Mason Raymond is Really Fun To Watch

[Bravid Nonahan]

Let me preface this by saying I am NOT making this thread solely based on last night's game. In my opinion, Mason Raymond has been one of our most consistent performers, night in and night out. He consistently shows great speed, good offensive instincts, and actually a pretty good cycle game (better than expected).

I know he is only a 1M player this year, and I had low expectations. With that said, I would easily support the notion of re-signing him for 3M per year, or triple his current salary. I think Mason Raymond is a genuine top 6 forward. In my opinion, he could be a scaled back version of Joffrey Lupul (not in terms of their play, but in terms of how his career has progressed). They are very similar - both had promising seasons as younger players, but through a combination of injuries and falling out of favour with their teams, they sought employment elsewhere.

I think we should keep Mason Raymond.

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[CerebralDevil]

Let me preface this by saying I am NOT making this thread solely based on last night's game. In my opinion, Mason Raymond has been one of our most consistent performers, night in and night out. He consistently shows great speed, good offensive instincts, and actually a pretty good cycle game (better than expected).

I know he is only a 1M player this year, and I had low expectations. With that said, I would easily support the notion of re-signing him for 3M per year, or triple his current salary. I think Mason Raymond is a genuine top 6 forward. In my opinion, he could be a scaled back version of Joffrey Lupul (not in terms of their play, but in terms of how his career has progressed). They are very similar - both had promising seasons as younger players, but through a combination of injuries and falling out of favour with their teams, they sought employment elsewhere.

I think we should keep Mason Raymond.

I agree. I like Raymond with Lupal and Holland they seem to really scare teams with their speed and skill. It looks like they are starting to gel too which after watching last nights game can be a very,very tough line to slow down.

 

[Stephen]

Whether he should be kept depends on how consistent he contributes the rest of the season. It's one thing to look amazing when things are going well, but how frustrating is it when he's somewhat invisible for 2 weeks at a time?

That said, when things are clicking for him, he looks like a superstar, he's creative, dynamic, explosive, all those great things.

 

[Strategy]

Contract year..

 

[ktf]

I watched him for years in Vancouver and thus was not too excited when he showed up in camp. I liked the idea of having him as a cheap addition. Basically, I wouldn't mind keeping him around beyond this year at a reasonable salary(similar to what it is now), but... other then the start of the year and a few exceptions since he has had the same issues as in Vancouver. He is invisible most of the time. Shies away from any form of contact. Last night as a textbook example of his occasionally stupid penalty. He is an okay penalty killer, but not great. The same frustration with him is the once every two-three weeks he plays like last night.

 

[InterceptSchenn]

Personally not a fan, too soft and loses too many puck battles but couldn't be happier that he is producing nice numbers for a million bucks.

 

[IBeL34f]

Contract year..

Last year was a contract year as well, and he's already put up 2 more points in 12 fewer games as a Maple Leaf.

 

[LeafsNation149]

Hes amazing for 1M but sometimes he has the worst moments when he doesn't pass or just loses it, I love him in a third line role but I think he's a good 2nd line substitute but he's best when hes not given a lot of expectations of scoring so for a 3rd line hes pretty darn good

 

[CanadasTeam]

Everybody's comments are pretty much on the ball here.

To me he's still a wild card and difficult to really evaluate until after 20 more games, watch him play alongside healthy players once they've all come back from injury (same thing I'm thinking about Clarkson).

 

[zong]

simple, him or McArthur?

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

Most consistent?

 

[WillNyeTheHockeyGuy]

He's very good in spurts, then utterly terrible in spurts. Highly inconsistent. 3rd liner that can be a 2nd liner some nights. For 1m, he's amazing. You start paying him 3m a year and you'll regret it.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

I think if you keep Raymond somewhat sheltered and his expectations low, he is a good player to have around

He has great speed but his offensive ability isn't on par to his speed so it is expected that his offensive production is inconsistent. IMO its not a lack of effort

 

[Peasy]

I remember reading comments the other day saying how he never passes or uses his teammates then the next game he puts up 4 assists lol...

 

[Hibachi]

I think he's great, but depends how much he wants on the open market. The cap is going up, so someone will dish out 4million for him in the off-season. I personally don't think he's worth 4million.

He's having a great year with the Leafs, but he's been known to be inconsistent throughout his career. Maybe he will take some type of discount to play in a system he succeeds in, doubtful though.

 

[Semantics]

simple, him or McArthur?

MacArthur AINEC. Raymond is not very good defensively, and he's way too soft. He's scored most of his points this year in bunches against soft teams (well, Chicago can play hard, but they didn't last night and their goalie sucked).

 

[Purity*]

When Bolland is back, I would LOVE to bring back the line of Raymond-Bolland-Clarkson, we didn't see that line very much at all but it looked fantastic in the short sample-size we saw of it, Clarkson hasn't worked out so well in the top 6 so we might as well put him in a role where he can be useful.

 

[Cor]

guy needs to learn when to pass though, doesn't use his line mates that well. Did good at this last night, and that is when he is most effective.

 

[Banic]

Though the cap is rising and he may outprice himself I don't think it'll be of concern. MacArth, Raymond etc are easily attainable assets on the free agent market and if it's necessary we can always find someone of their ilk to fill a need for a year

 

[JAMmer124]

simple, him or McArthur?

On identical contracts? MacArthur. On current contracts? MayRay.

 

[Glenn Isildur Healy]

simple, him or McArthur?

A slight edge to MacArthur

More of a physical presence and more skilled offensively. Although, I do like Raymond more on the PK

 

[TieClark]

He makes terrible, terrible decisions on a consistent basis. He wont be here next year when he wants 3 per and we should have 0 interest in giving it to him

 

[Northernguy10]

I think he's great, but depends how much he wants on the open market. The cap is going up, so someone will dish out 4million for him in the off-season. I personally don't think he's worth 4million.

He's having a great year with the Leafs, but he's been known to be inconsistent throughout his career. Maybe he will take some type of discount to play in a system he succeeds in, doubtful though.

If you are judging him on inconsistency then he's in the same boat as the rest of the team. He could be even better than his good nights but that would involve him getting physically involved. It's pretty simple as it is with most players. The team has to be evaluated at the trade deadline and/or year end to determine his place on the team and his monetary worth. If he fits in he's here. If he doesn't...he's gone.

 

[Espher]

simple, him or McArthur?

I think Raymond fits better in a 3rd-line capacity, which is where he would likely be slotted most of the year. His effort level seems to be there more often than not, too, which I like, but we'll see how it holds up. MacArthur had similar strikes against him but Raymond's got some wheels and I think that's a good tiebreaker.

The real issue would be money demands. I think MacArthur may be better in a role with more responsibility as a result of a higher price point, so if we're looking at 3.5m and more of a 2nd-line role I'd take Mac over Raymond. But man, I love Raymond's wheels.

 

[ponder]

I like him a lot. I'd be absolutely PSYCHED to bring him back at $2 mil per year, and would be happy to have him at $3 mil per year. If we have to give him $4 mil per year, then we probably let him walk, it's a bit much for Raymond, and just not in our budget (especially with Clarkson eating up $5.25 mil in cap space basically forever).