Pre-Game Talk: It’s almost time.... Habs @ Leafs | Wednesday @ 7pm

[Nineteen67]

I mean by how there will hardly be any penalties called.

Interesting thought. I’ll watch out for that and see if there is a major difference.

I haven’t thought about the refs but I wonder if some will ever cross the border at some point.

 

[crump]

Engvall down to the Marlies.

Wow. This surprises me. I really liked how Lehtonen looked on Saturday, and he's been playing actual game action since the summer essentially., perhaps they want to start Dermott to get him up to speed, since Lehtonen is already in "game shape"

Lehtonen did have a good game. Too bad we only saw the Blue and White game, maybe they just want him to get used to the rink size and speed a little more. Dermott had a low key good game too, so it's not outrageous he made it to start.

Boyd looked pretty good and although Engvall scored, he had some bad give aways. I see Boyd as a solid injury fill in bottom 6 centre.

 

[Confucius]

Wow. This surprises me. I really liked how Lehtonen looked on Saturday, and he's been playing actual game action since the summer essentially.

Though, perhaps they want to start Dermott to get him up to speed, since Lehtonen is already in "game shape"

Surprised with Vesey playing second line. I'd put Robertson there and not think twice about it.

 

[Sypher04]

Edmundson is NOT a top 4 D

 

[The90]

Romanov is 5-11

We have Lehtonen at 6-0 as our smallest.
Brodie is 6-1 and everyone else is 6-2 or bigger.

Rielly

The Habs success hinges on the development of Suzuki and Kotkaniemi .. Danault a very good #3C. But those other two will need to step up and progress.

The Habs have brought in some good wing depth to help them out, but teams built on the wings typically haven't been that successful. Strength down the middle is key.

They are also hopeful that aging Weber, Petry, and Price can keep up their high level of play.

All things said, they're a mediocre team on paper that could be good with good goaltending and progress from their youngsters.

this is where I’m at too. If Suzuki and kk can’t contribute to 55+ and 35+ point potential? They’re sunk.

tag that along with hoping Anderson works out, and no regression from price or weber.

2 of the last 3 seasons price’s save percentages was under .910. Last year he and Freddy tied at .909.

both anomaly’s for sure, but whether either can get back to a .915 + save percentage will be the tell of each of their seasons.

I’m interested to see Campbell get some more minutes. He’s had excellent stats for his limited games. The Habs have a wet dream over Allen, but campbell actually has a high career save percentage. And is the first competent backup the leafs have had since mcilhenney

 

[Sypher04]

Not having Lehtonen in the opening lineup seems like a mistake

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

Interesting thought. I’ll watch out for that and see if there is a major difference.

I haven’t thought about the refs but I wonder if some will ever cross the border at some point.

Probably not. Would defeat the purpose of having these new divisions.

 

[Cor]

Probably not. Would defeat the purpose of having these new divisions.

I believe they already announced there are a group of refs/linesmen assigned to the North division, and will be staying within Canada

 

[Oscar Peterson]

Not surprised to see Lehtonen not in, was actually shocked to hear everyone on this site raving about him in the scrimmage. I came away unimpressed. He is certainly skilled so the upside might be there still but he was frequently late getting in position and looked like he was overwhelmed with the speed of the game in general. I hope it's just a transition to NA sort of thing and he'll continue to acclimate, he will still get in some games soon.

 

[The Iceman]

Not having Lehtonen in the opening lineup seems like a mistake

I am sure there already is a determined rotation and he won't sit like Holl did under Babs.

 

[Nineteen67]

Probably not. Would defeat the purpose of having these new divisions.

Logistically it might be tough with the protocols. TBH, I don’t even know how many refs the NHL has.

 

[The Iceman]

Surprised with Vesey playing second line. I'd put Robertson there and not think twice about it.

Our LW seem to be our new weakest link. Robertson to the rescue.

 

[hamzarocks]

Our LW seem to be our new weakest link. Robertson to the rescue.

Amirov too soon. He should be ready in 2 years to play in top 6.

Abramov is another skilled guy who could be moved to LW from center if Hallibder/Hirvonen take the 3C spot in a few years

 

[AvroArrow]

Come on boys !!! Placed a big bet on the Saints/Browns yesterday, just need the Leafs to come through .

 

[Fogelhund]

Corey Perry won't be playing the first game, Habs put him and Frolik on waivers.

 

[AvroArrow]

Not having Lehtonen in the opening lineup seems like a mistake

Was thinking the same thing, but with how condensed the games are, basically mini-series, I imagine the bottom pairing would be rotating in and out of the line up regularly.

 

[TheBigFour]

Perry already on waivers LMAO.
please let someone claim perry.

 

[MapleLeafs77]

I will never understand peoples love for engvall. He is very average and doesn’t do much except give the puck away. Thought he was our worst player last year with ceci and barrie and marincin. Hated when those three had the puck.

 

[Marshy]

Does anyone know if the Leafs are cap compliant carrying Dell as the 3rd goalie on a 21 man roster to start the season?


With a 5 man taxi squad of Robertson/Brooks/Boyd/Sandin/Lehtonen

 

[Marshy]

To answer my own question, it looks like there's not enough cap to protect Dell from waivers, unless we send someone like Barabanov down and try to squeeze Dell onto taxi squad (waivers) after the season starts.

Edit: but that would mean starting game 1 with 11 forwards and 7 D so I doubt they do that.



CapFriendly.com Armchair-GM User-Generated Roster
FORWARDS (12)
Right wing: Mitchell Marner ($10,893,000) - William Nylander ($6,962,366) - Ilya Mikheyev ($1,645,000) - Wayne Simmonds ($1,500,000)
Centre: Auston Matthews ($11,634,000) - John Tavares ($11,000,000) - Alexander Kerfoot ($3,500,000) - Jason Spezza ($700,000)
Left wing: Joe Thornton ($700,000) - Jimmy Vesey ($900,000) - Zach Hyman ($2,250,000) - Alexander Barabanov ($925,000)
DEFENSE (6)
Right: TJ Brodie ($5,000,000) - Zach Bogosian ($1,000,000) - Justin Holl ($2,000,000)
Left: Morgan Rielly ($5,000,000) - Jake Muzzin ($5,625,000) - Travis Dermott ($874,125)
GOALTENDER (2)
Frederik Andersen ($5,000,000) - Jack Campbell ($1,650,000)
AHL BURIED (1)
Pierre Engvall ($175,000)
BUYOUTS (1)
Mikhail Grabovski ($0)
RETAINED SALARY TRANSACTIONS (1)
Phil Kessel ($1,200,000)
DETAILS
Roster Size: 20
Salary Cap: $81,500,000
Cap Hit: $81,058,491
Cap Space: $441,509

 

[The90]

I think you might be confused we are talking about Joel Edmunson not Chris Pronger!

Lol. The Holl comment is a good one too.

 

[Fogelhund]

Does anyone know if the Leafs are cap compliant carrying Dell as the 3rd goalie on a 21 man roster to start the season?


With a 5 man taxi squad of Robertson/Brooks/Boyd/Sandin/Lehtonen

Taxi Squad - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Yes

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
21	$81,500,000	$80,933,491	$0	$0	$566,509

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Thornton, Joe $700,000 C, LW NMC UFA - 1	Matthews, Auston $11,634,000 C UFA - 4	Marner, Mitchell $10,893,000 RW UFA - 5
Mikheyev, Ilya $1,645,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Tavares, John $11,000,000 C NMC UFA - 5	Nylander, William $6,962,366 RW, LW UFA - 4
Vesey, Jimmy $900,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	Kerfoot, Alexander $3,500,000 C, LW UFA - 3	Hyman, Zach $2,250,000 LW, RW NTC UFA - 1
Barabanov, Alexander $925,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Spezza, Jason $700,000 C, RW UFA - 1	Simmonds, Wayne $1,500,000 RW, LW NTC UFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Muzzin, Jake $5,625,000 LD NMC UFA - 4	Brodie, TJ $5,000,000 RD NMC UFA - 4	Andersen, Frederik $5,000,000 G NTC UFA - 1
Rielly, Morgan $5,000,000 LD NTC UFA - 2	Holl, Justin $2,000,000 RD NTC UFA - 3	Campbell, Jack $1,650,000 G UFA - 2
Dermott, Travis $874,125 LD RFA - 1	Bogosian, Zach $1,000,000 RD NTC UFA - 1	Dell, Aaron $800,000 G UFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Taxi Squad
Sandin, Rasmus $894,167 ($0) LD RFA - 2
Boyd, Travis $700,000 ($0) C, RW UFA - 1
Robertson, Nicholas $821,667 ($0) LW RFA - 3
Brooks, Adam $725,000 ($0) C RFA - 2
Lehtonen, Mikko $925,000 ($0) LD UFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[stickty111]

As a big Keefe supporter, even I need to give him more credit at times. Scratching Dermott would make 0 sense so it's good Keefe is playing him. Lehtonen being scratched is odd but when you get Bogosian, you know Bogosian is playing even if it's undeserved.

 

[Marshy]

Taxi Squad - CapFriendly - NHL Salary Caps

Yes

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
21	$81,500,000	$80,933,491	$0	$0	$566,509

[TBODY] [/TBODY]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Wing	Center	Right Wing
Thornton, Joe $700,000 C, LW NMC UFA - 1	Matthews, Auston $11,634,000 C UFA - 4	Marner, Mitchell $10,893,000 RW UFA - 5
Mikheyev, Ilya $1,645,000 LW, RW UFA - 2	Tavares, John $11,000,000 C NMC UFA - 5	Nylander, William $6,962,366 RW, LW UFA - 4
Vesey, Jimmy $900,000 LW, RW UFA - 1	Kerfoot, Alexander $3,500,000 C, LW UFA - 3	Hyman, Zach $2,250,000 LW, RW NTC UFA - 1
Barabanov, Alexander $925,000 RW, LW UFA - 1	Spezza, Jason $700,000 C, RW UFA - 1	Simmonds, Wayne $1,500,000 RW, LW NTC UFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Muzzin, Jake $5,625,000 LD NMC UFA - 4	Brodie, TJ $5,000,000 RD NMC UFA - 4	Andersen, Frederik $5,000,000 G NTC UFA - 1
Rielly, Morgan $5,000,000 LD NTC UFA - 2	Holl, Justin $2,000,000 RD NTC UFA - 3	Campbell, Jack $1,650,000 G UFA - 2
Dermott, Travis $874,125 LD RFA - 1	Bogosian, Zach $1,000,000 RD NTC UFA - 1	Dell, Aaron $800,000 G UFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Taxi Squad
Sandin, Rasmus $894,167 ($0) LD RFA - 2
Boyd, Travis $700,000 ($0) C, RW UFA - 1
Robertson, Nicholas $821,667 ($0) LW RFA - 3
Brooks, Adam $725,000 ($0) C RFA - 2
Lehtonen, Mikko $925,000 ($0) LD UFA - 1

[THEAD] [/THEAD]
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Thanks not sure my my Capfriendly team isn't showing correct but I crunched your numbers and we are good with a 21 man roster that includes Dell to start the season.

 

[Cor]

As a big Keefe supporter, even I need to give him more credit at times. Scratching Dermott would make 0 sense so it's good Keefe is playing him. Lehtonen being scratched is odd but when you get Bogosian, you know Bogosian is playing even if it's undeserved.

I mean, we have 7D. You can make an argument for all 3 that will likely rotate in and out, to be one in or out of the lineup.

That doesn't even factor in Sandin either. (and Liljegren)