Nothing to be happy about with this team other than they are in a PO spot and Freddy is a boss...
The first month and a bit we played like unstructured idiots trying to pad stats. Freddy was hung out to dry and was struggling a bit.
The next segment, Freddy saved our collective asses because we could not score and were still not doing great defensively.
Now Freddy is playing pretty average hockey and the team is just putting along pretty much.
So to sum it all up, We are lucky to be in a weak ass division and to have Andersen in net. Defensively we are kinda sub par and offensively we have lines that are defensively inept. Sure you can cherry pick Matthews being about PPG etc but whatever. As a team? Happy? They are just OK!
Really you ask yourself: Would the Leafs be in the playoffs had they been in the Metro? Maybe a wildcard, but even that would be a struggle. Definitely not top 3.
As I said before, the Leafs should be in sell mode. None of the guys we'd sell are essential players, and there are Marlies or depth guys who are ready to step in to replace them.
JvR ---> Leivo. Obviously a downgrade, but if JvR returns what I think he can, it's well worth it. Leivo is also a good player who plays even better when he's around high end players.
Bozak ---> Kapanen (Nylander/Marleau to center). Quite possibly an upgrade, at least defensively.
Komarov ---> Soshnikov. Probably not a huge drop off if Soshnikov plays 3rd line with Marleau and Kadri.
Polak ---> Marincin (or trusting rookies with more responsibilities). Probably not a huge drop off, even though Marincin is not as physical.
Moore ---> Gauthier (essentially has already happened). Gauthier may also be better than Moore.
Maybe a goalie, Carrick or some less important depth pieces are shipped out too, but you do not even need to do that. This team may not even be much worse off with those changes, or could even spark things and make them a better team, and you are probably looking at 2 1sts, 2 2nd's, and maybe a couple of mid-rounders depending upon the market and whether we retain/package certain guys.