The result of game 7 is almost irrelevant at this point.

[Mitch Matthews]

But a realist would say this team is built for the regular season, but not the playoffs. We are not serious Cup contenders, and never will be as long as we have 4 forwards taking up half the cap.
I realize this is only my opinion. Believe me, I would absolutely love to be proven wrong.

I agree. I think Dubas allocated to much of the cap to offense under the false belief that the team would just outscore every team. Works during the regular season but we know the playoffs are a different story. Things get more physical and the ice shrinks.

Not just Marner's fault. Fans just like piling on - they need a scapegoat. He's not the one that turned over the puck the last two losses

 

[Gallagbi]

I would be totally shocked if he traded any of the core 4. If he did that, he would be admitting he was wrong, and that, unfortunately, doesn’t sound like Dubas to me.

Wouldn't surprise me at all, he's regularly addressed concerns that many said contradict his ideology

 

[Stephen]

Yes and no. They're doing enough to play safe, for the most part, but the Habs dont mind that.

They're not coming out to make a statement and theyre not coming out to dominate. They're carrying play, getting some good looks, but it's not our top players and they're not a constant threat or concern for this Habs team.

Agreed on the second sentence. When you watch teams like Colorado truly dominate a defensively oriented team like St. Louis and compare it to what Toronto's brand of 'carrying the play' looks like, it's night and day. Toronto's idea of 'dominating' is a perimeter cycle game around the boards, bad spacing between players, a pinch here and there by the defenseman to keep it alive and then scrambly plays while the opposition boxes them out. Load up for a shot, rinse and repear.

Colorado's puck possession is miles better, with a handful of forwards who can really play a skating and real puck movement to pull apart defenders and open up seams all over the ice. It's not the same level.

 

[Gallagbi]

Agreed on the second sentence. When you watch teams like Colorado truly dominate a defensively oriented team like St. Louis and compare it to what Toronto's brand of 'carrying the play' looks like, it's night and day. Toronto's idea of 'dominating' is a perimeter cycle game around the boards, bad spacing between players, a pinch here and there by the defenseman to keep it alive and then scrambly plays while the opposition boxes them out. Load up for a shot, rinse and repear.

Colorado's puck possession is miles better, with a handful of forwards who can really play a skating and real puck movement to pull apart defenders and open up seams all over the ice. It's not the same level.

I'm not sure they carry much better, but they're converting and more dangerous.

One big thing is their finish. Were having Matthews see reduced looks and Marner overthinking and muffin-ing prime opportunities while they seem to convert.

Was going to add onto the last post about the Matthews "smirk" in scrums. And I'm not opposed to it, but you need to backup that swagger. You need to be punishing with your play, scoring on the PP then pointing at them out of the box. The goal isn't to avoid going to the box, it's to make them pay. And that's the exact element that's missing for our top line

 

[Captain Crunch]

I agree. I think Dubas allocated to much of the cap to offense under the false belief that the team would just outscore every team. Works during the regular season but we know the playoffs are a different story. Things get more physical and the ice shrinks.

Not just Marner's fault. Fans just like piling on - they need a scapegoat. He's not the one that turned over the puck the last two losses

No, although he had a total brain fart/cramp when he put the puck over the glass, apparently something he’s done in every playoff series.

 

[Trapper]

If by management you mean Dubas?

He signs JT for 11 and in the off-season and in the process probably costs himself 5 mil on the other negotiations. ( I would assume 1/1.5 Matthews 1/2 nylander 2/3 Marner).

So that's about 16 mil more of roomish right there.

JT is a good player but did they need him at the time? Probably not.

The cap crunch is of his own design he's been chasing it and chasing it since. He's the one that decided to make the JT move and it's the thing that forced the rebuild to be way quicker.

If there wasn't ways to get around it they'd be even more screwed this team has an insane actual as opposed to their cap hit.

Actually in light of the core performance aside from Nylander, last year we got goals from Tavares, Nylander and Matthews. Again someone is suspiciously missing.

So it’s pretty obvious they do need him and could use his 2 goals. It’s one of the other players they could afford not to pay 11 million.

 

[Stephen]

I'm not sure they carry much better, but they're converting and more dangerous.

One big thing is their finish. Were having Matthews see reduced looks and Marner overthinking and muffin-ing prime opportunities while they seem to convert.

Was going to add onto the last post about the Matthews "smirk" in scrums. And I'm not opposed to it, but you need to backup that swagger. You need to be punishing with your play, scoring on the PP then pointing at them out of the box. The goal isn't to avoid going to the box, it's to make them pay. And that's the exact element that's missing for our top line

Show us that swagger after you exert your dominance. If Nathan Mackinnon who is heads and shoulders a better player can afford to sit for 5 minutes for a good cause, Matthews isn't too precious either.

 

[Dreakmur]

You need to be a certain breed, which I don't see from this core, but doing those things to win is a great feeling. It's certainly not fun to do those and lose, but to do them and win is fantastic IMO.

Rewarding, yes. Fun, absolutely not.

 

[Gallagbi]

Show us that swagger after you exert your dominance. If Nathan Mackinnon who is heads and shoulders a better playoff player can do it, Matthews isn't too precious either:

We saw some glimpses of if in Game 2, but truthfully there hasn't been much else from him

 

[Stephen]

We saw some glimpses of if in Game 2, but truthfully there hasn't been much else from him

After his "do or die" comment in game two, it's like he already thought they had won the series.

 

[myleafs]

Let's not kid ourselves, if we lose tomorrow nobody will be traded. Nobody will be fired. The ''process'' will roll on and we'll limp into a first round Game 7 this time next season as well. The cycle will continue.

This is my worst fear as a fan. I don't want to hear excuses...again.

 

[ToneDog]

exactly. The moment Dubas overpaid Marner he also devalued a sizable asset on the trade market. The return for Marner is not going to be as big as some folks think. Many teams will want the Leafs to retain some of that hefty salary.

If they trade him after his bonus has been paid out, he will be owed less than $25m for the final 4 years of the contract. He is actually a bargain if you value real dollars over AAV.

 

[tokyoite]

free falling as expected
pathetic

 

[Its not your fault]

Marner and Rielly need to be gone. Can’t even look at their faces anymore without getting some form of PTSD. Loser energy.

Marner sure Rielly though you're throwing shit on the wall to see what sticks.

 

[myleafs]

Win or lose tomorrow, worst move would be to blow it up

Blow it up may be a bit extreme but no core changes? Just keep doing the same thing and expect different results?

 

[Its not your fault]

If they trade him after his bonus has been paid out, he will be owed less than $25m for the final 4 years of the contract. He is actually a bargain if you value real dollars over AAV.

View attachment 440815

Always bet on greed.

 

[Gallagbi]

Win or lose tomorrow, worst move would be to blow it up

I can't think of another core that came back from this type of negative history.

 

[killer1980]

I agree. I think Dubas allocated to much of the cap to offense under the false belief that the team would just outscore every team. Works during the regular season but we know the playoffs are a different story. Things get more physical and the ice shrinks.

And when he panicked and brought in those older guys who used to be tough, he ended up with a group of over the hill slugs. He's had no clue since day 1 with the Nylander contract debacle.

 

[ToneDog]

Actually in light of the core performance aside from Nylander, last year we got goals from Tavares, Nylander and Matthews. Again someone is suspiciously missing.

So it’s pretty obvious they do need him and could use his 2 goals. It’s one of the other players they could afford not to pay 11 million.

Two goals in the first game of the first of 3 playoffs series. 17 straight games and counting. oh and 4 in playoff series. If they come out flat tomorrow for the 3rd (elimination) game in a row, how can Leaf management stand pat ?

 

[PromoterDave]

People are freaking out for no reason. The NHL is a really good league. Any playoff team has the ability to win meaningful games. Look at the Vegas vs Minny series for example. Lets just look at it one game at a time. If they Leafs can't win game 7, then obviously some changes has to be made. But until then, lets just see what happens.

 

[myleafs]

I have little faith in any changes. Management has their excuses ready to go
- Jt was injured
- Foligno injured
- Muzzin injured for game 7
- ran into a hot goalie
Rinse and repeat every year

If this is the route they take if they lose, then i think they will lose a lot of loyal fans. Its not like they are lighting it up and just getting unlucky. I could live with losing if I felt the team left everything they had out on the ice but it just wasn't good enough.

 

[RoadWarrior]

I thought Rielly was far and away the Leafs best player thru the first 2 periods while the rest of the team waited for the last 10 minutes before deciding to show up.

Agreed.

Rielly is not the problem. Marner has been all but invisible offensively and the only time you notice him in recent games is when he's shooting the puck over the glass taking a dumb delay of game penalty.

It's not just this playoffs but 3 or 4 consecutive playoffs where Mitch has just disappeared. He's just not a prime time guy who is capable of elevating his game in key moments.

Time for Mitch to move on. The problem is finding any takers for that bloated contract.

It's almost laughable now to think that the Marner camp was holding out for more $$. Unbelievable.

 

[myleafs]

San Jose has 0 cups. What success? Losing in a later round is still a loser.

Ill take one series win and call it progress. Winning some rounds in the playoffs seems a lot less loserish to me than never winning a round.

 

[NightTrain1]

I agree. I think Dubas allocated to much of the cap to offense under the false belief that the team would just outscore every team. Works during the regular season but we know the playoffs are a different story. Things get more physical and the ice shrinks.

Not just Marner's fault. Fans just like piling on - they need a scapegoat. He's not the one that turned over the puck the last two losses

umm no. Absolutely no.

He may not have turned over those specific pucks but he also wasnt the one to score the game winning goal, or tying goal, or any goal for that matter. He also hasnt assisted on any goal of importance and neither has Matthews. Other players may have made a mistake here or there and some have preformed far above their norm, but those two are paid the leagues highest wages to do one thing and that is outscore the opponent which they are not doing. It's not a scapegoat when you are literally not doing your jobs. It's not a scapegoat when your 2 defensive defensemen, a 37 year old 4th liner, a throw away journeyman forward and a perennial 3rd line center score more than you.

 

[killer1980]

People are freaking out for no reason. The NHL is a really good league. Any playoff team has the ability to win meaningful games. Look at the Vegas vs Minny series for example. Lets just look at it one game at a time. If they Leafs can't win game 7, then obviously some changes has to be made. But until then, lets just see what happens.

The problem with this reasoning is that LV beat Minny by 7 pts during the regular season and the Leafs beat the Habs by almost 20. The Leafs were supposed to waltz to the semis. Guess that didn't happen.