Confirmed with Link: Leafs signed Ron Hainsey to a 2 year deal $6 mil ($3 mil AAV)

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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Im not too concerned about Hainseys puck movement, he isnt any worse than Polak in that regard.

He will also be paired with Gardiner or Rielly, so he likely will defer to them whenever he can.

He is being brought in to help be a calming influence back there and help fill a void on the PK that Polak departing represents.

Looking at last season it looks like a counterpart to Morgan. Jake and Z worked great.
 

Sypher04

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
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Looking at last season it looks like a counterpart to Morgan. Jake and Z worked great.

Rielly and Zaitsev were our best pair for over half the season before Rielly suffered that high ankle sprain and struggled upon returning. I fully expect Rielly and Zaitsev back together to start next year.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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Rielly and Zaitsev were our best pair for over half the season before Rielly suffered that high ankle sprain and struggled upon returning. I fully expect Rielly and Zaitsev back together to start next year.

They were absolutely not as good. That is wrong and you dont have evidence of that. Morgan and Z as a pairing was good but not good enough from the get go.
 

Sypher04

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Jan 20, 2011
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They were absolutely not as good. That is wrong and you dont have evidence of that. Morgan and Z as a pairing was good but not good enough from the get go.

The only "evidence" I need is watching the games. I'm sure you did too, but I completely disagree with you assertion that Gardiner and Zaitsev together was better as a top pair. Gardiner had statistically the best season, but a lot of that was helped by Rielly and Zaitsev taking the tough matchups for like two thirds of the year. When we weren't finding our footing as a team to start the year, and Rielly wasn't playing injured, they were our top guys, without question.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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The only "evidence" I need is watching the games. I'm sure you did too, but I completely disagree with you assertion that Gardiner and Zaitsev together was better as a top pair. Gardiner had statistically the best season, but a lot of that was helped by Rielly and Zaitsev taking the tough matchups for like two thirds of the year. When we weren't finding our footing as a team to start the year, and Rielly wasn't playing injured, they were our top guys, without question.

Every test and measure shows that Z and G were a big upgrade for us. Even the +/- that Don loves so much started going the other way for Morgan almost immediately! So are you saying he got instantly better but the coach refused to put the lines back rhe way they were? Does that make sense even???
 

Sypher04

Registered User
Jan 20, 2011
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Every test and measure shows that Z and G were a big upgrade for us. Even the +/- that Don loves so much started going the other way for Morgan almost immediately! So are you saying he got instantly better but the coach refused to put the lines back rhe way they were? Does that make sense even???

I already said Rielly, after the high ankle sprain, was playing injured and struggling. Lessening his matchup for a bit making his plus minus improve shouldn't be shocking.

Rielly, by all accounts, was never back to 100% this season.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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I already said Rielly, after the high ankle sprain, was playing injured and struggling. Lessening his matchup for a bit making his plus minus improve shouldn't be shocking.

Rielly, by all accounts, was never back to 100% this season.

He struggled in his own zone all season. That didnt help but are you saying when he was 100% in the PO and the 10 games before the PO he was looking good on 2nd pairing, that, Mike Babcock did not go back to Rielly because of injury??. So he arguably plays some of his personal best hockey does not at all look slow or like he cant move but is injured? I tjink he said in an interview he feels good or 100% then as well.

I think you just love Rielly and want to believe what you want to believe even if facts dont line up.
 

Bluelines

Python FTW!
Nov 17, 2013
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I already said Rielly, after the high ankle sprain, was playing injured and struggling. Lessening his matchup for a bit making his plus minus improve shouldn't be shocking.

Rielly, by all accounts, was never back to 100% this season.

Even before that injury, Rielly and Zaits were both playing a slot higher in the lineup than they should have been playing. they were a dumpster fire playing together, for whatever reason Gardiner and Zaitsev were a better pairing than Rielly and Zaitsev and that is not saying Rielly is a bad dman, he is IMO our best defender.

I'm one of Jakes biggest critics but when him and Zaitsev played together they were our best and most consistent pairing all season.

Hainsey is not a top pairing Dman, maybe a #4 guy, if him and Morgan gel, that gives us 2 decent pairings, play the 1st and 2nd pairings equal number of minutes and try to deploy them in a similar fashion.
 

Sypher04

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Jan 20, 2011
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He struggled in his own zone all season. That didnt help but are you saying when he was 100% in the PO and the 10 games before the PO he was looking good on 2nd pairing, that, Mike Babcock did not go back to Rielly because of injury??. So he arguably plays some of his personal best hockey does not at all look slow or like he cant move but is injured? I tjink he said in an interview he feels good or 100% then as well.

I think you just love Rielly and want to believe what you want to believe even if facts dont line up.

You know who struggled just as much in his own zone all year? Gardiner.

I don't recall that quote, but players tend to say stuff like that whether true or not, so I wouldn't take it entirely at face value. I do believe I recall, there were several reports that Rielly's ankle injury wasn't going to fully heal before the end of the year. Though I think it's fair to say at minimum, he was feeling and playing more like himself towards the very end of the regular season.
 

The Thin White Duke

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Aug 11, 2009
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Rielly and Zaitsev put up a laughable 43% GF together. Gardiner and Zaitsev put up 52% GF despite playing the same competition and zone starts that Rielly and Zaitsev were playing prior to the switch. The switch to Gardiner dropped Zaitsev's GA/60 by almost a full goal.

It's not remotely debatable, Gardiner-Zaitsev was a significantly more effective pairing at even strength.
 

zeke

The Dube Abides
Mar 14, 2005
66,937
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actually you're right that it was 12goals for and 11 against in their short time together. the rest of the numbers, though:

Zaitsev with:

Rielly: 49.4cf%, 48.6ff%, 48.6sf%, 50.3scf%
Jake: 48.0cf%, 46.8ff%, 45.1sf%, 48.9scf%
 

The Thin White Duke

Registered User
Aug 11, 2009
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actually you're right that it was 12goals for and 11 against in their short time together. the rest of the numbers, though:

Zaitsev with:

Rielly: 49.4cf%, 48.6ff%, 48.6sf%, 50.3scf%
Jake: 48.0cf%, 46.8ff%, 45.1sf%, 48.9scf%

I'm going off of hockeyanalysis's WOWYs, Zaitsev was Gardiner's 2nd most common d-partner at 5on5, I wouldn't really call that a short time together. About 20 games worth of 5on5 minutes, it's not the best sample size but it's not nothing.

But you are right, I did make a mistake, Zaitsev and Rielly put up a 40% GF together not 43% with 3.47 GA/60. Their drop in CF% was due to a drop in CF, not an increase in CA, Zaitsev's CA actually dropped slightly with Gardiner. A 1.4 drop in GA/60 is hard to ignore though, and 300+ minutes together isn't insignificant. I'm sure that some of that can be attributed to playing in front of late-season Andersen instead of October Andersen, but I don't think it accounts for the whole difference.
 
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SeaOfBlue

The Passion That Unites Us All
Aug 1, 2013
35,591
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Question, maybe for the Pens fans lurking in this thread. What would Hainsey do differently in this video...



Get the puck out probably. It was a lot of bad bounces, excellent forechecking and poor overall team play. I doubt one player would have made a difference besides Hainsey being able to get the puck out when guys like Gardiner had multiple opportunities to.
 

SEER

Registered User
Sep 21, 2015
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My 1st highlight-montage for.., Ron Hainsey.., who played Defense position with the 2016-17 Carolina Hurricanes....
and with the 2016-17 Stanley Cup winning Pittsburgh Penguins...

Ron was acquired through free agency by the Toronto Maple Leafs.., on July 1st 2017...

2017_7_1_6164dbda-5804-46d5-ae7e-71ce2a32e271_jpg_1920x1080.jpg


cut.jpg


Ron Hainsey
Defense -- shoots L
Born Mar 24 1981 -- Bolton, CT
36 yrs. ago
Height 6.03 -- Weight 210

RECENT STATS:

2014-15 Carolina Hurricanes - NHL
81 Games... 2 Goals... 8 Assists... 10 Points... -14
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015-16 Carolina Hurricanes - NHL
81 Games... 5 Goals... 14 Assists... 19 Points... -13
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*2016-17 Carolina Hurricanes - NHL
56 Games... 4 Goals... 10 Assists... 14 Points... -16
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*2016-17 Pittsburgh Penguins - NHL
16 Games... 0 Goals... 3 Assists... 3 Points... +8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*2017 NHL PLAYOFFS
25 Games... 2 Goals... 6 Assists... 8 Points... +5
(*2017 Stanley Cup Champions)

Clips include: Assorted Hainsey 2013-17 season goals with the Carolina Hurricanes...; Ron's two post-season goals against Columbus & Nashville, in the 2017 NHL Playoffs.., after being traded to the Penguins..; audio clips from an interview done on July 1st 2017,
just after being signed to the Leafs... and a few other 2012-17 season photos & clips.....

Tyrant: Ron Hainsey Assorted 2013-2017 Highlights - TML (HD)


 

Mr Hockey

Toronto
May 11, 2017
11,156
3,660
Question, maybe for the Pens fans lurking in this thread. What would Hainsey do differently in this video...



Following Jake Gardiner from the start to finish is amusing, he is so bad/lost under dzone pressure lol.
 

thewave

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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Following Jake Gardiner from the start to finish is amusing, he is so bad/lost under dzone pressure lol.

Its hockey man. You can pick boneheaded plays out for everyone and anyone you want. Just pick your D and we can find players fatigued getting lost or missing a pass etc.
 

Mr Hockey

Toronto
May 11, 2017
11,156
3,660
Its hockey man. You can pick boneheaded plays out for everyone and anyone you want. Just pick your D and we can find players fatigued getting lost or missing a pass etc.

Wave, he is lost and wandering the entire shift. This is why he can never be a top pair.
 

zeke

The Dube Abides
Mar 14, 2005
66,937
36,957
The Hainsey takes this summer were so weird.

Hainsey has been a top quality #3/#4 defensive and PK dman his entire career, on mostly good dcorps, and was the #2 dman on the cup champs a few months ago.

But everybody decided to call him a bottom pair defenseman after we signed him, for some bizarre reason, even though he literally has never been a bottom pair defenseman, ever.
 

Woodman19

Registered User
Jun 14, 2008
18,494
1,869
The Hainsey takes this summer were so weird.

Hainsey has been a top quality #3/#4 defensive and PK dman his entire career, on mostly good dcorps, and was the #2 dman on the cup champs a few months ago.

But everybody decided to call him a bottom pair defenseman after we signed him, for some bizarre reason, even though he literally has never been a bottom pair defenseman, ever.
I think he's going to go down as our most underrated acquisition of the offseason and his partner will get all the credit.
 

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