Frederick Gauthier looks good as the 4th line center

Menzinger

Kessel4LadyByng
Apr 24, 2014
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TBH that's likely more about who's ahead of Freddy in the line up more than anything.

Not sure he'll see much more than 10 minutes a night at most, especially if he's not PK'ing .. He'd make a fine PK'er but the Leafs have actual ample depth in this area this season.

I think about 10-12 min a night is likely where a stable 4C would end up with decent PK time on this team.

But Babs hasn’t felt comfortable playing him more than 6-7 min a night lately. That’s pretty telling.

Though hopefully there’s a growing process and he’s able to earn more trust and in turn usage
 

Ratboy

I made a funny!
Jul 15, 2009
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But he neither puts guys through the boards nor scores.
I guess if he can play decent defense, we don't need scoring from him.
Ok it'd be cool if he put people through the boards. I want that. It can't be wrong because it feels so right :laugh:
 

White Shadow

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Jan 7, 2016
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I just haven't seen enough from the Goat to call him an NHLer yet. Pretty sure Lindholm gets the 4C role once we dress our full roster.
 

Clark4Ever

What we do in hockey echoes in eternity...
Oct 10, 2010
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This is the ideal situation for Freddy at the NHL level, and it looks like he's ready to make the most of his opportunity.

I'm pulling for him to be our long term solution as the 4th line centre.
 

Battle Lin

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Dec 18, 2015
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with our top guys being paid huge money...our bottom 6 depth and 3rd pair D is only gonna get worse, we can only afford vet min to 1.5ish mill players to fill these roles

the goat if he keeps working on his speed, playing a good defensive role and keeps using his size, is as good as a bottom line player we can afford
 

Suntouchable13

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Dec 20, 2003
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with our top guys being paid huge money...our bottom 6 depth and 3rd pair D is only gonna get worse, we can only afford vet min to 1.5ish mill players to fill these roles

the goat if he keeps working on his speed, playing a good defensive role and keeps using his size, is as good as a bottom line player we can afford

Why do you need expensive 4th liners anyway?
 

Discordia

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Nov 1, 2017
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It's not really up to Goat at all. If Babcock likes a guy, he likes a guy and he's in. If he doesn't, he's out. See Carrick for example of that. Only Babcock would pick Marincin over Carrick because 'size'.

Goat is a big boy so I'm sure Babcock loves him regardless. Time will tell.
 

Not My Tempo

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Feb 22, 2015
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This is the ideal situation for Freddy at the NHL level, and it looks like he's ready to make the most of his opportunity.

I'm pulling for him to be our long term solution as the 4th line centre.
I agree, there’s 2 elite and 1 high end centres in front of him to handle a lot of the matchup burden. All he has to do is go out there for like 9 mins a night and give our big guys time to rest
 

Faltorvo

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Feb 18, 2008
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Still early, but there's been some show of promise. There's a spot in question in the lineup and on the team assuming Nylander returns, and Gauthier appeared to be one of those on the bubble. Hopefully the competition continues to bring out the best in those competing.
AJ/Ennis/ will be sent down before the goat

just get used to it, he is here to stay
 

Faltorvo

Registered User
Feb 18, 2008
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I like platooning the #4 spot for now. Ultimately, his points per 60 might kill him but he looks like he belongs right now.

really nuck, like honestly really???

you are going to p60 a 4th line c getting 6/8 mins a night?

when his entire hockey history has been a defense 1rst type C?

i'll metric him using the D60:nod:
 

Faltorvo

Registered User
Feb 18, 2008
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Late bloomer after years of development. Nice to see him on the team.
ahhh hrmmm

same age as AJ

2 years younger then JL

3 younger then zait/OZ

4 younger then lindholm

and never forget, pretty much lost 1 year of development after blowing out his knee in a big way.
 

BodaciousBeefBazooka

Go Leafs Go
Apr 4, 2013
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ahhh hrmmm

same age as AJ

2 years younger then JL

3 younger then zait/OZ

4 younger then lindholm

and never forget, pretty much lost 1 year of development after blowing out his knee in a big way.

5 years or so of development since we drafted him at 18? feels like he is older or something.
 

Faltorvo

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Feb 18, 2008
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5 years or so of development since we drafted him at 18? feels like he is older or something.

how about this premise

when we drafted the mighty goat this was a terrible terrible franchise (putting way more of a spotlight on our 1rsts) "the next great savior"

2) back then 2 HUGE topics of need,(tending) and centers ,,, so now the spot light on him turns into a laser beam

plus all the kids here screaming "screw size, we want skill"

i would argue he is only 1 year behind and i put that to blowing out his knee.

look at little grin and brod,,,,ain't no one getting all worked up on "when will they make the bigs"

it's a nice "safe" way to develop our kids.
 

1specter

Registered User
Sep 27, 2016
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He had 17% possession against Washington lol. Just not sure this guy will ever really get there and IMO the 4th line looked much better and more consistent with Lindholm centering it (and the numbers back it up).
 
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kk87

Registered User
Feb 12, 2015
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I think about 10-12 min a night is likely where a stable 4C would end up with decent PK time on this team.

But Babs hasn’t felt comfortable playing him more than 6-7 min a night lately. That’s pretty telling.

Though hopefully there’s a growing process and he’s able to earn more trust and in turn usage

Outside of PK time, it makes no sense to play our 4th line centre for more than 6-7 minutes. If we want to optimize our offence as well as our overall play, our top 3 centres should be on the ice as frequently as possible (ideally 19-19-16 or so per game)
 

Al14

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Jul 13, 2007
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Sparks has some hardware behind his name.
Until Sparks has some hard wear on his NHL gear, with results that show he is a capable NHL backup, the AHL hardware behind his name means absolutely nothing. ;)
 

Buds17

Registered User
Nov 29, 2015
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AJ/Ennis/ will be sent down before the goat

just get used to it, he is here to stay

Maybe Ennis, but I don't know that they'd risk losing Johnsson to waivers. In any case, fine with me if Gauthier stays. Doesn't matter to me who is on the team and roster. I only care that they make the right decisions more often than not.
 

Faltorvo

Registered User
Feb 18, 2008
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Maybe Ennis, but I don't know that they'd risk losing Johnsson to waivers. In any case, fine with me if Gauthier stays. Doesn't matter to me who is on the team and roster. I only care that they make the right decisions more often than not.
IIRC AJ does not need to pass waivers.
 

White Shadow

Registered User
Jan 7, 2016
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Until Sparks has some hard wear on his NHL gear, with results that show he is a capable NHL backup, the AHL hardware behind his name means absolutely nothing. ;)
It sounds like you're comparing Sparks to other goalies. We're comparing Sparks to Gauthier.

Both about the same level of experience but one has the most recent AHL player of the year at his position award and one doesn't. I'll take the one with the award over the one without it.
 

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