Around the NHL - Episode XLV III - BEAST MODE ANDY

[GCK]

Those gold helmets, while ugly, REALLY do not suit Stone.

Stone should ask for a trade if he has to wear that helmet again.

 

[Xspyrit]

2021-22

Tkachuk-Norris-Stone
Stutzle-Pinto-Batherson
Paul-White-Brown
Formenton-Brown-Sokolov

Dadonov to Seattle, Tierney traded

Let a man dream

 

[DJB]

2021-22

Tkachuk-Norris-Stone
Stutzle-Pinto-Batherson
Paul-White-Brown
Formenton-Brown-Sokolov

Dadonov to Seattle, Tierney traded

Let a man dream

 

[Icelevel]

This is why I wanted Bennett

 

[Boud]

2021-22

Tkachuk-Norris-Stone
Stutzle-Pinto-Batherson
Paul-White-Brown
Formenton-Brown-Sokolov

Dadonov to Seattle, Tierney traded

Let a man dream

Why you do this to us man

That lineup looks incredible..

 

[TheDebater]

Why you do this to us man

That lineup looks incredible..

I mean aside from Stone...that could literally be our lineup a year from now.

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

2021-22

Tkachuk-Norris-Stone
Stutzle-Pinto-Batherson
Paul-White-Brown
Formenton-Brown-Sokolov

Dadonov to Seattle, Tierney traded

Let a man dream

Gat a legit 1C in there, and you have a decent chance to make the playoffs.

 

[2CHAINZ]

Gat a legit 1C in there, and you have a decent chance to make the playoffs.

Removing Tierney is like adding a 1C

 

[foggyvisor]

This is why I wanted Bennett

Don't worry, he'll soon regress to sucking again and that feeling will leave you.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Leafs have lost 5 in a row and all goalies they have look like shit.

 

[DrEasy]

Ottawa ahead of New Jersey now (in pts, not pt percentage) and is 3 pts behind Detroit and Columbus with two games in hand (including 4 games against Vancouver). We could have a nice little finish, which I wouldn't mind, even though it would be really nice to draft Beniers, Guenther or Power.

 

[Senscore]

To tank or not to tank? That is the question.

 

[Mark Stones Spleen]

Leafs have lost 5 in a row and all goalies they have look like shit.

They PGT is fun to skim through at times like this.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

They PGT is fun to skim through at times like this.

Poor Foligno

 

[Nac Mac Feegle]

Ottawa ahead of New Jersey now (in pts, not pt percentage) and is 3 pts behind Detroit and Columbus with two games in hand (including 4 games against Vancouver). We could have a nice little finish, which I wouldn't mind, even though it would be really nice to draft Beniers, Guenther or Power.

As long as we miss the playoffs, we have a chance to win a top 3 pick. Might as well get some wins under our belt and work on developing the team.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

I watched Florida's game last night... cant believe how wrong I was on Dadonov over Duke. I dont blame management because at face value, it seemed like a really great move.... but what a mistake that turned out to be.

 

[Icelevel]

I watched Florida's game last night... cant believe how wrong I was on Dadonov over Duke. I dont blame management because at face value, it seemed like a really great move.... but what a mistake that turned out to be.

Duke looked good?

 

[cudi]

Leafs goaltending looks playoff ready

 

[Do Make Say Think]

I watched Florida's game last night... cant believe how wrong I was on Dadonov over Duke. I dont blame management because at face value, it seemed like a really great move.... but what a mistake that turned out to be.

We already knew our pro scouting was bad but the Dadonov signing should lead to à complete overhaul of it.

We are lucky that it seems unlikely that that contract becomes an issue but soon enough we won't have the margin of error.

 

[The Devilish Buffoon]

Duke looked good?

He was great. Stole a loose puck in the D/neutral zone, darted up the ice to create a 2-on-1, sauced it over perfectly to Huberdeau and Bennett buried the rebound. Was his 2nd of 3 apples on the night... currently on a 7 game, 10pt scoring streak. Pacing for 55-60 pts despite having no PP production.

We already knew our pro scouting was bad but the Dadonov signing should lead to à complete overhaul of it.

We are lucky that it seems unlikely that that contract becomes an issue but soon enough we won't have the margin of error.

I think every team in the league takes Dadonov over Duke this past summer. It's also not like Dadonov was our top choice... if Toffoli chose us, I suspect we'd be lauding our pro scouting for a rare success. I do expect he can be better than hes been, but if he performs better than Duke, it will be very marginally so. They have similar warts, too, but Duke is a far more capable ES producer.

 

[Xspyrit]

Why you do this to us man

That lineup looks incredible..

I know, everyime I see the name "Stone", I keep thinking how good Tkachuk-Norris would be with him... With Stone it's almost like you don't need an elite center, so that'd give time for Stutzle to develop as a center, if that's ever the plan. Tkachuk and White as rookies with Stone was a very effective line so imagine now with Norris instead and with a more developed Tkachuk... That line would be a nightmare to play against.

That 2nd line is sexy. Pinto wins faceoffs, helps with possession, can either set up or finish and is the defensive conscience on the line, which is some relief to Stutzle and Batherson whow could their creativity even more

Paul-White-Brown would be a great matchup line. Paul-White have shown chemistry and Paul would take a lot of faceoffs. We know how good and fast Brown is, would compliment those 2 much better than Dadonov, who IMO is like a Bobby Ryan, he needs to play with "skilled" players, not "cycling/grind it" type of guys. Not that Paul and White don't have skill, but maybe not top-6 skill.

Think how dangerous that 4th line would be lol. The time of grinding 4th lines is over, inject more skill. Creates a big matchup problem for the opposition. You already need to be able to contain the top 3 lines... That 4th line could hurt you bad on some nights

The thing is, with the kind of defense we had this year, that forward group wouldn't be totally efficient but this is incoming too :

Chabot-JBD
Sanderson-Zub

Gat a legit 1C in there, and you have a decent chance to make the playoffs.

lol if we can't make the playoffs with Mark freaking Stone ADDED to the rebuild, then forget it and rebuild the rebuild ASAP

Think about it this way : you're saying that our rebuild + Mark Stone + let's say Zibanejad = decent chance to make the playoffs

Stutzle-Zibanejad-Batherson
Tkachuk-Norris-Stone
Paul-Pinto-Brown
Formenton-White-Sokolov

Do you want to change what you said lol, this would be a top forward group in the league in no time.

 

[branch]

Are we not pretty much guaranteed a top 5 pick at this point? Unless we go on a serious heater. Man, the team is going to be so good if we can keep everything together. Top 5 pick on top of what we have now...wow.

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

Are we not pretty much guaranteed a top 5 pick at this point? Unless we go on a serious heater. Man, the team is going to be so good if we can keep everything together. Top 5 pick on top of what we have now...wow.

Not guaranteed a top 5 at all.

 

[Big Muddy]

Ottawa ahead of New Jersey now (in pts, not pt percentage) and is 3 pts behind Detroit and Columbus with two games in hand (including 4 games against Vancouver). We could have a nice little finish, which I wouldn't mind, even though it would be really nice to draft Beniers, Guenther or Power.

To tank or not to tank? That is the question.

Ya, kind of paradoxical isn't it. Winning this late in the season is nice, but results in a lower draft pick. Draft picks are the best way for a small market team with limited financial resources to get ahead and succeed.

 

[Big Muddy]

I know, everyime I see the name "Stone", I keep thinking how good Tkachuk-Norris would be with him... With Stone it's almost like you don't need an elite center, so that'd give time for Stutzle to develop as a center, if that's ever the plan. Tkachuk and White as rookies with Stone was a very effective line so imagine now with Norris instead and with a more developed Tkachuk... That line would be a nightmare to play against.

.

Yes, always good to remind yourself that offensive production can be generated from a winger as well a center. Examples of this could be Marner & Panarin (I'm sure there other examples). Marner has Matthews though who excels at putting the puck in the net of course.

Somehow I hope a another (even better) top center finds its way to this team with a strong preference to getting that center via the draft. I think if trade for one it will be two steps forward accompanied by two steps backwards with the assets we lose to acquire to get that center. I'm not sure the EM has the financial resources to pull of a big fish center acquisition through free agency either. Hope I'm wrong about that of course.