GDT: Leafs vs. Habs (7:30 ET on RDS, TSN 2 & 4) Lines on Post #1

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Habs 4 Life

No Excuses
Mar 30, 2005
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That D is god awful from Toronto , no ways they will ever win a cup with that D

the D in today's league IMO is overrated
This is not the 90 Devils anymore
You need punch up front and a goalie that will make the timely save.
Look at the past 3 Cup Winners defense, I'd rather my team have the offense to pop in 4-5 goals per game!!
 
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Habs Halifax

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Jul 11, 2016
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IMO, I think the issues with the Leaf's D is overstated. They could use a true stud #1, I won't argue that, but any team would. I think as a grouping as a whole, their defence isn't THAT bad. There had been cup winners with weaker defence corps in the very recent past.

What did kill the Leafs last year was goaltending in the playoffs. I think Anderson is a great goalie, but he didn't play well at all... like Rinne and Hellebuyck who immediately come to mind. I think leadership was lacking last year as well, and this is where JT is going to help them tremendously.

Too early for me to conclude if they are top-5 contenders yet, so I agree with you there... I have them as fringe top-5; I have Winnipeg, Tampa, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh firmly ahead of them.

I got Montreal behind Toronto... like about 20 teams back. :sarcasm:

But hey! In 2-3 years, when the Leafs are in cap hell, we'll be running with Kotkaniemi, Suzuki, Poehking, Olafsson up the middle.

I think Babcock will definitely focus on good team D and with Tavares, their puck possession time will get better. But lets take a look at their D...

- Reilly is the only true top pairing potential
- Zaitsev and Gardiner are average top 4D.
- Dermott looks good but can he fill a top 4D role moving forward?
- Hainsey had a decent year last year at age 36. But they are using him in a top 4D role where is should be a depth defenseman.

This D is not good at all. I think they finish middle of the pack again in goals allowed. If the Habs D is bad, The Leafs D is worse. They just look better cause their overall team is much better than ours and they can maintain puck pressure on the offensive end more than us.
 

Habs Halifax

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what a dumb comment.....he could get injured ANYWHERE HE PLAYS not just in the NHL

It's not dump. He is thin 18 year old kid and the AHL is a much more physical league vs Liiga league in Finland. Yeah, he can get injured anywhere he plays but one league has a higher probability of an injury. I think he can survive in the AHL but I am also worried about injury. An injury in his draft year +1 would be not good for his development. Habs need to be smart here and stay patient... no matter how good he looks, he clearly needs to get stronger. He can do this will less games in Finland.

I also understand Drouin's comments about not going back and forth between the Euro game and the NA game. We can't ignore that either but I choose patience here. He can easily adapt to the Euro game once he goes back and plays a few games. The key here is we gave him a taste of the NA style game with less time and space. Let him gain some muscle and be stronger heading into camp next year. Then we see if he needs a AHL year or we insert him into our NHL roster. What do you rather have? The Eagle playing 3rd line in the NHL or 1st line in the AHL?

It's like investing for the long term. You don't watch the stock value every day or week and have knee jerk reactions based on it's weekly trends. You evaluate it yearly. This is the approach we need to take with the best center we have drafted in I don't know how many years.

PATIENCE PLEASE!
 
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Habs Halifax

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you have lost all credability with that comment,

are you seriouly saying you would rather have our D over Torontos? :facepalm:

Yes! Yeah, we have Alzner, Benn, and Schlemko that are not popular players but I want no part of guys like Gardner and Hainsey in our top 4D. Don't kid yourself, Gardner and Hainsey would be hated just like Alzner, Beaulieu, Benn have been with the Habs. After the year Zaitsev had, he would be also not well liked.

Weber vs Reilly
Petry vs Zaitsev
Reilly vs Gardner
Alzner vs Hainsey
Mete vs Dermott
Juulsen vs Lilegren
Brook vs Sandin
 

LyricalLyricist

Registered User
Aug 21, 2007
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Washington won the cup with WORSE GF/GA then Toronto had last year,

defense is not really important when you have a team capable of scoring 8-10 goals every game

toronto will easily match and pass their goal total of last season

Honestly. Miracles aside...

On paper are they better than Washington? Tampa bay? Are these magical centers better then Crosby and Mallon in Pittsburgh?

Toronto has talent and they’re good. I’m not hating but they’re not even top in the conference.

SJS added Karlsson now, that’s more interesting than Toronto IMO.
 

LyricalLyricist

Registered User
Aug 21, 2007
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Yes! Yeah, we have Alzner, Benn, and Schlemko that are not popular players but I want no part of guys like Gardner and Hainsey in our top 4D. Don't kid yourself, Gardner and Hainsey would be hated just like Alzner, Beaulieu, Benn have been with the Habs.

Weber vs Reilly
Petry vs Zaitsev
Reilly vs Gardner
Alzner vs Hainsey
Mete vs Dermott
Juulsen vs Lilegren
Brook vs Sandin

I’d take Gardiner easily. He’s mobile and decent.
 

Habs Halifax

Loyal Habs Fan
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I’d take Gardiner easily. He’s mobile and decent.

Not a fan. I think he has a lot of offensive skills but he is not good in his own end. Similar to Beaulieu but with more offense.

Guys like Weber, Reilly, Petry, Alzner would look much better on the Leafs roster. Why? Cause the puck is in the other end more than their own end. It's the same as the Leafs D now. The only guy that I consider really good and top pairing potential is Reilly

Weber/Petry/Reilly > Reilly/Zaitsev/Gardner. I will admit it's close but that's not giving much compliments to the Leafs when the Habs D is average at best.
 

LyricalLyricist

Registered User
Aug 21, 2007
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Not a fan. I think he has a lot of offensive skills but he is not good in his own end. Similar to Beaulieu but with more offense.

Given what we have...

Not saying I’d overpay for him. Just saying he can be an asset to us and other teams. He gets in trouble for things but TO is worse without him.
 

LyricalLyricist

Registered User
Aug 21, 2007
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yes.....

on paper professionals have ranked them #1 in the league, that is why they have the best odds to win the cup,

google "stanley cup odds" and you will see,

How do you figure though?

Which winger on leafs is even close to ovechkin?

Tavares and Matthews is slight better than backstrom and kuznetsov.

Carlson is better than Reilly.

Holtby is better than Andersen.

Toronto wins in no key areas.

Like honestly what is Toronto better at?

Add in fact that Toronto’s core hasn’t won a playoff round yet. Their big acquisition left NYI where he didn’t win shit their either. They’re inexperienced and overrated.
 
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Habs Halifax

Loyal Habs Fan
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Given what we have...

Not saying I’d overpay for him. Just saying he can be an asset to us and other teams. He gets in trouble for things but TO is worse without him.

For sure they are worse without Gardner cause they don't have the depth to replace him yet. Lets see how good and how long it takes for Lilegren, Dermott, and Sandin to fill top 4 holes in the future.

Honestly, how many points does Gardner get with our team? Heck, even Hainsey got 23 pts last year on that potent top 9 forward group. I understand what you mean about the puck moving and mobility but I would not want Gardner personally. His play in his own end is a concern.
 

LyricalLyricist

Registered User
Aug 21, 2007
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Not a fan. I think he has a lot of offensive skills but he is not good in his own end. Similar to Beaulieu but with more offense.

Guys like Weber, Reilly, Petry, Alzner would look much better on the Leafs roster. Why? Cause the puck is in the other end more than their own end. It's the same as the Leafs D now. The only guy that I consider really good and top pairing potential is Reilly

Weber/Petry/Reilly > Reilly/Zaitsev/Gardner. I will admit it's close but that's not giving much compliments to the Leafs when the Habs D is average at best.

Sure? Weber is better but Gardiner is still an asset.

By Reilly do you mean mike??? Really?
 
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habsgirl5000

Registered User
Jul 15, 2017
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How do you figure though?

Which winger on leafs is even close to ovechkin?

Tavares and Matthews is slight better than backstrom and kuznetsov.

Carlson is better than Reilly.

Holtby is better than Andersen.

Toronto wins in no key areas.

Like honestly what is Toronto better at?

Add in fact that Toronto’s core hasn’t won a playoff round yet. Their big acquisition left NYI where he didn’t win **** their either. They’re inexperienced and overrated.

:facepalm:

hockey is a team game......you can't just compare one player to one player

do you follow the sport at all??

why didn't washington finish ahead of the leafs last regular season then?....going by your logic here, they should have, but didnt
 

417

BBQ Chicken Alert!
Feb 20, 2003
51,255
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Ottawa
Reilly-Petry
Mete-Juulsen
Schlemko-Benn

No Alzner or Ouellet tonight...

Assuming Alzner is a lock, this looks like Benn's last chance to make an impression tonight.
 
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Janne Niinimaa

"Character"
Sep 28, 2017
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I think Babcock will definitely focus on good team D and with Tavares, their puck possession time will get better. But lets take a look at their D...

- Reilly is the only true top pairing potential
- Zaitsev and Gardiner are average top 4D.
- Dermott looks good but can he fill a top 4D role moving forward?
- Hainsey had a decent year last year at age 36. But they are using him in a top 4D role where is should be a depth defenseman.

This D is not good at all. I think they finish middle of the pack again in goals allowed. If the Habs D is bad, The Leafs D is worse. They just look better cause their overall team is much better than ours and they can maintain puck pressure on the offensive end more than us.

Rielly is a decent #1 D-man. Put up 50 points and is more than decent in his own zone. Would rather Rielly than Weber at this point in time.

Gardiner is an offensive defenseman. You compared him to Beaulieu but he put up 50 points last season. Despite his defensive flaws, if you can have 50 points on your 2nd pair you take it. We have nobody like him on our team and would kill to have that mobility and offence on the back-end. Reilly doesnt cut it.

Zaitsev is like their Petry. If they have Zaitsev from last season theyre in trouble. Zaitsev from his rookie season is basically Petry.

Hainsey is better than any of Alzner, Benn or Schlemko. In a perfect world he wouldn't be in the top 4 but it is what it is.

Dermott IMO is better than Juulsen and more well rounded than Mete. Although I can see some people;e prefer Mete.
 
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