There are elements of your post here that I definitely agree with. Not bleeding assets for rentals, why do we want Ryan strome? Etc
However, regarding the rest…
- So far, the defensive results speak for themselves and that’s with a whole pile of ahl call ups coming in due to forward injuries as well. Yes, we will see how it all holds up, but there aren’t really any indicators at this time that our defensive results are a mirage.
- I think the point saying there is probably no player on the rental market that makes us legitimate contenders is ridiculous. We are 5th in the league and while I understand we’ve had some playoff struggles, we are still already legitimate contenders - we have some holes/issues to deal, as do all the others. We don’t need some massive change to our group, we could probably use an impact scorer (one who can ideally help the pp) and we need to reconfigure some of the depth forwards as well. Our holes are no more significant than the other contending teams.
You're right in that just over a third of the way into the season, the defense and goaltending have been extremely successful, and the defense has been relatively healthy. If that continues through to March I'll be thrilled. My concerns are the following:
- Going into the season, I don't think it was a stretch to say that just about everyone on the defense has slotted a position too high, Rielly not an ideal 1D, Tanev's not an ideal #2, etc. Outside of Mo, many have exceeded expectations in a relatively small sample size.
- Two of our 3 most important defenders have been plagued by extensive injury issues in their careers. McCabe has never played a full season in 12 years in the league and has already missed time with injury. Tanev has played one full season in 15 years in the league and eclipsed 70 games just three times. A Tanev injury, in particular, is something the Leafs are ill-equipped to weather. The idea of Timmins, Hakanapaa or Myers playing top 4 minutes in important games is scary.
Outside of Brock Nelson, which pending UFA that might realistically be available would move the needle for the Leafs in your view? Granlund has failed to hit the ground running after two deadline trades already and won't get the same minutes in Toronto. Pettersson and Provorov are awkward fits for various reasons and it seems most think the forward group is most in need of an addition anyways. I have a hard time seeing Marchand being dealt to the Leafs even if the Bruins are out of it. Claude Giroux's not the scoring threat he once was and will probably be in high demand if he even wants to chase a cup. Others aren't that much of an offensive improvement over in-house options (Pacioretty/Domi/Minten).
Just for fun, for you who are the legit contender right now?
Florida who one of 10 worst defensive team this season?
NYR who gad been a deceptikn most of season
Carolina who always the same story year after year
NJ whowas a nob-playoff team last year?
Washington??? really???
Tampa with no depht or Boston with no punch at all?
tell me who should be real pretender if Toronto are not because sorry i don't see at all
I see what you're saying, it does seem the east/atlantic is more open than in years past.
Out of the Atlantic, I'm still not confident in the Leafs beating Florida or Tampa. Florida's defense and goaltending have taken a step back but hard to know what you're getting from Bob come playoff time. Tampa, in my view has a better defense and I'm taking Vasilevskiy over Stolarz/Woll in a best of 7 series - you may disagree. Not to mention both teams have multiple high end forwards who have outperformed the core 4 in the playoffs the past several seasons.
In the Metro, Carolina's a tough matchup and Jersey is no slouch. I also have trouble with seeing how you can argue the Caps defense/goaltending is a mirage but then argue the Leafs group is for real. Maybe you've seen some stats I'm not aware of. I don't think the Caps are contenders either FYI.
