How is there not a JVR appreciation thread going?

Trapper

Registered User
Nov 21, 2013
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He did what he did.

Not sure how much I'll miss him, he was excellent in one half of one zone.

He'll get a good contract somewhere, I hope it isn't in Toronto.

If he stays I'd like to see him with Kadri.
Someone will most likely overpay JVR and move him out of a sheltered role into a more prominent top 6.
Then we will see how much the shelter was warranted.
Also if Kadri remains as a Babcock matchup center, you'll never see JVR with him. Marleau is trusted much more.
 

ottomaddox

Registered User
Oct 31, 2017
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Great career with TOR. I always liked him.

I do feel that TOR will move on from him.

I don't buy that teams were trying to out bid each other for his services at the TDL.

I also had no problem with TOR keeping him at the deadline. Teams that are out of the playoffs and re-tooling might trade him, but not a team like TOR who are trying to win.
 

Tak7

Registered User
Nov 1, 2009
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Great career with TOR. I always liked him.

I do feel that TOR will move on from him.

I don't buy that teams were trying to out bid each other for his services at the TDL.

I also had no problem with TOR keeping him at the deadline. Teams that are out of the playoffs and re-tooling might trade him, but not a team like TOR who are trying to win.

I think @heybuddyhowyadoing sums it up for many / most of us.

He was as good as we could have hoped for, but ultimately we need to move on from him - he had a very limited role when it mattered most.
 

Brown Dog

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Jun 23, 2007
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Will miss JVR and his green mouthguard. He was a good soldier and always produced.

That said, I can't see a scenario where he is back. Too many other important and expensive commitments coming up to pay UFA money to an aging winger who is essentially a specialty player (albeit an elite one at what he does).

Somebody will probably pay JVR for 6 years and be happy with the first half of that contract and unhappy with the second half.
 
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PromisedLand

I need more FOOD
Dec 3, 2016
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I think it was a David Poile quote when signing contracts:
I love him at 4 million but hate him at 6.
Best of luck JVR.

Prospective teams JVR may end up going to

  • Oilers
  • Preds
  • Devils
  • VGK

Thank you for your services JVR with you the best (except when you play against the Leafs).

P.S. Dubas, DO NOT RESIGN JVR

Thanks!
 
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Gary Nylund

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Oct 10, 2013
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Best of luck in the future JVR. It was cool to have you when our team sucked as it was nice to score some goals every now and then and you are slick around the net. TBH though, I don't see a team ever winning the cup with you in a top 6 role as from a defensive standpoint, you match up poorly with just about everyone. As a PP specialist though, you rock.
 
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Brown Dog

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
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Prospective teams JVR may end up going to

  • Oilers
  • Preds
  • Devils
  • VGK

Thank you for your services JVR with you the best (except when you play against the Leafs).

P.S. Dubas, DO NOT RESIGN JVR

Thanks!

As obvious as it seems to pass on re-upping JVR, I think people are underestimating how difficult it will be to replace his production.

Lots of people like to complain about how the only thing he does is score goals when this is one of the rarest and most sought-after of skills.
 

Gary Nylund

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Oct 10, 2013
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As obvious as it seems to pass on re-upping JVR, I think people are underestimating how difficult it will be to replace his production.

Lots of people like to complain about how the only thing he does is score goals when this is one of the rarest and most sought-after of skills.

And I think people are overestimating how important it is to replace his production. Keeping the puck out of the net is equally important but doesn't get the attention that scoring does and is harder so measure.
 

Trapper

Registered User
Nov 21, 2013
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11,002
As obvious as it seems to pass on re-upping JVR, I think people are underestimating how difficult it will be to replace his production.

Lots of people like to complain about how the only thing he does is score goals when this is one of the rarest and most sought-after of skills.
Letting a 30 goal scorer walk is lost on many but at the end of the day in a salary cap world/era, when you start reaching the upper levels of salary 6-7-8+ million, you must be able to provide more than just one thing. Even if that one thing is scoring goals unfortunately. The only other way is to get a 2/3 year contract at 6. But JVR wants his sailing off into the sunset 7-8 years guaranteed I'm sure.
 

kk87

Registered User
Feb 12, 2015
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Waterloo, ON
Not too concerned about replacing his production to be honest - JVR had 25 even strength goals last year, and it's probably safe to say we can get at least that many from full seasons of Kapanen and Johnsson (sum, not individual). In terms of PP production, his net front abilities were really valuable but I expect our PP to be even better if and when we put all our elite talent on the same unit.

I appreciate everything JVR brought to the table through the years, but he's going to fall off a cliff reeeeal soon. Even watching him in the playoffs, he basically served as a Matt Martin with good hands in tight. That sort of player just doesn't fit with the fast, up-tempo group we have in place.
 
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IPS

Registered User
Sep 28, 2017
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Best of luck in the future JVR. It was cool to have you when our team sucked as it was nice to score some goals every now and then and you are slick around the net. TBH though, I don't see a team ever winning the cup with you in a top 6 role as from a defensive standpoint, you match up poorly with just about everyone. As a PP specialist though, you rock.
Lackadaisical outside of his strength which is scoring goals 5 feet out from the net. Doesn't battle in corners, terrible defensively, doesn't backcheck, doesn't PK. I'll bet Matthews does even better in his role on PP1. I don't expect Kapanen and Johnsson to bring anywhere near the goal-scoring ability that JVR brought, but they also bring the aspects that JVR sorely lacked.

I really don't think the Leafs are going to miss this guy very much.
 

Gary Nylund

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
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Lackadaisical outside of his strength which is scoring goals 5 feet out from the net. Doesn't battle in corners, terrible defensively, doesn't backcheck, doesn't PK. I'll bet Matthews does even better in his role on PP1. I don't expect Kapanen and Johnsson to bring anywhere near the goal-scoring ability that JVR brought, but they also bring the aspects that JVR sorely lacked.

I really don't think the Leafs are going to miss this guy very much.

I see it in much the same way. Matthews takes over for him on the PP, does an even better job and they let that unit play even more than they did. Unless we get Tavares, then they could try something else. And yes his replacements will score less but allow less goals so ... JVR is one player that I think has value but we just might be able to absorb his loss and not get any worse as a team.
 

Brown Dog

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Jun 23, 2007
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Letting a 30 goal scorer walk is lost on many but at the end of the day in a salary cap world/era, when you start reaching the upper levels of salary 6-7-8+ million, you must be able to provide more than just one thing. Even if that one thing is scoring goals unfortunately. The only other way is to get a 2/3 year contract at 6. But JVR wants his sailing off into the sunset 7-8 years guaranteed I'm sure.

Agreed. Someone else said it in another thread that we need to get away from specialists and stock the lineup with players that can do it all, even if some of them do nothing at an elite level. I like that idea.
 

Trapper

Registered User
Nov 21, 2013
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Agreed. Someone else said it in another thread that we need to get away from specialists and stock the lineup with players that can do it all, even if some of them do nothing at an elite level. I like that idea.
When you are a legit contender of a Pittsburgh level (or always around the final four/eight in the league), you can then add a JVR specialist at the deadline. That's with a well stocked organization. Until then, you trade the JVR to be the well stocked organization.
 
Apr 1, 2010
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Can you show us all the original shanaplan?
Pain. LOts of pain.
We had only one year of pain.
The plan included moving expiring contracts for picks and prospects. But instead after one year of moderate success we signed Marleau and held on to JVR and Bozak at the deadline.

Now I have no problem with the way Marleau turned out, and if we were planning on making a deep run then keeping JVR and Bozak make sense, but none of that was in the original plan of long term pain and acquiring youth.
 
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Nithoniniel

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Sep 7, 2012
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I don't really see us putting Matthews as net front presence. He'd be good at it, but that's a position that takes a lot of abuse. If I took a guess at how our PP1 might look next season with the current roster, I'd say:

Net - Marleau
Left - Matthews
Slot - Kadri
Right - Marner
Point - Rielly

Rielly distributes, and we can attack in two different ways. Same as previous year from the right, or a set up more like Winnipeg from the left. Willie will have to make due with the leftovers on the second unit.
 

nsleaf

Registered User
Oct 21, 2009
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JVR was acquired by trading Mr. Schenn so he was a good trade that worked out better than keeping LS. But it's likely time to move on from him, maybe? I don't know, let Dubas figure it out.
 

PuckMagi

Registered User
Apr 13, 2013
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I would have liked to have seen how JVR did with a center other than Bozak. Would he have looked any different if he played with Kadri?
 

Battle Lin

Registered User
Dec 18, 2015
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i like jvr a lot, but we gotta stay younger, and keep getting faster, and even more skilled handling the puck...his scoring is gonna be missed for sure
 

Gallagbi

Formerly Eazy_B97
Jul 5, 2005
48,490
11,108
I would have liked to have seen how JVR did with a center other than Bozak. Would he have looked any different if he played with Kadri?
He did and looked the same. Scoring was down because Kadri was in a slump, but they played fine.
 

Fogelhund

Registered User
Sep 15, 2007
21,052
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Funny enough, some of JvR's analytics are pretty good. Corsi, Fenwick, Relative Corsi, Relative Fenwick were all near the top of the club, for players who played the full year... then you notice... 63% Offensive Zone Starts... Most sheltered player on the Leafs, by a LONG margin.

He sure is good at tipping goals in, and sniping. Not so good at anything else. Great skill to have, and he's going to be well paid for it, somewhere else. Good luck, enjoyed watching you play.
 
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Daisy Jane

everything is gonna be okay!
Jul 2, 2009
70,212
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Agreed. Someone else said it in another thread that we need to get away from specialists and stock the lineup with players that can do it all, even if some of them do nothing at an elite level. I like that idea.

you're never going to get a multitude of "do it all"ish players. and having specialists isn't a bad thing
you just don't overpay for a speciality.
 

LeafFever

Registered User
Feb 12, 2016
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Funny enough, some of JvR's analytics are pretty good. Corsi, Fenwick, Relative Corsi, Relative Fenwick were all near the top of the club, for players who played the full year... then you notice... 63% Offensive Zone Starts... Most sheltered player on the Leafs, by a LONG margin.

He sure is good at tipping goals in, and sniping. Not so good at anything else. Great skill to have, and he's going to be well paid for it, somewhere else. Good luck, enjoyed watching you play.
He is so one-dimensional. 8 years for him is a big mistake. Kapanen can score 25+ goals next season.
 

Brown Dog

Registered User
Jun 23, 2007
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you're never going to get a multitude of "do it all"ish players. and having specialists isn't a bad thing
you just don't overpay for a speciality.

I think we're already pretty close to having a forward group made up of players who contribute in all zones.
 

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