Line Combos: 2016-2017 Toronto Maple Leafs
- Thread starter Field of Dreams
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showtime8
Registered User
That's basically what I got from the signing and the comments from Babcock.
Seems like he'll be okay with coming in and out of the line-up.
BertCorbeau
F*ck cancer - RIP Fugu and Buffaloed
We roll 8 dmen this season
- Marincin - Rielly
- Hunwick - Zaitsev
- Gardner - Carrick
- Polak - Corardo
I would also like to have Loov and Holl up too! I like Holl
The defence is completely terrible. Most of them would be bottom-pairing at best on good teams.
ViewsFromThe6ix
Zachary on the Attackary
Trapper
Registered User
- Nov 21, 2013
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Polak will most likely be in against teams that pose more of a physical threat with less speed game. Teams like Boston,Anaheim,Philly,etc. who play more of a heavy game.
He should most likely be out against teams that feature more speed, skilled and puck possession types. A Detroit,Ottawa,Pittsburgh for example.
How are you at math? You named two players out of eight. Saying Gardiner is top 4 on every team in the league is being generous as well.
Matt Hunwick plays on our top pairing ffs.
Ya... but other than those two, who do we have? We're all hoping Zaitzev will be good and a legit top 4, but we can't really be certain of that, especially in his first year in the NHL. The rest of our defenders are fringe NHLers or bottom pairing guys at best.
We're really hoping that Carrick and Zaitzev wont look too out of place in the top 4... but that's a bit of a gamble.
showtime8
Registered User
Here are the teams that I think Gardiner would have a tough time cracking the top 4:
Anaheim
Nashville
San Jose
Every other team you could make an argument that he could play in their top 4.
You could make an argument... but that still doesn't refute my original point. If Gardiner is our second best defenceman, that's a problem.
Disregarding Zaitsev who hasn't played in the NHL yet, our defence consists of Polak, Hunwick, Corrado, Carrick (I like his potential but he's still a rookie) Marincin. How can anyone look at this defence and think it doesn't suck? Polak, Hunwick and Corrado are all bottom-pairing defenceman, Marincin can possibly be a top 4 but wasn't that good for much of last season. Then the likes of Loov and Valiev aren't exactly blue chips. And even our #1 defenceman isn't actually a #1 yet. We're banking on Zaitsev being a total homerun signing and Rielly breaking out into a bonafide #1 if this defence is to be anything passable.
crump
~ ~ (ړײ) ~ ~
We were last place last year. We are rebuilding. Our goaltending sucked, our defense was 27th in the league in terms of goals against. Yes we sucked. We tanked. We got Matthews. We are rebuilding. We have to draft and develop some more top 4 defensemen. But Mon Cherrie, you underate Rielly and Gardiner. They are legit top 4 defensemen who haven't hit their peak yet. Calm down.
Once
Stop ******* crying bro
- Jul 16, 2010
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showtime8
Registered User
So outside of Gardiner and Rielly, who is there?
The rest of the guys should realistically be on your 5-6 pairing this year.
And again, that has nothing to do with the skill of the players, but the situation that they're coming into.
Carrick could be a top 4 guy in the future, but this year they shouldn't rush him into playing 20+ minutes a night.
Zaitsev is young, but we don't know fully he's capable of. So should he be playing 20+ minutes a night as well?
Someone has to play the minutes. Are you really sure that you want Polak, Marincin and Hunwick to be those guys?
TheKingSlayer
He was in the way!
Both Marincin and Hunwick are capable of logging those minutes. We may not WANT Hunwick too, but Marincin showed last year he is very capable of playing heavy minutes and playing them quite well. Hunwick should be logging the 4th most minutes though (Rielly, Gardiner, Marincin, Hunwick) with Carrick, Zaitsev, Polak filling in the rest until we know exactly what we've got with Zaitsev and Carrick.
So you're saying that the last place team from last season doesn't have the defense of a Stanley Cup contender? I don't think anyone has delusions that the defense won't need to get better either internally or externally to make a competitive leap.
BertCorbeau
F*ck cancer - RIP Fugu and Buffaloed
They're going to have to. It's all apart of the rebuilding thing unfortunately. As Babcock said: "Pain is coming".
Best case scenario is that Zaitsev shows he's a solid #4 d-man coming overseas .. Carrick establishes himself as an NHLer on the bottom pairing, and Hunwick/Marincin somehow form a semi-competent top pairing partner for Rielly over the course of the year. All of this with some growth in Rielly and Gardiner's game. I think this the realistic upside we're looking at.
Worst case scenario .. Well, obvious potential trainwreck is obvious
showtime8
Registered User
Waiting those players out and signing them when the market dry's up.
This is my personal opinion, but the longer that the Leafs fail to find a true partner for Rielly, the longer it will stunt his growth as a player.
There's probably 5 or 6 defencemen that are currently on the free agent market, that are capable of playing in the top 4 and are better than what the Leafs currently have.
Kyle Quincey & Kris Russell are 2 guys that I would pay right now on a cheaper, short term deal to come in and play this season with the Leafs.
As much as it's about tanking, it should also be about growing the players. And the way that you do that is through good coaching (which they have) and solid veteran voice on the ice, each and every night.
showtime8
Registered User
I wouldn't say that Marincin played those minutes quite well. He was okay. He only looked better because the others around him were trash. When you have guys that are playing that aren't ready like Valiev or guys that shouldn't be on an NHL roster like Campbell and Brennan, Marincin looked like Bobby Orr next to those guys.
TheKingSlayer
He was in the way!
I quite enjoyed watching him with Reilly. They were a steadying 'force' (using this term a little looser than intended) down the stretch for us. Assuming both come into camp in great shape, this could be the year Marincin turns into our Hjalmarsson.
WTFMAN99
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- Jun 17, 2009
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Have a feeling the defense will work out as
Rielly-Marincin
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Hunwick-Carrick/Polak (rotate in and out as performance goes, or depending on the type of team we face)
Who knows though? Loov looked good when he played with us last year.
Rielly-Marincin
Gardiner-Zaitsev
Hunwick-Carrick/Polak (rotate in and out as performance goes, or depending on the type of team we face)
Who knows though? Loov looked good when he played with us last year.
ULF_55
Moderator
https://www.nhl.com/news/toronto-maple-leafs-team-reset-analysis/c-281200906
I hope Hunwick is not on the first pairing.
I hope Hunwick is not on the first pairing.
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