Race to the bottom - Rebuild thread #2.

[Purity*]

How is this year's draft looking anyway? I know the big 3 of the draft are pretty impressive, but I don't know much about it outside of that

By the year's end we might be looking at a shiny prospect (and it really pains me to say that because I thought this team had real potential at the beginning of the season). But it's looking like this team has some serious issues. Extremely weak center depth, sub-par defense, injuries is hurting bad and can cause us to miss the playoffs,

 

[Sonofamitch]

We need to trade some of our players who seem like they don't wanna win. Get rid of kessel and bozak they are two goofballs who don't have a winning attitude.There more concerned with COD and their golf swing than trying to bring the Stanley cup back where it belongs. We need more warriors like Lupul and JVR. Kadri can go too of he doesn't smarten up.

 

[Stevie28]

Some of you guys are ridiculous, i don't think we've iced our full team ONCE this year and were still in a playoff spot and your saying rebuild..? When are you ever happy?!?! haha omg.

 

[Stevie28]

We need to trade some of our players who seem like they don't wanna win. Get rid of kessel and bozak they are two goofballs who don't have a winning attitude.There more concerned with COD and their golf swing than trying to bring the Stanley cup back where it belongs. We need more warriors like Lupul and JVR. Kadri can go too of he doesn't smarten up.

Please tell me this is a joke. The way the media portrays these players is not how they are, or do you know them personally ? One goofball is our leading scorer and the other goofball is one half of our pk, since bozak (and bolland) our pk has been terrible.

 

[Leafs at Knight]

Some of you guys are ridiculous, i don't think we've iced our full team ONCE this year and were still in a playoff spot and your saying rebuild..? When are you ever happy?!?! haha omg.

Beginning of the year ? Clarkson doesn't count, he's not good.

 

[Sonofamitch]

Please tell me this is a joke. The way the media portrays these players is not how they are, or do you know them personally ? One goofball is our leading scorer and the other goofball is one half of our pk, since bozak (and bolland) our pk has been terrible.

I never said they were bad players, but do you honestly think a team can win the Stanley cup with Kessel as their best player?

 

[lebdafor norris]

I still cant believe how the Leaf's are still in a playoff spot, the eastern conference have been very underwhelming this year.

 

[Durrr]

This thread is a breeding ground for bad ideas and negativity. Are people really dumb enough to be saying to trade Kadri? Idea's like that are the reason we don't have players like Rask and Steen right now. When are people going to get it?

Instead of just wasting time saying "tank" or "ship out XXXX" why not actually bring something to the conversation by discussing how bad our scouting/drafting has been for over a decade, causing us to be where we are. Or how management has constantly made poor decisions on over/under valuing our players. Kessel is a great hockey player who has shown he can step it up when needed and he consistently drives our offense year after year. On top of this we have JVR, Kadri, Gardiner and Rielly all developing into impact players. We shouldn't need top 5 picks with the core we already have in place, we just need to draft some impact players from the later 1st-3rd rounds that can step up like the core from Boston. (Maybe a new coach too)

 

[Stevie28]

I never said they were bad players, but do you honestly think a team can win the Stanley cup with Kessel as their best player?

i never said that that but why does that mean trading him will bring us any closer to the cup? that just seems backward to me.

 

[Stevie28]

Beginning of the year ? Clarkson doesn't count, he's not good.

dudes in a slump, guy doesnt score30 accidently

 

[Durrr]

I never said they were bad players, but do you honestly think a team can win the Stanley cup with Kessel as their best player?

Best offensive player? Yes.

 

[Durrr]

dudes in a slump, guy doesnt score30 accidently

Clarkson is at best a 20 goal scorer if put in a offensive role. I'll be shocked if he gets 30 points on this team.

 

[JackJ]

Clarkson is at best a 20 goal scorer if put in a offensive role. I'll be shocked if he gets 30 points on this team.

Shocked if he gets 10 goals,.

 

[JackJ]

dudes in a slump, guy doesnt score30 accidently

Kulemin

 

[Blufreezy]

This thread is pretty much the reason why the leaf fanbase is the joke of the league lol

 

[Stevie28]

Kulemin

didnt know his career was over... and clarkson scored 30 one year and in 48 games already had 15 last year, putting him on pace for around 27ishn goals? (estimating here) He might be in a slump right now, but i see him creating chances, he stands out and and in my opinion that just means hes snakebitten right now. When he pots one and starts rolling in some goals, the combinations of that plus his toughness will make a lot of the haters change there whistle...

 

[JackJ]

This thread is pretty much the reason why the leaf fanbase is the joke of the league lol

Not that we're cheering for a hockey team that hasn't been to the Cup finals in almost half a century?

 

[lebdafor norris]

Klesla, Leclaire, Nash, Zherdev, Picard, Brule, Brassard, Voracek, Filatov

TANK TANK TANK!!!!

With our current scouts, this are exactly the type of players were going to get with our high picks if we tank.

 

[JackJ]

With our current scouts, this are exactly the type of players were going to get with our high picks if we tank.

Schenn -> JVR
Kadri
Rielly

We've drafted well with our high picks.

 

[KPower]

Kulemin

Beat everyone to it.

 

[Durrr]

Schenn -> JVR
Kadri
Rielly

We've drafted well with our high picks.

That's because its all common sense!!! A GM could google search top 10 prospects and just look at no name scouting reports. Real scouting in the draft is finding diamond in the rough in the later 1st and 2-7 rounds. Look at Boston's core, 4/5 guys are 2nd-3rd rounders.

 

[The Thin White Duke]

To everyone saying it's still early, ask yourself this: do you really like how this team plays? When you compare them to the good teams of the league, do you REALLY think we stack up well?

I mean yeah, on a good day we can probably beat anyone if Reimer goes into godmode and Kessel+JVR are hot. And the other team just got off a road trip back to back. Maybe.

It's a flimsy, fragile team that needs A LOT to go right in a game to win. The goalie has to stand on his head, the forwards have to be on a hotstreak, every defenseman except Phaneuf needs to get matched up properly for every single shift. Yeah, sometimes they'll score a goal or two and suck otherwise only to have a goalie bail us out. But can you really count on that kind of game?

Is this the team you want to count on in a game 7?

Tanking isn't the answer IMO, although a Carter/Richards type pick certainly wouldn't hurt. But the core of this team is very flawed. Anyone thinking that we're "a few pieces away" is wrong I think.

Trading for the missing pieces will either have to take a while or completely mortgage the future. First option doesn't work because this team is in its window of opportunity right now and we don't have that much time to fix things. Second option might work, but then we're looking at another MAJOR rebuild as soon as this core starts to get old.

 

[legendinblue]

Yep, I'd keep a few pieces and go for a rebuild. Though I'm a bit worried since our scouting department is average at best.

The only issue is that we're not going to out tank NYI, BUF, FLA or EDM.

 

[legendinblue]

With our current scouts, this are exactly the type of players were going to get with our high picks if we tank.

Our scouts LOVE prospects with a 3rd line grinder upside.

 

[rdawg1234]

Tanking isn't the answer IMO, although a Carter/Richards type pick certainly wouldn't hurt. But the core of this team is very flawed. Anyone thinking that we're "a few pieces away" is wrong I think.

Trading for the missing pieces will either have to take a while or completely mortgage the future. First option doesn't work because this team is in its window of opportunity right now and we don't have that much time to fix things. Second option might work, but then we're looking at another MAJOR rebuild as soon as this core starts to get old.

We just entered the 'prime' of this team, last year was truly our first year of actual contention and we are very much still a building team fill with young players.

Essentially our Window has just begun, players like Kadri, Gardiner, Rielly will continue to get better, while Kessel, JVR, Lupul, Phaneuf will be in their prime for the next 4-5 years roughly.

Add a piece like an M richards and who knows what could happen, LA BARELY made the playoffs the year they won the cup, many fans were calling for Brown to be traded and bam they pulled off the carter trade and went on a huge streak to squeek in. They were only a year or two removed from drafting B schenn 5th overall.

We dont have to mortgage the future if it's the right trade, we now have an expendable #1 goalie, an expendable C in Bozak(if its for another C) an expendable D in Franson etc. And if we get a guy like Girardi in FA, things will look alot brighter.

This is not our year, I dont think anyone expected it to be, I thought we'd look better than we have, but we are still largely a bubble playoff team.