Post-Game Talk: Leafs lose to Stars, 4-1

[Torontonian]

I went directly to the last page of this thread and I've seen enough hot takes already.

You could see the slump and losing skid coming from a miles away. Team was finding a way to win games, but not playing to a level where winning would be sustainable.

Team right now can't get any offence going, everything is a struggle. There's no energy to their game, and PP/PK are slipping.

There's never a perfect season, anyone that thinks teams don't go through stuff like this haven't watched enough hockey.

 

[Nineteen67]

Dog days slump is best scenario, worst case scenario is they've tuned Berube out already.

There is the chance that in the back of their heads the core realizes they’re not good enough and when they look at each other they may see there’s no Crosby, McDavid, Toews, MacKinnon, etc. in the room that has the ability to step up and dominate a series.

After 8 yrs, three head coaches , several assistant coaches, two GMs and nothing but failure, maybe they think it’s time to blow it up.

 

[GoonieFace]

Meh, they haven’t played well in quite some time, stellar goaltending and a weak schedule was masking a lot of deficiencies. It’s still a playoff team no doubt.

The East is wide open, so maybe this year is bizarro world and they play better in the playoffs

 

[ToneDog]

Scott Wheeler of the Athletic has ranked the Leafs prospect pool/system 28th in the NHL. Thanks Kyle. Hope you enjoy the Pens prospect pool/system which is ranked lower. More proof of the damage Kyle did while here and how little we have to trade at the TDL. Kyle also traded our first this year.

First 5 minutes

Leafs Guy: January 14, 2025 - TSN 1050 - Media Player

On today's edition of Leafs Guy, Jim Tatti is joined by The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, TSN 1050 Maple Leafs colour analyst Jim...

mapleleafsaggr.com

 

[All Mod Cons]

Just write off the season and retool during the summer, this team is going nowhere.

We're not going to retool. We'll resign Marner and Tavares and then switch out a few 4th line players with the pennies we have left.

 

[Apex Predator]

so we have changed the whole team around the core. 3 different coaches all having the same issues. It’s hard for some to accept but the core is the issue. Individually they are talented players but together they don’t work. They are passengers not drivers.

The other issue is we can’t spend half the cap on guys that can’t win. If you give Marner the 13 million he wants plus Matthews and nylander that’s 37.75 which is 38% of cap based on 97. Add Rielly and Tavares and we are going to be spending half that cap on 5 guys that have shown you can’t win. What’s the point if the cap is going to increase if we are going to spend half of it on the same 5?

 

[hullsy47]

We're not going to retool. We'll resign Marner and Tavares and then switch out a few 4th line players with the pennies we have left.

Selling jerseys
I think the closer ted rogers comes to taking over the more we ll see panic moves

 

[Suntouchable13]

I went directly to the last page of this thread and I've seen enough hot takes already.

You could see the slump and losing skid coming from a miles away. Team was finding a way to win games, but not playing to a level where winning would be sustainable.

Team right now can't get any offence going, everything is a struggle. There's no energy to their game, and PP/PK are slipping.

There's never a perfect season, anyone that thinks teams don't go through stuff like this haven't watched enough hockey.

That's the player's mindset too. Everything is fine, we are playing fine. No, it's not fine. It's not good enough. I am sorry. They are showing same issues as previous years. They are not a top team offensively. They are not a top team defensively. What are they? Goal differential is +8, this is a mediocre team.

 

[ToneDog]

Meh, they haven’t played well in quite some time, stellar goaltending and a weak schedule was masking a lot of deficiencies. It’s still a playoff team no doubt.

The East is wide open, so maybe this year is bizarro world and they play better in the playoffs

I agree but I have a feeling the Panthers will turn it up in the playoffs and it will be the same old same old.

Our stellar goaltending has yet to prove it is up to the workload required in the playoffs.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Scott Wheeler of the Athletic has ranked the Leafs prospect pool/system 28th in the NHL. Thanks Kyle. Hope you enjoy the Pens prospect pool/system which is ranked lower. More proof of the damage Kyle did while here and how little we have to trade at the TDL. Kyle also traded our first this year.

First 5 minutes

Leafs Guy: January 14, 2025 - TSN 1050 - Media Player

On today's edition of Leafs Guy, Jim Tatti is joined by The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, TSN 1050 Maple Leafs colour analyst Jim...

mapleleafsaggr.com

It's obvious the damage Kyle has done to this team. And it's irreparable during the Matthews era. People have pointed this out for years.

The only ones denying this are the ones who have an agenda.

 

[GoonieFace]

Scott Wheeler of the Athletic has ranked the Leafs prospect pool/system 28th in the NHL. Thanks Kyle. Hope you enjoy the Pens prospect pool/system which is ranked lower. More proof of the damage Kyle did while here and how little we have to trade at the TDL. Kyle also traded our first this year.

First 5 minutes

Leafs Guy: January 14, 2025 - TSN 1050 - Media Player

On today's edition of Leafs Guy, Jim Tatti is joined by The Athletic's Scott Wheeler, TSN 1050 Maple Leafs colour analyst Jim...

mapleleafsaggr.com

We have Holmberg, that’s top shelf stuff

 

[Nineteen67]

Meh, they haven’t played well in quite some time, stellar goaltending and a weak schedule was masking a lot of deficiencies. It’s still a playoff team no doubt.

The East is wide open, so maybe this year is bizarro world and they play better in the playoffs

It’ll be hard not to make the playoffs, but it’ll be difficult to beat any of the current potential playoff matchups.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Why did they lose? I don't watch the games. Waste of time

 

[Nineteen67]

It's obvious the damage Kyle has done to this team. And it's irreparable during the Matthews era. People have pointed this out for years.

The only ones denying this are the ones who have an agenda.

That botched rebuild was historically bad.

 

[ZEBROA]

Why did they lose? I don't watch the games. Waste of time

The other team... scored.. wait for it.... waaaait for it..... MORE!
Thats a bad thing in hockey if it is not your team.

And the special teams was bad.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Coaching is getting neutered by Shanny, no doubt in my mind. Berube is doing what Keefe has been doing. We know that Matthews-Marner, JT-Nylander will never work. We won’t win the cup. Why can’t you split up Matthews and Marner? Marner wants 100M dollars, but he can only be stapled to Matthews? This team and management group is very hard to cheer for and like.

 

[Mess]

Maple Leafs: The league’s 18th-ranked power play dropped to 2 for 14 over Toronto’s last six contests.

How much more evidence does one need to realize having 4 of the top 12 highest paid players in the game in a salary cap world does not deliver the return on cap investment to validate that strategy as a GOOD idea?

 

[All Mod Cons]

Surely someone is sick or had a baby.

 

[kevsh]

There's never a perfect season, anyone that thinks teams don't go through stuff like this haven't watched enough hockey.

I was going to say pretty much the same. There will be slumps, bad stretches, etc. and as of this morning they're still (barely) leading the division, so no one should be reading the riot act.

The bigger concerns linger of course. Namely the endlessly struggling power play, lack of depth scoring and injury concerns.

And the biggie, which we were reminded of yet again when Jordan Staal took the Matthews line to school last week: Can the stars (Matthews, Marner) finally overcome shutdown specialists (Staal, Barkov) when it matters? We already know the answer to that unfortunately and thanks Jordan for reminding us!

 

[rumman]

The team is rounding into their typical April form nicely, all the stars not earning their overpayment, who would gave thought……

 

[Suntouchable13]

Berube after a first round exit: "I thought we were right there"

 

[leafs in five]

We're not going to retool. We'll resign Marner and Tavares and then switch out a few 4th line players with the pennies we have left.

last night's 4th line carries a cap hit of 5m, one of the worst lines in the league

 

[MSZ]

I was going to say pretty much the same. There will be slumps, bad stretches, etc. and as of this morning they're still (barely) leading the division, so no one should be reading the riot act.

The bigger concerns linger of course. Namely the endlessly struggling power play, lack of depth scoring and injury concerns.

And the biggie, which we were reminded of yet again when Jordan Staal took the Matthews line to school last week: Can the stars (Matthews, Marner) finally overcome shutdown specialists (Staal, Barkov) when it matters? We already know the answer to that unfortunately and thanks Jordan for reminding us!

Never forget how future hall of framer Phillip Danault destroyed the Matthews line in the playoffs.

 

[All Mod Cons]

last night's 4th line carries a cap hit of 5m, one of the worst lines in the league

If we can get that down to 3mil, the extra 2 mil should solve our PP woes, and get Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares to give a f***.

 

[leafs in five]

me I would absolutely love to switch out our gold plated 4th line for something like Blackwell/Blumel/Bäck at a combined hit of less than what Kampf is due for 2 more years after this one