Brad Treliving is doing a great job.

[Gallagbi]

Adjust for man games lost and I suspect the Leafs would be second in the conference and top 5 in the NHL, which is where they will be by the end of the season, especially with their schedule.

We always seem to be pretty high in man games lost.

How does it compare this year to previous? How about to our competition?

Second in the conference is pretty familiar for this code. Top 5 in the NHL as well. So again, I'm not quite seeing the optimism of this being the best opportunity. Honestly it feels similar, at best

 

[Al14]

Matthews literally can't go home because thankfully Arizona no longer has a team.

By saying 'going home' he actually meant returning to Trumpland... I mean the U.S. of A.

I can see Matthews as a Vegas Golden Knight.

 

[Sypher04]

We always seem to be pretty high in man games lost.

How does it compare this year to previous? How about to our competition?

Second in the conference is pretty familiar for this code. Top 5 in the NHL as well. So again, I'm not quite seeing the optimism of this being the best opportunity. Honestly it feels similar, at best

This year we still have marner and Tavares under contract. We have knies at a cheap price. We have an Eastern conference with no real standouts.

It’s not only about our record.

Go out and get the upgrades, with term, it’s not only even about one year of opportunity.

 

[Gallagbi]

This year we still have marner and Tavares under contract. We have knies at a cheap price. We have an Eastern conference with no real standouts.

It’s not only about our record.

Go out and get the upgrades, with term, it’s not only even about one year of opportunity.

The posters comment was about this year being the best opportunity

 

[Sypher04]

The posters comment was about this year being the best opportunity

I understand that. That’s why my first part of my comment supported why that’s true.

The second part was just me adding on to say, get guys with term and you have them this year and for more playoff runs, which is win-win.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Goal Differential the benchmark of contending teams in combination with GA.
Winnipeg currently #1 in the NHL standings is also #1 (+68) in Goal Diff and Washington is currently 2nd overall and #2 (+56) in Goals Diff.
Leafs position in the standings is fragile because at a mere +13 Goal Diff there are currently 5 teams in West and 5 teams in the East >>> Leafs of scoring more while preventing less goals against.
Winnipeg is also #1 in best GA and Washington #4 while Leafs sit 10th in goals against.
The Leafs continue to believe (naively IMO) that despite having 4 of the top 12 highest AAV paid players in the game, that it makes them a Cup competitive team despite 10 teams having a better Goal Diff and when the playoff begin and checking gets tighter and scoring lower many teams also allow less goals against.
This makes the current top heavy $$ core 4 roster and lack of depth scoring and contribution a "Cinderella" contender., which has been an easy out now the past 8 playoff years. Minimize the core 4 and you have minimized > 1/2 the Leafs total roster salary cap allocation.
Not until the Leaf can get away from this foolish strategy and build a balanced roster and spread the wealth in a Salary Cap World will they become true Cup contenders and not just pretenders. IMO
Leafs do not have any statistical advantage nor in the standings deploying this strategy and their playoff failures each year only emphasize this flawed strategy further.
Treliving inherited this mess from his predecessor, and not until after this year with both JT and MM contracts expiring can he reshape the Leafs with more Cap flexibility.

Goal differential per 82 GP
2020-21: +57
2021-22: +62
2022-23: +57
2023-24: +40
2024-25: +19

The issue isn't allocating cap to our best players (something Treliving happily continued), which has never prevented us from having elite goal differentials before. The issue isn't his predecessor, who did it just fine through much more difficult situations and set Treliving up for success. The issue is the job Treliving is doing, and the mistakes he is making, all on his own.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Yes winning the cup is the prize but it sure would be nice to win more them 1 round in years. I’m pretty sure most cup winners don’t go from winning 1 round in 2 decades to winning the cup in 1 year.

Yes, it would have been nice to win more. Ultimately, it doesn't change anything moving forward. Past playoff outcomes don't correlate with much. In fact, over the past 15 years of Cup winners, the most common team outcome in the year before the team won the cup is losing in the first round. 2 weren't even in the playoffs the year before. LA had never won a series. Multiple had never been past the second round.

 

[Racer88]

Yes, it would have been nice to win more. Ultimately, it doesn't change anything moving forward. Past playoff outcomes don't correlate with much. In fact, over the past 15 years of Cup winners, the most common team outcome in the year before the team won the cup is losing in the first round. 2 weren't even in the playoffs the year before. LA had never won a series. Multiple had never been past the second round.

Ok now go back 5 or 6 years prior to winning cup and see how many of those teams failed to get past the first round. How many of them went from 1 win in the last 8 years to the cup in 1 season

 

[Evilhomer]

We always seem to be pretty high in man games lost.

How does it compare this year to previous? How about to our competition?

Second in the conference is pretty familiar for this code. Top 5 in the NHL as well. So again, I'm not quite seeing the optimism of this being the best opportunity. Honestly it feels similar, at best

I see a team with elite-level goaltending and much better coaching than they have had in the past. I also see Marner playing at a different level than he has in prior seasons, and I think it will carry over to the playoffs.

Yes, it would have been nice to win more. Ultimately, it doesn't change anything moving forward. Past playoff outcomes don't correlate with much. In fact, over the past 15 years of Cup winners, the most common team outcome in the year before the team won the cup is losing in the first round. 2 weren't even in the playoffs the year before. LA had never won a series. Multiple had never been past the second round.

Human nature is to look for patterns. We love patterns because we are always trying to make sense of the future by looking to the past. The reality, however, is that so much of this is completely random.

 

[Gallagbi]

I see a team with elite-level goaltending and much better coaching than they have had in the past. I also see Marner playing at a different level than he has in prior seasons, and I think it will carry over to the playoffs.

Coaching is interesting given it hasn't really shown in the results. Maybe we see it in crunch time. This isn't Marners best year, but he looks solid. Usually does.

Woll's actually been about average. Stolarz has been great.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

We always seem to be pretty high in man games lost.

How does it compare this year to previous? How about to our competition?

Second in the conference is pretty familiar for this code. Top 5 in the NHL as well. So again, I'm not quite seeing the optimism of this being the best opportunity. Honestly it feels similar, at best

You need to pay more attention, not just to the Leafs but to the east in general, the time is NOW

 

[Gallagbi]

You need to pay more attention, not just to the Leafs but to the east in general, the time is NOW

Maybe. Truthfully we haven't looked great this year and that shows in so many ways from the eyes to the numbers. But I'm also not watching the 5-6 games of the other teams on the East like you seem to be nightly, so I can't say they look better or worse in comparison - just what the numbers suggest.

Personally I wouldn't be betting the farm on what I've seen this year, but would like to pickup a guy we can retain and slot nicely into our top 9. If that's not there, I'm fine to see how it plays out without additions.

Aside from that, this just seems like another year our window and the main arguments for pushing is that other teams who we often haven't faced aren't as strong as usual

 

[Nineteen67]

Treliving learned that his core is not very good and his job is likely over in 3 months.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Ok now go back 5 or 6 years prior to winning cup and see how many of those teams failed to get past the first round.

What a team did 5 or 6 years prior isn't very relevant. But some hadn't won anything. Some had failed to get past the second round, like us. Some had gone on a run at some point and lost when they faced what we've faced in the first round. None of it stops you from winning.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Treliving learned that his core is not very good and his job is likely over in 3 months.

Treliving is not getting fired in 3 moonths, when was the last time a GM got fired after 2 years?

I don't think you can answer that, and if you can it's probably Buffalo.

We aren't Buffalo

 

[TMLBlueandWhite]

Treliving is not getting fired in 3 moonths, when was the last time a GM got fired after 2 years?

I don't think you can answer that, and if you can it's probably Buffalo.

We aren't Buffalo

Off the top of my head MacTavish is the only GM I can think of who only lasted two years.

The shortest Buffalo Sabres GM was Botterill and he lasted three.

 

[Nineteen67]

Treliving is not getting fired in 3 moonths, when was the last time a GM got fired after 2 years?

I don't think you can answer that, and if you can it's probably Buffalo.

We aren't Buffalo

The new president may keep him, but a lot of times they hire their own GM.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

The new president may keep him, but a lot of times they hire their own GM.

So do you think Berube is getting fired after 1 year? We don't even know Shanny is getting fired.

It's reasonable to assume he would be but I thought he was getting fired last off season it didn't happen

 

[All Mod Cons]

I don't think Shanny, Brad or Craig are getting fired any time soon. Ownership seem happy enough with what they're doing.

 

[Nineteen67]

So do you think Berube is getting fired after 1 year? We don't even know Shanny is getting fired.

It's reasonable to assume he would be but I thought he was getting fired last off season it didn't happen

It is true that we’ve been thinking they’d make changes for several years, but I think it’s unlikely they extend Shanny if they have another poor showing this spring.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It is true that we’ve been thinking they’d make changes for several years, but I think it’s unlikely they extend Shanny if they have another poor showing this spring.

OK but you didn't answer the original question do you think Berube is getting fired after 1 year?

 

[Nineteen67]

I don't think Shanny, Brad or Craig are getting fired any time soon. Ownership seem happy enough with what they're doing.

They may decide they don’t need shanny and pocket that salary.

OK but you didn't answer the original question do you think Berube is getting fired after 1 year?

The new management will likely keep him as a scapegoat.

 

[Dekes For Days]

Treliving is not getting fired in 3 moonths, when was the last time a GM got fired after 2 years?

Nonis got fired after just over 2 years. But realistically, we're going to let Treliving continue destroying this team.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Nonis got fired after just over 2 years. But realistically, we're going to let Treliving continue destroying this team.

The goaltending and defense are better then they have been in years. And in the case of the defense literal decades.

But he's destroying the team.

I wonder if you think your idol is destroying the Pens

 

[Mess]

Treliving in doing a good job getting us out from under the stench that was a Clueless Kyle Dubas.

We have a proven Stanley Cup winning coach not an OHL coach, and this is the best goaltending with Woll and Stolarz that we have seen in a decade, which leaves real room for optimism.

Leaf cap heavy core 4 still hangs like a boat anchor around the Leafs success and will live and die by them, but this is the last year of have 4 X $11 mil or greater players on the same roster.

An Increase to the Salary Cap by +$5 mil and cut JT bloated overpaid contract in 1/2, and this is going to open real opportunities for Treliving now with Cap space to start build a true Cup contender not a pretender.

The days of Leafs playing pond hockey and trying to outscore their mistakes is already being replaced by a solid system better prepared for playoff hockey so we're moving in the right direction. We're no longer a butter soft team, but one that will be willing to stand up and fight back as needed.

Now only if Treliving would just sign pending UFA power forward Mikko Rantanen to the same relative money it would cost to re-sign Mitch Marner and you're bringing in a proven playoff warrior. Use the savings on the Tavares contract to sign Jonathan Toews and get us a TOP 4 true NHL defender and we will be on our way.

Knies --- Matthews -- Rantanen
Tavares - Toews ------Nylander