What are you looking forward to most this season?

[Racer88]

The cap has barely gone up... this doesn't prove or disprove anything.

The cap also went up more this year than Dubas' entire tenure as GM here... that is how bad it was during that time...

It shows a trend. The cap went up the most since Covid and the core 4 cost an even higher percentage How can you dispute this?

 

[ULF_55]

Nice to see the majority are looking at the bigger picture ... Berube influence.

 

[Sypher04]

1. Influence of coaching changes
2. Who becomes the #1 goalie
3. Special teams changes
4. Rookies in the lineup
5. Tanev with Rielly

My top 3 here doesn’t exactly match my votes because I missed a couple options on my first look at the poll, but they are all in my top 5.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Cap will be impacted by the difference between:

Tavares 11mm + marner 10.9mm
and
marner 12mm + Tavares 6mm

Hard pass.

We need major change

 

[ULF_55]

Hard pass.

We need major change

Ain't gonna happen.

 

[rumman]

Nice to see the majority are looking at the bigger picture ... Berube influence.

I don’t think Berube can motivate this bunch if they continue to think they run the show, what’s in it for them? They get paid like winners and have long summers, without consequences of being failures…….

Ain't gonna happen.

Agree, at this point they could lose in the first round every year and it won’t be enough to make changes. Tre’s another Shanahan puppet………

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Agree, at this point they could lose in the first round every year and it won’t be enough to make changes. Tre’s another Shanahan puppet………

Shanahan is gonzo after this year.

Contract up, not being renewed

 

[RunItBackAgain]

Cap will be impacted by the difference between:

Tavares 11mm + marner 10.9mm
and
marner 12mm + Tavares 6mm

Anyone who thinks this isn’t what will happen is delulu. And honestly those numbers are conservative with our negotiating skills.

 

[Arzak]

Oh boy Mitch's PR machine getting creative?

Uber chokage from MM after being separated from Mathews

 

[rumman]

Shanahan is gonzo after this year.

Contract up, not being renewed

Yeah, and Marner’s being traded too, although it’s obvious Shanahan has destroyed this team I have little hope he’ll be axed, probably will be extended for doing a wonderful job………..

 

[Racer88]

Ain't gonna happen.

It will when we have to do a tank and rebuild in about 5-6 years

 

[RunItBackAgain]

It will when we have to do a tank and rebuild in about 5-6 years

Knowing our luck we’ll be stuck in purgatory for a decade after those 5-6 years though until we are allowed the privilege of rebuilding somewhat properly again.

 

[Gary Nylund]

Looking forward to the Marner trade that'll probably never happen. Maybe I'll look into getting hypnotized so that I don't remember our pathetic playoff failures, then the season could be fun.

 

[al secord]

Looking forward to another hockey season and cheering on the Leafs. Interested to see the Berube influence and how the young guys progress.

 

[Nineteen67]

Anyone who thinks this isn’t what will happen is delulu. And honestly those numbers are conservative with our negotiating skills.

If those contracts get signed during the season then were on the Berube watch….

Looking forward to another hockey season and cheering on the Leafs. Interested to see the Berube influence and how the young guys progress.

That’s what they’re marketing this year.

 

[ACC1224]

Looking forward to another hockey season and cheering on the Leafs. Interested to see the Berube influence and how the young guys progress.

It's what fans do!!

 

[crump]

Always a lot to look forward to. Coach, captain and Goalie situation is most interesting to me.

These are the season long influences therefore carry the most weight (although traditionally the captain C is really only a decoration these days, but it will be interesting to see if it brings out different qualities in Matthews)

The other options are things that will ebb and flow with the season. Interesting but after a 10 game stretch we’ll know how Tanev and Rielly work together for example. We’ll see if the rookies made the leap or how Knies has progressed

 

[Jojalu]

I don’t think Berube can motivate this bunch if they continue to think they run the show, what’s in it for them? They get paid like winners and have long summers, without consequences of being failures…….


Agree, at this point they could lose in the first round every year and it won’t be enough to make changes. Tre’s another Shanahan puppet………

I am not disputing that the Leafs 4 are overpaid, but in what sport, including hockey has anyone ever been paid because they win?

In every sport outside of hockey, players vet paid truckloads of money before they ever play a pro game.

Look at hockey alone. Look at the list of the higheat paid players. In the top 20, less than half have won. In the top 50, it is even a smaller number.

 

[HockeyVirus]

I'm not looking forward to a darned thing this coming season. I expect more of the same as the last 8 years!

Absolutely nothing much has really CHANGED with the roster of this Leafs team. Just more shuffling of the deck chairs. Pelley, Shanahan, and Treliving LIED to us at the season ending presser by saying that big changes were coming.

Treliving himself has even said that he was satisfied with the 'modest' changes. Adding a couple of 30 something D-men does not constitute major changes as was promised by management.

Stripping the C from Tavares, and giving it to Matthews, does not constitute major change IMHO. IMHO, letting Bertuuzi leave as a free agent does not constitute major change, especially when he has not been replaced on the roster.

How does a the letter C on his jersey change Matthews? Will it help him to be more of an impact player more often. Will he score more consistently instead of in spurts here and there? Does Matthews new raise get him over the hump to make him a 70 goal scorer in the regular season? Does Matthew finally become a 12 to 15 goal scorer in the playoffs?

Money Mitch Marner has proven in spades that he is NOT a playoff performer. He avoids contact at all cost during the regular season, and then becomes a terrified little boy during the playoffs when tight hockey and physicality rises significantly. Will any of this change with Berube? Will resigning Marner to a larger cap hit magically transform him to be playoff warrior?

Will head coach Berube, and his staff, be able to instill a better work ethic, and killer instinct, in our current core of players? Will the new coaching staff be able to inspire the entire team to play hard from the opening puck drop to the final buzzer? Both Babcock and Keefe were rarely able to have our core players, and the rest of the team, show up on time for an entire game.

I could go on, however it's a waste of time. MLSE and Leafs management are going to do what they want and are not listening to the fans that wanted REAL CHANGE. Doing the same things over and over expecting different results is the MO of our Leafs and MLSE.

Go ahead, extend Money Mitch Marner for $12M plus. Sell more jerseys! Insane idiots, from Pelley on down !!!

JMHO.

That is pretty sad man. Why even bother following hockey at this point? Just go do other things with your time or find another team.

Seriously nothing makes you excited? I have been a fan for over 30 years, pissed at the team every offseason, and I still have countdowns on my phone for everything. Driving my wife nuts that hockey is back soon.

Do I love everything about it no but hockey is fun and I like watching the Leafs. If I didn't I wouldn't waste my time posting about them online and being miserable.

 

[weems]

Roster wise, the thing I'll be watching closely early on is Tanev, OEL and Liljegren.

Whatever you think of the core, They are elite offensive players that will drive us to the playoffs.
We know what kind of player Rielly is and he's been a staple on the blueline.
I think you can confidently say the goal tending will be around average.

Tanev, OEL and Liljegren together combine to take up 11 million dollars in cap but I would say the range of outcomes for them is pretty big. I could see where all three play well but also a scenario where Tanev is solid but the other two struggle. We don't have a bonifide #2, so this puts more pressure on our overall depth being strong to carry the unit.

 

[Al14]

That is pretty sad man. Why even bother following hockey at this point? Just go do other things with your time or find another team.

Seriously nothing makes you excited? I have been a fan for over 30 years, pissed at the team every offseason, and I still have countdowns on my phone for everything. Driving my wife nuts that hockey is back soon.

Do I love everything about it no but hockey is fun and I like watching the Leafs. If I didn't I wouldn't waste my time posting about them online and being miserable.

Well dude, I've been a loyal Leafs fan for nearly 65 years. So, I have seen it all with our Leafs!

I experienced the total exhilaration of witnessing our Leafs win their last Stanley Cup championship in 1967. I was a 12 year old kid at that time. I'm now nearly 70 years old.

What is really sad is fans like you questioning my fandom and telling me to stop watching hockey, and especially telling this VERY LOYAL fan to 'find another team.'

I live in Ottawa, and was born in all places, Montreal. So, if I really didn't thoroughly love my Leafs, I have other prospective teams to cheer for. However, no matter how bad our Leafs have been during the Ballard years, and how disappointing they have been for the past 8 years, cheering for either of those two scum teams makes me sick.

I was cheering for Hamilton to get the franchise. Instead, the f***ing NHL gave it to SnOttawa. I have witnessed numerous so called Leaf fans abandon our Leafs for the Senaturds. I have worked my entire career here in SnOttawa, and believe me, I was surrounded by Habs fans for 36 long years. So, please never tell me to 'find another team' ever again.

I love hockey with a passion. I played hockey, however my growth years ended with me being only 5'8". My skills, including hand eye coordination and skating ability, didn't trump my short stature. So, instead of having a hockey career as a player, I coached minor hockey for many, many years. Hockey has always been my passion, and so has our Toronto Maple Leafs.

My only wish in my golden years of life is to feel the excitement and exhilaration of witnessing our Leafs win another Stanley Cup championship! That is all I ask before I pass on from this world. Time is getting short for that to happen.

Yes, I'm always happy as hockey season approaches. I'm just running out of faith that the current version of our Leafs are any closer to being a championship team. As good as the core 5 are, they aren't good enough to win it all on their own. However, they took a huge piece of the Cap leaving insufficient money to round out the team with better support players.

So, I'm expecting more of the same like we've seen for the past 8 years. A good regular season followed by another disappointing playoffs. I was expecting BIGGER changes as was promised by Pelley, Shanahan, and Treliving. It didn't happen IMHO.

So, our Leafs have a new head coach and assistant coaches. So, our Leafs have a new captain. All that has been done this off season was to shuffle the deck chairs. IMHO, we needed a real change to the core 5. We needed to really upgrade the D, not bring in 2 30 something D-men and call it a day.

I'm happy that hockey season is getting closer, however I'm cautious to expect our Leafs will be any better than they have been for the past 8 years. I'll believe it when I see it !!!

Go Leafs Go !!!

 

[Gary Nylund]

I am not disputing that the Leafs 4 are overpaid, but in what sport, including hockey has anyone ever been paid because they win?

In every sport outside of hockey, players vet paid truckloads of money before they ever play a pro game.

Look at hockey alone. Look at the list of the higheat paid players. In the top 20, less than half have won. In the top 50, it is even a smaller number.

This is mostly true but I think there are cases where players do get contracts that they would not have gotten without winning. Jonathan Toews is the first name that pops into my head, I'm pretty sure he doesn't get that ridiculous contract he was given had the team not won a bunch of cups first.

 

[al secord]

If those contracts get signed during the season then were on the Berube watch….


That’s what they’re marketing this year.

Those subliminal messages must be getting to me.

 

[Nineteen67]

Those subliminal messages must be getting to me.

It’s not subliminal - Berube is the face of the changes they promised in May.

 

[Dekes For Days]

It shows a trend. The cap went up the most since Covid and the core 4 cost an even higher percentage

They take up a higher percentage because the cap went up 4.5m in the same year that our contracts came due and Treliving gave out 6.1m in raises.
That doesn't say anything about the benefits of a rising cap with locked in cap hits, and not sure what "trend" you think you're seeing.