Recalled/Assigned: Dermott to the Leafs Marincin back to the Marlies

[54thecup]

If he's up for a bit, he should be taught PK and maybe get Polak out.

Dermott has been the mainstay on the Marlies pk this year and they wisely use the same system as the Leafs. Wouldn't be surprised to see him in tonight and get a shift or 2 of pk. Jackets on B2B and worst pp in NHL, not a bad time for a test.

 

[TootooTrain]

If he's up for a bit, he should be taught PK and maybe get Polak out.

You should not be teaching a player of his age the pk at the NHL Now he obviously played the PK in the marlies so I'm speaking more generally about young players coming into the nhl. I'm not saying it can't be done, but this type of special teams practice should be done in the minors before getting called up.
Chances are he doesn't get a sniff of either the PP or PK until he's had a dozen or so games. Till the coach knows he can be safe at 5on5.

 

[Mugzy97]

Looks like he'll be playing on the right side tonight with Gardiner. I'd call that a promotion and an opportunity.

 

[AppsSyl]

Looks like he'll be playing on the right side tonight with Gardiner. I'd call that a promotion and an opportunity.

I totally agree. A good showing over the next couple of games on the right side, could land him there at least until season's end, and likely the end of one of Polak or Carrick as a Leaf.

 

[Morgs]

When Zaitsev comes back, I'd love to see this for a while:

Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Dermott
Borgman - Zaitsev

If Dermott shows he can handle Top-4 minutes (he can very easily), I would then try him beside Rielly (while easing their minutes to compliment a Gardiner - Hainsey pairing).

Edit: Damn, apparently he is actually practicing with Gardiner. Now, If only we could get rid of Polak.

 

[Guy Boucher]

Say what you want about Carrick...and there are many flaws to his game...but the Leafs play way faster and transition way quicker with him in the lineup. Keeping him out for Polak is a travesty.

And let me predict for the record that putting Dermott on RD is not a good idea for a kid just getting his feet wet. It puts him in a situation to fail.

 

[DarkKnight]

Say what you want about Carrick...and there are many flaws to his game...but the Leafs play way faster and transition way quicker with him in the lineup. Keeping him out for Polak is a travesty.

And let me predict for the record that putting Dermott on RD is not a good idea for a kid just getting his feet wet. It puts him in a situation to fail.

Yes, but you have to get out of your zone to play transition. He can't win a puck in our end, and to be fair, for every good transition pass, there are three desperate clearing attempts up a wall because they're in trouble. It's by no means a "travesty" having a guy with 600 plus games in this league replacing a marginal D man. Both are flawed, and it just depends what you want. Carrick is a 7 D man, so it's hard to get bent out of shape someone else taking his spot.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Looks like he'll be playing on the right side tonight with Gardiner. I'd call that a promotion and an opportunity.

Wow. That was some quick compliment from the coach. I think he is goingbto be Zaitsev's partner later on.

 

[X66]

That and he doesn't play special teams. Those are generally around the amount of minutes Carrick or Borgman get.

Babs testing him on the right side with Rielly was promising. If he's effective on the right there might be a chance he either gets Carrick's spot or they move Hainsey with Gardiner (hoping it has the same effect Hainsey had on Rielly) and see if Dermott can excel with Rielly.

The real issue is, without Zaitsev, we have only 3 defenders Babs has any faith in on the PK, which is Rielly, Polak and Hainsey. So, its unlikely Babcock plays 3 of Borgman, Carrick and Dermott in the same line-up at the expense of Polak.

This is the key.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

I totally agree. A good showing over the next couple of games on the right side, could land him there at least until season's end, and likely the end of one of Polak or Carrick as a Leaf.

Carrick is better than polak and still really young.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Say what you want about Carrick...and there are many flaws to his game...but the Leafs play way faster and transition way quicker with him in the lineup. Keeping him out for Polak is a travesty.

And let me predict for the record that putting Dermott on RD is not a good idea for a kid just getting his feet wet. It puts him in a situation to fail.

He's fixable and i agree

 

[Matthews34]

Carrick is better than polak and still really young.

23 almost 24 isn't really young anymore. It's make or break time for a player that Leafs haven't invested all that much in ie. taken him in the 1st round.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

23 almost 24 isn't really young anymore. It's make or break time for a player that Leafs haven't invested all that much in ie. taken him in the 1st round.

Thats young for defense but i know what you mean. I shouldn't have said really young. Reasonably young would be more like it.

 

[Guy Boucher]

Yes, but you have to get out of your zone to play transition. He can't win a puck in our end, and to be fair, for every good transition pass, there are three desperate clearing attempts up a wall because they're in trouble. It's by no means a "travesty" having a guy with 600 plus games in this league replacing a marginal D man. Both are flawed, and it just depends what you want. Carrick is a 7 D man, so it's hard to get bent out of shape someone else taking his spot.

Do me a favour. Go back and look at how slow the Leafs were vs. Colorado and vs. Vegas and compare that to their team speed vs. Arizona and Tampa (the game before and after).

And while you're at it, look at the Vegas game and how many times Polak's passes were picked off.
Add that to the amount of minor penalties Polak takes and its clear that Polak is losing us games.

Just do that and you'll be convinced.

And please don't appeal to the authority of his 600 games played without recognizing that no one has offered Polak a contract for the past 2 years other than the Leafs.

 

[WTFMAN99]

Do me a favour. Go back and look at how slow the Leafs were vs. Colorado and vs. Vegas and compare that to their team speed vs. Arizona and Tampa (the game before and after).

And while you're at it, look at the Vegas game and how many times Polak's passes were picked off.
Add that to the amount of minor penalties Polak takes and its clear that Polak is losing us games.

Just do that and you'll be convinced.

And please don't appeal to the authority of his 600 games played without recognizing that no one has offered Polak a contract for the past 2 years other than the Leafs.

15 minor penalties in the last 24GP for Polak.

 

[DarkKnight]

Do me a favour. Go back and look at how slow the Leafs were vs. Colorado and vs. Vegas and compare that to their team speed vs. Arizona and Tampa (the game before and after).

And while you're at it, look at the Vegas game and how many times Polak's passes were picked off.
Add that to the amount of minor penalties Polak takes and its clear that Polak is losing us games.

Just do that and you'll be convinced.

And please don't appeal to the authority of his 600 games played without recognizing that no one has offered Polak a contract for the past 2 years other than the Leafs.

So Carrick drives our team speed playing 13 minutes(10 of which he's hemmed in our zone playing grenades with Gards). Who knew.

I'm not even defending Polak, they're both flawed and I've argued forever we need an upgrade. All I'm saying is Carrick isn't any answer and he's so flawed that one could actually surmise Polak brings more to the table. Our coaching staff has...It really just boils down to who can play PK better, here we sit. My hope is neither play once Zaitsev gets back.

 

[Menzinger]

When Zaitsev returns we’ll find out whose the “Guddest Pro” of them all:

Dermott vs Polak

 

[Menzinger]

15 minor penalties in the last 24GP for Polak.

It’s absolutely maddening how ineffective he is

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

When Zaitsev returns we’ll find out whose the “Guddest Pro” of them all:

Dermott vs Polak

Dermott is easily the better hockey player but I'm not sure he loves his wife enough

 

[54thecup]

we need some tuffness on our team that can play more than 8 minutes. Perhaps not now, but playoff hockey requires it! Polak is flawed but adds an important ingredient to the team now. It would be great his flaws out but we need a power forward to get us to the ultimate goal
!!!!

 

[Mr Hockey]

It’s absolutely maddening how ineffective he is

I'm curious, what do you expect from Polack each game?

 

[Muston Atthews]

I'm curious, what do you expect from Polack each game?

Probably not averaging a minute+ in penalty time per game

 

[Kiwi]

15 minor penalties in the last 24GP for Polak.

What a stud

It takes skill to **** up that bad and still have the confidence of the coach

 

[Menzinger]

I'm curious, what do you expect from Polack each game?

From Polak in particular or for somebody in the bottom pairing position? I don’t expect a bottom pairing D man to be a game breaker, just provide stability in sheltered minutes.

My problems with Polak lie with his inability to do anything with the puck other than ice it, and how he continuously hands the opposition PPs.

 

[Mr Hockey]

Probably not averaging a minute+ in penalty time per game

No big deal and it not affecting the outcome of games. The NHL rules make it hard for aggressive/physical players.