Let's play what if...

[barilko05]

So i was lurking in the Habs/Sens PG thread. (I never post in those places. I know how much I hate other fanbases posting here.). Not a happy group. Anyway, someone mentioned that if we'd sucked in 2017 instead of 16 we'd have ended up with Nico Hischier instead of AM. Got me to thinking: We missed McDavid by 1 lottery ball in 2015. Now, of course, that meant we got to draft Marner and Matthews the year after. Bur what if we DO get 97? We miss Marner and probably don't get Matty either. Instead in 2016 we draft someone else. Most likely we're still in the lottery but barring a miracle we're not drafting 1st. Still most likely top 10. So...

Knowing what we know now, do you still prefer the M&M boys or...McJesus and a lesser talent than Marner, say...Tkachuk or Puljujarvi...maybe PLD?

My money's still on what we ended up with. Your mileage, as they say, may vary.

Click to read more...

 

[Eternal Leaf]

McDavid and Matthews.

Edmonton had Draisaitl to help McDavid in that first season (before he got hurt). Leafs had nothing except Kadri. We would be dead last again after McDavid breaks his collarbone.

 

[PuckMagi]

McDavid and Matthews.

Edmonton had Draisaitl to help McDavid in that first season (before he got hurt). Leafs had nothing except Kadri. We would be dead last again after McDavid breaks his collarbone.

But in this alternative universe, maybe McDavid doesn't break his collarbone. Or was it destiny?

 

[Gabriel426]

If we are playing what if, maybe the Leafs would have drafted McDavid, Carlo and Cirelli that year.

 

[7even]

For having a team that's actually pretty good those guys are really angry about everything

 

[diehardleafsfan9878]

You want to play what if. What if Draisaitl went 1st overall in 2014. What if that draft was re-done. Would the Oilers be better or worse getting someone else, possibly Ekblad at 3rd?

 

[DarkKnight]

What if Tyler Biggs didn’t have pugnacity? So many questions.

 

[Pucker77]

Edmonton drafted McDavid in 2015 and even though he only played 44 games because of injury that year, they still only finished 1 point ahead of Toronto for DEAD last in 2016. If Toronto had McDavid that year, they would still have been bad, but they would have been better than dead last, whether McDavid played 44 games like in reality or if he played all year because the circumstances changed history.

My guess is that the Leafs probably finished around 5th to last. In reality that was Calgary, but Winnipeg (who won pick #2) and Arizona were both 1 point better. So assuming the Leafs finished in Calgary's spot and everything went as it did, the Leafs would have had the #6 pick in the draft. The Flames used that pick on Matthew Tkachuk, but after taking Nylander and McDavid the past 2 drafts do the Leafs take another forward or do they lean toward picking up a defenseman? The next D taken that year was Sergachev at #9. So my guess is that the Leafs probably take Tkachuk rather than "reach" for Sergachev, Bean, McAvoy, or Chychrun.

With hindsight you probably wish the Leafs took a D there, but nobody knew back then. So McDavid-Tkachuk would have been the new dynamic duo. McDavid is better than Matthews, but Marner is better than Tkachuk. So entertainment-wise, Toronto is probably weaker because Tkachuk is not as flashy as Marner while McDavid and Matthews are close in different ways. However, playoff performance probably goes to McDavid-Tkachuk because McDavid and Matthews are close in production, but Tkachuk plays a more "playoff-style" game than Marner.

Also, financially the Leafs probably pay McDavid around what he is getting, but assuming Tkachuk got paid what he actually did, the Leafs would be saving Cap space compared to what Matthews/Marner are getting paid by roughly $3 mil.

So take your pick, it would be fun to see how the 2 different teams would have performed, but either way the Leafs would have been in a good place.

 

[Ciao]

What if everything was the exact same, except the Leafs draft McDavid instead of Marner?

HFBoards would have exploded, for a starter.

 

[Suntouchable13]

McDavid and Matthews.

Edmonton had Draisaitl to help McDavid in that first season (before he got hurt). Leafs had nothing except Kadri. We would be dead last again after McDavid breaks his collarbone.

What are the odds they would have won back-to-back 1st overalls? When was the last time a team picked 1st overall back-to-back? McDavid and Matthews together would have been out of the question. Imagine the outrage, though, LOL

 

[RogerR]

Leafs were so close to getting Lafrieniere this year too

 

[Pucker77]

McDavid and Matthews.

Edmonton had Draisaitl to help McDavid in that first season (before he got hurt). Leafs had nothing except Kadri. We would be dead last again after McDavid breaks his collarbone.

Draisaitl was not the same player as he is now though. In 82 games that year he scored 51 points and that was playing wing with Eberle and RNH mostly.

Kadri had 45 points that year playing with Michael Grabner and PA Parenteau. If you add McDavid to that whether it is 1st or 2nd line and whether he plays 44 or 82 games, the Leafs play a lot better and finish with more than 69 points.

If a team with Nazem Kadri-Tyler Bozak-Peter Holland-Shawn Matthias up the middle finished with 69 points. How many points would a team with Connor McDavid-Kadri-Bozak-Holland/Matthias would have finished with, even if McDavid only played half the year.

 

[Ryan Michaels]

I don't want to play what if we got McDavid instead of Matthews. It's a bad game to play when the team is this good, were watching one of the greatest players in franchise history I'm not spending an inch of headspace wondering if we had a different star instead. This was a fine experiment when the team sucked but we're not exactly left wanting, I'm keeping our guys without a second thought.

 

[Raym11]

Matthews and Marner made this team a playoff team the second they walked on the ice.

We'd be a worse team with Mcdavid and without a Draisatl, seething from the mouth at wasting Mcdavids prime.

I assume JT still signs here but only plays the PP with Mcdavid.

Dubas would go out looking for a goal scoring winger and sign Skinner (who wanted to play here)

Team is worse, and i'm not sure how Mcdavid would fare vs Boston. Matthews was scared shitless of them, Mcdavid would be having off season surgeries after every series with the lengths they'd go to stop him


The only player i'd put Matthews in a trade for is Mcdavid, but the team is built around Matthews, and that trade would never happen, so god bless

 

[Buds17]

A tank season should hopefully not be in the cards if McDavid is in the fold. What does a push forward look like a season earlier though? Are prospects like Nylander and Brown ready to step in then? Is the trade currency there to land an Andersen level starting goalie? I'm happy enough with what we know to not seriously contemplate what we do not.

 

[TheProspector]

I don't want to play what if we got McDavid instead of Matthews. It's a bad game to play when the team is this good, were watching one of the greatest players in franchise history I'm not spending an inch of headspace wondering if we had a different star instead. This was a fine experiment when the team sucked but we're not exactly left wanting, I'm keeping our guys without a second thought.

I'd like this twice if I could.

 

[The Beyonder]

Crazier thought, what if we actually did end up with McDavid in 2015 lottery and with Matthews in 2016? I wonder what HF is like in that alternate universe.

 

[saffronleaf]

What if God was one of us?

 

[MattySnipes]

What if Dave Rittich never allows a goal again?

Gotta expect he gets the next start.

 

[Stephen]

Winning the lottery and drafting Matthews first overall in 2016 after losing the McDavid lottery means not having to play what if games.

 

[BlueBaron]

I'm happy with our guys.

 

[ACC1224]

Leafs didn’t lose the McDavid lottery, they won the Marner lottery.

 

[Carltons Cup]

What if....Babcock was still coaching the team.

 

[gamer1035]

hf boards would've had to shut down if the leafs got mcjesus

 

[The Iceman]

or instead of Hischier we took Heiskanen, Maker or Peterson. The real top players from that draft