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

[26Mats]

[tweet]

Not understanding why agostino plays with plebs a d byron and scherbak plays with dlr. Makes no sense.

I would have liked to have seen scherbak with drouin and kotkaniemi

 

[Janne Niinimaa]

I rest my case. No matter how any one of us spin things to what we think, it's close and if the Habs D is average at best, the Leafs are not that much better.

The Leafs definitely don't have a great defense. Theyre just more mobile and the key guys are younger for the most part.

 

[SirClintonPortis]

The Leafs definitely don't have a great defense. Theyre just more mobile and the key guys are younger for the most part.

They actually have a #1 in Morgan Rielly. And Marc Bergevin adores and covets him like a Taylor Swift fangirl.

 

[Laurentide]

Indeed.

How else are we going to know if the kid is ready for prime time unless or until he matches up against the other team's best line and either sinks or swims? This game tonight could determine whether he gets sent back down or sticks with the big club. From what I've seen, heard and read, Kotkaniemi could slot into an NHL job right now and not look out of place. But we want him not just to be there but also to thrive. So we need to find out how well he can hang with the big boys. If he doesn't get exposed by the likes of Tavares or Matthews then he's ready.

 

[Habs 4 Life]

Didn't we give up Pateryn and a fourth to acquire him?

yes but it's not like if his value has gone up since being here!!!

 

[417]

I disagree. When healthy...

Mete / Weber
Reilly / Petry
Beaulieu / Juulsen
Schlemko

Puck mobility skills is much better with this group! It was a major problem last season

If we kept Beaulieu and Emelin, Would we have gone after Alzner? .

Protecting Benn lead to series of unfortunate events in the summer of 17

Yuck...i'd rather have Simon Despres than Nathan Beaulieu.

Not a fan at all, never have been.

Next season, he'll be the one signing a PTO with some team

 

[417]

Then why has Julien consistently put Benn with petty. It seems he wants that pair to be a thing

Trying to prop him up before he gets waived?

Either way, last practice, Reilly was playing with Petry and I think that's the plan heading into this season.

I said it way back in the summer...i'll be shocked if Benn is on the opening roster.

 

[26Mats]

Trying to prop him up before he gets waived?

Either way, last practice, Reilly was playing with Petry and I think that's the plan heading into this season.

I said it way back in the summer...i'll be shocked if Benn is on the opening roster.

Nothing shocks me with this management team.

Why hasn't Julien tried scherbak in an offensive role???

 

[DangerDave]

Liljegren isnt in the NHL yet so I won't count him. But you forgot Gardiner on the Leafs and I guess Reilly for us.

I would make it:

Weber = Rielly (with Rielly overtaking Weber by next season IMO)
Petry > Zaitsev
Alzner < Hainsey (Hainsey makes less mistakes)
Mete </= Dermott
Reilly << Gardiner
Juulsen ?? Ozhiganov (don't know much about Ozhiganov)

Liljegren and Sandin coming up for the Leafs beats our guys as well IMO.

I don't really know how good Reilly is yet (habs) but Gardiner is junk. He's earned the nickname Gardiner Express Way, named after a highway in Toronto, for good reason. He's an absolute disaster defensively. Don't let the points fool you, he is not good. He's M.A Bergeron level bad.

 

[Kaako Kappo]

Not gonna hold anything that happens in this game against Kotka...unless he shoots the puck into his own net on purpose. He's either ready to play against NHL lines or not.

 

[Janne Niinimaa]

I don't really know how good Reilly is yet (habs) but Gardiner is junk. He's earned the nickname Gardiner Express Way, named after a highway in Toronto, for good reason. He's an absolute disaster defensively. Don't let the points fool you, he is not good. He's M.A Bergeron level bad.

Gardiner definitely has a lot of questionable plays but he is not awful defensively for the most part. When he screws up, he screws up bad but he is not a power play specialist. He is a top 4 D on most NHL teams.

 

[HockeyDBspecialist]

Why in hell is Agostino:
1. playing
2. on the third line while chaput and Sherbak deserved a better spot than him.

 

[HockeyDBspecialist]

Gardiner definitely has a lot of questionable plays but he is not awful defensively for the most part. When he screws up, he screws up bad but he is not a power play specialist. He is a top 4 D on most NHL teams.

he is a top 4 on an offensive side, on the D side ? he is 7-8 on almost any team.
The only upside of Jardinier is his pass abilities

 

[Agalloch]

Yuck...i'd rather have Simon Despres than Nathan Beaulieu.

Not a fan at all, never have been.

Next season, he'll be the one signing a PTO with some team

Agree. Beaulieu for a 3rd round pick is a good trade for us....speaks a lot about beaulieu's value.

 

[CHarlie]

not sure about anyone else....but i need this top line to excel tonight....just to give me some hope and excitement......been awhile!!!!

 

[DangerDave]

Gardiner definitely has a lot of questionable plays but he is not awful defensively for the most part. When he screws up, he screws up bad but he is not a power play specialist. He is a top 4 D on most NHL teams.

3rd pairing at best. Just too many mental lapses per game that cost the leafs a goal. His risk far outweighs the reward. He's simply too easy to expose as we saw in the Boston series last year. Maybe having an elite defensive dman with him could hide some of his flaws but the leafs don't have any of those.

 

[llamateizer]

Oh was it? What would have happened if we didn't use the protection slot on Jordie Benn? Would we have lost Jordie Benn?

Probably not, but we could've lost Hudon if we protected Emelin instead.

 

[Video Coach]

To me, this game will go a long way in deciding if they keep Kotka or not. If he can hang with those top 3 centres then there's no reason to send him back. As long as he plays the same way he's been playing - no hesitation, full of confidence, poised, engaged - then he's gotta stay.

But those first 4 games are against Toronto, Pitt, LA, Pitt. That's some tough centre matchups right away.

This is the perfect chance to see him against a really good team with really good centres.

 

[DramaticGloveSave]

Damn.... big test for Kotka.

 

[Habs Halifax]

The Leafs definitely don't have a great defense. Theyre just more mobile and the key guys are younger for the most part.

They do have a younger D for sure. Mobility is a bit better too. But reliable play in their own end is a weakness. The good news for them is adding Tavares and how this helps the puck possession. It means their D does not have to do anything special. Just play solid D but the types they have are not considered good or above average in the defense category

 

[Janne Niinimaa]

3rd pairing at best. Just too many mental lapses per game that cost the leafs a goal. His risk far outweighs the reward. He's simply too easy to expose as we saw in the Boston series last year. Maybe having an elite defensive dman with him could hide some of his flaws but the leafs don't have any of those.

he is a top 4 on an offensive side, on the D side ? he is 7-8 on almost any team.
The only upside of Jardinier is his pass abilities

I doubt anyone can name 120 better defensemen than Gardiner. When a defenseman hits 52 points, you can find him a defensive partner and let him use his offensive game to his advantage. 52 points and only 16 on the power play. Clearly he is doing decently at even strength.

 

[NotProkofievian]

Probably not, but we could've lost Hudon if we protected Emelin instead.

Coulda just protected Hudon in which case we would have lost Emelin just the same, since they were both left unprotected. In any case, Jordie is merely the embodiment of our embarrassment. It would have been best to have submitted his name like this:

Jordie Benn (I guess?? lol)

 

[llamateizer]

Coulda just protected Hudon in which case we would have lost Emelin just the same, since they were both left unprotected. In any case, Jordie is merely the embodiment of our embarrassment. It would have been best to have submitted his name like this:

Jordie Benn (I guess?? lol)

Agree, Shaw was protected (that's another debate) and Bergevin had to.

I think we can agree that Protecting Benn showed how our D core is in trouble

 

[Habs Halifax]

Coulda just protected Hudon in which case we would have lost Emelin just the same, since they were both left unprotected. In any case, Jordie is merely the embodiment of our embarrassment. It would have been best to have submitted his name like this:

Jordie Benn (I guess?? lol)

The 3rd protected D should of been named... "Cap Space". or a guy named Alzner

 

[NotProkofievian]

Agree, Shaw was protected (that's another debate) and Bergevin had to.

I think we can agree that Protecting Benn showed how our D core is in trouble

Correct. Well, it goes a bit further but I also agree with the statement as it is. We had the option to protect 8 skaters distributed through our lineup as needed, but as you point out we protected Shaw anyways.