It's time to have the conversation.

[A1LeafNation]

According to Steve Simmons of the Toronto Sun, he feels the Leafs could land Bennett in a deal, if they are willing to include Alexander Kerfoot and another piece.

Leafs could use a player like the available Sam Bennett. They need some edge on their third line. They wouldn’t be able to get Bennett 1-for-1 for Alex Kerfoot, but if they could sweeten the pot just a little, they might be able to find a deal here … Bennett, by the way, played on a Marlies super team in the GTHL that had Connor McDavid, Josh Ho-Sang and Roland McKeown on it.​

 

[HarryLime]

Not a contender until they can win a playoff series. just the way it is.

 

[RogerR]

I have resisted doing this thread for a while but they are 10-2-1 now, they are 1st overall in the NHL and they are 6 points up on everybody in the North except Montreal and even then they are 3 points up so nobody is within a game of catching them.

So now we need to have a conversation, what does this team need to put themselves over the top?

This feels like the year to go for it it feels like if they can add a piece or 2 they can do it, and there are pieces in this lineup I think can be replaced.

Guys like Kerfoot, I know Kerfoot had a goal and that's great but has 2 and he makes to many mistakes between all his penalities and the mistake he made last night that let Vancouver tie ir he can go.

Vesey, he's got 2 goals and he only makes 900K but you know what? 900K at the deadline gets you Rakell or Palmeri and yes this team needs a top 9 forward.

Engvall there simply isn't a spot for him that 1.2 million can be better spent that 1.2 million buyer you David Savard at the deadline, or Palmeri, Radkell, Tanner Pearson.

I think this team can do it but there are guys can be replaced.

Even Mikyehev he's not doing enough when he's out there I think he's a good player but if they couls replace him I'd be OK with that.

So I ask what does this team need to put itself over the top

I'm an Engvall fan. I think he can be a solid bottom 6 contributor for a long time. The others, I agree.
And yes, it's time to go for a cup. Spare me the "Haven't won a round" horsebleep. Blues won the year after missing the playoffs and this is a strange and unique year.
Team neds a 3rd line C. No star, just someone who can play minutes and be solid defensively.
The goood news is the guys they need aren't big pieces at all and can be had to improve the team.

 

[RogerR]

Not a contender until they can win a playoff series. just the way it is.

I cannot possibly disagree with this more. Blues won a cup a year after they missed the playoffs. They can absolutely win the cup THIS YEAR.
That criteria is what people used to say Vancouver was ahead of Toronto due to them "Winning a round".
There's a lot of teams deemed "Contenders" due to "rounds won" that look much more flawed than the Leafs do(Check out Vegas' centres and that laughably easy schedule they've had). To base things on the past is really silly.

And FYI-Florida Panthers haven't won a round since the last millenium (1996) and they can have a huge year and are legit (The funny thing is no one will say that about Florida-complete double-standard).

 

[Gary Nylund]

How quickly we forget that nobody in the hockey world thought the leafs were a cut above this competition coming in.

Well, it's not clear yet that we're a cut above MTL and we're only 13 games in so probably best not to draw any conclusions just yet. Though I suspect they will regress a bit, I mean we probably will too but I think they will regress more. I resolve to stay humble no matter how we good we look until we have some playoff success but I am starting to get a warm and fuzzy feeling about this team, haven't felt this way in a very long time.

Anyways, we're winning at a 133pt pace which is impressive regardless of the competition.

Agreed, impressive. Let's hope we can keep it going for a while, you just know that if we lose the next two to MTL all the haters will be screaming at the top of their lungs that the team sucks, Rielly sucks, our stars are overpaid handcuffing us for years to some, we'll never win anything with Andersen and we'll never win anything with Dubas who should be fired etc.

 

[HarryLime]

I cannot possibly disagree with this more. Blues won a cup a year after they missed the playoffs. They can absolutely win the cup THIS YEAR.
That criteria is what people used to say Vancouver was ahead of Toronto due to them "Winning a round".

And FYI-Florida Panthers haven't won a round since the last millenium (1996) and they can have a huge year and are legit.

Not to me. Leafs have already proven they can have amazing regular seasons. Gotta have playoff success before I consider them legit

The Blues had success btw. They made the conference final a couple years before they won.

 

[Teeder Keon]

Bennett for Kerfoot and Dermott

 

[RogerR]

Not to me. Leafs have already proven they can have amazing regular seasons. Gotta have playoff success before I consider them legit

The Blues had success btw. They made the conference final a couple years before they won.

With a different roster! If you're basing things on the passt with the NHL your predictions will not be good.Will anyone suggest Florida needs to win a round or is anyone AWARE they haven't won one since 1996.
Things are so overblown with the Leafs. No one use to care if a team won a first round series or not.

In 2002 I recall fans of other teams laughing at the Leafs for losing in the 3rd round and saying the cup only matters. This idea winning a first round is huge has really started since Leafs stopped winning series.

And BTW, if they can't be contenders until they win a round, are you suggesting not going for a cup this year and losing a golden opportunity? Should Dubas stand pat because there's some weird unwritten rule you can't win a cup until you win a round?

 

[leafsfan2point0]

Say our defence *knock on wood* remains healthy and we made a big trade of a forward like Hall, Foligno, Staal, Getzlaf etc.

What if we target someone cheap for depth like Jani Hakanpaa 1 year 750k 6’5” 218 lbs rhd.

13 games 0 points +3 18:10 minutes per game 40 hits 30 blocks.

He’s obviously not close the the same level as Savard, but if we don’t have the assets/cap space anymore to make the Savard trade he can be a cheap backup plan. He’s extremely physical with size, I’m not sure how the ducks feel about him but he may be someone to keep an eye on.

 

[Dekes For Days]

We don't really need anything. All we really need is for fans to calm down, and not try to cast off any player that has had a "slower" most recent 5 games. Let's see how things are going closer to the deadline.

 

[HarryLime]

With a different roster! If you're basing things on the passt with the NHL your predictions will not be good.Will anyone suggest Florida needs to win a round or is anyone AWARE they haven't won one since 1996.
Things are so overblown with the Leafs. No one use to care if a team won a first round series or not.

In 2002 I recall fans of other teams laughing at the Leafs for losing in the 3rd round and saying the cup only matters. This idea winning a first round is huge has really started since Leafs stopped winning series.

we've had amazing starts, i'm not gonna soak it up and assume we're contenders. the reality is, out schedule has been pretty soft. we're coming off back to back to back to back opening round losses. If a 10-2 start against mostly bad teams is enough for you to jump the gun, then so be it

 

[Wafflewhipper]

It’s not the time for this thread for me. Keefe hasn’t even figured out his bottom 6 yet. If your bottom six is a question mark 25% in to the season then maybe thats where you focus.
There is questions that haven't answered themselves on the bottom 6 and depth. We could focus there for improvement.

 

[Teeder Keon]

We don't really need anything. All we really need is for fans to calm down, and not try to cast off any player that has had a "slower" most recent 5 games. Let's see how things are going closer to the deadline.

This is not a 5 game inspection of a player
( Kerfoot )
This is his play other than 5 games since he’s been here !
Oh and there’s also all the penalties he’s taken since he’s been here , there’s no way that a player with his speed and size should be taking them , and then add his lack of production and over all hockey sense .
He’s a solid 4 th liner in the NHL
We need a solid 3rd liner

 

[RogerR]

we've had amazing starts, i'm not gonna soak it up and assume we're contenders. the reality is, out schedule has been pretty soft. we're coming off back to back to back to back opening round losses. If a 10-2 start against mostly bad teams is enough for you to jump the gun, then so be it

Uh, same with every team in the division. And as stated, Vegas has had the easiest schedule in the NHL. I hear Habs are major contenders in that same division.

Again, you;re using the past with a different roster to argue against the present.

 

[RogerR]

It’s not the time for this thread for me. Keefe hasn’t even figured out his bottom 6 yet. If your bottom six is a question mark 25% in to the season then maybe thats where you focus.
There is questions that haven't answered themselves on the bottom 6 and depth. We could focus there for improvement.

Questions answered for me. They are having injuries and look fantastic. Our 4th line vet just had a hat trick.

 

[RogerR]

It's INSANE to me people can argue since the Habs won a Qualifying round they are more proven contenders than the Leafs. This won a round thing is ridiculous. Rosters change every season.
2 years ago without a disruption of COVID, all 4 WC teams won in the first round.

 

[HarryLime]

Uh, same with every team in the division. And as stated, Vegas has had the easiest schedule in the NHL. I hear Habs are major contenders in that same division.

Again, you;re using the past with a different roster to argue against the present.

dude our roster core is the same. we added some complimentary pieces. we were ousted by a Jackets team that lost their top talent. we've set regular season franchise records with 0 playoff success.

right now we're a talented team that will have a chance to turn around its playoff misery, but that hasn't happened yet. im not jumping the gun because we're 10-2 in a regular season.

 

[RogerR]

dude our roster core is the same. we added some complimentary pieces. we were ousted by a Jackets team that lost their top talent. we've set regular season franchise records with 0 playoff success.

right now we're a talented team that will have a chance to turn around its playoff misery, but that hasn't happened yet. im not jumping the gun because we're 10-2 in a regular season.

Our best players are now entering their best years. We also have a cocah playing them appropriate minutes and not holding them back. And there are still significant changes on this roster.
The past is the past. Let other fanbases brag about winning a first round series. Leafs are absolute contenders as is Florida.

The not winning a round is similar to the Leafs laughable "Cap hell" hyperbole. Everythiong is blown up and exagerrated.

Guaranteed no one even mentions Florida not winning since 1996 this year.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Bennett for Kerfoot and Dermott

Bennet's intriguing and we'd have to add to Kerfoot but I wouldn't add Dermott. Some people think we have too many Dmen, I'm not one of them.

Assuming we can count on Lehtonen, we have 7 Dmen plus 2 rookies who haven't played much lately. That seems like just enough to go into the playoffs with and not a penny more. Injuries are almost a guarantee so trading Dermott is a big risk and considering how important Dmen are, the potential upside is nowhere near enough to justify the risk IMO.

 

[Dekes For Days]

This is not a 5 game inspection of a player
( Kerfoot )
This is his play other than 5 games since he’s been here !
Oh and there’s also all the penalties he’s taken since he’s been here , there’s no way that a player with his speed and size should be taking them , and then add his lack of production and over all hockey sense .
He’s a solid 4 th liner in the NHL
We need a solid 3rd liner

We have a solid 3rd liner. His name is Kerfoot. Lol @ using the phantom calls this season as a reason to trade him. For the record, he's also drawn the 2nd most PPs on the team as well.

 

[HarryLime]

Our best players are now entering their best years. We also have a cocah playing them appropriate minutes and not holding them back. And there are still significant changes on this roster.
The past is the past. Let other fanbases brag about winning a first round series. Leafs are absolute contenders as is Florida.

The not winning a round is similar to the Leafs laughable "Cap hell" hyperbole. Everythiong is blown up and exagerrated.

Guaranteed no one even mentions Florida not winning since 1996 this year.

Yeah because it's Florida.

And losing 4 series out of 4 matters. This is their best chance to go deep but saying they're contenders is a bit of a reach to me. I don't think that's the case. I don't think any North team is a echelon team. Vegas, Colorado, Boston, Washington, Carolina, Tampa, etc.

 

[X66]

It’s not the time for this thread for me. Keefe hasn’t even figured out his bottom 6 yet. If your bottom six is a question mark 25% in to the season then maybe thats where you focus.
There is questions that haven't answered themselves on the bottom 6 and depth. We could focus there for improvement.

Injuries also play a role in that though, Thornton and Robertson being out are big there.

 

[RogerR]

Yeah because it's Florida.

And losing 4 series out of 4 matters. This is their best chance to go deep but saying they're contenders is a bit of a reach to me. I don't think that's the case. I don't think any North team is a echelon team. Vegas, Colorado, Boston, Washington, Carolina, Tampa, etc.

Sorry that answer doesn't work for me. People will say Leafs can't be contenders because no rounds won since 2004, but not a sniff about Florida? I don't care big hockey market vs small. Teams need to be judged the same.

Leafs lost 3 of 4 against top cup contenders. You have to look deeper into it than that.

BTW, Vegas is a very FLAWED team. You don;'t think so because they "Won rounds:". If Leafs had those centres no one would think we'd havea shot at anything. Carolina also lacks scoring and forward depth. But wait..they "Won rounds" so they are ok and better than the Leafs...

 

[ToneDog]

Bennet's intriguing and we'd have to add to Kerfoot but I wouldn't add Dermott. Some people think we have too many Dmen, I'm not one of them.

Assuming we can count on Lehtonen, we have 7 Dmen plus 2 rookies who haven't played much lately. That seems like just enough to go into the playoffs with and not a penny more. Injuries are almost a guarantee so trading Dermott is a big risk and considering how important Dmen are, the potential upside is nowhere near enough to justify the risk IMO.

Kerfoot + Marincin for Bennett

 

[HarryLime]

Sorry that answer doesn't work for me. People will say Leafs can't be contenders because no rounds won since 2004, but not a sniff about Florida? I don't care big hockey market vs small. Teams need to be judged the same.

Leafs lost 3 of 4 against top cup contenders. You have to look deeper into it than that.

BTW, Vegas is a very FLAWED team. You don;'t think so because they "Won rounds:". If Leafs had those centres no one would think we'd havea shot at anything. Carolina also lacks scoring and forward depth. But wait..they "Won rounds" so they are ok and better than the Leafs...

it's just the reality of the situation.