I have a similar recollection. That said, finding a second pairing lefty is far far easier than finding a true #1. Those are so rare that nobody should care what handedness one is if we’re able to get our hands on one. You take the elite player and then figure out the rest of the defense from there.
Hague played in Game 1 and then didn’t play the rest of the series. I’m fairly certain he got hurt. They would not be playing Ben Hutton over him in one of the games if he was available.
Especially when right now, we more or less have a blank canvas to work with. Parayko and Leddy fill the short-term need of a good top 4 pair, and if Faulk bounces back we could have a 2nd good top 4 pair if you acquire a good LD. For the long-term, it's kind of just up to how Parayko ages, but besides that, it's pretty much a blank canvas. If we are confident that Jiricek has #1 D upside, and he's made available, it would be stupid not to go for him because we have Parayko on the roster and in the short-term, we are stronger on the right than the left.
Exactly. Marner is great player who should thrive outside of Toronto fishbowl. How physical was Gretzky or Yzerman or Kucherov or Kane? Not everyone needs to be physical force. But given his contract situation, it seems unlikely we are best fit for him.I think you're getting caught up in either some recency bias or the media hype around his last few months...
Marner had some respectable Selke vote totals last year, in the Bergeron Selke domination era. To be in the top 3 finalists goes beyond a few Homer votes. He was 10th in 20-21, 16th in 21-22 Selke voting. Most years he finishes well ahead of Matthews in voting (which probably dilutes his vote totals with splits). That doesn't just disappear - Marner needs out of the media fishbowl and pressure cooker Toronto sports are. That shit doesn't come out of nowhere and it doesn't just vanish, it's far more likely that Marner had a bad year
Additionally, he played limited shifts on DEFENCE in the NHL without getting caved in this year (link below image)... Yes, it's against the Coyotes and a major Leafs roster composition flaw pre TDL - but it is also noteworthy they chose Marner to slot into the blue line, rather than a 4th liner.
Marner had his hissy fit in the spotlight with his glove throwing tantrum that saw spotlights in the media circuit - Tarasenko also had his moments here, but we're not a media darling (remember his spats with Hitchcock?). Our shenanigans seldomly hit the highlight reel, even during our prime with the exception of the Sanford Bortuzzo fight in the cup year.
I think the only portion of your post we can agree about is that Marner is going to want more on his next deal than we'd like to pay him to stay with us. He's a very talented player and he's been highly paid before, he's going to be asking for a raise and I don't think salary wise he's a good fit... But to suggest that he's a poor defensive player and thus a bad fit here is wrong.
He's also near a PPG in playoff point production which is also something that gets ignored when discussing the Leafs failures in the post season - Marner produces, but their line-up has lacked depth due to major roster construction flaws...
I think wherever Marner ends up if he's the one moved is going to be VERY VERY HAPPY about their acquisition.
View attachment 865813
Maple Leafs move Marner to defence in win over Coyotes
Mitch Marner did his best Shohei Ohtani impression on Thursday when he took shifts as a defenceman in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.www.sportsnet.ca
I think you're getting caught up in either some recency bias or the media hype around his last few months...
Marner had some respectable Selke vote totals last year, in the Bergeron Selke domination era. To be in the top 3 finalists goes beyond a few Homer votes. He was 10th in 20-21, 16th in 21-22 Selke voting. Most years he finishes well ahead of Matthews in voting (which probably dilutes his vote totals with splits). That doesn't just disappear - Marner needs out of the media fishbowl and pressure cooker Toronto sports are. That shit doesn't come out of nowhere and it doesn't just vanish, it's far more likely that Marner had a bad year
Additionally, he played limited shifts on DEFENCE in the NHL without getting caved in this year (link below image)... Yes, it's against the Coyotes and a major Leafs roster composition flaw pre TDL - but it is also noteworthy they chose Marner to slot into the blue line, rather than a 4th liner.
Marner had his hissy fit in the spotlight with his glove throwing tantrum that saw spotlights in the media circuit - Tarasenko also had his moments here, but we're not a media darling (remember his spats with Hitchcock?). Our shenanigans seldomly hit the highlight reel, even during our prime with the exception of the Sanford Bortuzzo fight in the cup year.
I think the only portion of your post we can agree about is that Marner is going to want more on his next deal than we'd like to pay him to stay with us. He's a very talented player and he's been highly paid before, he's going to be asking for a raise and I don't think salary wise he's a good fit... But to suggest that he's a poor defensive player and thus a bad fit here is wrong.
He's also near a PPG in playoff point production which is also something that gets ignored when discussing the Leafs failures in the post season - Marner produces, but their line-up has lacked depth due to major roster construction flaws...
I think wherever Marner ends up if he's the one moved is going to be VERY VERY HAPPY about their acquisition.
View attachment 865813
Maple Leafs move Marner to defence in win over Coyotes
Mitch Marner did his best Shohei Ohtani impression on Thursday when he took shifts as a defenceman in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
There is plenty to criticize about Marner's game, expecially with the way it translates to the playoffs. And the lack of translating his success to the playoffs makes a compelling argument that he's not worth his current contract or whatever his next contract will be.
I think we've reached the tipping point in the cap that spending $10M+ on a winger is fine.
Yeah. At a minimum, he'll push for Nylander's deal, and more likely, he'll push for 12M. If he'd accept 10ishM, I'd absolutely take him.
The tough spot for him is similar to Gaudreau. Gaudreau was likely influenced a bit by geographics, but it's not like he had contenders lining up for him either. For expensive free agents, sometimes you don't always have contenders available to sign with.
And the cap is increasing. As the cap increases, the amount you can comfortable spend on a position increases with it.
I think you're getting caught up in either some recency bias or the media hype around his last few months...
Marner had some respectable Selke vote totals last year, in the Bergeron Selke domination era. To be in the top 3 finalists goes beyond a few Homer votes. He was 10th in 20-21, 16th in 21-22 Selke voting. Most years he finishes well ahead of Matthews in voting (which probably dilutes his vote totals with splits). That doesn't just disappear - Marner needs out of the media fishbowl and pressure cooker Toronto sports are. That shit doesn't come out of nowhere and it doesn't just vanish, it's far more likely that Marner had a bad year
Additionally, he played limited shifts on DEFENCE in the NHL without getting caved in this year (link below image)... Yes, it's against the Coyotes and a major Leafs roster composition flaw pre TDL - but it is also noteworthy they chose Marner to slot into the blue line, rather than a 4th liner.
Marner had his hissy fit in the spotlight with his glove throwing tantrum that saw spotlights in the media circuit - Tarasenko also had his moments here, but we're not a media darling (remember his spats with Hitchcock?). Our shenanigans seldomly hit the highlight reel, even during our prime with the exception of the Sanford Bortuzzo fight in the cup year.
I think the only portion of your post we can agree about is that Marner is going to want more on his next deal than we'd like to pay him to stay with us. He's a very talented player and he's been highly paid before, he's going to be asking for a raise and I don't think salary wise he's a good fit... But to suggest that he's a poor defensive player and thus a bad fit here is wrong.
He's also near a PPG in playoff point production which is also something that gets ignored when discussing the Leafs failures in the post season - Marner produces, but their line-up has lacked depth due to major roster construction flaws...
I think wherever Marner ends up if he's the one moved is going to be VERY VERY HAPPY about their acquisition.
View attachment 865813
Maple Leafs move Marner to defence in win over Coyotes
Mitch Marner did his best Shohei Ohtani impression on Thursday when he took shifts as a defenceman in the Toronto Maple Leafs' 4-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.
I'd be stunned if Marner waived his NMC to come here unless we made a ludicrous extension offer that all of us would hate. With that said, my guess is that Toronto is going to ultimately have to settle for futures and a bad contract if they decide to trade Marner. They can want an established stud D man all they want, but they are going to have next to no leverage.
They were discussing on 32 thoughts. EF doesn’t think this is trade leafs can focus on winning. They won’t. Need to make best move they can though and sounds like marner knows it’s time. I would guess he works with them to find place he will extend. Place like Utah or Anaheim or buffalo or other place tired of missing playoffs and ready to take next step but without Toronto spotlight.
