Leaf's best defenseman so far?

[thewave]

A reasonable rating would have them as,

Phanuef
Franson
Polak
Reilly
Robidas
Gardiner

It's more reasonable than fan choices. I picked Franson because he has come around in other aspects as well. Reality Dion is better of course. No idea where Rielly praise is coming from and Holzer and Polak?

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

A reasonable rating would have them as,

Phanuef
Franson
Polak
Reilly
Robidas
Gardiner

Which explains why Toronto is 25th in GA/G

26th in GA/G last season;
17th the year before that;
29th the year before that;
25th the year before that.

What are the only constants?

 

[ACC1224]

It's more reasonable than fan choices. I picked Franson because he has come around in other aspects as well. Reality Dion is better of course. No idea where Rielly praise is coming from and Holzer and Polak?

I didn't list Holzer because he hasn't played enough. Franson for me is the most surprising, IMO he's improved a lot this year.

Which explains why Toronto is 25th in GA/G

26th in GA/G last season;
17th the year before that;
29th the year before that;
25th the year before that.

What are the only constants?

No one said they were good enough.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

No one said they were good enough.

Good, I'm glad thats clear

 

[Suntouchable13]

A reasonable rating would have them as,

Phanuef
Franson
Polak
Reilly
Robidas
Gardiner

A big pile of steaming crap is what it is.

 

[thewave]

I didn't list Holzer because he hasn't played enough. Franson for me is the most surprising, IMO he's improved a lot this year.



No one said they were good enough.

Not questioning his absence from your list. I was just questioning the mindset of people here selecting him and Jake etc as #1. It's rather strange.

Franson should be resigned. My reason for this is simply his value goes up signed so long as he has a productive year next season.

Jake should probably also be kept just in the hope he bounces back.

Dion can be moved as his age means he will start decking shortly before we make the appropriate strides.

Robidas if wanted for any pick is just a smart move to release cap. Prohibits youth.

Rielly kept

Holzer is interesting. He doesn't look half bad tbh this second stint. Keep watching him close.

Polak at this stage is a luxury we can afford to trade if need be. He certainly has value and opens up cap space as well. Roster spot needed for youth trials

All of this is done in the understanding we are just trying to find ourselves and retool. Next year should be viewed as experimental.

Picks should also be had for UFA not named Franson. Clarkson becomes acceptable to chew another year from contract. Lupul Bozak on the block.

I don't think between now and next season we will have much difficulty accomplishing these things.

 

[diceman934]

Franson is no where near our best D man....my lord.

He is also gone....his demands are to rich and he will be moved at the trade deadline or before.

He is at best an 3/4 D man.........same as his playing partner....who will be much harder to move as his contract is horrible.

 

[thewave]

Franson is no where near our best D man....my lord.

He is also gone....his demands are to rich and he will be moved at the trade deadline or before.

He is at best an 3/4 D man.........same as his playing partner....who will be much harder to move as his contract is horrible.

Media people disagree. High interest in Dion and Franson but your opinion is well, just that.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

Media people disagree. High interest in Dion and Franson but your opinion is well, just that.

Mhmm, Friedman speculated Phaneuf for Mike Richards might make sense. So teams might just be interested in trading their underwhelming assets for our overpaid ones.

Interest =/= mean teams are willing to give up valuable assets for these guys. Only time will tell though

 

[diceman934]

Media people disagree. High interest in Dion and Franson but your opinion is well, just that.

What are you talking about?

Media people disagree that the Leafs think that Franson's contract demands are to high....or that he is our best D man...


Hope Smoke: Darren Dreger:

“The message I’m getting is Leafs told Franson: we’re not going to be comfortable paying you what you’ll demand on the UFA market.†“That’s the way it sounds. If that’s the case, it’s not my case to defend any hockey player, but they earn their UFA.†“there’s also pressure from the NHLPA to coax their players into UFA & make most amount of money & they should do that†“Someone is going to give Franson 7 years [on the UFA market]. Leafs don’t have interest at that term & money.†“What Toronto wants in return, for whatever deal they make, is players that it into the 22-25 age group.â€

 

[htpwn]

I wasn't sure what to think when I clicked on the thread but it seems most of this board is of the same mind as me.

The first name that popped into my head when I saw the question was Morgan Rielly, but upon second thought, the answer is Cody Franson.

That's saying something because if you asked the worst defenseman last year, he'd be the overwhelming choice. Quite an improvement, although apparently last year he was dealing with some lower body injuries which hindered his mobility.

Would I pay him what he's going to ask in the summer? No, because it's Franson, and you know he's going to be asked to be paid like a #1 despite the fact that he's a #4. But a #4 who puts up the points that he does is nonetheless a very valuable piece who should command a nice return at the deadline if we go that route.

The other factor, as well, which isn't often mentioned: The guy seems to care. For all the heartless performances we've seen this year, even when he was terrible last year, he's never hidden from the cameras. He's always been there to answer for his and his team's play and the answers that he gives are not the usual cliches. And let's not forget the whole salute fiasco, where Franson was only guy skating towards center ice. Lots of players say they want to stay in Toronto. Franson grew up a Leafs fan and I believe he truly does. Sadly, his agent is one of the worst in the business.

 

[Nithoniniel]

Judging every game equal over the course of the whole season, I'd say that Phaneuf has been our best D-man. He's falling fast though, but Franson isn't really playing well now either.

With that said, I feel like I've completely soured on Phaneuf. Not as much due to his abilities as a player, but because he's the captain and seems to let these collapses affect his game more than any other player on the team, outside perhaps Kessel.

 

[Mojo19]

Franson

For all the bad rap he gets... he's really not that bad of a D-man.

 

[Just Did It]

Lately I would say Rielly

Franson overall though? I don't know. Its hard to give praise to these players.

 

[Community]

Last 5 games? Rielly
Season? Easily Phaneuf

Yeah, Dion Phaneuf is a lightning rod for media and people to bash (just like Kessel, but DP is probably worse), but he's our best defender by far. Doesn't mean we have to keep him or he's an elite player, but he's our best defenseman by far and I would say around the 20th best defenseman in the league. He's great and if we trade him our defense will take a HUGE hit short-term.

 

[Community]

Judging every game equal over the course of the whole season, I'd say that Phaneuf has been our best D-man. He's falling fast though, but Franson isn't really playing well now either.

With that said, I feel like I've completely soured on Phaneuf. Not as much due to his abilities as a player, but because he's the captain and seems to let these collapses affect his game more than any other player on the team, outside perhaps Kessel.

I agree with all of this... Except for the part about Kessel, DP's play falls much harder than Kessel's does during these last 2 falls (neither were good though).

However, I'm not sure if the collapse was because of Kessel and DP sucking or vice versa. You have to think one of our top players gets moved this offseason despite them being our top players. I think it's likely that DP gets moved before Kessel (due to age, skillset, big culture change needed and a DP trade would probably cause a bigger change). Who knows, it's going to be an interesting TDL and offseason one way or another.

 

[Einzakin]

Polak and Franson.

Dion hasn't been terrible but he certainly hasn't been good. He's been getting beat a ton and just looks like a meathead out there sometimes.

 

[rdawg1234]

Really don't get the love for Franson lately, what has he done lately other than put up some points?

He has never impressed me defensively and is very slow. Great offensively and when on his game is decent defensively.

Good second pairing guy at best, not top pairing and he's going to be asking for 5.5m range.

He's far more valuable in trade IMO than keeping him on at that price, our defence needs to get better and IMO he can garner us a 1st at the deadline. Which could bring us a very cost controllable younger player. This is what GOOD teams do, trade away expensive middle pieces and replaces them with younger equally as good or nearly as good players at a 5th of the cost.

 

[Jacquestrapless]

It's quite interesting that coaching pairs two guys that can't skate to save their lives together. Even worse, they are put alongside the top-line that has a terrible time-possession wise.

If it were me I'd have each pairing containing a PMD and a guy that can crunch people. Pairing Rielly and Gardiner together is also a wreckage waiting to happen

 

[jason9090spezza]

How about "they all suck"? Is that an option?

I mean look at those +/-. Thought they were playing golf or something

 

[KLM-Line]

Relative to their talent and role I'd say Holzer and Polak. In absolutes probably Dion. But all of Franson, Phaneuf, Rielly and Gardiner had so much erratic play in their performances that it is hurting me to call it "best of anything".

 

[Pucker77]

Based on the way this poll is worded I have trouble deciding, because a defensemans #1 job is to defend and so by that logic the best is Roman Polak.

In my mind the poll is worded more like "which defenseman has surprised you the most so far?" That answer would make me choose Cody Franson for throughout this season(I thought it would be a bad joke putting Phaneuf-Franson as a pairing but for a while It worked and Franson continued his solid work on the PP) but for the recent past I would say Reilly has been a pleasant surprise.

 

[Dallas Eakins*]

Hahahah Franson?! You guys nuts?


Im sure your all over to give him 5x5 too eh. No, this guy needs to be traded asap.

Ya I don't know what is with the support for Franson this year, he's been better than Cody Franson last year but not much else. Phaneuf while flawed is clearly the teams best dman.