Changes needed?

[DarkKnight]

Already with this stuff….

 

[1specter]

Already with this stuff….

View attachment 760134

RIP

 

[ZEBROA]

I will nag about Tavares with Nylander until the universe change those aligning stars, and put them on different lines. just to make the team more defensivly sound.

 

[francis246]

I will nag about Tavares with Nylander until the universe change those aligning stars, and put them on different lines. just to make the team more defensivly sound.

Why would we split up the best line on our team right now? I think some people here get an idea in their head and just run with it and not watch the games. Tavares has been more than adequate this year. His even strength production shows for itself, he and Nylander are playing fine together.

 

[ZEBROA]

Why would we split up the best line on our team right now? I think some people here get an idea in their head and just run with it and not watch the games. Tavares has been more than adequate this year. His even strength production shows for itself, he and Nylander are playing fine together.

If Tavares and Nylander are better this year then there is even a bigger reason to break them apart. Then they might be even better then this(overall) apart. This is not a balanced team right now. Spread the fear. Dont keep it on two lines. I dont think they will suddenly be bad without each other. Probably be better in some ways.

Knies Matt Nylander
Bert Tavares Marner

or
Knies Matt Marner
Bert Tavares jarny
Greg Nylander Domi ( yeah this is thin , but i like to see it)

Nylander and Tavares will suck eventually and almost all the time on defence so as soon as they slow down make a change.

 

[Drytoast]

I think we've all seen this script before.

This is a good team. But they haven't turned any corners.

 

[notbias]

Pretty much the only thing that needs to happen asap is Jarnkrok taken off the Matthews line. This is all SSS so far but 33.3 xGF% as a line so far this year (unacceptable for a top line), compared to when Bertuzzi is on that line, they have a 65.3 xGF%. The Tavares-Nylander duo in comparison so far has shown chemistry with both Jarnkrok (73.3 xGF%) and Bertuzzi (51.9 xGF% with a surprisingly solid xGA/60).

The bottom 6 can stay the same for now. Knies-Domi duo has shown early chemistry eye test wise and Kampf should keep that line honest defensively as the 3rd player on that line. Perhaps most surprising, the 4th line of Gregor-Holmberg-Reaves is treading water so far (50 xGF% with a surprisingly solid xGA/60). Compared to when Kampf was on that line (32.3 xGF% getting caved in constantly), it's a major improvement so far and Holmberg deserves a ton of credit.

All 3 of the healthy D pairs in Rielly-Brodie, McCabe-Liljegren, and Gio-Klingberg have also posted solid early numbers (all at least 56 xGF% with solid xGA/60). The only change that's needed for now to the healthy lineup is swapping Jarnkrok and Bertuzzi in the top 6.

It's funny that you use xGF% for every line but omit it for the Domi/Kampf/Knies line... they are at 41.7%, and they aren't playing well either.

The whole team has played badly so far for the most part, we are just skilled enough to hide it.

It is still early, juggle the lines until we find some chemistry, there is enough talent, but overall the team has been bad and is getting by with talent, not much else.

I agree the D pairings look a lot better now.

 

[conFABulator]

I think it might be too early to make changes on a team that is still finding it's chemistry and is 5-2-1 but it is not too early to see some warning signs of things not working.

I think Reaves is our issue when it comes to finding forward line chemistry. He kills a line. He is not at the same level of the other NHL players we have in the bottom six. RR serves a purpose on the ice sometimes and seemingly in the room, but it may soon be time to start "load managing" him. Only dress him when we need that sort of deterrent in the line up.

Knies Matthews Bertuzzi
Robertson Tavares Marner
Domi Holmberg Nylander
Gregor Kampf Jarnkrok

Rielly Liljegren
Brodie Klingberg
Giordano McCabe

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Are changes needed?

Based on some of these discussions, it seems changes are needed because individual award trophies are in jeopardy: Matthews the Selke/Rocket, Nylander the Hart, Klingberg the Norris (lol), and Woll the Calder/Vezina.

If Keefe could just pay attention to the fans Matthews would score 79 goals, etc.

I'm handing these smileys out early this year:

 

[Nineteen67]

They had more than a few holes to fill and they’re a little worse than they were last season.
Klingberg is consistently out of position, Domi was noticeably bad on Saturday and that was one of his better games, Revo is 10 yrs too late and is reduced to being a mascot.

Gregor and Bertuzzi have been good and Woll shows lots of promise.

 

[tmlfan98]

It's funny that you use xGF% for every line but omit it for the Domi/Kampf/Knies line... they are at 41.7%, and they aren't playing well either.

The whole team has played badly so far for the most part, we are just skilled enough to hide it.

It is still early, juggle the lines until we find some chemistry, there is enough talent, but overall the team has been bad and is getting by with talent, not much else.

I agree the D pairings look a lot better now.

I did say that me liking the 3rd line so far was based on the eye test chemistry that seems to be there between Domi and Knies so far, and not their numbers.

 

[francis246]

I think it might be too early to make changes on a team that is still finding it's chemistry and is 5-2-1 but it is not too early to see some warning signs of things not working.

I think Reaves is our issue when it comes to finding forward line chemistry. He kills a line. He is not at the same level of the other NHL players we have in the bottom six. RR serves a purpose on the ice sometimes and seemingly in the room, but it may soon be time to start "load managing" him. Only dress him when we need that sort of deterrent in the line up.

Knies Matthews Bertuzzi
Robertson Tavares Marner
Domi Holmberg Nylander
Gregor Kampf Jarnkrok

Rielly Liljegren
Brodie Klingberg
Giordano McCabe

I fully expect Reaves to be waived at some point this year or next, something happened with him last year. Great Guy in the room but you also need to win hockey games and he doesn’t help you do that.

 

[TheRumble]

Already with this stuff….

View attachment 760134

Listen, everyone knows that losing an early season 3v3 OT game is a sign that your team is fraudulent.

 

[613Leafer]

I fully expect Reaves to be waived at some point this year or next, something happened with him last year. Great Guy in the room but you also need to win hockey games and he doesn’t help you do that.

For a team so incredibly tight against the cap, Reaves' contract really is a problem. That extra ~$500K he costs relative to a league minimum player prevents us from upgrading somewhere else on the roster, potentially from carrying an extra player, causes us problems when Timmins comes off LTIR, etc.

Also, just like in the Kessel era, adding a goon like Orr/Rosehill that can't play hockey effectively to play ~5-7 minutes a night doesn't really move the needle on team toughness.

I do agree the personality could help shake up the locker room a bit, but I suspect there are other players who can bring that element, and who we can also trust to play ~12-20 minutes a night.

I really liked the Bertuzzi/Domi additions, but Reaves remains a big head scratcher.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

For a team so incredibly tight against the cap, Reaves' contract really is a problem. That extra ~$500K he costs relative to a league minimum player prevents us from upgrading somewhere else on the roster, potentially from carrying an extra player, causes us problems when Timmins comes off LTIR, etc.

Also, just like in the Kessel era, adding a goon like Orr/Rosehill that can't play hockey effectively to play ~5-7 minutes a night doesn't really move the needle on team toughness.

I do agree the personality could help shake up the locker room a bit, but I suspect there are other players who can bring that element, and who we can also trust to play ~12-20 minutes a night.

I really liked the Bertuzzi/Domi additions, but Reaves remains a big head scratcher.

When TOR had Orr/Fraser/McLaren they were noticeably tougher. Don't try to spin their history. The reason TOR lost to a heavily favoured BOS team was many other factors.

I'm not saying that Reaves is a good hockey player and I see your point. You're really stretching here to prove a point.

I think you're foolish if you think that Treliving is stubborn, and won't make changes at the deadline. I think it's also foolish to say that Reaves is the reason TOR is not 8-0 this season.

 

[Nineteen67]

I fully expect Reaves to be waived at some point this year or next, something happened with him last year. Great Guy in the room but you also need to win hockey games and he doesn’t help you do that.

He wasn’t effective with the Rangers and it was over for him. Typical Leafs move to bring in that type of guy so late in his career.

 

[francis246]

He wasn’t effective with the Rangers and it was over for him. Typical Leafs move to bring in that type of guy so late in his career.

He bounced around 2 teams last year as well

 

[LeafalCrusader]

At some point id try to get Robertson up and Knies with the big boys.

Bumping Reaves down. Jarnkrok to the 3rd line Kampf to the 4th line.

Knies Matthews Marner
Bertuzzi Tavares Nylander
Robertson Domi Jarnkrok
Holmberg Kampf Gregor

 

[ACC1224]

I fully expect Reaves to be waived at some point this year or next, something happened with him last year. Great Guy in the room but you also need to win hockey games and he doesn’t help you do that.

Which games can we point to that he caused the Loss?

Not a huge fan but I also believe that a guy playing 5 minutes a night can't have that big of a negative impact.

 

[Strangle]

I'm not impressed so far this year, the team already looks stale, it will continue to win enough to make the playoffs but that isn't enough for me and most Leaf fans, anymore.

After 8 games TO's big 4 has 19 goals, the rest of the team 10 goals.

How bad is this, Knies has 9 shots, Domi 10 shots, Jarnkrok 12, Klingberg 8 shots on the #1 PP unit, Kampf 4. These players are expected to contribute to the offense but with 1/10th of the season done it looks like the team outside of the top 4 forwards might be capable of 100 goals, I don't think that's a winning combo.

There might be different things that can be done to improve the scoring imbalance, it's this imbalance that has consistently hogtied the Leafs come playoff time, during the regular season having so few do the scoring works because there are so many weak teams, in the playoffs the weaker teams have been weeded out.

What can be done with TO's current lineup to address the imbalance, I think 2 different approaches should be attempted. 1)strengthen the top 6, right now TO has it's top 5 forwards on the top 2 lines, Jarnkrok doesn't deserve to be there if TO was truly expecting the top 2 lines to carry the offense. I would think either Domi or Knies should be on those top 2 lines to replace Jarnkrok. 2)strengthen the 3rd line, Kampf shouldn't be on the top 3 lines, he is where offense goes to die. In this scenario Jarnkrok could be on the top 2 lines, I would think a decent 3rd line could be assembled with Tie, Knies and Bert.

I can remember my being impressed by Gregor when he played for SJ last year, he isn't shouldn't be on any team's top 2 lines but for the sake of balance, he might be a player that could be promoted, so far this year he's been playing 9:46 ATOI and he's only had 1 goal off of 22 shots. Only 3 players on the Leafs have more shots than Gregor, what might he do with quality linemates?

I like the balanced approach, I think Gregor might be an unmined diamond, Knies is being wasted on any line with Kampf as the center.

So I'm thinking:

Gregor/AM/MM
Jarnkrok/JT/WN
Knies/Tie/Bert
Robertson/Kampf/Blandisi

Reaves is entertaining and probably can continue on TO's 4th line getting around 7 mins. per but finding productivity for every line is probably more ideal, Blandisi has been a decent AHL player and he plays with attitude.

You’re not going to want to roll 4 lines with this team.

You want lines 1 and 2 to outperform the rest, and you want the ice time to reflect that.

3rd line shouldn’t be playing 20mins a night and producing like they’re playing that much, and 4th line should only play 7-8 mins and produce next to nothing, while not allowing goals against.

Teams don’t score 700 goals a year, and having a balanced 4 lines with our salary cap means you cannot have high end players on any lines, you can’t afford them

 

[Nineteen67]

When TOR had Orr/Fraser/McLaren they were noticeably tougher. Don't try to spin their history. The reason TOR lost to a heavily favoured BOS team was many other factors.

I'm not saying that Reaves is a good hockey player and I see your point. You're really stretching here to prove a point.

I think you're foolish if you think that Treliving is stubborn, and won't make changes at the deadline. I think it's also foolish to say that Reaves is the reason TOR is not 8-0 this season.

This team shouldn’t have any unanswered question at this point, but they have the same holes, if not or more, than they did the day drafted Matthews.

 

[ToneDog]

He bounced around 2 teams last year as well

Minny offered him 1.5mx2 this summer so at least 2 teams think he can be useful.

 

[Evilhomer]

This team will likely start the season 7-2-1. Everyone knows the changes that are needed (2 additional defensemen and a reliable third line centre), and over the course of the season those changes will be made, but no team is going make any material changes this early in the season.

 

[ACC1224]

Minny offered him 1.5mx2 this summer so at least 2 teams think he can be useful.

It's the same discussion every year. Many fans don't like the type of player but managements around the league continually try and add that type of player.

This team will likely start the season 7-2-1. Everyone knows the changes that are needed (2 additional defensemen and a reliable third line centre), and over the course of the season those changes will be made, but no team is going make any material changes this early in the season.

Seems like the best start in some time, not sure where the thirst for change is coming from this early in the year.

 

[Nineteen67]

Minny offered him 1.5mx2 this summer so at least 2 teams think he can be useful.

Two teams stuck in the middle of the pack.