How is that whining first off? Second off complaining about a slash to the head of Andersen that 1, was not seen by the official and 2 not challenged for some reason is viable. I still do not get why no challenge. May be because of the score, but that is a bad reason. I love Babcock, and know he didnt just forget how to coach, the blame is on the players for me, but still. Also I am praising Borgman, a rookie who looked the best on this trip easily. So I dont get your comment.
As well it maybe be year 2, and while we were even told the "pain," may not be over, as we squeaked in last year, the lack of compete and structure for 60minutes is something to worry about. Now I think (for example) period 1 is the way Babcock has coached us to play, period 2 is exactly the opposite of what Babcock has taught our guys, and period 3 was a mix of both. The LA game was the same, a tale of 2 teams. How is it we played LA so well after going down 3-0, didnt score, then forgot how to play then down 5-2 we suddenly remember. Like last night; period 1 we were playing well, good structure, smart passing. The magically forget come period 2?
The benching of Nylander had to happen as well. He has not looked himself, I have been saying this for a week now. He was shielded, somewhat, by the great play of Matthews. Who looked tired last night, especially as the game wore on, he lost his legs. But not his fault when he is doing everything. Post game Babcock said "that line is always good....well Matthews and Hyman." He singles Nylander out, and as he should. While everyone was complaining about Marner, many didnt see how bad Nylander was playing. His passes intercepted, his shots blocked, Hyman way out chanced him, that shouldnt be happening. Yet everyone crucifies Hyman, why? He plays hard every night, is one of our best penalty killers. So he lacks a bit of finish, but when you compare his skill to Nylander's, and Nylander has but 3 more points than Hyman, you have to scratch your head.
I think Babcock has tried all he can to get our guys playing, the line juggling is something you normally do not see from him. Never happened last year, didnt have to. But to the degree he has this year, it shows what he thinks of our guys play. Also when a coach tries it all and nothing works, you absolutely have to get external help. Many have said will one player change it all? No probably not. But you have to do something. Not to mention at some point you have to cash in on your prospects. I am not saying blow up the Marlies, but I am saying we have good pieces down there and on the Leafs to acquire one of 2 big needs, and that is RHD and center.
Bozak, JVR, Komarov, are UFA at the end of the year. While Carrick and Nylander are RFA. Now out of those 5 the only guaranteed guy that we have to sign is Nylander. I think Carrick is gone via trade (if not we let him walk). The other 3 it's a bit tougher to figure out. While JVR is having a tough start, he has looked a bit better lately and is a 25 to 30 goal man, not that simple to replace, but we are deep at the wing position (however key is to move forward not back). Then Bozak, an annual top 5-10 faceoff man in the league; however you can argue with Matthews getting better on the dot that Bozak in that sense is more expendable than in years past. Komarov one of the best on the PK, is not playing well at all besides that. It is like he is playing on the PK the whole game (with the style he is playing), one hand on the stick, swatting around, getting his stick in shooting lanes, but cant clear 5v5. Komarov and his leadership with the youth is well documented as well. But again the strength is the wing. So then who goes? Do we trade (let walk) a leader and great PK specialist? Do we trade the 25-30 goal-scorer? Or is it Bozak?
Centers are hard to come by. So that depends. Can we fit John Tavares under the cap, and still sign our big 3. I did the math about a month ago and we can but barely. But if we do that, you can kiss a goodbye any chance of Doughty coming here. Looking at it though, Tavares is a very good 2 way forward, and imagine that PP Matthews, Nylander, Tavares (wow). It would look great with Doughty as well. The question is who would take a small cut to play here (if even they would do so). Also a team will need to fill their need in a trade, so the best player we have is JVR, problem with him is the UFA status. I wonder if the leafs sign him to a friendly deal, then it makes him much more attractive to acquire via trade, he would then be locked up and the hit wouldnt hurt so bad.
My wish list, is a pipe-dream. I would love Manson, but do not see the Ducks trading him. Tavares again we can do it but it would be very tight, and take us out of taking a run at Doughty. Though I think easily Tavares is the cheaper option. I would say he would be asking for a long term deal in the range of 6-7million (makes 5.5 right now UFA at the end of the season). But Doughty is making 7 million this year and probably signs something close to 10million on a long term deal. As good as it would be to get a true #1 like him, if that is the kind of money we are looking at, I am not sure we offer that. Big contracts like that have messed us up in the past. While Doughty like guys do not grow on trees, I think the highest bidder, with the best chance at a cup wins him. Not sure that LA will pony up, they have a lot of big guys locked in already and only have 3.75million in room, that would be gone in signing Doughty and their only UFA is Cammalleri (of any value the other 2 make 850,000 and 650,000). In that sense it would therefore mean Doughty signing elsewhere is great as the Isles have 4 or 5 UFA's including Tavares, and the other make minimum 1.25million, and Halak makes 4.25, what I am saying is they have a ton of money coming off the books, so it is very possible they are able to sign John, question is; does he want to? A lot has been made of him and management, and ownership. The Isles arena issues, is a huge thing, and the real only advantages we have are; he is home grown guy (mississauga native) and any player with a brain can see the Leafs are close (talent wise) to contend.
Imagine a young John Tavares, grew up a Leaf fan, would he not want to hoist the cup wearing his favorite home team colors? Same goes for Doughty, it is just a fact of money.
Sorry this post was so long. I kept thinking of new ideas.
