News Article: Mirtle: Maple Leafs Ownership Could Make Massive Changes if 'Really Disappointing First-Round Exit' Happens Again in the Playoffs

[Punch Drunk Loov]

I'm pretty sure Hirvonen's a forward. But yeah, our D is a HUGE concern, both present and future.

Damn it! I thought he was a defenseman for years

 

[Gary Nylund]

Hyman was on a downward trajectory with the Leafs... we can agree to disagree, but his playoff production was best in his first two seasons.

EDM management out-thought us on this one for sure. And again, if we didn't have so much cap tied up in a few big ticket items, Hyman would have been killing it as a Maple Leaf instead.

 

[Stephen]

Your first sentence is why Nylander is making 11.5... they overpaid him and he won't walk now.

He's a better player than Nylander, that is why he is worth more.

I just think it is weird to overpay the worse player and let the better one walk.

I'm not sure what the point you're trying to get across is, but even if Marner signed for the same CH% he is at 12.04, so he is likely going to be asking for at least 12.5+

I think it's a mistake to let him walk, I think cap space is very overrated and most GMs spend it poorly, I'd rather a top 5 winger.

I understand where you're coming from by the way, I just think once Nylander was signed to his contract, it set the market for Marner as that + a little bit.

I think we should keep Marner to protect the asset for the time being so we have the team as intact as possible for when JT's money runs out, but I find the emphatic arguing to max out his next AAV to be a little bit extreme. Like are you all cheering for him to make more money or something?

 

[Confucius]

When you go into a series against a better team than you, how can a loss be disappointing? May as well say if we don’t get lucky and win heads will roll. lol!

 

[Cleetus]

There are leaf fans on this board who believe Marner is a better playoff performer than Matthew Tkachuk

 

[notbias]

EDM management out-thought us on this one for sure. And again, if we didn't have so much cap tied up in a few big ticket items, Hyman would have been killing it as a Maple Leaf instead.

He showed nothing to make us believe that... once again, McDavid is bouncing pucks off his stick into the back of the net, we don't have that option here.

They for sure outthought Toronto management with Campbell, Ceci, and Barrie though.

I think we should keep Marner to protect the asset for the time being so we have the team as intact as possible for when JT's money runs out, but I find the emphatic arguing to max out his next AAV to be a little bit extreme. Like are you all cheering for him to make more money or something?

Why would I be cheering for it? I am just being realistic.

I hope he signs for the league minimum.

I just think he is the better player than Nylander so I think the negotiation starts there.

 

[Dreakmur]

He showed nothing to make us believe that... once again, McDavid is bouncing pucks off his stick into the back of the net, we don't have that option here.

So Hyman is only scoring now because he's playing with a much better player? I sure hope the salary cap reflects this....

 

[notbias]

So Hyman is only scoring now because he's playing with a much better player? I sure hope the salary cap reflects this....

It did last time, going to assume on McDavid's contract it will again.

Matthews' newest CH% is still less than McDavid's and I think McDavid's new contract will be even higher.

And no, I think Hyman is a good player, but, weirdly, people are using his numbers from outside of Toronto when trying to say we should have kept him and got rid of Marner...

It is not the same situation.

 

[Gary Nylund]

He showed nothing to make us believe that... once again, McDavid is bouncing pucks off his stick into the back of the net, we don't have that option here.

They for sure outthought Toronto management with Campbell, Ceci, and Barrie though.

LOL yeah OK, I think we're done here.

 

[Evilhomer]

When you go into a series against a better team than you, how can a loss be disappointing? May as well say if we don’t get lucky and win heads will roll. lol!

None of Toronto, Florida or Boston would be going into a series against any of the other as the "worse" team. They are all a coin flip. It will just be a matter of which team gets hot at the right time, and which team gets luckier.

 

[notbias]

LOL yeah OK, I think we're done here.

Those are Hyman's line stats with and without McDavid over the last two playoffs.

Hyman + McDavid = very good
McDavid w/o Hyman = good
Hyman w/o McDavid = bad
Without either = bad

Hyman is for sure benefitting from linemates and the PP (around the same ESP as Marner/Matthews but played 10 more games)

Anyway, I agree the convo is over... just weird how much people hype up former players to tear down current ones.

 

[authentic]

None of Toronto, Florida or Boston would be going into a series against any of the other as the "worse" team. They are all a coin flip. It will just be a matter of which team gets hot at the right time, and which team gets luckier.

I agree to an extent, not like we are massive underdogs but our defensive play and special teams makes us clearly the worst team, not to mention the question mark of whether or not our goaltending holds up at all.

 

[Evilhomer]

I agree to an extent, not like we are massive underdogs but our defensive play and special teams makes us clearly the worst team, not to mention the question mark of whether or not our goaltending holds up at all.

The Toronto/Canadian media will turn the Leafs into an underdog because it's a better story to sell, and when they end up beating Florida, and then probably Tampa in the second round, there will be endless stories about how this plucky group has overcome the odds. The reality is that it's a bunch of pretty evenly matched teams, and the odds of Bob repeating last year are simply unlikely. The Leafs will benefit from that, and from Tampa and Boston beating each other up.

 

[HolyCrap]

LOL yeah OK, I think we're done here.

The guy disappeared for months and came back even more biased than before. Lol.

 

[Racer88]

The Toronto/Canadian media will turn the Leafs into an underdog because it's a better story to sell, and when they end up beating Florida, and then probably Tampa in the second round, there will be endless stories about how this plucky group has overcome the odds. The reality is that it's a bunch of pretty evenly matched teams, and the odds of Bob repeating last year are simply unlikely. The Leafs will benefit from that, and from Tampa and Boston beating each other up.

In that scenario the best story’s will be how Tre got them over the hump while Dubas failed for years

 

[authentic]

The Toronto/Canadian media will turn the Leafs into an underdog because it's a better story to sell, and when they end up beating Florida, and then probably Tampa in the second round, there will be endless stories about how this plucky group has overcome the odds. The reality is that it's a bunch of pretty evenly matched teams, and the odds of Bob repeating last year are simply unlikely. The Leafs will benefit from that, and from Tampa and Boston beating each other up.

Would be amazing if they do it, they definitely have a shot if they want to win badly enough.

 

[Gary Nylund]

View attachment 851893

Those are Hyman's line stats with and without McDavid over the last two playoffs.

Hyman + McDavid = very good
McDavid w/o Hyman = good
Hyman w/o McDavid = bad
Without either = bad

Hyman is for sure benefitting from linemates and the PP (around the same ESP as Marner/Matthews but played 10 more games)

Anyway, I agree the convo is over... just weird how much people hype up former players to tear down current ones.

You think Hyman's basically a pylon, got it.

 

[Evilhomer]

In that scenario the best story’s will be how Tre got them over the hump while Dubas failed for years

That would be the kind of lazy "journalism" I would expect from the media here. The truth will be that it will be because of a combination of both management teams. It's silly to look at success (or, if it happens, failure) in isolation. It's always a combination of factors.

 

[notbias]

You think Hyman's basically a pylon, got it.

Putting words into my mouth, but okay.

I think Hyman is very good at his role, would never dispute that.

I also think he is potentially the most fortunate person in the game of hockey, based on his linemates throughout his career.



This is seriously my last post on the topic because it is super off-topic at this point, but playing with a guy like McDavid opens up a lot of space to allow you to do tap-ins like half of his goals are.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Putting words into my mouth, but okay.

I think Hyman is very good at his role, would never dispute that.

I also think he is potentially the most fortunate person in the game of hockey, based on his linemates throughout his career.



This is seriously my last post on the topic because it is super off-topic at this point, but playing with a guy like McDavid opens up a lot of space to allow you to do tap-ins like half of his goals are.

You described his skill set as letting McDavid bounce pucks off him, sounds like a pylon to me. You obviously have zero respect for Hyman as a hockey player and that's fine, like I said, agree to disagree.

 

[Kiwi]

EDM management out-thought us on this one for sure. And again, if we didn't have so much cap tied up in a few big ticket items, Hyman would have been killing it as a Maple Leaf instead.

I wouldn't say Edmonton out-thought us, we could have signed him if we wanted to and he wouldn't have even gone to market

I'd describe it as out-thinking ourselves on that one

We still could have kept him, he's basically making Bertuzzi money but he plays a tough style of game and had some injuries and I guess they worried about how that deal was going to age

Fair enough thought process but it looks extremely wrong right now

 

[Gallagbi]

EDM management out-thought us on this one for sure. And again, if we didn't have so much cap tied up in a few big ticket items, Hyman would have been killing it as a Maple Leaf instead.

Sounded like they could make the cap work it was the long term committment for a guy with injury questions that scared them off.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Hyman was on a downward trajectory with the Leafs... we can agree to disagree, but his playoff production was best in his first two seasons.

He was playing hurt for two playoffs here, and probably wouldn't have played in one of them if not for the fact that our fantastic depth didn't include anyone better than an injured Hyman so the Leafs kept throwing his one good leg out there.

He showed nothing to make us believe that... once again, McDavid is bouncing pucks off his stick into the back of the net, we don't have that option here.

We have three 10+ million dollar players. Why couldn't any of them bounce pucks off Hyman for at least 30 goals?

 

[notbias]

He was playing hurt for two playoffs here, and probably wouldn't have played in one of them if not for the fact that our fantastic depth didn't include anyone better than an injured Hyman so the Leafs kept throwing his one good leg out there.

Weird that when someone like Matthews is injured he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.

We have three 10+ million dollar players. Why couldn't any of them bounce pucks off Hyman for at least 30 goals?

PPG is the big difference... unless this year becomes the norm, but I think it will be an outlier.

He had 15 in 43 before he left and only 3 PPG.

Minus this outlier, his best season was 36 in 79 and 15 were on the PP.

Not to mention McDavid is primarily a facilitator and Matthews is primarily a scorer... big difference.

 

[keonsbitterness]

Weird that when someone like Matthews is injured he doesn't get the benefit of the doubt.

Good non-sequitur.

PPG is the big difference... unless this year becomes the norm, but I think it will be an outlier.

He had 15 in 43 before he left and only 3 PPG.

Minus this outlier, his best season was 36 in 79 and 15 were on the PP.

Not to mention McDavid is primarily a facilitator and Matthews is primarily a scorer... big difference.

Not as good.