Confirmed with Link: Timothy Liljegren signed to a 2 year extension (AAV of 1.4M)

[Torontonian]

Honestly, I'm fine with Lyubushkin not coming back. He was a defenseman who hit people hard but didn't have the "Nasty" or "Mean streak" the leafs need.

Gubrandson, Luke Schenn, Chiarot, etc....are the type of defenseman the leafs need.

People liked Bush because he hit people hard, but didn't actually watch him play the game of hockey. Numerous turnovers when it was a easy play to make, got beat to the outside many times. Reminded me of Roman Polak.

Anyways, signing is fine, typical bridge deal, just hope he turns out to be a top 4-man for us by the end of this contract.

 

[Hoglund4MvP]

People liked Bush because he hit people hard, but didn't actually watch him play the game of hockey. Numerous turnovers when it was a easy play to make, got beat to the outside many times. Reminded me of Roman Polak.

Only have Dubas to blame. Boosh played his role well and would have been fine on third pairing.

Our ugly balance on D and lack of crease clearers Keefe wanted, forced bush to go beside Rielly.

Bush exposed a weakness in the team build, he wasn't a weakness on his own.

It also why bush had to play over holl. Holl is soft around the net so we have no choice to make the depth chart bush > lil > holl (keefe thinks its bush > holl> lil)

 

[Ziggdiezan]

I wonder what the number was to lock him up long term but I get why they went bridge. Aav is fine

 

[SeaOfBlue]

People liked Bush because he hit people hard, but didn't actually watch him play the game of hockey. Numerous turnovers when it was a easy play to make, got beat to the outside many times. Reminded me of Roman Polak.

Anyways, signing is fine, typical bridge deal, just hope he turns out to be a top 4-man for us by the end of this contract.

Polak was much better than Lyubushkin.

 

[Torontonian]

Only have Dubas to blame. Boosh played his role well and would have been fine on third pairing.

Our ugly balance on D and lack of crease clearers Keefe wanted, forced bush to go beside Rielly.

Bush exposed a weakness in the team build, he wasn't a weakness on his own.

It also why bush had to play over holl. Holl is soft around the net so we have no choice to make the depth chart bush > lil > holl (keefe thinks its bush > holl> lil)

Boosh had to play higher in the lineup then he should have, but at the end of the day was still a poor player for us in that role, at the end of the day he couldn't make a simple play or pass, not sure that would have changed playing on the 3rd pairing either.

I agree Toronto has had the issue of having to play players in positions they shouldn't be. The revolving door on the 2nd line LW is another position we keep putting lesser players in the spot when they aren't good enough to be there.

Polak was much better than Lyubushkin.

They are the same type of player, much better is a extreme, both bigger/stronger players that won battles along the boards but couldn't do anything with the puck on there stick, I guess you could give the edge to Polak because he could skate better then Boosh.

If Toronto is looking for that type of player, they need someone that can actually do something with the puck once they win the battle, Manson is a good example of what Toronto should be looking for if they trying to find a mean/tough d-man.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Only have Dubas to blame. Boosh played his role well and would have been fine on third pairing.

Our ugly balance on D and lack of crease clearers Keefe wanted, forced bush to go beside Rielly.

Bush exposed a weakness in the team build, he wasn't a weakness on his own.

It also why bush had to play over holl. Holl is soft around the net so we have no choice to make the depth chart bush > lil > holl (keefe thinks its bush > holl> lil)

What explains Lyubushkin absolutely sucking as a crease clearer and guy along the boards in the playoffs? That is supposed to be his "thing", and he was struggling in the exact role that he was expected to fill.

The depth chart should have been Holl/Liljegren > Lyubushkin. That was the mistake Keefe made, especially since he wasn't really trusting Lyubushkin very often anyways, and the only time he looked decent was with Rielly.

 

[BertCorbeau]

Back on the topic of Lily .. the training wheels have to be off this year and he needs to be a regular mainstay and see if he can make a top 5 push.

 

[Stephen]

People liked Bush because he hit people hard, but didn't actually watch him play the game of hockey. Numerous turnovers when it was a easy play to make, got beat to the outside many times. Reminded me of Roman Polak.

Anyways, signing is fine, typical bridge deal, just hope he turns out to be a top 4-man for us by the end of this contract.

Getting beat on the outside isn’t necessarily a terrible play if it means the attacking winger has a worse route to the net or a bad shooting angle. That’s way more preferable than getting beat on the inside with a direct line to the net like the play that ended our season.

On the other hand you could see Boosh given the green light to join the attack and that was too much for my comfort.

 

[therealkoho]

Im very happy for Tim and for the team.

Great signing he'll be a bargain at that price point and if all goes well he should be a fixture in the top 4 by mid season.

I don't think he's going to be a Borje Salming or Morgan Reilly level player when he finally peaks, but I do think if he stays a Leaf for 900+ games maybe he'll go down as a top 15 - 20 all time Leaf blueliner.

 

[NewEraGM]

If things are like last season, then Dubas has locked in our 2nd pairing on defense for 1.4 + 800k for 2 more seasons. Unreal.

If that’s your second pairing, you won’t make it to the second round

 

[deprw]

I doubt many of us want to hire more Burke’s or Nonis but how about the type of GM’s that built the cup winners and recent past winners.

Burke and Lou were those picks. Burke set us back years and years. Lou couldn't fix our defense and his fix for goaltending also fell trough. His signings were one of the worst obstacles building winning team.

Having recent success doesn't guarantee that you can repeat it. If you chase success by copying old teams you're always behind. Kings, Chicago, Penguins, Blues, Tampa Bay, Capitals etc. every team had their own identity built around their core and strengths.

 

[kb]

If that’s your second pairing, you won’t make it to the second round

lol

Hayes, you are up early this morning.

 

[HockeyVirus]

If that’s your second pairing, you won’t make it to the second round

Willing to bet you have watched 0 minutes of the Leafs.

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Hyman was a Lou value deal , Lou signed Hyman and Brown the same off season for low 2's , Dubie then sign Kap and Mango who were in the same situation to deals in the 3's . Hardly something to praise him for .

Johnsson signed his deal after putting up 43 pts in 73 games for 4.17%of the cap. Kap signed his after putting up 44 pts in 78 games for 3.93%of the cap.

Hyman signed his deal after putting up 28 pts in 82 games for 3% of the cap. Brown signed his deal after putting up 36 pts in 82 games for 2.8% of the cap

It makes sense that Kap and AJ got paid more

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

Feel like pulling my hair out listening to Hayes and o rag on this extension. They’re comparing him to bogo or EJ when he’s going to fill the Byram or girard role.

Some people can't admit when they're wrong eh. It just makes you look worse when constantly doubling down trying to convince others.

Complaining about a useful player that can play in all situations and put up a pace of 30 pts over 82 games in his rookie year at a price tag of 1.4M is petty and makes them look dumber.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Only have Dubas to blame. Boosh played his role well and would have been fine on third pairing.

Our ugly balance on D and lack of crease clearers Keefe wanted, forced bush to go beside Rielly.

Bush exposed a weakness in the team build, he wasn't a weakness on his own.

It also why bush had to play over holl. Holl is soft around the net so we have no choice to make the depth chart bush > lil > holl (keefe thinks its bush > holl> lil)

Holl and Lub are both 6th/7th men .. in betweeners wrt their skating between A and N .. Lub is preferred cause he brings a physical element to his game .. but Lily is better than both by a significant amount and he should have played in playoffs with Gio .. big error by Dubie

 

[hotpaws]

Johnsson signed his deal after putting up 43 pts in 73 games for 4.17%of the cap. Kap signed his after putting up 44 pts in 78 games for 3.93%of the cap.

Hyman signed his deal after putting up 28 pts in 82 games for 3% of the cap. Brown signed his deal after putting up 36 pts in 82 games for 2.8% of the cap

It makes sense that Kap and AJ got paid more

basically your saying the only way to value a player is points so we're done here

continue with your Dubas love in but just remember there's only so many years Dubas can fail before he gets kicked to the curb and he's times running

the funny thing about Dubies fan club is they never take a look at what he's actually built but just blindly praise him so i'll go through the roster quickly to enlighten you as to where the roster stands so far this off season

inherited - Mathews/Marner/Nylander/Rielly/Lilly/

Dubie's build

G
Mzarek - injury prone , overpaid and mediocre

D
Gio 39 , should have a least another year in a depth role in him
Muzzin 33 - injury prone and regressing
Brodie 32 - solid D , smart , moves the puck well , positional sound but doesn't bring much offense and is on the soft side
Holl 30 - everybodies favorite whipping boy
Sandin - good edges but slow , willing but gets pushed around easily and weak in his own end

F
Tavares - on the down side and grossly overpaid , basically just a net front presence for the most part
Bunting - one of the few bargain bin signings that panned out , fits well as the 3rd wheel on the top line
Kase - i like him but the concussions are why he signed cheap and he unfortunately suffered another one and was useless in the playoffs , hopefully for his sake he packs it in and has no term long issues
Kampf - came as advertised , solid D , weak O , better suited as a 4th line C/PKer
the rest are replacement level type guys no one would miss

the lineup around the core is aging and has glaring holes in key positions , we're capped out and Dubies been burning through picks so i have to know what the f*** is there to praise with guy ?

 

[Racer88]

Burke and Lou were those picks. Burke set us back years and years. Lou couldn't fix our defense and his fix for goaltending also fell trough. His signings were one of the worst obstacles building winning team.

Having recent success doesn't guarantee that you can repeat it. If you chase success by copying old teams you're always behind. Kings, Chicago, Penguins, Blues, Tampa Bay, Capitals etc. every team had their own identity built around their core and strengths.

The recent winner I am referring to ate the Ave’s and Tampa

 

[NewEraGM]

Willing to bet you have watched 0 minutes of the Leafs.

What ?! I’ve watched a ton…if you think Tim is on your second pairing and you have a chance, wow….

 

[francis246]

Feel like pulling my hair out listening to Hayes and o rag on this extension. They’re comparing him to bogo or EJ when he’s going to fill the Byram or girard role.

I listen every day they weren’t ragging on the extension. They were more so criticizing Dubas’ construction of the defense core. I don’t think they are wrong. I think the organization has to be realistic about what they are expecting from Sandin and Liljegren. The problem is Liljegren isn’t going to be filling the Byram role in our current construction. He is going to be asked to fill more of the EJ/Bogosian role. So Hayes is right, that isn’t the right role for Liljegren. There is a log jam so they need to make the moves to get Liljegren and Sandin in the right spots to be effective

That being said it is funny how triggered Hayes gets by the mention of Liljegren lmao. It’s actually funny. You just knew he was gonna have something negative to say about the extension

 

[cannucky]

If things are like last season, then Dubas has locked in our 2nd pairing on defense for 1.4 + 800k for 2 more seasons. Unreal.

Unreal that they are playing for that price ? or unreal that this is what we have to call our second pairing ? 6.444 million left to fill 5 roster spots including Sandin , sure we're going to land some real studs .

 

[acrobaticgoalie]

basically your saying the only way to value a player is points so we're done here

continue with your Dubas love in but just remember there's only so many years Dubas can fail before he gets kicked to the curb and he's times running

the funny thing about Dubies fan club is they never take a look at what he's actually built but just blindly praise him so i'll go through the roster quickly to enlighten you as to where the roster stands so far this off season

inherited - Mathews/Marner/Nylander/Rielly/Lilly/

Dubie's build

G
Mzarek - injury prone , overpaid and mediocre

D
Gio 39 , should have a least another year in a depth role in him
Muzzin 33 - injury prone and regressing
Brodie 32 - solid D , smart , moves the puck well , positional sound but doesn't bring much offense and is on the soft side
Holl 30 - everybodies favorite whipping boy
Sandin - good edges but slow , willing but gets pushed around easily and weak in his own end

F
Tavares - on the down side and grossly overpaid , basically just a net front presence for the most part
Bunting - one of the few bargain bin signings that panned out , fits well as the 3rd wheel on the top line
Kase - i like him but the concussions are why he signed cheap and he unfortunately suffered another one and was useless in the playoffs , hopefully for his sake he packs it in and has no term long issues
Kampf - came as advertised , solid D , weak O , better suited as a 4th line C/PKer
the rest are replacement level type guys no one would miss

the lineup around the core is aging and has glaring holes in key positions , we're capped out and Dubies been burning through picks so i have to know what the f*** is there to praise with guy ?

Players salaries are usually based off production. If players got paid based on work ethic, heart and intangibles, then grinders would get paid more. You brought up the comparison so I was curious and compared their production. Hyman was fed top line minutes with Matthews and Nylander from day 1 and Kap and AJ both out produced him on the 3rd line for example.

If Dubas got fired today, I could care less. I know you have posted that you think myself and others "love Dubas more than the team". Ive told ya before that when I usually post in these threads it's because something has been posted that I disagree with. If it's something I agree with, I will drop a like or just keep on scrolling. Right now Dubas is the GM, so he is always in the discussion. If Lou was still GM for example, I would defend him if I see a post I disagree with.

There have been a bunch of moves Dubas has made that I disagreed with in his tenure. I've also had some skepticism the past couple offseasons based on where we lie with the cap and how we were going to improve but then we still manage to put together a good roster. For example we lost our entire 3rd line of Kadri, Kap and AJ due to the cap and yet we still put together one of the best 3rd lines in the league by scraping the bottom of the barrel. We have also managed to put together a stronger D core the last few years. Our goaltending was a big question mark last year and Campbell had an all star season. Mrazek was junk though as well as not being healthy all year. Our goaltending remains an even bigger question mark this year, which has me very skeptical, but like I said we've been surprised before.

All these challenges and we've still had a franchise record setting season this year. We also looked like a different team in these playoffs and took the back to back Champs to the brink. In the end it was another 1st round exit. Dubas' tenure has been a mixed bag and if he gets fired after this season if we go out in the 1st round, I'm on board with cleaning house. Most of our playoff failures I do lay most of the blame on the players as they just didn't show up and ultimately it's on them to get the job done.

 

[deprw]

The recent winner I am referring to ate the Ave’s and Tampa

How many recent winners there have been available and how many have been able to repeat their previous success? Usually what is available is recent losers. Who have been sacked, if GM is good some franchises keep them around a decade.

Then you have to separate people that were in the right place at the right time from people that built their success. Some of former can be also latter. Is the hunger still there to really compete and are they up to bar with new standards of the league and do they have skill to update their knowledge.

Also it depends on the situation do you need fixer or builder and is there on available. Chiarelli was more of a builder and tried to fix Oilers and it went pretty badly wrong. Holland had great resume, but seems to be in trouble in the same place. Rutherford succeeded, but after a while he got into trouble and was canned.

Burke had pretty recent success, tried to retool our franchise with his vision in a hurry and it fell flat pretty fast. Lou was here and made some magic tricks with Phaneuf contract etc. but couldn't actually rebuild our defense and had problems in NJ before coming here and is having problems on the Island.

I think one thing that Babcock got right here was that "there's pain coming". I think most of the franchises have been build more around the personal on the ice rather than buying some recent winner GM that will build that roster like in the NHL 22.

 

[HockeyVirus]

Unreal that they are playing for that price ? or unreal that this is what we have to call our second pairing ? 6.444 million left to fill 5 roster spots including Sandin , sure we're going to land some real studs .

The offseason hasn't even started yet. You have no idea what moves will be made. You think this team is being run back 100% as is and only upgrading with space they have? There will be trades.

Defense is fine, which is why management feels comfortable running it back. It's the bottom 6 forwards who need upgrades, and goaltending. Defense was a team strength last year.

What ?! I’ve watched a ton…if you think Tim is on your second pairing and you have a chance, wow….

He's a very good dman. You have no clue and this is proof.

 

[NewEraGM]

The offseason hasn't even started yet. You have no idea what moves will be made. You think this team is being run back 100% as is and only upgrading with space they have? There will be trades.

Defense is fine, which is why management feels comfortable running it back. It's the bottom 6 forwards who need upgrades, and goaltending. Defense was a team strength last year.



He's a very good dman. You have no clue and this is proof.

Yea so a very good 2nd pair Dman just Ed signed for 1.4M…do you hear yourself?