Jake Muzzin thread

[JEI]

That hit he dished out in the first 10 minutes was certainly refreshing.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

He is the exact player we have been looking for. Lhs or not.
Hopefully his desire to not just be physical but finish his hits rubs off on some and encourages Kadri to play the same way again.

It's too early to talk about resigning him but I have a feeling he might finish his career in TO.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

Except, Babcock will find a way to put Hainsey on the ice, in important situations, over the much better Muzzin! Just watch!

Jesus... does every f***ing thread have to have some bs about the coach even tho we just won?

 

[Liminality]

He is the exact player we have been looking for. Lhs or not.
Hopefully his desire to not just be physical but finish his hits rubs off on some and encourages Kadri to play the same way again.

It's too early to talk about resigning him but I have a feeling he might finish his career in TO.

Smart hits too, not just out of position hits.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

Smart hits too, not just out of position hits.

Absolutely. He plays a very smart yet physical game. Seems like forever since we have had a D like him.
Just a very well rounded and highly skilled guy. Strikes me as a guy not afraid to drop the gloves to protect a teammate either.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

He's exactly what the Leafs needed.

 

[horner]

He is the exact player we have been looking for. Lhs or not.
Hopefully his desire to not just be physical but finish his hits rubs off on some and encourages Kadri to play the same way again.

It's too early to talk about resigning him but I have a feeling he might finish his career in TO.

That is my hope

 

[mammothCacti]

One play stood out to me so clearly that its shocking.

The pens were cycling hard sometime in the 3rd and all Muzzin does is pin body to body along the boards, one hand poke the puck behind the net to an open Rielly that hits a streaking forward for a chance.

Muzzin makes such textbook and easy looking plays, that seems so hard for the majority of our D.

 

[horner]

He plays so different in the D end than any of our other D that it almost looks weird...like he actually will identify an open man and make him...not open!

Hope our other dman watch a real defenceman.
We have never had someone like muzzin to teach our dman.
Maybe dubus will learn something as well.
One more please 5 or 6 spot.

 

[horner]

You can also hear him on the ice helping his partner.
Wow
What a concept.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

One play stood out to me so clearly that its shocking.

The pens were cycling hard sometime in the 3rd and all Muzzin does is pin body to body along the boards, one hand poke the puck behind the net to an open Rielly that hits a streaking forward for a chance.

Muzzin makes such textbook and easy looking plays, that seems so hard for the majority of our D.

That play stuck out to me as well.

Shows his blend of physicality/smarts and suggests he's picking up the system FAST because that was a break-out play.

He's mentioned how much faster the Leafs play, and I feel that play was an example of his adjustment to the Leafs style of play.

 

[Al14]

Jesus... does every ****ing thread have to have some bs about the coach even tho we just won?

Sorry! Babcock is just fine as our head coach.

He gets the MOST out of all the TALENT we have on this team.

 

[Polaris1010]

Muzzin is a big body who actually uses his size to his advantage.

Then he joins the rush on occasion. Also a cup winner earlier in his career.

Not exactly fast, but not slow either. Average speed. The entire LA Kings team looks slow so Muzzin looked slow on his former team. Here he does not look out of place.

One thing he has to do is shave his beard. He looks like a vagrant on Yonge Street.

 

[1specter]

Dude's a stud, so smart defensively.







Twitter

Regarding the whole RS/LS thing, it seems like Rielly and Muzz will actually switch depending on the situation.

 

[Kelly]

Absolutely. He plays a very smart yet physical game. Seems like forever since we have had a D like him.
Just a very well rounded and highly skilled guy. Strikes me as a guy not afraid to drop the gloves to protect a teammate either.

He's had a total of two fights in his career.





Didn't really fare well in either of them, but second one was him sticking up for a teammate after he was nailed.

 

[LeafingTheWay]

Dude's a stud, so smart defensively.







Twitter

Regarding the whole RS/LS thing, it seems like Rielly and Muzz will actually switch depending on the situation.

This is the difference between defensive players like Muzzin and Hainsey/Zaitsev. You want to stay away from guys like Hainsey who can shut-down but cannot move the puck and are stuck in their zone. You way to get players that can shut-down and make the smart transition play right after.

Hainsey would've 100% bounced that puck off the boards and back to the other team, which is super dumb.

 

[Nineteen67]

He keeps you honest with the ability to suddenly plow through you yet he can keep up with skaters and play a stick checking game.





Babcock is going to love watching that stick check into the body check.

He is by far our best option for a match up defender and I'm sure Babcock is going to use him a lot in the playoffs.



The trickle down effect. I knew that once we brought in a guy good enough to push almost every down a spot in the depth chart, they'd look much more comfortable.

Babcock may have loved the hit, but the fans were unfazed. Was it the first hit like that this season?

 

[1specter]

He's had a total of two fights in his career.





Didn't really fare well in either of them, but second one was him sticking up for a teammate after he was nailed.

I want to acquire Jensen even more now lol

 

[LeafingTheWay]

I want to acquire Jensen even more now lol

Would be the perfect acquisition to round out our D.

Rielly - Muzzin
Gardiner - Jensen
Dermott- Zaitsev

 

[Nithoniniel]

One play stood out to me so clearly that its shocking.

The pens were cycling hard sometime in the 3rd and all Muzzin does is pin body to body along the boards, one hand poke the puck behind the net to an open Rielly that hits a streaking forward for a chance.

Muzzin makes such textbook and easy looking plays, that seems so hard for the majority of our D.

Well, it looks hard for the majority of our D because it actually is hard. To pin someone like that while having one arm free and having the presence of mind to move the puck simultaneously is something most of the d-men in the NHL won't do.

But yeah, that was a beautiful play, I took notice of it too. I liked his neutral zone play a lot. So many situations where he stepped up and just jarred the puck loose so that we could try to win it back. And he's not bad with the puck either. Makes good, quick plays. Most often on one touch. And with some time and room, he can make great plays. There was one where he sold a pass up the board, had the patience to wait for a lane, and hit one of our guys with a stretch pass. He gets in trouble when he's got a lot of pressure and needs to make a difficult pass though, but so do most d-men.

 

[Polaris1010]

I must admit, when I heard of this trade, was not that excited, and thought maybe this was a vast over payment.

He looked slow in LA, but that was the styled they played. Maybe he was not that slow, but how can we tell?

After two games, Muzzin does not appear to have loss much speed at all.

When the LA Kings won their cups, those teams were really fast. Muzzin was right there playing that style and he blended right in. Currently the LA Kings are the slowest team in the league. Muzzin looked just as slow when LA played Toronto twice this season. Muzzin looked just as slow when the two teams played last season.

We got to remember the Roman Polak trade for Carl Gunnarson.

Polak was a pretty good defenseman for St. Louis. The Maple Leafs got tired of Gunnarson's soft play, wanted someone hard nosed like Polak. It was a good trade for the Leafs, it seemed, as it was a wonder why St. Louis was giving Polak away when he was still only 28 at the time.

When Roman Polak got here, he was hard nose, but it became obvious why St. Louis got rid of him. Polak loss a step, but in reality he two steps when he got traded here, then loss another two more steps in his time in Toronto. But give Roman Polak credit for hanging in with the Leafs, playing hard playing his heart out for the team.

Lets hope Muzzin turns out to be Polak but with the foot speed and more offensive punch.

Kind of surprised that Muzzin only was in two fights in his career, as the division he came from probably is the most violent in the entire league. For comparison, Polak maybe got 10 fights in the Toronto sweater when he was here, lol.

 

[mulefarm]

Hope he doesn’t have to fight, not his strong suit.

 

[TorMapleJays]

You don’t want muzzy fighting, that’s 2-3 minutes of ice time he is losing, muzzy is needed on the ice, not in the box. You need a throwaway if you are looking to fight.
Lucic with max salary retained. 4th line goon. Hahaha am I being ligit or am I being facetious????

 

[Al14]

I must admit, when I heard of this trade, was not that excited, and thought maybe this was a vast over payment.

He looked slow in LA, but that was the styled they played. Maybe he was not that slow, but how can we tell?

After two games, Muzzin does not appear to have loss much speed at all.

When the LA Kings won their cups, those teams were really fast. Muzzin was right there playing that style and he blended right in. Currently the LA Kings are the slowest team in the league. Muzzin looked just as slow when LA played Toronto twice this season. Muzzin looked just as slow when the two teams played last season.

We got to remember the Roman Polak trade for Carl Gunnarson.

Polak was a pretty good defenseman for St. Louis. The Maple Leafs got tired of Gunnarson's soft play, wanted someone hard nosed like Polak. It was a good trade for the Leafs, it seemed, as it was a wonder why St. Louis was giving Polak away when he was still only 28 at the time.

When Roman Polak got here, he was hard nose, but it became obvious why St. Louis got rid of him. Polak loss a step, but in reality he two steps when he got traded here, then loss another two more steps in his time in Toronto. But give Roman Polak credit for hanging in with the Leafs, playing hard playing his heart out for the team.

Lets hope Muzzin turns out to be Polak but with the foot speed and more offensive punch.

Kind of surprised that Muzzin only was in two fights in his career, as the division he came from probably is the most violent in the entire league. For comparison, Polak maybe got 10 fights in the Toronto sweater when he was here, lol.

Wow, equating Muzzin with Polak.

 

[Polaris1010]

Wow, equating Muzzin with Polak.

I would try to make a rebuttal for your senses.

Maybe I should slow it down to try again.

Polak was traded to the Leafs.
Muzzin was traded to the Leafs.

Polak was not the same player compared to earlier in his career when he was traded.
Muzzin could be the same player or a lesser version of himself when he got traded.

Looking at the world with such parallels perhaps too much to handle right now?

You tail gating before the Superbowl?

Cool!