Youth Movement Part 2

[Albus Dumbledore]

Leafs last year injected some youth on the team and made the playoffs for the 1st time since 2013, they have looked good this year but we have players knocking on the door and players leaving so its time to get younger. I think next years team will likely be better then this ones. We still have a good mix of vets (Gardiner, Kadri, Hainsey, Marleau). But its clear that we can upgrade and that's with our youth. Last year we had to add our young players because they were so good that they couldn't be left off the team (Matthews, Nylander, Marner). And some others forced their way through their play (Brown, Kapanen, yeah I know kappy had to wait a bit longer to be a mainstay but still.

Kapanen,Dermott and to a degree Holl have shown us that we clearly have some players that are better on the marlies then on our actual roster. A minority of us (like myself) thought Dermott should have made the team out of camp, some said nay and a select few saw he could be a top 4 dman for us this year, which is slowly but surely coming true. Players like Aaltonen, should have been our 4c all year he was one of the better centers out of camp, and tbh I think he has a decent chance of being our 3c long term. And why did it take for so long for Holl to get a shot(and hes still not with the team but he might be next year) hes not a sure fire thing, but some fans have been saying that he could play a role for us for years now. And don't even get me started with Andreas...

I think some players are just gone(bozak, komarov ), some might stay(jvr), but the team will have holes and i think its best to fill them internally, we clearly have good players, and we should really try them out before sending them away they might flame out(valiev, corrado) or they might find success elsewhere due to lack of usage, trade etc (steen, stralman*, panik).

Thoughts?

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[rent free]

Great analysts. All of it is true.

 

[MR4]

Think this is how it should go down

Who we lose this offseason: JVR, Bozak, Komarov, Moore, Plekanec, Martin

next year's roster:

Marleau-Matthews-Marner
Johnsson/Leivo-Nylander-Kapanen
Hyman-Kadri-Brown
Leivo/Johnsson-Aaltonen-Marchment/Greening

Rielly-Dermott
Gardiner-Hainsey
Borgman-Zaitsev

Andersen-Pickard/Sparks

Then offseason after lose: Hainsey, Gardiner, Marleau, Hyman/Brown
And add one of the top RD UFAs if you can or get a decent dman like Tanev through trade

New roster:

Grundstrom/Korshkov-Matthews-Marner
Johnsson-Nylander-Kapanen
Leivo-Kadri-Remaining 1 of Hyman/Brown
4th line

Rielly-RD addition
Dermott-Liljegren
Borgman-Zaitsev/Holl

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

we've seen the best of our young players already on the team, obviously, but I wouldn't discount the amount of growth we'll still see from the Leafs. We're already a top team, but we have more room to grow going forward than the other ones in my opinion

 

[LeafsNation75]

I know it was a small sample size but I can't wait to see Holl get another chance and I think they might call up Liljegren at some point next season if needed. At the very least both should get longer looks when they have training camp and preseason games.

 

[Stephen]

I like promoting 3-4 kids simultaneously. Seems to take the pressure off and they can function like a cohesive Marlies unit on a Leaf team. Excited to see the next round of promotions.

At the same time, it highlights the need to keep manufacturing assets at the bottom rungs of the organization. Keep the picks coming.

 

[Albus Dumbledore]

we've seen the best of our young players already on the team, obviously, but I wouldn't discount the amount of growth we'll still see from the Leafs. We're already a top team, but we have more room to grow going forward than the other ones in my opinion

The thing is you could have said that in December before we added kapanen and dermott, yet they made this team a lot better even then.

This year with Dermott in the lineup: 16-5-5 -117 point pace
Last 2 years with kapanen: 20-12-2 - 101 point pace

Bringing up guys is not a sure thing, but he have some seriously talented player knocking on the doorstep,

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

The thing is you could have said that in December before we added kapanen and dermott, yet they made this team a lot better even then.

This year with Dermott in the lineup: 16-5-5 -117 point pace
Last 2 years with kapanen: 20-12-2 - 101 point pace

Bringing up guys is not a sure thing, but he have some seriously talented player knocking on the doorstep,

agreed. Liljegren, Bracco, Johnsson, Grundstrom, and Korshkov are all going to be valuable additions going forward I think. And of course, natural improvement for our youngsters is still going to happen

 

[Buds17]

I'm hopeful some of our replacements will be from within (Johnsson, Aaltonen, maybe Holl as a spare, perhaps Pickard or Sparks), but I imagine we'll still look to trade/UFA to bolster the team with an addition up front and on the blueline.

 

[Boutette]

Its not so much a matter of can we do it. Its a necessity to replace high paid veterans with lower paid ELCs in order to continue to compete. We do, however, have about 8 young wingers that compete for the spots that the 4 departing veterans wingers will leave over the next couple years, and that will help the team capwise and maybe even performance wise as well. The issue is what the team will do to shore up where we are weak and figure out a way to maintain centre depth and improve defense.

 

[93LEAFS]

Think this is how it should go down

Who we lose this offseason: JVR, Bozak, Komarov, Moore, Plekanec, Martin

next year's roster:

Marleau-Matthews-Marner
Johnsson/Leivo-Nylander-Kapanen
Hyman-Kadri-Brown
Leivo/Johnsson-Aaltonen-Marchment/Greening

Rielly-Dermott
Gardiner-Hainsey
Borgman-Zaitsev

Andersen-Pickard/Sparks

Then offseason after lose: Hainsey, Gardiner, Marleau, Hyman/Brown
And add one of the top RD UFAs if you can or get a decent dman like Tanev through trade

New roster:

Grundstrom/Korshkov-Matthews-Marner
Johnsson-Nylander-Kapanen
Leivo-Kadri-Remaining 1 of Hyman/Brown
4th line

Rielly-RD addition
Dermott-Liljegren
Borgman-Zaitsev/Holl

Hyman isn't leaving that line with Matthews likely and Brown will still most likely be here. Leivo is most likely the guy moved, and I'm not sure 2 of Johnsson, Korshkov and Grundstom will hit as top 6 players.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Realistically, this is the top-9 we see next year:

Hyman - Matthews - Brown/Marner
Marleau - Kadri - Marner/Brown
Johnsson - Nylander - Kapanen

The D-group:

Rielly - Hainsey
Gardiner - Zaitsev
Dermott - Lilijegren/Carrick