Johnsson or Kapanen your choice

[Battle Lin]

you guys crazy, the bozak jvr line was getting scored on left and right and was a minus all year before brown joined it, browns hustle, forecheck, and D really helping that 3rd line

 

[Smif]

If one has to go out for the playoffs, I'd rather it be Johnsson.

I think Kapanen is just better prepared at this time to contribute in more ways.

Only way around that happening would be something like (with Komarov back).

Johnsson-Matthews-Nylander
Marleau-Kadri-Marner
van Riemsdyk-Bozak-Hyman
Komarov-Plekanec-Kapanen

Brown sitting

Brown is better than half the wingers there. How does he get benched??

Brown > Kapanen, Johnsson, Komarov, Hyman

 

[ULF_55]

Brown is better than half the wingers there. How does he get benched??

Brown > Kapanen, Johnsson, Komarov, Hyman

I'm not saying that's what I would do, I'm saying that's the only way I can see keeping Johnsson in the line-up.

IMO Babcock would not take out Hyman or Komarov regardless, so it comes down to removing one of Brown, Kapanen or Johnsson.

Again, IMO he will remove Johnsson from the line-up.

 

[PuckMagi]

I'm a huge Johnsson fan... but if I could only keep one of the two in the lineup for the playoffs... gotta go with Clutchperi Kapanen.

 

[Battle Lin]

i dont know how johnsson, and even leivo, got on the PP before kapanen, kappy has good offensive skills and a nice shot, and that speed

 

[saltming]

i dont know how johnsson, and even leivo, got on the PP before kapanen, kappy has good offensive skills and a nice shot, and that speed

Good question.
Perhaps it's because Johnsson has the skills that reek of pp specialist whereas KK has the ability to produce at 5v5?
In short maybe the coach sees AJ as a better option on the pp?

 

[MR4]

Good question.
Perhaps it's because Johnsson has the skills that reek of pp specialist whereas KK has the ability to produce at 5v5?
In short maybe the coach sees AJ as a better option on the pp?

I think he's more talking about the fact that KK couldn't get 1 sniff of the 2nd PP when it was awful and they tried everyone else before AJ got called up, not KK > AJ for power play

 

[Marshy]

If Johnsson isn't in the lineup by game 3 I see no reason why he should be in the pressbox. Send him back down for the AHL playoffs. If the Leafs get an injury to a winger he can always be recalled.

The guy deserves to play in the AHL playoffs if he's not going to be inserted in the Leafs lineup for the playoffs.

 

[saltming]

If Johnsson isn't in the lineup by game 3 I see no reason why he should be in the pressbox. Send him back down for the AHL playoffs. If the Leafs get an injury to a winger he can always be recalled.

The guy deserves to play in the AHL playoffs if he's not going to be inserted in the Leafs lineup for the playoffs.

I find it a good sign that Leo is on a short leash that Johnsson has not been sent down.
Leo better have a stellar game 1 or he should be sitting.

 

[djdev]

i have a feeling johnnson will get a game when babs can control the matchups. so when the series shifts to toronto i see him getting in. on the road i think babs will stick with komo unless he gets injured.

just a gut feeling though..who knows.

 

[moon111]

Johnsson is like a newly built race car. Looks promising. So much potential. But the suspension isn't dialed yet. The tires are spinning.
It's dramatic watching the brute power churning the tires, but when the smoke clears, the other car has won the race. And I don't know
if he ever beats Komarov at his own game. He was more likely to see power-play time then penalty-killing. I can actually see him taking
over JVR's spot on the roster and Komarov being resigned to do the unappreciated Komarov things on the 4th line. My feeling is,
he's going to sit as they won't think he's ready just yet, but there's always the chance other's will fail there way out instead.

 

[LeafsLegendAkiBerg]

 

[saltming]

Johnsson is like a newly built race car. Looks promising. So much potential. But the suspension isn't dialed yet. The tires are spinning.
It's dramatic watching the brute power churning the tires, but when the smoke clears, the other car has won the race. And I don't know
if he ever beats Komarov at his own game. He was more likely to see power-play time then penalty-killing. I can actually see him taking
over JVR's spot on the roster and Komarov being resigned to do the unappreciated Komarov things on the 4th line. My feeling is,
he's going to sit as they won't think he's ready just yet, but there's always the chance other's will fail there way out instead.

AJ got some ok time and looked pretty good out there.

 

[Menzinger]

Johnsson could potentially provide more offense than Kapanen already. I also think his game is already more well rounded (likely due to his age), with obviously Kapanen having the higher longer term potential

 

[moon111]

AJ got some ok time and looked pretty good out there.

He has a total of 6:26 of penalty-killing time. That's not a whole lot. I don't know if the time was 'spotted' or not. But either way,
he's not that experienced yet. He might end up being a fine penalty-killing example, but if the Leafs wanted him in that role, they
should of invested in his NHL ice-time a lot sooner. (To note, this compares to 11:36 on the power-play.)

As for Kaps not on the power-play, if you look at how most power-plays go, they're throwing the puck around, trying to find a
hole in the penalty-killers to exploit. In 55 games, Kaps has 2 assists. I don't think he's established his play-making skills
anywhere close to being considered for anything outside his current role now. I would honestly think Matt Martin would be
ahead of him in choosing for the power-play, where speed really isn't as great of an asset.

I personally think the depth is Kapanen, Komarov, Johnsson. Komarov is definitely a key player of interest in this first game.
He's the type of player built more for the playoffs then the regular season. For forwards that played at least half the season,
he was 7th in hits/game. And knowing the Leafs depth, I don't think Babcock will have a problem telling his grunts to
fix bayonets and charge out of the trenches. What type of Komarov comes out charging? He's one player that could end up
a hero or zero.

 

[Morbo]

I would put both of them in. That's our best lineup.

 

[Antropovsky]

Silver lining of the playoffs for me has been the play of these two... Kapanen spraying rask and then welcoming the haters was a thing of beauty Haha and his speed on the sh breakaway and beating rask but not the post/beauty. We knew johnsson had potential, but I don’t think anyone of us really expected him to show up like he has this year.

Next year is going to be fun... Dermott, johnsson, Kapanen, year older.

 

[613Leafer]

Silver lining of the playoffs for me has been the play of these two... Kapanen spraying rask and then welcoming the haters was a thing of beauty Haha and his speed on the sh breakaway and beating rask but not the post/beauty. We knew johnsson had potential, but I don’t think anyone of us really expected him to show up like he has this year.

Next year is going to be fun... Dermott, johnsson, Kapanen, year older.

Matthews, Marner, Nylander, Hyman, Brown, etc as well. All these guys are at the level of NHL experience / age where you can reasonably expect further growth from them.

Main issue is what happens with JVR/Bozak, and are we just promoting internally, or making a trade / signing to try to fill any hole there. Regardless, we should still have a playoff team next year barring major regression/injuries, but hard to know if it'll be a top contender, or more of a lower seeded team.

 

[TheProspector]

Komarov should never play another game for an NHL club.

 

[Stephen]

Like I said. Both.

 

[moon111]

Komarov should never play another game for an NHL club.

Yet we just saw Boston score a goal because Johnsson doesn't cover the point. Simple thing. Komarov does. With the Leafs,
it's not something you can take for granted that every player does. Boston just drove the puck in from the point. Why?
Nylander wanted to wait for a puck instead of covering his man. They might want Komarov back just for his mentorship capabilities.

 

[Suntouchable13]

They both brought nice spark to the Leafs tonight.

 

[Battle Lin]

both are nhl players and at 23 and 21, they should only get better

 

[MR4]

f***ing. Both.

So refreshing to have a fast 4th line dominating.

And guess what our PK did today? Not get scored on once.

 

[Gabriel426]

****ing. Both.

So refreshing to have a fast 4th line dominating.

And guess what our PK did today? Not get scored on once.

Moore was not too bad tonight too.