Pre-Game Talk: Toronto @ Ottawa | Weekend at Eugene’s | Fri Jan 15 @ 7pm

[Leafs at Knight]

Go read the Sens GDT it's adorable.

Not even kidding their fans have a lot of spunk.

Really? It's literally them chirping Matthews' face?, and whining about the TSN article on calling more cross checks in front of the net. Wait until Stutzle takes a dirty crosscheck or slash without getting called, and they'll become hypocrites.

 

[therealkoho]

People keep saying that, but is Ottawa really that physical? I definitely don't see them any more physical than Montreal was...with significantly less talent

possibly less talent not significantly

Stutzle I think is the real deal, Josh Norris will surprise a lot of people, Tkachuk could score 30 this year, Batherson, White and Dadonov are real and I think NHL top 6 guys, Stepan can still play as can Connor Brown, Anisimov is a solid 3C

their top 4 of Chabot, Zaitsev, Reilly and probably Wolanin is serviceable. The line-up shows Gudbranson in the 1st pair, that's for his family and the home fans as he's from Ottawa

and as far as I know the starter won a cup about 5 years ago which is one more then our goalie or Montreals


the Leafs cannot sleep on these guys

 

[MattySnipes]

possibly less talent not significantly

Stutzle I think is the real deal, Josh Norris will surprise a lot of people, Tkachuk could score 30 this year, Batherson, White and Dadonov are real and I think NHL top 6 guys, Stepan can still play as can Connor Brown, Anisimov is a solid 3C

their top 4 of Chabot, Zaitsev, Reilly and probably Wolanin is serviceable. The line-up shows Gudbranson in the 1st pair, that's for his family and the home fans as he's from Ottawa

and as far as I know the starter won a cup about 5 years ago which is one more then our goalie or Montreals


the Leafs cannot sleep on these guys

Agreed man. You nailed it.

Leafs will have to earn the win. It'll be easy, but they have to come and play 60 mins. If they half-ass it, Sens could easily upset.

 

[OddyOh]

Do people really care about this tho?

Personally I’d rather see a win!

 

[Jmo89]

So guarantee Stutzle scores his first career goal tomorrow?

You should go ahead and start the main board thread congratulating him.

 

[LeafsOHLRangers98]

Sens haven't played a game in 10 months with a lot of new faces. I expect them to be as sloppy as we were for the first 40 minutes. Need to take advantage of playing Ottawa twice early.

Their defense is horrendous aside from Chabot and their young guys up front will take a bit to adjust to the pace.

 

[Stigma]

I could see us sending Barabanov to the taxi squad and playing 11 forwards for a game. Would allow us to recall Lehtonen or Sandin to rotate them in. He only played 5 minutes. Probably wouldn't make sense this weekend with a b2b tho

Seems like it's a game of chicken with how long the front office waits to waive Dell while being restricted in the meantime.

Damn. Well done.

 

[ViewsFromThe6ix]

Sens haven't played a game in 10 months. No reason this shouldn't be a dominating performance.

 

[Stigma]

So guarantee Stutzle scores his first career goal tomorrow?

Yes. Possibly more. The universe may want to balance things out due to Matthews' 4 goal debut against Ottawa in 2016 lol. However, like that game, we will win (as Ottawa did).

 

[Nineteen67]

Go read the Sens GDT it's adorable.

Not even kidding their fans have a lot of spunk.

They have reasons to be excited. I’m excited to watch Chabot, Tkachuk, and Stutzle grow and see what they can do.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

According to the sens forum Otta has Josh Norris and Drake Batherson as 2 of their top 3 centers, those 2 have 46 games combined, Josh Norris has 3, Tavares and Matthews need to dominate the center battle this weekend

 

[ShaneFalco]

Hanta Yo!

 

[Notsince67]

Yes. You can scratch someone and bring someone off the taxi squad. That is what I'm saying.



I am speaking within the confines of the rules. I know that you need waivers to send someone to the TS. I suggested Barabanov can be sent to TS and bring one of Sandin/Lehtonen and someone like Robertson in to rotate bodies. This is all within the confines of the rules and doesn't require waiving anyone.

Also, you keep referring to non-ELC requiring waivers, which is incorrect. Anderson and Engvall are not on ELC and are also waivers exempt. Just say waiver-exempt and don't confuse things w/ ELC.



Leafs are accruing cap space playing under the salary ceiling right now. It's likely that they're assigning Barabanov to the TS on non-game days (roster of 20, TS of 5) and putting him back on the main roster on game days. With those 2 rosters (80m and 80.9m) they're averaging an accrual of $69,000 per day (115 day regular season) on the cap ceiling, which means by roughly Monday they should have enough space to bench bogo for a game and bring in Sandin ($81.7m on that roster)

EDIT: Actually assigning Barabanov to TS brings us under 18 skaters, so unlikely they're doing that on non-game days. Also I got the math inverted on how much we're accruing. We're spending $700,000 per day but it would take ~20-25 days into the 115 day season to run w/ a 22 man roster. So, someone would indeed need to be waived if Leafs are going to cycle bodies in near the beginning of the season.

Someone will eventually gets injured. My guess it happens within a month due to the likely playoff style of hockey this division will bring this year.

 

[Marshy]

They have reasons to be excited. I’m excited to watch Chabot, Tkachuk, and Stutzle grow and see what they can do.

Oh for sure. I just got a kick out of the venom they have for us. I've lived in Ottawa since before the Sens got their team so I've seen their fascination with us evolve during that time.

 

[BlueBaron]

I hope the buds bring their A game. Ottawa will be very focused tonight. We know it's about a month before Freddy returns to elite reg season form so the boys are going to have to clam down. I don't want a season of giving up 4 or 5 goals a game.

 

[Sensmileletsgo]

According to the sens forum Otta has Josh Norris and Drake Batherson as 2 of their top 3 centers, those 2 have 46 games combined, Josh Norris has 3, Tavares and Matthews need to dominate the center battle this weekend

It’s Norris and Stepan. Batherson is on the wing.

 

[X66]

It’s Norris and Stepan. Batherson is on the wing.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

We will go up 2 points on both Edmonton and Vancouver with a win tonight. Them beating each other in regulation time was nice

 

[Puckstuff]

Not breaking up Tavares-Nylander just yet. They look good together. Tavares benefits from having fast wingers play with him

Robertson should get in for Vesey soon enough. Not against giving Vesey 1 more game though.

When Robertson does get in he would be best used in a shooting role rather then a grinding role imo so i’d play him in a top 6 role with either Marner, Tavares or Nylander. Not against sending Barabanov down and calling up Engvall either (if Barabanov doesn’t play well in game 1 vs Ottawa). Jumbo to the 4th line for me.

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Robertson-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Kerfoot-Engvall
Thornton-Spezza-Simmonds

 

[Nineteen67]

What are Ottawa lines?

 

[VanW27]

Not breaking up Tavares-Nylander just yet. They look good together. Tavares benefits from having fast wingers play with him

Robertson should get in for Vesey soon enough. Not against giving Vesey 1 more game though.

When Robertson does get in he would be best used in a shooting role rather then a grinding role imo so i’d play him in a top 6 role with either Marner, Tavares or Nylander. Not against sending Barabanov down and calling up Engvall either. Jumbo to the 4th line for me.

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Robertson-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Keefoot-Engvall
Thornton-Spezza-Simmonds

3 of the slowest forwards in the league on one line, doesn't sound like a recipe for success.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Not breaking up Tavares-Nylander just yet. Especially after a 3 point night

Robertson should get in for Vesey soon enough. Not against giving Vesey 1 more game though.

Robertson would be best used in a shooting role rather then a grinding role imo so i’d play him in a top 6 role with either Marner, Tavares or Nylander. Not against sending Barabanov down and calling up Engvall either. Jumbo to the 4th line for me.

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Robertson-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Keefoot-Engvall
Thornton-Spezza-Simmonds

Why change a winning lineup? No need to rush Robertson Vesey-Tavares-Nylander worked well last game why break it up?

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Not breaking up Tavares-Nylander just yet. They look good together. Tavares benefits from having fast wingers play with him

Robertson should get in for Vesey soon enough. Not against giving Vesey 1 more game though.

When Robertson does get in he would be best used in a shooting role rather then a grinding role imo so i’d play him in a top 6 role with either Marner, Tavares or Nylander. Not against sending Barabanov down and calling up Engvall either (if Barabanov doesn’t play well in game 1 vs Ottawa). Jumbo to the 4th line for me.

Hyman-Matthews-Marner
Robertson-Tavares-Nylander
Mikheyev-Keefoot-Engvall
Thornton-Spezza-Simmonds

Vesey would have to clear waivers to go to the Taxi. Barabanov is the only waiver exempt roster and we have no defensemen on the-roster waiver exempt. Might see the 7-11 roster tonight and Barabanov out Lehtonen in.
Barabanov’s off day yesterday saved $7974 cap space. Robertson not having the higher salary goes against him right now also. The higher it is makes a bigger cap accrue on days off. It adds up quick and will allow another roster player or use it for deadline deal. Complicated and I’m struggling with how it all works.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Why change a winning lineup? No need to rush Robertson Vesey-Tavares-Nylander worked well last game why break it up?

Robertson isn’t getting until the team bumps up the cap on the two highest contracts of Lehtonen and Barabanov. It’s not a large difference but they do make more cap space on off days than Robertson.

 

[Puckstuff]

Vesey would have to clear waivers to go to the Taxi. Barabanov is the only waiver exempt roster and we have no defensemen on the-roster waiver exempt. Might see the 7-11 roster tonight and Barabanov out Lehtonen in.
Barabanov’s off day yesterday saved $7974 cap space. Robertson not having the higher salary goes against him right now also. The higher it is makes a bigger cap accrue on days off. It adds up quick and will allow another roster player or use it for deadline deal. Complicated and I’m struggling with how it all works.

ah got it, thanks.