ZEBROA
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- Dec 21, 2017
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They both can play both , but yeah that might be most sane. I want Nylander to enter the zone on the left side , move over to the right and shoot in stride. Bunting to pick up the rebounds .
John Tavares Discussion
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Nylander88
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I know Willy can. I haven't seen Bunting on the right side before so I don't know how much it might effect his game taking passes on the backhand
ZEBROA
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- Dec 21, 2017
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Bunting is listed as LW/RW but i got to admit that i have only seen him on Leafs.
doublechili
For all intensive purposes, your nuts
- Apr 11, 2006
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Isles fan coming in peace. You're correct - good call. Actually, Lee-Tavares-Bailey had great chemistry as a line for exactly the reasons you stated (Bailey probably an even better fit than Eberle because he's more of a playmaker RW). Tavares is more of a RW who plays C, so he fits well with a RW who plays more like a C (like Bailey). And yeah, Lee and Tavares fit like a glove along the walls and in the slot.
Seath The Scaleless
Paledrake
saffronleaf
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notDatsyuk
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- Jul 20, 2018
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The last three games certainly show the value of Tavares, now that he's playing with Bunting and Marner.
Tavares - 0G 2A -3 (both assists on the PP)
Marner - 1G 1A -1
Bunting - 0G 2A -3
Without Tavares
Nylander 2G 2A +1
Mikheyev 2G 1A +1
We barely squeaked by two of the worst teams, and got our asses handed to us by a team that hadn't beaten a playoff team in regulation in their last 11 tries.
Tavares - 0G 2A -3 (both assists on the PP)
Marner - 1G 1A -1
Bunting - 0G 2A -3
Without Tavares
Nylander 2G 2A +1
Mikheyev 2G 1A +1
We barely squeaked by two of the worst teams, and got our asses handed to us by a team that hadn't beaten a playoff team in regulation in their last 11 tries.
binop7
Registered User
- Jul 4, 2011
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It's simple really. He was never a great skater, he worked on his skating a lot but it never was really above average. Now he's lost a step it's extremely noticeable. He can't get to the spots on the ice where he needs to. I say move him to the wing and put Kerfoot at Center
He actually has the 2nd highest Pts/60 of his career this year (1st year with us was the highest).
He's playing less because of the 25min/night monster we have as our 1C. If he played more minutes he's produce more.
A ppg 2nd line center should be appreciated a little more.
He's playing less because of the 25min/night monster we have as our 1C. If he played more minutes he's produce more.
A ppg 2nd line center should be appreciated a little more.
binop7
Registered User
- Jul 4, 2011
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Matthews doesn't play 25 min a night. Also he is getting points on a stacked power play by passing to mitchy. He's getting busquets level assists.
ThrowDemTongs
Pontus Goatberg
SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
- Aug 1, 2013
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Especially one who wins more puck battles than anyone in the league and is the best faceoff guy not named Bergeron in the league too (who is probably the best faceoff guy in league history).
He doesn't do anything flashy, and therefore he won't be appreciated by most people. You need to be flashy to be noticed by Leafs fans, even though people desperately want guys who are gritty and do the small things to win... Which is pretty much exactly how you would describe Tavares' game.
SeaOfBlue
The Passion That Unites Us All
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He has 7 secondary assists on the PP. People really overexaggerate how many assists he gets by just being a bumper/net front guy on a stacked PP. Nylander and Marner have more secondary assists on the PP than Tavares, while Tavares has 1 more primary assist than Nylander and only one less than elite playmaker Marner on the PP... And I am fairly sure he gets the fewest puck touches on the PP too.
Most of his secondary assists come at ES, where he would often make more important passes than the guys who end up with the primary assist (either by an excellent pass in the neutral zone or winning a board battle deep in the zone which extends possessions and eventually leads to a goal).
Secondary assists are usually crapped on, and there is somewhat of a reason for it. Sometimes they have nothing to do with the goal. However, for a guy who gets a lot of his secondary assists by winning board battles or making smart plays which start goal sequences... They are not empty. They just don't get noticed by most fans' eye tests, which is why those eye tests are not reliable.
binop7
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- Jul 4, 2011
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He's not performing at 11M per year level way too many off nights for a player eating up that level of cap space. And his scoring being up is great but so is everyone elses around the league. Matt Tkachuk has 100 points. Kreider 51 goals etc. Anyways it doesn't matter too much what he does in the regular season if he can show out in the playoffs. If he can't then you gotta start shopping him around. That contract will be a noose in the coming years.
Yeah, he is overpaid, but he’s still a very, very good player. Very smart and talented offensively, strong, great hands and shot, great on draws, etc. A quality 1C on plenty of teams.
One legit criticism, though, is that he and Nylander together are a bit of a liability defensively. JT likes to play very deep in the zone offensively, loves to hang out near the opposing net. Combine that with him being relatively slow, and he’s frequently caught deep, late getting back. Then Nylander is also pretty offence minded, doesn’t think a lot about what will happen when the Leafs lose the puck, and his effort level is inconsistent. Together, they do get caught out of position a fair bit.
The ideal progression for Tavares as he ages would be for him to transition to Wing and for Nylander to transition to Center. Centers don't age well because of how much ground they cover per shift. Giroux is pretty much a full time winger now and is excelling in his role. Brayden Point will occasionally be the 1C in Tampa at times and Stamkos will move to the wing if that happens.
I dunno if Nylander will ever be an NHL caliber Top 6 center though. The last time we saw him at C was Game 5 of the Columbus series and he looked bad. As we enter the next phase of Marner, Matthews, Nylander careers and the second half of the Tavares contracts, drafting is going to be extra important for that reason.
I dunno if Nylander will ever be an NHL caliber Top 6 center though. The last time we saw him at C was Game 5 of the Columbus series and he looked bad. As we enter the next phase of Marner, Matthews, Nylander careers and the second half of the Tavares contracts, drafting is going to be extra important for that reason.
mapleleafs34
Registered User
- Apr 7, 2011
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A total loser.
I want this guy off this team so bad it’s not even funny. Can’t do shit other than win face offs.
I want this guy off this team so bad it’s not even funny. Can’t do shit other than win face offs.
Skullz
Registered User
- Jul 5, 2013
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Was watching last nights game and thinking about JT in the sense of, what do you even do here? Game after game the same story. Can't keep up to the play and is a zombie emotionally and physically. What a shame. The puck goes to die on his stick.
You guys can defend him all you want, and yeah, he does some good things and puts up points, but when you get paid 11 million and are the caption of the team and have this performance all year long, people are absolutely within their rights to take shots. Cannot stop dreaming about how we allocate his 11 mullion in cap throughout the roster.
You guys can defend him all you want, and yeah, he does some good things and puts up points, but when you get paid 11 million and are the caption of the team and have this performance all year long, people are absolutely within their rights to take shots. Cannot stop dreaming about how we allocate his 11 mullion in cap throughout the roster.
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