Why Don't Leaf Fans view the Leafs as a Contender?

[connormcmuffin]

Boston, Tampa and Toronto all have the goaltending to win.

Boston is a one line team, now with senior citizens in their bottom nine and too young a blueline.

Tampa, we're even money, this is a team that missed the playoffs last year, Sergachev will get exposed in a 7 game series.

We still need to add a defenseman. If we do this might be our best shot for years to come. We won't always have Kap as a 4th liner and JVR on a third line.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Part of the reason is that we are relying on sophmores as our key players while Boston has some seasoned vets that are part of the core that have won it all before.

, while true, it is also worth noting that those kids have beaten that core times in the past 8 games, and a lot of those times have been without Auston Matthews

 

[Muston Atthews]

Just wait til we get Mike Green tomorrow and give up some picks, people will be losing their minds

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

because of their bad defense. me because of their bad defense and the fact that they are the worst of boston/tampa/toronto and they'd have to face one of them in the 1st round

You don't know that, the division is VERY up for grabs right now, I know you will say it isn't, because you live in a world of denial when it comes to the Leafs but the fact is, it is, particularly if they beat Tampa tomorrow, but even if they don't they still are likely to beat the panthers so worst case is they likelyfinish the back to back 4 points back of Tampa.

If they do beat Tampa then they are likely to be tied with Tampa by Wednsday.

If the Leafs win the Atlantic, and they can Tampa plays Boston in round 1

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

I read so much on here, "This Is Not Our Year" (We are on pace for the franchise's best season ever BTW).
And I am quite shocked, even today reading the Leafs should not be giving up picks in moves, they should be selling the UFAs for picks instead and keep rebuilding and forget about this year.
I don't get it. We are absolutely a contender. Who can match our speed and depth? And Freddy has been a top goalie this year.
Can someone explain why the Bruins can be viewed as a cup favourite and the Leafs are not?

I honestly think if you don't think this team is a contender, you don't know what a contender looks like, because this team is it.

They have an elite offense, they have an elite goalie, even if I don't think he's been at his best the last 2 games

could their D be better? sure it could but, and I keep brining this up the Pens D isn't loaded with Norris winners, they won because of Elite offense and Elite goaltending

Toronto has both AND Toronto has a loaded prospect pool so they can get a piece if they need it

 

[Daisy Jane]

Just wait til we get Mike Green tomorrow and give up some picks, people will be losing their minds

Probably because it was mike green
I want Hammer from ARI

 

[KDOTO]

So 4 of 30 teams look better then us. So what? Ill take those chances any day.

It's also the blocks of games you get to watch. If other fans catches any of the leafs Last 10+ they would be saying how good we are too. We are top 2 in almost all nhl categories this last month. Only ones we are not is shots, we have been dominate and still we get the Rodney Dangerfield.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Probably because it was mike green
I want Hammer from ARI

Green would be better

 

[Skin Tape Session]

Watching Boston lately, I have zero doubt that we'll best them. They're a painfully slow team and we know what to do to best them in a series. Attacking in 4 line waves would blow them over.





Tampa is scary though. That'd be an insane series..

Might be the best series in years, Fast and physical. It would come down to bounces imo

Could jump start a rivalry and be the detroit to our Chi

 

[Pyromaniac]

Cup contender? Give me a break. Our players have had a cup of coffee in the playoffs, teams like Boston and Tampa have gone deep in multiple years. When we win a playoff series, then maybe you can start having this conversation.

 

[Confucius]

Cup contender? Give me a break. Our players have had a cup of coffee in the playoffs, teams like Boston and Tampa have gone deep in multiple years. When we win a playoff series, then maybe you can start having this conversation.

Boston exited in round 1 last year, missed playoffs the year before and missed the playoffs the year before that as well.

We have a better chance than them.

 

[Pookie]

None of us know if they are Contenders and the label doesn’t matter. They have a chance, as does everyone else.

What we do know is that their current strategy is to value experience over the future. Whether that’s draft picks or whether that’s not giving youth like Leivo playoff experience or whether that’s refusing to sell players who will walk and the opportunity cost of doing so.

They are making direct decisions to draft less and have fewer spaces available on the main roster. The consequence will be reduced odds of finding players for the future, probably some trade requests and waivers.

The debate isn’t about contending. Contending “justifies” that direction but it’s unknowable.

The real debate is whether that’s a good strategy. And that too is unknowable.

What is known is that it does make it hard to be a perennial contender when you take that approach. But one hit wonders do live forever so let’s hope this works. Otherwise, back to square one.

 

[PlietscherDassel]

I don‘t view them as a contender yet, because i watched almost every Leafs game this season and we didnt play good as a team in most of them.

 

[rent free]

What if we win the division?

That would be great.

 

[613Leafer]

I don‘t view them as a contender yet, because i watched almost every Leafs game this season and we didnt play good as a team in most of them.

I think that's most teams though. Boston lost 4-1 to Buffalo last night, and clearly didn't play to the level they're capable of.

Tons of parity in this league. There's no such thing as a team that's always on night in and night out, executing to at or near the best of their abilities. All teams are streaky, all teams frustrate their own fans with dumb plays at times.

We're 5th in the league, and the four teams ahead of us have similar, if not better goaltending than us (Vasilevsky, MAF, Rinne, & Hellebuyck). So our skaters/team can't be performing substantially worse than the top 4 teams in the league if goaltending isn't a clear advantage for us over them.

 

[DarkKnight]

Some dude posted this on twitter:

“Just heard the Bruins Play by Pay guy Jack Adams call the Leafs "scary" and would prefer TB. Damn, it's so nice to be good again! #TMLtalk”

 

[Gary Nylund]

Some dude posted this on twitter:

“Just heard the Bruins Play by Pay guy Jack Adams call the Leafs "scary" and would prefer TB. Damn, it's so nice to be good again! #TMLtalk”

Super cool to hear things like that. And yes, it sure is nice to be good again. We better all get used to it because this is only the beginning.

 

[Diamond Joe Quimby]

I read so much on here, "This Is Not Our Year" (We are on pace for the franchise's best season ever BTW).
And I am quite shocked, even today reading the Leafs should not be giving up picks in moves, they should be selling the UFAs for picks instead and keep rebuilding and forget about this year.
I don't get it. We are absolutely a contender. Who can match our speed and depth? And Freddy has been a top goalie this year.
Can someone explain why the Bruins can be viewed as a cup favourite and the Leafs are not?

Insecurity, and a fear of getting one's hopes up.

 

[kb]

Nope, the Leafs are not contenders right now.

I dunno, seems like a contender to me.

 

[Nithoniniel]

People nitpick, find flaws in the team and see those as a reason we are not contenders, even though there is not a team in the league without them.

I've spent tons of time on these boards arguing for the value of maintaining a long-term perspective. My view on that hasn't changed, but such a perspective is flexible. Our opportunities are finite, and we have a good one coming up. Not taking advantage is another type of waste.

Plekanec addressed the major flaw in our team that could be fixed relatively cheaply. He was a huge upgrade, and as such is worth it as a rental.

I would take issue with getting marginal or unnecessary short-term upgrades for costly prices. Those are the mistakes we need to avoid.

From the selling perspective, it always depends on the price. But while JVR is mostly just a PP specialist, he is a crucial part to what is arguably the best or second best PP unit in the league. Outside Marner, he is the most involved player in a unit that scores at the second highest rate in the league, and creates chances by far more than any other unit. You don't just replace that, so the return needs to be tremendous because without that unit clicking like it does, we have a special teams problem.

Bozak is a marginal player this season, but even with Plekanec our center depth is not great. From what I've read, teams don't seem to value him, and with a bad result the center depth might be worth more.

Komarov is similar. Barely an NHL player right now at even strength, but good on the PK and still a shutdown presence. With Plekanec, he's more expendable, but it has to be the right price.

 

[Confucius]

I said it before, Boston should tank for the wildcard if they want to see round 2

 

[Chandrashekhar Limit]

I've been a Leaf fan since '04 so largely it's uncharted territory for me

It's mainly the lack of experience for me. However, with Marleau and now Plecs coming into the mix I feel better about the leadership situation.

Additionally, I do think defence matters in the playoffs as they tend to allow teams to get away with more. I wonder how our offence will do in that situation. We only have one round last year to go off of. Aside from Pittsburgh the last set of repeat winners (LA, Chicago, Detroit) have all had big name defencemen

 

[Daisy Jane]

Green would be better

why?

 

[A1LeafNation]

I think we can play with both Boston and Tampa, even Washington.

Pittsburgh is the team that worries me; the Leafs loss last week to them is probably a sample of what we will see if we meet.

Hopefully our new Komarov plekanec Kapanen will shut the Crosby line down and the Marleau Kadri Marner line is more prepared for the Malkin line.

 

[DarkKnight]

And, there is a big difference between a favourite and a contender. Contender is a no brainer yes at the moment.