GDT: End of season media availability - Pelley speaking Friday at 1PM EST

[colchar]

You are a new fan I assume? I've lived through what you are suggesting. Ended with us watching the Leafs finish with the 2nd worst record in the NHL and the Bruins drafted a franchise center (something we were looking for for years) with our first.

In this instance the Leafs would be getting the picks.

And Seguin certainly wasn't a franchise center for the Bruins was he?

 

[colchar]

I could also see them just expanding Treliving's role, which would really irritate me.

Why? Because he has improved the team even while shackled by Shanny?

 

[PhantomLeaf]

Treliving did a pretty bad job in Calgary. Dark times ahead for us, I think. We just have to remember we were never going to win in this era, so even if we suck and don't make the playoffs, the situation was necessary as part of the great reset.

Lets just hope Treliving doesn't cripple us with bad contracts like previous GMs.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Why? Because he has improved the team even while shackled by Shanny?

Or that he makes as many or more bad moves, and his (and Berube's) vision for how the team plays is also very questionable.

 

[colchar]

Or that he makes as many or more bad moves

He has significantly improved the team, end of story.

and his (and Berube's) vision for how the team plays is also very questionable.

According to who?

 

[Rare Jewel]

He has significantly improved the team, end of story.

Has he?

He's two wins better than the 2023 team, that's it. Doesn't seem very significant.

Personally, I don't think it's a good move if you trade a 1st for a guy who ends up on your 4th line.

According to who?

According to anyone who watched his team get outchanced 21-0 in the 1st period of the most important game of the season.

But that's something that has been trending more and more, getting outshot and outchanced.

 

[Kurtz]

He's a career 40 point guy, literally. Maybe the most over-rated player on these boards right now and we all know he's committed like 20 infractions that are suspension worthy but somehow magically always avoids discipline.

That won't be the case in Toronto.

No thank you, 7M+ for a 40 point dirty player who likely gets multiple suspensions playing here.

There's a curious phenomenon on these boards where everyone agrees that we need to get meaner and nastier, but most posters don't want to bring in mean and nasty players.

 

[colchar]

Has he?

Yes, they are clearly better. Better in net, better on D.

He's two wins better than the 2023 team, that's it. Doesn't seem very significant.

Blame the core for that, and he ain't responsible for them.

Personally, I don't think it's a good move if you trade a 1st for a guy who ends up on your 4th line.

Then clearly you're too fixated on first line, second line, etc. as he made a significant contribution in the playoffs.

According to anyone who watched his team get outchanced 21-0 in the 1st period of the most important game of the season.

Bollocks. What you really mean is that you don't like what he does because you think you know more than a Cup winning coach. Get over yourself.

 

[arso40]

Tanev was the only plus defender ffs

 

[AvroArrow]

There's a curious phenomenon on these boards where everyone agrees that we need to get meaner and nastier, but most posters don't want to bring in mean and nasty players.

I don't want to bring in pieces of shit who have intentionally concussed 2 of our best players

I don't want to bring in an over rated 40 point player at an 8M cap hit

I don't want to bring in a player with a big cap hit that is 99.999% getting suspended in the playoffs for the way he plays the game

It's not a curious phenomenon. The guys a piece of shit and he really isn't that good. And you know the rulebook will be enforced against him the moment he leaves Florida, especially hard if it's Toronto.

 

[Rare Jewel]

Yes, they are clearly better. Better in net, better on D.

Goal, yeah. D, nope

Agree to disagree.

Blame the core for that, and he ain't responsible for them.

I do, but that doesn't mean the other 14+ guys aren't responsible in some way, nor are the people who put the team together.

Then clearly you're too fixated on first line, second line, etc. as he made a significant contribution in the playoffs.

He did 4th line stuff, at times he did it decently, but the goal with that trade was to get a proper 3rd line C, and he didn't, and he paid too high a price for what Laughton brought.

Bollocks. What you really mean is that you don't like what he does because you think you know more than a Cup winning coach. Get over yourself.

I never claimed that. I'm just trying to share my opinion on what I observe from his team. Most good teams that win the cup dictate play like the Panthers did. When they turned it on, shifts would get extended, and the shots would start to pile up, and the Leafs really didn't have an answer.

 

[Kurtz]

I don't want to bring in pieces of shit who have intentionally concussed 2 of our best players

I don't want to bring in an over rated 40 point player at an 8M cap hit

I don't want to bring in a player with a big cap hit that is 99.999% getting suspended in the playoffs for the way he plays the game

It's not a curious phenomenon. The guys a piece of shit and he really isn't that good. And you know the rulebook will be enforced against him the moment he leaves Florida, especially hard if it's Toronto.

Bennet is more of a 50 point guy if we project over 82 games. He also improves his production in the playoffs, which is something we complain about with most of our players. Good two way player, obviously physical. Weak on the draw, but you can put JT on his wing and he can take the draws.

Is he overrated? I don't know. He was chosen for Team Canada a few months ago over a lot of good forwards.

Is he a scum bag? 100%. Just like Kadri, and Perry and Kane - all guys who we could have retained/brought over but posters didn't want due to their questionable ethics.

But the thing is, you can't have it both ways. If we want a meaner, nastier team, we need meaner, nastier players. Those guys all have a history of questionable actions and yeah, they'll all be on Parros' hitlist, but that's the tradeoff.

Maybe the alternative is to bring in tough players who have a clean reputation. We tried that with Simmonds and Reaves, but then we lamented the fact that they weren't mean and nasty enough.

ps: He did concuss two of our guys, but he also concussed Marchand so that almost cancels out.

 

[Roo]

He stinks no doubt but if Rantanen was here, do you really think he would look at Morgan Rielly as his defenceman and say "oh shyt I cant perform anymore in the playoffs" Lol

Replace Rantanen with Marner in the game and I doubt you see a different outcome in game 7. You can't put the performance on one or two players. The whole team sucked in game 7. Everyone.

Marner still outproduced guys like Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhardt, etc. So I don't really understand the 'can't perform in the playoffs' thing. We lost 6-1. Everyone played like shit. You could argue his cap space can be better used on depth, and I think there could be validity to that - our bottom 6 was nowhere near as productive as Florida's.

My comments on Rielly relate more to his performance through the regular and postseason. He just feels like an anchor on the backend at this point. But certainly not the only change I'd make.

 

[Kurtz]

It pains me to say it, but I really believe the biggest anchor right now is Morgan Rielly. We've seen the team excel with him out of the lineup. He's a team worst -8 on the season when McCabe and Tanev are +20 to 30. We had trouble moving the puck but he's supposed to be our best puck mover.

Probably the worst season of Morgan's career tbh. He came in out of shape and was a liability all year. He's never been great in the defensive end and has never been physical, but he was one of the best offensive dmen in the game, and this year he was most definitely not that. And he's never been good on the PP.

5 more years at $7.5m, I'm not sure if he's movable. Vancouver is looking to make big changes, so maybe they'd be interested, but at this point if we can ship him out I think you gotta explore that option. If not, sit down with the guy and impart on him that we're trying to win here and it's just not acceptable to show up in the kind of shape he showed up in, regardless of the excuse.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

Treliving did a pretty bad job in Calgary. Dark times ahead for us, I think. We just have to remember we were never going to win in this era, so even if we suck and don't make the playoffs, the situation was necessary as part of the great reset.

Lets just hope Treliving doesn't cripple us with bad contracts like previous GMs.

The Leafs should hire you.

 

[The Masters]

Replace Rantanen with Marner in the game and I doubt you see a different outcome in game 7. You can't put the performance on one or two players. The whole team sucked in game 7. Everyone.

Marner still outproduced guys like Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhardt, etc. So I don't really understand the 'can't perform in the playoffs' thing. We lost 6-1. Everyone played like shit. You could argue his cap space can be better used on depth, and I think there could be validity to that - our bottom 6 was nowhere near as productive as Florida's.

My comments on Rielly relate more to his performance through the regular and postseason. He just feels like an anchor on the backend at this point. But certainly not the only change I'd make.

But Rantanen at the start of the series gives you more chances of winning.

 

[Roo]

But Rantanen at the start of the series gives you more chances of winning.

Absolutely. Unfortunately, that deal didn't happen. If you can bring in a difference maker like him for Marner, you make that deal every day without blinking.

 

[ToneDog]

Tanev was the only plus defender ffs

Benoit played well above his pay grade, unlike 5 others.

 

[ACC1224]

Absolutely. Unfortunately, that deal didn't happen. If you can bring in a difference maker like him for Marner, you make that deal every day without blinking.

Leafs luck and they get the Carolina version of Rantanan not the Dallas version.

 

[PhantomLeaf]

Replace Rantanen with Marner in the game and I doubt you see a different outcome in game 7. You can't put the performance on one or two players. The whole team sucked in game 7. Everyone.

Marner still outproduced guys like Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhardt, etc. So I don't really understand the 'can't perform in the playoffs' thing. We lost 6-1. Everyone played like shit. You could argue his cap space can be better used on depth, and I think there could be validity to that - our bottom 6 was nowhere near as productive as Florida's.

My comments on Rielly relate more to his performance through the regular and postseason. He just feels like an anchor on the backend at this point. But certainly not the only change I'd make.

Granted, a large reason for that was Woll had a dreadful series. He played six games and a bit and had one good game. The boys infront of him were trying to do everything they could to never let a puck near him because he couldn't stop a beachball 99% of the time.

That doesn't change the fact that Marner and Matthews were both putrid in generating any kind of offense or sustained pressure. Shit, how many times did we see them get hemmed in their own zone?

 

[Commander Clueless]

Replace Rantanen with Marner in the game and I doubt you see a different outcome in game 7. You can't put the performance on one or two players. The whole team sucked in game 7. Everyone.

Marner still outproduced guys like Barkov, Tkachuk, Reinhardt, etc. So I don't really understand the 'can't perform in the playoffs' thing. We lost 6-1. Everyone played like shit. You could argue his cap space can be better used on depth, and I think there could be validity to that - our bottom 6 was nowhere near as productive as Florida's.

My comments on Rielly relate more to his performance through the regular and postseason. He just feels like an anchor on the backend at this point. But certainly not the only change I'd make.

Swap rosters and coaching staff between the two teams and the Panthers still win.

 

[Gabriel426]

We can’t go for it next year anyway, we have no more 1sts to give up at the TDL

If the Leafs is first overall comfortably in the standings by TDL, they will go all in again.

 

[Leaf Fans]

Leafs luck and they get the Carolina version of Rantanan not the Dallas version.

Well, the games with Rantanen are played in our imagination, so any outcome is possible.

 

[Daisy Jane]

Bennet is more of a 50 point guy if we project over 82 games. He also improves his production in the playoffs, which is something we complain about with most of our players. Good two way player, obviously physical. Weak on the draw, but you can put JT on his wing and he can take the draws.

Is he overrated? I don't know. He was chosen for Team Canada a few months ago over a lot of good forwards.

Is he a scum bag? 100%. Just like Kadri, and Perry and Kane - all guys who we could have retained/brought over but posters didn't want due to their questionable ethics.

But the thing is, you can't have it both ways. If we want a meaner, nastier team, we need meaner, nastier players. Those guys all have a history of questionable actions and yeah, they'll all be on Parros' hitlist, but that's the tradeoff.

Maybe the alternative is to bring in tough players who have a clean reputation. We tried that with Simmonds and Reaves, but then we lamented the fact that they weren't mean and nasty enough.

ps: He did concuss two of our guys, but he also concussed Marchand so that almost cancels out.

i'm not against bringing them in but i also think you need to also remember there is no way if we get Marchand or Bennett (or anyone of their ilk) to play in Toronto they can play their game w/o the DoPS breathing heavily down their necks. I don't play conspiracy theory very often but I simply can't believe Bennett could do what he does w/o at least 1 or 2 visits with ole George.

 

[Apex Predator]

i'm not against bringing them in but i also think you need to also remember there is no way if we get Marchand or Bennett (or anyone of their ilk) to play in Toronto they can play their game w/o the DoPS breathing heavily down their necks. I don't play conspiracy theory very often but I simply can't believe Bennett could do what he does w/o at least 1 or 2 visits with ole George.

I use to think we as fans just had blue and white googles when it came to that. Over the last few years it’s starting to look obvious things are treated differently in Toronto. I agree with you that I think those guys won’t be able to play there game in Toronto. I also think those two guys will speak up if they feel the league treats them differently all of a sudden.