Listen, the team was poorly constructed. The cap allotment is too top heavy. Dubas is willing to risk his job on the core, and he eventually pay the price for his stubbornness.
That is not what I'm suggesting. Unless the core is unable to offer the pushback I see lacking. This team has talent and depth, what they are missing is cohesion and a sense of team. Leaders need to lead.
Dubas f***ed this team by wasting 11m on JT .
Pre Covid, JT was a serious candidate for the Canadian Olympic team, JT was playing very well. He, and this is a guess, is dealing with post Covid lung issues.
Core is fine.
We have the same problem Tampa had. The rest of the team gets bullied by the playoff depth of other teams. If Matthews and Marner have to do all the scoring and be the most grittiest guys (Matthews) we already lost.
We need players to wear the opponent down when the big 4 are on the bench. That's it. (And goaltending maybe
).
It's not a cap issue. 2 of our big 4 can compete with each other for the selke as well people don't understand the advantage we have with these guys over the boring parity riddled NHL Management for whatever reason tries to fill the bottom 6 with "lite" versions of the core 4. Guys like Mik who wish they were high flying in the top 6 and Engvall doing spin backs and stick handling east-west (with zero puck protection, you or me can go poke that thing off his stick) like he's Nylander.
Until they fill the bottom 6 with the right "type" we're going no where.
Core 4 is being wasted.
1) I disagree. The core of the Tampa team has been more 'team' oriented than our core.
2) Again, I disagree. This is a great core. They simply need to move towards being more engaged in the 'team' aspect' of hockey, and in the playoffs that means being 'mean'.
I said this when we signed him, and my friends said I was an idiot. He was an unwarranted addition that was "nice to have" but definitely not what we needed. This is only going to become more evident as he ages. No team has won a cup with their second line centre making 11mil for a reason.
John Tavares is a fine hockey player and a quality person. I suspect he's dealing with post Covid difficulties. Regardless, he may be having a bad streak, but I don't believe he is finished as a quality player in the NHL. I would like to see him become more of a pain in the ass, and less accepting of the crap he has to deal with. I am a JT fan.
Typical HF boards post, when we lose a few games. We will go on a winning streak shortly, and it will all go away.
If you've followed any of my posts, you know I am not reactionary. I don't believe the upcoming winning streak means diddly when it comes to the playoffs. This team needs to play harder, and it starts at the top. If you believe otherwise, ok, but please don't push my comment into the 'typical' range because of what I suspect may be your disagreement with my comments.
I wouldn't expect that to change anytime soon.
Probably better for the team to adjust than to hold their breath that things will change.
This is my concern. I'm not sure the core can adjust. As quality players, they are fine. Better than fine, they're very good. But, imo somebody needs to lead the fight towards making the other team accountable for their actions. I'm not sure this team has that/those players.
If you watched other teams as much as you watch the Leafs, with as much focus and emotional investment as you have in the Leafs, you would recognize that other teams - even the best, toughest, most successful playoff teams - make defensive zone brain farts and give up offensive zone turnover rush chances just as much (and sometimes more) than us, especially during their cold stretches like we're going through right now. We are a good defensive team, we don't give up an abnormal amount of odd man rushes, and odd man rush chances aren't the automatic goal that some people like to treat them as. In fact, the majority of the time, odd man rush chances and even breakaways should be saved, with even just league average goaltending.
Every successful team ever has and will allow a number of high-quality chances throughout a hockey game. What we have mainly had during this stretch is our goalies giving up an abnormal number of goals and bad rebounds on the relatively normal number of chances we've allowed.
And whatever small issues we may have, Matthews/Marner breaking their hands on somebody's face wouldn't solve a single one of them - just create more.
I agree with so much of this post. However, as I'm sure you know, the moments in a game that help define the outcome are not simply measured, they are felt. The Leafs play a soft game, and in the playoffs they are going up against teams that may not be as 'loaded' with quality players, but they are competing as a team and with purpose. I believe the Leafs are not that. The purpose is lacking, as a team. I may be expressing this poorly, but I feel that if the 'core' were more engaged in fighting back the rest of the team would do the same. My bad if I'm expressing this poorly.
it's amazing how getting the worst goaltending in the league shows how the real problem was actually toughness
Forgive me, but coming from you this is a bit of a disingenuous post. Nobody, certainly not me, is happy with the goaltending we are getting right now. Regardless, I think I've seen you comment more than once about your desire to have the team be more engaged physically? Is that correct? If not, my apologies.
Top 7 in points, points %, wins, win %, RW, RW %, ROW, ROW %, CF%, FF%, SF%, GF, xGF, xGA, GF %, xGF%, SCF %, HDCF %, PP, PK, faceoffs, etc, even after going through our roughest stretch of the season.
If you were a fan of Tampa, Florida, or Carolina instead, you'd be identifying just as many "issues" with them - especially if you had Toronto-style media scrambling for false, tired narratives to rile up the fanbase.
This is a very good team, and has about as good a shot as pretty much any team of going to the finals and winning.
Yes, they are a very good team. I think I acknowledged that in my opening post, or at least towards what is considered to be the 'core'. I like them, I think the talent is obvious and strong. However, is it wrong for me to ask of them to play a more aggressive game, one that is required in the playoffs, to succeed? To me, it isn't about this team's ability to contend, I think we all recognize they can, but the question remains what they need to do to jump the hurdle of winning and in my view that requires a more hard-nosed approach, especially from the core. It starts and ends there.
I definitely don't advocate for them fighting but getting involved in the scrums and pushbacks I would love to see
I wish I had your ability to say something as quickly and concisely as this!
I don't have a love button, but I had to reply and say this is a very solid post. We need guys to wear the other team down, when the big four are on the bench. Well put.
I will say Liljegren, to my slightly prejudiced eye, is developing into one such player, he is big, fast and has a bit of a bite developing, I want to see more of it, I am fanatical believer in making the other work their ass off.
Another excellent way of wearing out teams is more difficult and that is making defenders chase you all over the ice. Washington wore us right out by doing that in a very close series until they just exhausted us.
I'm hoping the team gives Lilly the rope to show who he can be. I've stated I think he will be a better player than Sandin, and that's a compliment to Liljegren, not a slight towards Sandin. Once he gains the needed number of games to feel comfortable, I think we have a player in TL.
