Simple yes or no poll: Do you think we beat the Habs with Tavares?

[Torontonian]

I think yes because of the fact it makes Toronto become a two line team and MTL no longer just has to worry about shutting down the first line only. But in the end they still blew a 3-1 lead so..

 

[Jmo89]

It was an elite team that should have gone far but I’m positive that there would have been no cup: the powerplay was simply too bad for so long.

Agreed. If they came out of the North they lose to Tampa in 6 or 7 games. It would be Tampa/NYI in the finals. Vegas wasn't the juggernaut many people thought they were.

Even with Tavares I think Toronto still loses. They don't have the guys that can close out a series.

 

[Notsince67]

Agreed. If they came out of the North they lose to Tampa in 6 or 7 games. It would be Tampa/NYI in the finals. Vegas wasn't the juggernaut many people thought they were.

Even with Tavares I think Toronto still loses. They don't have the guys that can close out a series.

Will be interesting to see Tampas cap woes after next year. Point will require a 9mm qualifying offer and I doubt he will give up ufa years at the same price as that. At a mere 10mm, their top 5 will likely be within 2mm of the leafs with an average age of 30 opposed to 28.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

I don't think we win a cup, but a summer without that first 4ound Monkey on our backs would go a long way IMO

I can agree with this the most. Who knows what would've happened afterwards if we won, but f*** it would've been really nice to shed that 1st round chokers tag.

 

[leafsfan5]

Yes we would win the series

Doesn't excuse losing it though

 

[Clark4Ever]

Yes, for one simple reason...the margin of victory was so slight for the Habs, and I find it hard to believe that we wouldn't have mustered that 1 extra goal we needed to advance with Tavares in the lineup.

 

[Racer88]

Will be interesting to see Tampas cap woes after next year. Point will require a 9mm qualifying offer and I doubt he will give up ufa years at the same price as that. At a mere 10mm, their top 5 will likely be within 2mm of the leafs with an average age of 30 opposed to 28.

Yup and it’s looking like their top 5 will have 2 cups by then and our guys still haven’t won a single round……great comparison

 

[Racer88]

Yes, for one simple reason...the margin of victory was so slight for the Habs, and I find it hard to believe that we wouldn't have mustered that 1 extra goal we needed to advance with Tavares in the lineup.

Do you find it hard that Matthews or Marner couldn’t have mustered 1 more goal……..being as they only had 1 between them

 

[Buds17]

The Muzzin injury even becomes a non-issue with a Game 5 win. Still, have to like their chances to win one game while having up to three chances in which to do so. Yet...

 

[Mess]

Leafs had all of 4 of the core 4 against Columbus the year prior and they couldn't win 3 games in a 5 game series. In fact they got shutout in game #1 and game #5 and almost game #3 (excluding the last 3 minutes with goalie out).

Montreal is a better team than Columbus, & Carey Price is >>> any CBJ goalie.

Having JT doesn't make Keefe a better coach as he looked lost and badly outcoached in both last year and this years series.

There are a lot of factors here that come into play, that suggest simply having Tavares wouldn't have guaranteed a different outcome. Having JT wouldn't have changed Matthews and Marner combining for 1 ES goal in the 7 game series against Montreal. It wouldn't have prevented Sandin, Galchenyuk and Dermott give-aways the lead to games and losses. Doesn't change how many pucks Campbell stops or lets in.

Sadly our Leafs have now established a track record and culture of losing in the playoffs, and appear to have accepted losing as a valid outcome, particularly when you listened to management and players postmortem press conference and exit interviews. You don't hear what they did wrong or what they could do better, but rather simply looking for reasons why they underperformed expectations, and everything is fine and we're not changing much and maybe we will have better luck next time.

Leafs won 3 games without JT and then simply collapsed, and so all the what ifs can't remove the bitter taste that series will leave. Leafs record is 0-8 in series clinching games and that problem runs much deeper then thinking JT would have changed that.

I'm a firm believer you win and lose with the players you have that can impact the results, and not the players you don't have.

 

[Menzinger]

Just one goal changes that series outcome in 2/3 final games.

I'd say there's a pretty compelling case that he'd be a difference maker.

 

[sxvnert]

If he gets a goal or two then yes. That said its Dubas' fault for not getting a third line center. Something they've desperately needed all season long.

 

[tronoleaf]

How do I vote? I don't see a button

 

[saffronleaf]

Leafs would have found a way to lose regardless. That's all they know.

 

[KIWILEAFFAN]

Yes I think game 1 would have been won and possibly a sweep if JT wasn't injured.
Dont think they would have got past Tampa although I personally think we match up against them a bit better in style. Vegas would have killed us.

So maybe would have won 2 rounds this season. It would have been progress, yes. However I think the only silver lining of losing in the first round......AGAIN will hopefully force needed change to be able to make a serious cup run in the future. Dont think it will be next season either. I always thought 2023-24 was going to be when this team finally makes some noise.
I am on the side of keeping the core 4 as I dont think trades because of losing unexpectedly will help. But I cant see how the team gets tougher to play against without freeing up some serious cap space and trading a Marner or Matthews in the future. I dont think they will ever trade Matthews unless he gives the impression he is leaving in free agency so Marner is likely on the block soon or if they screw up again next season.
They lost that series mentally. They definitely choked. Skill alone could have got them to the 3rd round.
The best I have seen the Leafs play in nearly 30yrs was that 3 games series against the oilers.
Not sure what happened after that. Had they played like that in the playoffs they would be where the scabs are now imo.

 

[CatchyTune]

Muzzins game 6 injury was crucial to our downfall as well.

Dermott probably doesnt get the chance to make the giveaway to Kotkaniemi in game 6 overtime if Muzzin is the one on the ice.

 

[hotpaws]

you'd like to believe we'd have won without his injury but i doubt it

-2nd line was producing without him
-he did nothing in the series losses against Columbus/Bos
-he's never led a team anywhere and that includes jr
-in 11 years in the league he's had 1 good playoff series

 

[TheGoldenJet]

Do the Habs get Drouin back too?

 

[hamzarocks]

Will be interesting to see Tampas cap woes after next year. Point will require a 9mm qualifying offer and I doubt he will give up ufa years at the same price as that. At a mere 10mm, their top 5 will likely be within 2mm of the leafs with an average age of 30 opposed to 28.

Afte the success they've had they will hardly care with their core still being better than ours and they only sacrificing the surrounding depth score like we did

 

[Garthinater]

Apparently this fan base is already in the denial stage.

We lost to a worse columbus team last year with Tavares. What makes you think we win this time?

Btw islanders didn't have their captain and they made the semis.

Tampa made the finals last year without stamkos.

Losing a key player doesn't mean you can't win a single round.

 

[ULF_55]

Tavares would have taken time away from the 1st line, immediate upgrade.

 

[Dreakmur]

Tavares would have taken time away from the 1st line, immediate upgrade.

He would have taken time away from Kerfoot and Spezza.

 

[danron1376]

yes but we likely lose to Vegas in the semis

 

[wingman75]

Considering how close the series was, no doubt he would have been enough to push us over the top. On top of that, he is a Habs killer!

 

[wingman75]

yes but we likely lose to Vegas in the semis

We would have played Tampa... same result expected