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GDT: Leafs @ Sens - TSN 7pm

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horner said:
He doesn't use his big frame physically same goes for engval
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He uses it to protect the puck and get body positioning, sure it would be nice to see him lay more big hits but again he's signed for cheap, and he's a much smarter player than Engvall
 
Morgs said:
When Kral joined they were at the bottom of the standings and had some of the worst underlying numbers of any team. He dragged that team to relevance last season in a way that even a first round pick in Zboril couldn't do.
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What do you mean when he joined the team? He was the team the entire season and was 2nd on the team in Games Played with 48 out of 52 GP.

Again, they've won the league 2x in the last 5 seasons, they were already relevant. They make the playoffs consistently. They've missed the playoffs 2x n the last decade, won 2 titles, lost twice in the finals (so 4 final appearances in a decade with 2 titles). You're literally describing one of the top clubs in the Czech league as irrelevant.

upload_2021-9-30_11-4-3.png


Here are the scoring leaders from last season on the team:

upload_2021-9-30_10-47-12.png


Peter Mueller led the entire league in scoring (first non Czech to do it) ... you don't feel having the best player in the league is helpful? Or do you feel Kral carried him to that scoring title? I honestly don't understand how the 6th leading scorer on the team carried everyone. I say this as a big Kral fan but I'm going to suggest you don't know much about the Extraliga from your comments. Do you watch it?
Holik was 7th in scoring last season. You don't feel that would be helpful?
Zatovic was 14th. They had 3 scorers in the Top 14.
He did lead the D in scoring but I hope you see Zamorsky was 3 points behind in 23 less games.

It'd be like saying the 6th leading scorer on the Leafs last season (Hyman) single handedly carried them to the North title last season while ignoring what Matthews and Marner did.
 
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Czechboy said:
What do you mean when he joined the team? He was the team the entire season and was 2nd on the team in Games Played with 48 out of 52 GP.

Again, they've won the league 2x in the last 5 seasons, they were already relevant. They make the playoffs consistently. They've missed the playoffs 2x n the last decade, won 2 titles, lost twice in the finals (so 4 final appearances in a decade with 2 titles). You're literally describing one of the top clubs in the Czech league as irrelevant.

View attachment 467200

Here are the scoring leaders from last season on the team:

View attachment 467197

Peter Mueller led the entire league in scoring (first non Czech to do it) ... you don't feel having the best player in the league is helpful? Or do you feel Kral carried him to that scoring title? I honestly don't understand how the 6th leading scorer on the team carried everyone. I say this as a big Kral fan but I'm going to suggest you don't know much about the Extraliga from your comments. Do you watch it?
Holik was 7th in scoring last season. You don't feel that would be helpful?
Zatovic was 14th. They had 3 scorers in the Top 14.
He did lead the D in scoring but I hope you see Zamorsky was 3 points behind in 23 less games.

It'd be like saying the 6th leading scorer on the Leafs last season (Hyman) single handedly carried them to the North title last season while ignoring what Matthews and Marner did.
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He started the season on their minor affiliate. Also just because they score points doesn't mean they dominate play. Their shot attempt differential almost all season was bottom of the league while being able to win games despite being out played.

Kral was one of the few guys on their team that pulled their team into relevance in having a positive rel stats while having the toughest zone starts and ice time as the season went on.

I watched ~5 of his games last season.
 
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Czechboy said:
What do you mean when he joined the team? He was the team the entire season and was 2nd on the team in Games Played with 48 out of 52 GP.

Again, they've won the league 2x in the last 5 seasons, they were already relevant. They make the playoffs consistently. They've missed the playoffs 2x n the last decade, won 2 titles, lost twice in the finals (so 4 final appearances in a decade with 2 titles). You're literally describing one of the top clubs in the Czech league as irrelevant.

View attachment 467200

Here are the scoring leaders from last season on the team:

View attachment 467197

Peter Mueller led the entire league in scoring (first non Czech to do it) ... you don't feel having the best player in the league is helpful? Or do you feel Kral carried him to that scoring title? I honestly don't understand how the 6th leading scorer on the team carried everyone. I say this as a big Kral fan but I'm going to suggest you don't know much about the Extraliga from your comments. Do you watch it?
Holik was 7th in scoring last season. You don't feel that would be helpful?
Zatovic was 14th. They had 3 scorers in the Top 14.
He did lead the D in scoring but I hope you see Zamorsky was 3 points behind in 23 less games.

It'd be like saying the 6th leading scorer on the Leafs last season (Hyman) single handedly carried them to the North title last season while ignoring what Matthews and Marner did.
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Were you able to watch his playoff performance last season? I caught some regular season Czech games and thought he looked like a top pairing play driver in that league. Been a big fan for a while now.

Apparently his playoff performance was even better, but I didn’t watch the whole series.

What will be huge for Kral is his ability to play the right side. He’ll get a lot more opportunity because of that.
 
Once said:
Ho-Sang and Bunting looked fantastic. I liked Semyonov's game, although he didn't play much.

I'd rather Simmonds than Gabriel to be frank. I'll admit theres a cringe factor with Gabriel for me but for a big man he's often on his ass. Also Dahlstrom doesn't need another preseason game we've seen enough.
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I noticed a few sneaky nice passes he has delivered in both games. There may be something there as a guy who will come in and out of the line up.
 
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Knies iT said:
n that league. Been a big fan for a while now.
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I'm a huge Kral fan. He was awesome and got better in playoffs. He would've made National Team IMO. However, it is the Extraliga and almost no one goes Extraliga to NHL. Last one was Tomas Hertl. Everyone else goes to AHL and usually ends up back home somewhere. Necas is another one that made the NHL (after AHL). Ironic that he plays for the same team that is being described to me needing to be lifted by Kral.

I'd say it's about 5 leagues away from NHL. They are very poor at developing young players as they like to bench them (eg. highly touted Svozil saw a lot of lumber last season and I wish he could've been in the CHL)

Marlies will be great for him! Some really good D down there to push him and some good coaches. It's a nice pipeline IMO. Hope they make him do it all and develop him well. It's nice he played in the CHL and is used to the rink size as well.

Maybe he gets a callup this season. I'm curious how many injuries away he is? I'll definitely be following along this season.
 
Czechboy said:
I'm a huge Kral fan. He was awesome and got better in playoffs. He would've made National Team IMO. However, it is the Extraliga and almost no one goes Extraliga to NHL. Last one was Tomas Hertl. Everyone else goes to AHL and usually ends up back home somewhere. Necas is another one that made the NHL (after AHL). Ironic that he plays for the same team that is being described to me needing to be lifted by Kral.

I'd say it's about 5 leagues away from NHL. They are very poor at developing young players as they like to bench them (eg. highly touted Svozil saw a lot of lumber last season and I wish he could've been in the CHL)

Marlies will be great for him! Some really good D down there to push him and some good coaches. It's a nice pipeline IMO. Hope they make him do it all and develop him well. It's nice he played in the CHL and is used to the rink size as well.

Maybe he gets a callup this season. I'm curious how many injuries away he is? I'll definitely be following along this season.
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Fortunately he was playing 20+ minutes per game with Brno.

He's behind:

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Dermott - Liljegren
[Sandin - Menell]

In the AHL, there is no standout "next call-up" so he will be in competition with Hollowell, Kivihalme, and Rubins. If he has a good year, he could easily be next in line because those three guys are long shots to play in the NHL.

He didn't look exceptional in the AHL last year, played pretty average, but he already had 60+ games under his belt at that point and had to learn a new system in ~10 games. He could win a spot on the top pair this season for the Marlies based on how good he looks in camp.
 
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Knies iT said:
Fortunately he was playing 20+ minutes per game with Brno.

He's behind:

Rielly - Brodie
Muzzin - Holl
Dermott - Liljegren
[Sandin - Menell]

In the AHL, there is no standout "next call-up" so he will be in competition with Hollowell, Kivihalme, and Rubins. If he has a good year, he could easily be next in line because those three guys are long shots to play in the NHL.

He didn't look exceptional in the AHL last year, played pretty average, but he already had 60+ games under his belt at that point and had to learn a new system in ~10 games. He could win a spot on the top pair this season for the Marlies based on how good he looks in camp.
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That is a beautiful left side D... I'm a big believer in Sandin making it and doing well!
 
Czechboy said:
Ironic that he plays for the same team that is being described to me needing to be lifted by Kral.
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Tipsport ELH | Hokej.cz - web českého hokeje - 13th/14th CF%
Tipsport ELH | Hokej.cz - web českého hokeje

Not to mention they went 24-28 and were 10th of 14 teams.

Having a few good players doesn't mean they are a good team. Do I follow the CZE besides Kral and potentially some draft eligible prospects each year? No. I do know numbers though, I watch games, and when I see a spade, I call it a spade. Not to mention points are also not a good measure for defenseman in almost any situation. I'm much more interested in his neutral zone play, and his ability drive both offense and defense- which he did better than anybody on his team. I actually had Kral as a 2nd round pick in his draft year, and it wasn't until he played in Brno's affiliate last season that I soured on him. As the season kept going on he was clearly the best defenseman on his team (including whatever Zboril and Hajek did) and they actually started playing much much better as Kral started getting more comfortable throughout the year.

And just for fun as you mentioned playoffs. He lead his team in points with 6 in 9 games. Yes, I very much do think Kral carried a basement dwelling team to relevance.
 
PromisedLand said:
Muzzin got hurt against CBJ in the playoffs and then against the habs in the playoffs and Holl became ineffective.

I would happily move Holl and his 2AAV to give Lily a chance there. With Rielly's future uncertain you need to play your young guns to see what you have.
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Against CBJ yes, against Montreal I disagree. Obviously without Muzz he's not as effective but he performed fine and wasn't a liability like against Columbus.

Also in general I'm not to keen on moving defensive defensemen that work well, even if Holl is being carried by Muzzin (and by how much is up for debate) we've waited far too long as a franchise for a stable top four to trade one away on the hopes that a 22 year old can handle those minutes.

I like Liljegren a ton and think it's about time he makes the Leafs. but if he's gonna usurp Holl it'll have to be with solid play over the course of the regular season, not just training camp.
 
Kral looks exactly like a young Kaberle, am I wrong?
Guy should EASILY make this team over Lilly and Sandin, maybe even over Dermott.
 
LegChairGM said:
Kral looks exactly like a young Kaberle, am I wrong?
Guy should EASILY make this team over Lilly and Sandin, maybe even over Dermott.
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You are wrong, Kral does not 'looks exactly like a young Kaberle'. Kaberle had too much poise with the puck, even in his rookie year.

Kral looks great, don't get me wrong. From the two pre-season games he has played so far he currently looks like he will be good in the AHL. Lets eee how he does when he starts to play against teams who ice more NHL regulars and we can re-evaluate this then.
 
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aingefan said:
Filip Kral leading in TOI by quite a fair bit is interesting.
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He played 12 minutes at 5v5. 10 minutes on special teams. More interesting is how Sandin played the least on the PK. He had a good game (Kral) but he wasn't being used more than he should have been.
 
Tarmore said:
You are wrong, Kral does not 'looks exactly like a young Kaberle'. Kaberle had too much poise with the puck, even in his rookie year.

Kral looks great, don't get me wrong. From the two pre-season games he has played so far he currently looks like he will be good in the AHL. Lets eee how he does when he starts to play against teams who ice more NHL regulars and we can re-evaluate this then.
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Exactly what I'm seeing in Kral.
 
PROUD PAPA said:
Couldn't watch the game out here but caught the highlights. What do we have in Bunting?
To me he looks like a 3rd liner we can slot into any line in a pinch. Nothing wrong with that.
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His #1 strength is great finish down low. Very good instincts around the net, nice hands, good shot. Other than that, has a pretty good motor - not a Hyman level motor or anything, but pretty good. Is also a bit of a pest.

He’s a bit small, doesn’t really stand out in terms of speed or skill or anything, but he’s an effective player. I can see him doing a perfectly serviceable job on either the 1st or 2nd line, which is great value at his very low salary.
 
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I really would like to see most of this same line up in another exhibition game and against another more nhl ready team too, before the axe comes down on any of them.
Just to help solidify our impression of some of these players.

On the Kral/Kabrle comparisons: I'm all giddy thinking about the possibility :)
 
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