GDT: Leafs @ Sens - TSN 7pm

[SnizzNasty88]

Liljegren was not a Dubas pick.

Yeah because he was supposed to go top 5 and fell, Dubass had the opportunity to trade him for years now.

 

[zeke]

Yeah because he was supposed to go top 5 and fell, Dubass had the opportunity to trade him for years now.

Why would he trade him.

 

[CabanaBoy5]

Very impressed with Bunting, Kase, and Kral. Bunting apppears to be a scorer. Also has a bit of an edge to his game. The loss of Hyman has been talked about as if he’s irreplaceable. I want to see more of these three guys.

 

[fahad203]

Hyman was clearly handed a top line spot from the very start, come hell or high water.

To his credit, he eventually grew into the role, but it took a good while.

A lot of players are given opportunities up and down the lineup. Some are good fit and some aren't. Some get their role

Hyman understood his role like Kunitz did and like Rob Brown, Kevin Stevens did

Mika overshooting his own capabilities. Even if he retieves the puck he can't pass it

I remember last year on an open net I think against the Habs, he couldn't make an easy pass to the forward. He had all the time in the world

 

[zeke]

A lot of players are given opportunities up and down the lineup. Some are good fit and some aren't. Some get their role

Hyman understood his role like Kunitz did and like Rob Brown, Kevin Stevens did

Mika overshooting his own capabilities. Even if he retieves the puck he can't pass it

I remember last year on an open net I think against the Habs, he couldn't make an easy pass to the forward. He had all the time in the world

Hyman was handed a top line role from day one and it was never taken away no matter how he played.

Almost unheard of for any player - let alone one as unskilled as he is.

 

[fahad203]

Hyman was handed a top line role from day one and it was never taken away no matter how he played.

Almost unheard of for any player - let alone one as unskilled as he is.

No doubt. I'm not saying he was the best option or most optimal player. I'm just saying he seized that opportunity. Hence why he got 7 year deal

Mika is not that guy

 

[al secord]

Charlie Montoyo is a big fan of Bunting

 

[zeke]

No doubt. I'm not saying he was the best option or most optimal player. I'm just saying he seized that opportunity. Hence why he got 7 year deal

Mika is not that guy

Mika has never got the chance. Hyman had years of chances before actually being good.

 

[leaffaninvancouver]

Leafs have to the only team in league and maybe Oilers where a spot for top 6 is auditioned

Most teams players move up from rank or they know who their top 6 are. They usually Bttle for bottom 6

That’s not true, lots of reasons why players audition in the top 6. Players leave in the off-season for one, not to mention players sometimes are moved down to make a more balanced team.

 

[LeafChief]

The depth guys looked pretty good tonight. Huh, weird.

I was told that the depth was going to be Mess-y.

 

[DarkKnight]

All Hyman did was exceed expectations here and frankly made fools of the same people trying to do revisionism now. He earned every minute with desire and hard work, he wasn’t gifted anything. Give it a rest. Two coaches made him their son for a reason, and I wish him well.

 

[Stephen]

Hyman was handed a top line role from day one and it was never taken away no matter how he played.

Almost unheard of for any player - let alone one as unskilled as he is.

I think that's unfair to Hyman because over the course of his career the fanbase learned to appreciate him for playing his role on that line. He was never supposed to bring the level of talent that the Big 3 possessed, but outlasted a guy like Connor Brown through hard work who I think he was always in direct competition with, and was more reliable, mature, harder working than someone like Kasperi Kapanen who had more pedigree.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

I think that's unfair to Hyman because over the course of his career the fanbase learned to appreciate him for playing his role on that line. He was never supposed to bring the level of talent that the Big 3 possessed, but outlasted a guy like Connor Brown through hard work who I think he was always in direct competition with, and was more reliable, mature, harder working than someone like Kasperi Kapanen who had more pedigree.

Brown didn't really get the same opportunity to succeed here that Hyman did, apart from a few stretches. Seeing how he's thrived in Ottawa, that was probably a mistake

 

[Stephen]

Brown didn't really get the same opportunity to succeed here that Hyman did, apart from a few stretches. Seeing how he's thrived in Ottawa, that was probably a mistake

Probably jumped the gun on re-signing Andreas Johnsson to a bigger AAV and moving Brown in the Zaitsev deal. If we could do that one over, maybe Johnsson and Zaitsev get paired up together and we keep Brown on that sweet deal a little longer.

But Brown kind of stagnated after 2017 offensively. His confidence looked shot and he couldn't complete a lot of plays when he had his brief opportunities. He probably needed to go to a place like Ottawa.

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Brown didn't really get the same opportunity to succeed here that Hyman did, apart from a few stretches. Seeing how he's thrived in Ottawa, that was probably a mistake

He was turned into a pure checker and had a lot more to offer I think. His production didn't decrease that much if at all while a leaf if you take into account he played progressively less ice time each year here

 

[Prominence]

All Hyman did was exceed expectations here and frankly made fools of the same people trying to do revisionism now. He earned every minute with desire and hard work, he wasn’t gifted anything. Give it a rest. Two coaches made him their son for a reason, and I wish him well.

He was in the ahl his first year and his style complemented whoever was on the top line. They tried nylander, marner, and matthews a few times, but it was unsuccessful. I didn’t find johnsson or kapanen good replacements for hyman when hyman was out.

 

[All Mod Cons]

Why would he trade him.

Cos he was a Lou pick and thus shite?

 

[fahad203]

The depth guys looked pretty good tonight. Huh, weird.

I was told that the depth was going to be Mess-y.

Maybe wait until the season starts ? Maybe give it a 15 games

People are praising Kampf. I'm going to give everyone 20 games before they run him out of town. People are going cry for Vesey who had 5 goals for us

Kampf had one. Even the best defensive specialist needs to contribute. Spezza going to pull his hair out

Kase will be a pleasant surprise

 

[DarkKnight]

Probably jumped the gun on re-signing Andreas Johnsson to a bigger AAV and moving Brown in the Zaitsev deal. If we could do that one over, maybe Johnsson and Zaitsev get paired up together and we keep Brown on that sweet deal a little longer.

But Brown kind of stagnated after 2017 offensively. His confidence looked shot and he couldn't complete a lot of plays when he had his brief opportunities. He probably needed to go to a place like Ottawa.

Going to Ottawa was great for him, do people forget how bad he was here his last year? He was were pucks went to die, his confidence was shot and I was a fan of his prior. The move made sense all day long and to say he didn’t get a fair shake is meh. He’s good on a loser, he wasn’t get that shot here and Hyman just kept getting better, there’s no mystery there and I don’t recall much sadness when Brown left.

 

[GoLeafsGo96]

Its unfortunate but I think Simmonds is a lock to play as a regular on L4 - so I think were going to see this:

Ritchie - Matthews - Marner
Bunting - Tavares - Nylander
Mikheyev - Kampf - Kase (defensively deployed)
Simmer - Kerfoot - Spezza (offensively deployed)

Ho-Sang starts with the Marlies on a line with Amadio and Robertson. Comes up when some injuries happen.

Kerfoot moves into top six when someone is struggling or if AM/JT miss time. Could take some minutes from NR/MB from time to time too - but hes still valuable and they can't really trade him because they'd be one JT/AM injury away from having to play Spezza or Kampf in the top six, neither of which is all that appealing.

 

[LeafChief]

Maybe wait until the season starts ? Maybe give it a 15 games

People are praising Kampf. I'm going to give everyone 20 games before they run him out of town. People are going cry for Vesey who had 5 goals for us

Kampf had one. Even the best defensive specialist needs to contribute. Spezza going to pull his hair out

Kase will be a pleasant surprise

Ok - sounds good!

 

[All Mod Cons]

The depth guys looked pretty good tonight. Huh, weird.

I was told that the depth was going to be Mess-y.

It's pre-season. Hard to read anything into it. Even when we win.

 

[DarkKnight]

He was in the ahl his first year and his style complemented whoever was on the top line. They tried nylander, marner, and matthews a few times, but it was unsuccessful. I didn’t find johnsson or kapanen good replacements for hyman when hyman was out.

The best was the last two years here when it got to the point where, whatever offensive line wasn’t going, “move Hyman there”. And when golden boy got his coach and still treated Hyman like his son, man that was the cherry on top for the detractors. He’s gone now, we couldn’t afford him, but the guy is getting a standing O here when he returns for a reason. Most get it, some can’t admit they were wrong four years later, that’s their jam.

 

[Edgelord]

Mik has never been able to keep up when promoted to the top 6 so this look won't last long. You need more than just speed to survive in the top 6.

He's a stud bottom 6er, mediocre top 6er. Let's just stick to what works.

I see Mik as a good option of the 1st line. All he has to do is use his speed to retrieve pucks and pass them to #34 or #16. Ritche just doesn't seem like a top 6 player.

Is this because you feel like Marner and Matthews will get to the breakaway first before him.

I have always had that idea in the back of my mind. He has the speed to keep up with them and is pretty decent 2 way player. The only thing he really doesn't need to really do on that line is score. And we already know he can't score anyways.

I think Ritchie is getting that spot and its his to lose. So far Ritchie hasn't really impressed me. I expected more but I guess we have to see him with Matthews/Marner for a prolonged period of time to figure that out.

I am not big on Ritche, he seems slow.

but if he does play 1LW and Bunting 2LW that should leave a 3rd line of Mik-Kerfoot-Kase which isn't to shabby.

 

[zeke]

Maybe wait until the season starts ? Maybe give it a 15 games

People are praising Kampf. I'm going to give everyone 20 games before they run him out of town. People are going cry for Vesey who had 5 goals for us

Kampf had one. Even the best defensive specialist needs to contribute. Spezza going to pull his hair out

Kase will be a pleasant surprise

So you get to shit all over them all summer long and keep going now but everyone else has to wait until two months into the season before we get to say anything nice.