Yes I'm definitely blind, they were on with Tampa's 4th line during a change, Nylander and Marner had open ice on a 2v2, if Mathews doesn't read the play and jump in that goal never happens, it's just a 2v2. Mathews tip on the PP goal was all Mathews, that is an elite tip in the air, not along the ice, how many players can do that. Did you see Mathews goal in G6, rips it by one of the best goalies in the world, off a difficult angle pass from brodie?
torontosun.com
Will Rogers and Bell be willing to foot the bill for Maple Leafs and Raptors rebuilds?
With the Toronto Maple Leafs and Raptors both coming to crossroads this summer, will the majority owners of MLSE pay to overhaul things?
It wasn’t exactly a forced arrangement, but more like mutually assured non-destruction. As long as each company had access to half of their shared media properties, the other one couldn’t become the exclusive home of Leafs and Raptors games.
To this day, the two sides barter over who gets what games before the broadcast schedules are announced.
While the gritted-teeth partnership has largely worked and resulted in things like a Raptors practice facility, an expanded BMO Field and several commercial ventures around Scotiabank Arena, there have been indications that the MLSE board is occasionally riven along Bell/Rogers lines.
The huge contract for former Leafs coach Mike Babcock, the huge payoff for former Leafs coach Mike Babcock, the new deal for Raptors president Masai Ujiri, the drawn-out process to bring the Argonauts under the MLSE roof: Whispers and rumblings in each case that the telcos were not in harmony.
Former chief executive and noted big swinger Tim Leiweke departed less than halfway through his contract, likely tired of being the peacemaker.
The MLSE of present day has some significant decisions on its hands. Ujiri is in place, but he just fired his coach — with a reported $8-million US payout — and will potentially be looking for a fat new deal for his replacement.
The Raptors roster, after an underwhelming season, could have a payroll that crosses the NBA’s pricey luxury-tax threshold if Ujiri looks to bring back the team’s pending free agents.
The Maple Leafs could require an even bigger cheque. General manager Kyle Dubas is out of contract at season’s end and would expect a big-dollar commitment for a long-term extension. But while that seemed likely a week ago after the Leafs finally won a playoff series for the first time in almost two decades, the team’s sudden faceplant against the Florida Panthers has renewed calls for major changes, many of them in ALL CAPS and with WTF and various other acronyms featured prominently.
Head coach Sheldon Keefe is under contract for another season and team president Brendan Shanahan has two more seasons after this one on an extension that was signed in 2019.
The scorched-earth off-season that many fans (and media) are imagining would cost a fortune, not just in paying off unfinished deals, but in bringing in replacements.
Which gets back to the question of what the company’s majority owners want out of the thing. Will Rogers and Bell agree to spend tens of millions of dollars to see off the Leafs’ current management and hire new people to start over?
These are the same companies that constantly find new and creative ways to charge customers extra fees for the same service. Oh, your Wi-Fi coverage is poor in your house? Would you like these items to improve it for $20 a month?
Does anything with Columbus starting with Peeke and Jenner get make sense for Marner?
As much as I wish Marner was built differently and I appreciate his unique skill, I just don't think he has it between the ears and will never be what we need him to be in the playoffs.
Add to it that Paul Marner consistently is being rumored to being disruptive and how contentious Marner's last contract negotiations went, I'm wondering.........
.................. and to clarify, my ideal scenario is Marner DOES become the playoff warrior that we want him to, and we figure out a way to get Peeke and Jenner here too!
To be clear, Peeke and Jenner as a basis of a trade for Marner, not straight up.........
If the Caps are only interested in getting someone to set up Ovi, then I could see that.
www.theglobeandmail.com
Seems a lot of worrying about something pretty minor. They’ll find a way to dump Murray and run the other two.Goaltending will be a mess regardless of how Maple Leafs’ season closes
The Leafs haven’t had a goalie they trust for 20 years and no matter who is GM in Toronto next season, they will start with a crease controversy
Samsonov is a restricted free agent this off-season. Of all the Leafs, he is the one guy who can’t be blamed for the collapse against Florida. Until he was injured, he also did his job.
Samsonov is due a raise off the US$1.8-million the Leafs paid him this year. As currently constructed, the Leafs can’t afford to give him one.
The budget option is to let Samsonov go, elevate Woll and hope Murray can keep his arm bones connected to his leg bones for one more year. If it were you, would you think that’s possible? Probably not.
The fantasy option is trading Murray to Spartak Moscow and giving a tandem of Samsonov and Woll a go.
The realistic option is chaos and paralysis.
Other regimes on other teams could let Samsonov go because it’s prudent financially. But a Leafs regime can’t risk Samsonov going somewhere else and playing magnificently. That mistake would scar any new (or holdover) executive group.
So what you actually see happening is the Leafs spending the entire summer trying to figure out a way to off-load Murray, while also negotiating with Samsonov, and also trying not to alienate Woll. What promises will have to be made to keep things together, and how will those play out?
While this is happening, the fan base and media will be leaned in over the Leafs’ shoulder screaming soft nothings in their ear about not screwing things up this time.
Whoever ends up the No. 1 goalie in training camp knows the job isn’t theirs. They are only No. 1a).
No. 1b) and maybe No. 1c) will be keeping a beady eye on them. But not as beady as everyone else’s. Two wobbly games in a row means you’re out. Or that you should be out. Or traded. Or demoted. Or fired into the sun.
Whatever Toronto’s problems over the past few years, a full-on, inextinguishable goalie controversy was never one of them. It had its ‘this guy vs. that guy’ moments, but it was always pretty clear who should enjoy precedence. It never worked. But it was clear.
Given how things have gone in the past few days and how foolishly the Leafs have managed their signings, they’re in it now.
So what have the Leafs taken from these playoffs? In all likelihood, a semi-broken curse, an executive bloodletting and a goalie controversy they can’t avoid. At the least.
They’ve traded one big problem for two new ones, with no solutions imminent. While things are about to change, Leafs’ math always stays the same.
My feeling is Peeke and Jenner aren't good enough even as a basis.
Gonna depend on whether they are willing to take a step back or think the can win a SC next year.
