Do we have our 1-2 punch down the middle?

[Mess]

Actually I'm hoping to get to the point where other teams say we need to draft our Marner/Rielly/Nylander.

Then we know we've arrived.

That is a #4, #5 and #8 overall selection and let hope we have our Kane/Keith/Toews in that group of high picks.

To me it seems we have the poor man's version of the Chicago trio but time will tell have the develop as that is tougher to predict.

Teams are trying to emulate the Hawks drafting wise and this is the Leafs version of that attempt.

 

[one77]

JVR - Marner - X
X - Nylander - Brown
Panik - Kadri - Leipsic
Komarov - Gauthier - Carrick

Marner-Nylander-Kadri-Gauthier = looks hella good to me.

 

[Stephen]

JVR - Marner - X
X - Nylander - Brown
Panik - Kadri - Leipsic
Komarov - Gauthier - Carrick

Marner-Nylander-Kadri-Gauthier = looks hella good to me.

Ideally we replace a Kadri with a Brown or Matthews to go up against future teams like Florida, and let Marner and Nylander rotate center/wing depending on their development. That way you have 2 6'4" plus centers, one at the top end, one anchoring the 3rd and 4th lines and two super skilled forwards forming a TKO type line.

 

[MapleLife*]

At the moment it looks like we have our Patty Kane and we need our Toews and Keith in the future.

Nylander is our Jordan Eberle and we need our McDavid/RNH/Draisaitl

Bracco is our Johnny Gaudreau and we need our Sean Monahan.

This

Ideally we replace a Kadri with a Brown or Matthews to go up against future teams like Florida, and let Marner and Nylander rotate center/wing depending on their development. That way you have 2 6'4" plus centers, one at the top end, one anchoring the 3rd and 4th lines and two super skilled forwards forming a TKO type line.

And this.

Right now I think we have our supporting cast pretty much locked up. We still need that big 1C and verstalie 1D. Rielly is great offensively but he's isnt good enough defensively to ever play the shutdown role effectively enough to be considered a legit 1D.

 

[A4T1L6]

No love for Holland?!?

 

[officialmark*]

No, we have 2 highly skilled undersized wingers.

 

[HarryLime]

I'm pumped to see Marner and especially King Joff this season

Hope both are on the Leafs for the 2016-2017 season.

 

[HarryLime]

No, we have 2 highly skilled undersized wingers.

It's not like they won't add size around them or on the back end. Nylander and Ehlers were both easily top 5 players from the last draft imo. I think both Toronto and Winnipeg got steals. No way Fleury, Virtanen and even MDC are better prospects at this point than either of them.


This draft, Toronto could have taken Marner or Hanifin and I'd have been happy. I wanted Marner and we got him. Dude will put on some weight and maybe get a little bit taller... Even if not, he doesn't play a small man's game and in todays game, it's not a big deal. Having these 2 guys will be great.

 

[Babcocks Marner]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that now with Babcock, we are playing 4 lines. So IMO, Nylander and Marner already play like Centers, they should be developed as such.

We need 4 good Centers, we got Kadri and Freddy the goat, who are a great 3-4. If Marner and Nylander turn out as studs, they could easily be 1-2. Maybe Kadri gets 2, who knows (or traded).

Our 4th line is going to be playing close to 13min a game now, all the more Centers, the better. Pretty small Centers except for the goat, but we can add size on the wing, and D, and maybe it will all balance out.

We need skill on all 4 lines.

 

[officialmark*]

We still need an elite #1C and D. Marner/Nylander can be a dynamic duo on the 2nd line, but we need some bigger elite players to matchup against other teams #1 D pairing. Also need that stud D to pair with Mo. Finish bottom 3 next 2 years, grab Matthews/Chychrun this upcoming draft, then grab another stud in 2 years and we are off to the races. Enough with drafting wingers in the top 10 though, we already have enough.

 

[officialmark*]

It's not like they won't add size around them or on the back end. Nylander and Ehlers were both easily top 5 players from the last draft imo. I think both Toronto and Winnipeg got steals. No way Fleury, Virtanen and even MDC are better prospects at this point than either of them.


This draft, Toronto could have taken Marner or Hanifin and I'd have been happy. I wanted Marner and we got him. Dude will put on some weight and maybe get a little bit taller... Even if not, he doesn't play a small man's game and in todays game, it's not a big deal. Having these 2 guys will be great.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not upset with either pick especially the Nylander one. I would have preferred Hanifin because he looks to be a stud at one of the most important positions, but Hunter obviously knows more than me, and he took Marner so it's hard to be upset at that. I'm just saying we need a Matthews on this team to win a cup imo. As good as the dynamic duo are I don't think they are players that will lead you to a cup, that's Matthews.

 

[Paradoc]

We still need an elite #1C and D. Marner/Nylander can be a dynamic duo on the 2nd line, but we need some bigger elite players to matchup against other teams #1 D pairing. Also need that stud D to pair with Mo. Finish bottom 3 next 2 years, grab Matthews/Chychrun this upcoming draft, then grab another stud in 2 years and we are off to the races. Enough with drafting wingers in the top 10 though, we already have enough.

Marner/Nylander have no problems matching up against other teams top line. Johnson line had no problem doing that vs NYR and Chicago, and likely wouldn't be a problem for us.

Oh and we do have a 1C and 1D, potentially. I don't have to tell you who it is because it's pretty obvious.

 

[hfdshdh]

Oh and we do have a 1C and 1D, potentially. I don't have to tell you who it is because it's pretty obvious.

We won't know what we need until we know what we have, and we're still a several years away from even knowing what we have with our current prospect pool, nevermind the top five picks we'll likely be adding over the next couple of drafts. Right now it's just about stockpiling as much talent as possible, at all positions.

 

[brettzz]

bozak
kadri
holland
marner

rebuild complete

 

[91Kadri91*]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that now with Babcock, we are playing 4 lines. So IMO, Nylander and Marner already play like Centers, they should be developed as such.

We need 4 good Centers, we got Kadri and Freddy the goat, who are a great 3-4. If Marner and Nylander turn out as studs, they could easily be 1-2. Maybe Kadri gets 2, who knows (or traded).

Our 4th line is going to be playing close to 13min a game now, all the more Centers, the better. Pretty small Centers except for the goat, but we can add size on the wing, and D, and maybe it will all balance out.

We need skill on all 4 lines.

Kadri's already a legitimate second-line centre. If he's on your third-line, then you have incredible depth at centre-ice (which is obviously ideal).

I'd actually prefer to see him on the third-line for that very reason. When he was playing fringe-2nd/high-3rd line 5on5 minutes in 2012/13, Kadri had the 12th highest goals-above-replacement in the league. If you have two centres better than Kadri, then you likely have the best centre-depth in the NHL. Of course, playing Kadri on the third-line is dependent on the salary he demands (he's worth significantly more than third-line money)

 

[Leafidelity]

I've been pro Nylander at centre since last year, but boy am I ever tempted to see if these two can make a dynamic duo.

And for the new 3 on 3 OT?

Marner - Nylander

Rielly

 

[lukeleim]

JVR - Stamkos - Marner
Nylander - Kadri - Brown

Wishful thinking...

 

[Shwaguy*]

This



And this.

Right now I think we have our supporting cast pretty much locked up. We still need that big 1C and verstalie 1D. Rielly is great offensively but he's isnt good enough defensively to ever play the shutdown role effectively enough to be considered a legit 1D.

He can very well become a 1D and has a realistic chance at becoming that, no need to put a cap on his ceiling, possession is the most important quality for a Dman defensively and he has that in spades. The rest is more stuff that comes along with experience.

 

[Rants Mulliniks]

JVR - Stamkos - Marner
Nylander - Kadri - Brown

Wishful thinking...

I like your thinking!

 

[Faltorvo]

What happened to Kadri ?

I would think if 1 of them became a regular NHL center Leafs would be happy with the other one riding shotgun on the wing.

They are currently both wingers and would need to be groomed and developed into centers and Nylander not being strong defensively is the least likely to play the middle in the NHL.

Marner will need to get bigger and stronger and become efficient in the face-off dot so that he can go against the best centers in the NHL head to head and in the face-off circle as a #1C.

help me out here mess

name me the last guys that did not play and dominate as Cs before being drafted, then get "converted to C and actually have the kind of carriers we will need from our 1/2.

I don't mean just in leaf past, I mean in the entire NHL.

I frankly can't think of any.

 

[Znith]

help me out here mess

name me the last guys that did not play and dominate as Cs before being drafted, then get "converted to C and actually have the kind of carriers we will need from our 1/2.

I don't mean just in leaf past, I mean in the entire NHL.

I frankly can't think of any.

Nylander played C in the Sweedish league before being drafted. Marner played C most of his life until this year. I think a lot of this talk is overblown, next year we will see what both kids can do playing C. Marner will centre the top line in London, Nylander will play C in the AHL.

 

[Joey Hoser]

help me out here mess

name me the last guys that did not play and dominate as Cs before being drafted, then get "converted to C and actually have the kind of carriers we will need from our 1/2.

I don't mean just in leaf past, I mean in the entire NHL.

I frankly can't think of any.

“In London the coaches want you to able to play all over. To be versatile so you can be used in any situation when called upon. I’ve played center my whole life and finished up the year pretty good there. I hope to play center next year and in the future but I can play wing too. Whatever is asked of me I’m willing to do, no questions asked. Center is where I’m used to the most though. I would consider myself a center.” - Marner

Hunter also directly implied he'd develop as a center.

 

[King Leaf]

I guess the way you answer this question depends on how you see Kadri. I still think he could be a good to great 2C, so in all for keeping him. I'm still split on Marner, I think he could be great in either the centre or winger role. As for Nylander, I really want them to develop him as a Marian Hossa type, I think he's more important to the Blackhawks then people give him credit for and he's far and away the best two way winger in the league in my opinion.

My ideal scenario involves us getting Matthews, and then running something like:

Nylander-Matthews-??
JvR-Kadri-Marner

I'd love having that as our Top 6 in the future.

 

[Stephen]

He can very well become a 1D and has a realistic chance at becoming that, no need to put a cap on his ceiling, possession is the most important quality for a Dman defensively and he has that in spades. The rest is more stuff that comes along with experience.

Agree with this. Rielly is headed towards developing into a number one defenseman, but ideally it would be good to have a second one...

 

[hamzarocks]

I guess the way you answer this question depends on how you see Kadri. I still think he could be a good to great 2C, so in all for keeping him. I'm still split on Marner, I think he could be great in either the centre or winger role. As for Nylander, I really want them to develop him as a Marian Hossa type, I think he's more important to the Blackhawks then people give him credit for and he's far and away the best two way winger in the league in my opinion.

My ideal scenario involves us getting Matthews, and then running something like:

Nylander-Matthews-??
JvR-Kadri-Marner

I'd love having that as our Top 6 in the future.

maybe brown, he has looked pretty great as a rookie in the ahl, if he transitions to the nhl he could become a gallagher type player, or we could always trade for a top line winger or sign one