looked awful. Keefe never trusted him again and Rielly continued to quarterback the top PP. Liljegren never even got the opportunity Sandin had to utilize any offensive gifts.

Again, not saying these guys would’ve been guaranteed hits but it’s frustrating that a big problem for this franchise now is lack of offence from the defence when we used two first round picks on offensive-minded defensemen.

 

[1specter]

Edmonton and Florida in the finals lol.

f*** sakes.

2 of the teams of the fans I hate the most... are probably going to the cup finals. Obnoxious ones and ones that only show up when their team makes the playoffs.

Official off season can't come soon enough.

That loser Kerberos is reading this thread every day liking our posts

 

[Gallagbi]

Yeah and then Keefe beefed it. Montreal series early on Sandin looked decent, then Keefe took out Sandin for Dermott in Game 4 and theLeafs played their best game that series. Then for whatever reason Keefe got cute and put Sandin back on for Dermott for Game 5 and Sandin looked awful. Keefe never trusted him again and Rielly continued to quarterback the top PP. Liljegren never even got the opportunity Sandin had to utilize any offensive gifts.

Again, not saying these guys would’ve been guaranteed hits but it’s frustrating that a big problem for this franchise now is lack of offence from the defence when we used two first round picks on offensive-minded defensemen.

I don't think Lilj has the offensive gifts Sandin does. Better skillset, but doesn't think the game nearly as well (offensively) or show the composure. He doesn't see the lanes or opportunities.

There's a reason Lilj's draft stock dropped off and honestly he's seemed to develop decently all things considered. Even Sandin feels like a fine pick for late first. You could potentially milk Sandin for more points than he's getting in a PP1 role, like Washington did initially, but when you have better options it doesn't make a ton of sense. We saw that this year in WSH and previously in TOR.