Joffrey Lupul

[SprDaVE]

I dont understand the trend of dislike for Lupul. Hes going to score around 22-25 goals and 22-25 assists. Thats 2nd line production. He plays on the 2nd line. So hes not the best defensively, hes hardly the only winger in the league who isnt.

Take him for what he is, a top 6 offensive forward and leader on our team.

He still provides solid 2nd line scoring and like you said, he's shown to be a solid voice on and off the ice for this team. He hasn't played exceptionally well like he has showed before, but still fairly good right now.

This fan base is very "what have you done for me lately?", so it's no surprise that fans are not happy with his recent production.

He hasn't been the problem, that's for sure.

 

[Trapper]

I dont understand the trend of dislike for Lupul. Hes going to score around 22-25 goals and 22-25 assists. Thats 2nd line production. He plays on the 2nd line. So hes not the best defensively, hes hardly the only winger in the league who isnt.

Take him for what he is, a top 6 offensive forward and leader on our team.

There is nothing wrong with Lupul offensively. The question is, how many bad defensive players can you have through your lineup? If he was 1 of 4 bad defensive players on the team and the rest were very good, no problem. Look at the Capitals. They were loaded offensively and other than great regular seasons where they outscored their problems they really went nowhere. Would you rather a bad defensive 25 goal scorer or 2 great 2-way 15 goal scorers?

 

[leafs in five]

the Capitals are "loaded offensively"?

 

[thewave]

the Capitals are "loaded offensively"?

He said were and I am guessing this a thing over 5yrs which is correct. Ovi is -14 or something silly an this is where our first line has been in the past. Teams with 3 lines in the + are contenders. It means at even strength they play well and don't rely on PP exclusively to win games.

Since Bozak came back from injury a new player our top line is inching into the plus side and we have been winning games. This is where +\- works well as an indicator.

Solution, lines that are a - need retooled or changed.

 

[Trapper]

the Capitals are "loaded offensively"?

"were" not are.
2 100 Point players in Ovi/Backstrom
40 goal scorer in Semin
A healthy Laich with 25 goals
A 76 point D in Green
7 players with 50 or more points.
0 playoff success.

 

[Trapper]

He said were and I am guessing this a thing over 5yrs which is correct. Ovi is -14 or something silly an this is where our first line has been in the past. Teams with 3 lines in the + are contenders. It means at even strength they play well and don't rely on PP exclusively to win games.

Since Bozak came back from injury a new player our top line is inching into the plus side and we have been winning games. This is where +\- works well as an indicator.

Solution, lines that are a - need retooled or changed.

The Leafs where they are now:
1st line: One of the best in the league. Nobody on this board expects them to play D. Bozak is a pretty good 2way player (more than he is given credit for) but this line is our scoring and defense is played via offense. I don't think anyone has a problem with this line.

2nd line: Not great defensively. Better if Kulemin is on it. Poor on faceoffs and if not scoring they are not really stoping anyone else from scoring or driving much. Not physical, not able to cycle.

3rd line: Without Bolland its a mess. Im not even sure what it is. Is it Raymond/Kulemin/Holland/Clarkson or some mix? Is it for a shutdown role? Is it for more offense? Injuries have left us guessing. Currently below average defensively with little offense.

4th line: Other than McClement for PK duties, horrible. Not much value. Doesn't fight, not a shutdown line. What is it?

What would you change? Without liking or disliking players like Lupul/Kadri/Clarkson/McClement/Bolland etc. Will adding 1 D change the dynamic? What are we lacking up and down the forward group?

 

[thewave]

The Leafs where they are now:
1st line: One of the best in the league. Nobody on this board expects them to play D. Bozak is a pretty good 2way player (more than he is given credit for) but this line is our scoring and defense is played via offense. I don't think anyone has a problem with this line.

2nd line: Not great defensively. Better if Kulemin is on it. Poor on faceoffs and if not scoring they are not really stoping anyone else from scoring or driving much. Not physical, not able to cycle.

3rd line: Without Bolland its a mess. Im not even sure what it is. Is it Raymond/Kulemin/Holland/Clarkson or some mix? Is it for a shutdown role? Is it for more offense? Injuries have left us guessing. Currently below average defensively with little offense.

4th line: Other than McClement for PK duties, horrible. Not much value. Doesn't fight, not a shutdown line. What is it?

What would you change? Without liking or disliking players like Lupul/Kadri/Clarkson/McClement/Bolland etc. Will adding 1 D change the dynamic? What are we lacking up and down the forward group?

I honestly don't have an idea but I can say I would be working the TDL like crazy to do something. I really don't know we have a lot of overlap in that 3rd 4th liner type guys. We have so many we have to send them packing, play the kids, that sort of thing.

I think we have to take an honest look at our team and then trade out the guys we have who are older and have younger replacements ready and replenish the prospect pool some. Move a little and make sure we don't have depth holes.

 

[Stephen]

Guess I just do not get it.
As there is no "I" in team how it can all be Lupul's fault, there are 4 other players on the ice at the same time as Lupul not including the goalie.

He might not be the best but he is far from the worst.

Just seems strange the amount of people wanting to trade a 20+ goal scorer. If the Line had some stability and once Kadri gets more experience you would see less defensive gaffs and even more production.

The other 4 other players on the ice and the goalie have their own blame threads too. Gardiner, Franson, Rielly, Phaneuf, Raymond, Kadri, Bernier/Reimer all get scrutinized too.

Lupul's greatest strength and flaw is that he wants the game decided on his stick. When the pucks are going in he looks like a superstar, but when they're not, he's gripping his stick, forcing the shot, not making good passes, and the worst part is after a rush he looks like he's on cruise control/not defensively heads up and interested in the details.

 

[calcal798]

To some extent, he's a victim of playing on a poor defensive team. If we could insulate him with better two-way players, he'd probably stick out less, but as it stands now he's arguably our worst defensive forward outside of Kessel - the difference being that Kessel tends to get away with it because he's one of the league's top scorers.

Kessel is insulated by two players with a very strong two-way game in JvR and Bozak. Lately Lupul has been playing with Clarkson and Kadri, which is the exact opposite of insulating him with two players with strong two-way play. So his mistakes have made him stick-out like a sorethumb.

When Bolland eventually comes back Carlyle should scratch that line and make it:

Lupul-Kadri-Kuli
Raymond-Bolland-Clarkson

If Kuli and Raymond get shipped out at the deadline they can be replaced with a combination of D'Amigo, Ashton and Holland. It would also help if our defense got an infusion of players capable of playing defense, that way we wouldn't have to watch Gardiner-Franson and their terrible play in the defensive zone.

 

[Ari91]

Guess I just do not get it.
As there is no "I" in team how it can all be Lupul's fault, there are 4 other players on the ice at the same time as Lupul not including the goalie.

He might not be the best but he is far from the worst.

Just seems strange the amount of people wanting to trade a 20+ goal scorer. If the Line had some stability and once Kadri gets more experience you would see less defensive gaffs and even more production.

Who said it's all Lupul's fault? Have you not noticed the threads for Kadri, goaltending, Clarkson, etc. on here? You think those threads are all glowing reviews of their play? It's not. Of course you're going to see a lot of criticism specific to Lupul in this thread because its a player discussion thread ABOUT Lupul.

Around the league, he's not the worst defensively. On the team, he is. The number support that as well.

It sounds like some people don't want to be constructive about this guy. He's never going to be a bonafide two way player, neither will Kessel but we've seen strides in Kessel's defensive game so why should we just accept that it's okay for a lesser player in Lupul to not make the same efforts? I'm not calling for a trade but for the few that are, what's so wrong with that? People are mentioning his production...guess what, there is no forward who spends more time on the ice while the Leafs are being scored on than when Lupul is on the ice. If you were to trade him away, you trade away his production but you don't need to score as many goals if you give up less of them. Are some of you more concerned about the individual stats of our players than the ability of the team to win games? Lupul contributes to the team. He lacks greatly in one area but his reliable in another. He's not a solid enough player for anyone to treat him as though he can't or shouldn't be traded as there are players out there who would be an overall upgrade. So let's not pretend that the guy is as important and immovable as a guy like Kessel. He's not.

 

[The_Chosen_One]

The other 4 other players on the ice and the goalie have their own blame threads too. Gardiner, Franson, Rielly, Phaneuf, Raymond, Kadri, Bernier/Reimer all get scrutinized too.

Lupul's greatest strength and flaw is that he wants the game decided on his stick. When the pucks are going in he looks like a superstar, but when they're not, he's gripping his stick, forcing the shot, not making good passes, and the worst part is after a rush he looks like he's on cruise control/not defensively heads up and interested in the details.

I think that is going to be a problem as well. On the top line Kessel has Bozak and JVR as defensively responsible linemates, and right now he's being used in tougher situations as well. In contrast, Kulemin ( or Clarkson) are being expected to not just retrieve the puck, but carry the entire line defensively. I think Kadri needs skill that can play a strong possession game.

Don't think Clarkson is the guy unless we try...

Clarkson - Kadri - Kulemin. The problem is neither of Kadri's linemates are very skilled on the offensive end.

 

[Stephen]

Lupul sucked with the net empty at the end of the Jackets game. Gets a shot off and just watches the rebound and his teammates fight for the rebound, then camps out at the opposite blueline for the breakaway pass. I understand the impact he's trying to make at times, but he's just cheating on everything else trying to be a game breaker. Such a dud this year.

 

[HellasLEAF]

I'm ASTONISHED that David Clarkson is still being tried on the 2nd line. Along with Lupul, Kadri isn't getting much help.

 

[Bardown warrior]

Remember when Joffrey Lupul said that he think he'd derserved to be on team canada....

 

[Rare Jewel]

Remember when Joffrey Lupul said that he think he'd derserved to be on team canada....

There was a case to made, He's just fallen off completely pretty much since.

 

[Diatomic]

Remember when Joffrey Lupul said that he think he'd derserved to be on team canada....

I don't think he'd make team Latvia at this point

 

[Erdinger]

I don't think he'd make team Latvia at this point

Ted Nolan wouldn't have his lazy ass on Team Latvia.

 

[ULF_55]

Post last game and assist on the only goal tonight.

He needs better linemates.

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

Only loser bigger than Clarktard on this team is Lupul.

 

[Guy Boucher]

Only loser bigger than Clarktard on this team is Lupul.

One of them has 2 points in the last 3 games. One of them is not in the same stratosphere of suckage as the other.

 

[TonsofPuppies*]

One of them has 2 points in the last 3 games. One of them is not in the same stratosphere of suckage as the other.

Lupul is ****. A few fluke points don't change that. Not Clarktard ****. But **** none-the-less.

 

[Trapper]

Lupul is ****. A few fluke points don't change that. Not Clarktard ****. But **** none-the-less.

If I'm on the ice for 2 goals, really do nothing defensively and step off the bench and pass to Raymond who scores, does that make me better than Kessel with 0 points or Kulemin who battled and killed penalties?

 

[ULF_55]

Shoot out goals.

Lupul 6
van Riemsdyk 6
Bozal 3
Raymond 2

Leafs are 23 in ROW.

 

[AustonMitchWilly]

I like loops.

 

[Falon]

Just curious, would a Lupul for Byfuglien deal be workable? Wondering as the contracts are similar, so are the ages and +/- and Maurice has Buf playing on the wing again. This is not a proposal or something like that, just a question about whether or not I'm even in the right ballpark.