The Star: Maple Leafs, Raptors must lose more to win: Kelly

[LaymanX]

http://www.thestar.com/sports/2013/07/25/maple_leafs_raptors_must_lose_more_to_win_kelly.html




Really?

Click to read more...

 

[Hurt]

Just read it and laughed.

 

[Leafidelity]

The argument for the Raptors to get worse makes sense since they're always just middle of the road bad.

But the argument for the Leafs to abandon the playoffs after one season is idiotic.

 

[Joey Hoser]

Who the **** is Kelly and why are they living in 2005?

 

[SarcazemKadri]

His name is Cathal Kelly, he usually only covers NBA, and TFC. What a horrible article.

 

[david999]

Not the brightest bulb in the batch

 

[Mess]

Well Leiweke believes in building through the draft and you don't do that by squeaking into the playoffs and early round exits while picking in the later part of the 1st round. The high-end future talent is generally found at the beginning of the draft, and that means finishing near the bottom of the standings.

As the article says

As ever, the Leafs present the most difficulty. They’re too good to tear down, and not good enough to win a Cup. They may yet have to rise before they can fall, and that’s a nearly impossible narrative to explain in the present. We’ll get our earliest signals mid-season, if the expiring contracts of Dion Phaneuf and/or Phil Kessel are shipped elsewhere.

 

[Cor]

Finish 5th in the East...

Well, time to rebuild

 

[TheTotalPackage]

His name is Cathal Kelly, he usually only covers NBA, and TFC. What a horrible article.

Kelly has ventured the same path as Feschuk, all of a sudden covering hockey for some unknown reason. And becoming extremely irritating all the while.

The Leafs should continue to build through the draft, but that comes through good scouting and nailing their picks whatever the position. The days of the Leafs bottoming out and finishing top 3-5 are over.

 

[topched]

Kelly has ventured the same path as Feschuk, all of a sudden covering hockey for some unknown reason. And becoming extremely irritating all the while.

The Leafs should continue to build through the draft, but that comes through good scouting and nailing their picks whatever the position. The days of the Leafs bottoming out and finishing top 3-5 are over.

Exactly. These arguments made always choose to ignore the other side of the coin... For every Pittsburgh and Chicago you've got a Florida and NYI. You've also got Detroit who hasn't had a high pick in ages yet has still managed to be an elite team for years.

There are multiple ways to build a contender, it's that simple. If there was a flawless blueprint for success there would be no need for GMs because any monkey could do it

 

[Bravid Nonahan]

No, we're not good enough to win a cup now...

But with the development of Kadri, Gardiner, Rielly, and Bernier, and with the continued production of Phaneuf, Kessel, and Lupul, I believe we are definitely on the right track.

We have

Lupul, Kessel, JVR, Kadri, Rielly, Phaneuf

ALL ARE TOP 10 PICKS WITHIN THE LAST 10 YEARS!!!

 

[Milan90]

People overvalue the **** out of 'prospects'. The guys wanting to tank for Yakupov last year would probably have been willing to trade him for MacKinnon this year.

Everyone loves the 'potential' ceiling.

 

[GojuLeaf]

leafs don't need to tank, they lost their chance last year, personally I would rather have mackinnon or jones now then lose a first round playoff last season but to each their own.

Leafs are bound to be a 5-8 seed in the playoffs for 2-4 more years now, depending on whether they resign kessel. Its not all bad as they have good young players in gardiner, reilly and others, but I don't think the leafs will ever have a bonafide star again (which they will need to win a cup) until this team folds and they rebuild again.

Raptors do need to tank, they just plain suck.

 

[shakes]

So how is Edmonton doing with all those first overall picks. Were they in the Finals last year?

 

[i1]

Top 6: 2nd, 5th, 7th, 7th OA picks and 2 undrafted
Bottom 6: 17th, 32nd, 44th, 57th, 203rd and 1 undrafted
Defense: 9th, 17th, 79th, 194th OA picks, a fluctuating bottom pair and a 5th OA stud on the way (not named Schenn ).
Goaltending: 11th and 99th

Half of our team is made up of first round picks, 6 of them in the top 10 (and an 11th); 3/5 of our team was drafted in the second round or higher. Not to mention guys like Gauthier, Biggs, Percy (21st, 22nd, 25th) expected to contribute in the next few years.

The myth of the Leafs not rebuilding properly is ridiculous. Burke completely tanked the team, he just traded for players early in their 20s entering their prime rather than draft them and wait 3-4 years before they made a true impact. Obviously he took that approach for his inherited/drafted pieces but true to his word, he was trying to build for today. The flashes of confidence-boosting/character building playoff potential we saw in 10/11-11/12 probably wouldn't have occured if 18-20 year olds and Crabb/Sjostrom/Gustavsson were running the show.

 

[GojuLeaf]

So how is Edmonton doing with all those first overall picks. Were they in the Finals last year?

they will be soon.
When your core is made of weak 20-22 year olds you can't compete with old men.
If we had Hall, NH, eberle and kessel with our defence (oilers are stupid and never draft defence) we would have won a couple rounds this season.

 

[KuleminFan41]

Kelly has ventured the same path as Feschuk, all of a sudden covering hockey for some unknown reason. And becoming extremely irritating all the while.

The Leafs should continue to build through the draft, but that comes through good scouting and nailing their picks whatever the position. The days of the Leafs bottoming out and finishing top 3-5 are over.

You can draft within top 5 but you have to have good scouting regardless of position as you pointed out. Just look towards teams like Columbus ,Atlanta etc that have been lousy for years and don't have a dynasty of a team because they drafted high . People need to realize that there are different ways to build a good contending team , its not all about drafting 21 1st overalls like people assume on this board. You need a nice blend of UFA's/trades and drafted players.

 

[Diatomic]

Lieweke: Just Completes Maple Leafs Stanley Cup Route
Kelly: THE LEAFS MUST TANK!!!

 

[shakes]

they will be soon.
When your core is made of weak 20-22 year olds you can't compete with old men.
If we had Hall, NH, eberle and kessel with our defence (oilers are stupid and never draft defence) we would have won a couple rounds this season.

Then maybe the drafting high repeatedly isn't such a slam dunk as people make it out to be. You need a combination of CHEAP highly skilled draft picks (Boston via Toronto) and key free agents. The drafting repeatedly in the top 5 won't work in my opinion as by the time those weak 20-22 year olds get stronger and older, they will also get more expensive and in a cap world a team can probably only afford 2-3 of those players.

Oh and the Leafs SHOULD have one at least one round, probably more this year as the team stands and none of it would have changed with a Hall or Hopkins.

 

[thehockeysong]

The article is completely right in saying that the way to win a championship is through a commited rebuild. ESPECIALLY in the NBA. The raptors need to tank for three or four years. Plain and simple. As for the NHL, the leafs can't turn around now. They have to run with this core for the foreseeable future and hope things turn out. If it doesn't though, then they serious had better figure it out this time.

 

[Pierre Gotye]

It's this type of mentality as to why the Leafs keep losing.

Make $$$, but who cares how the team does.

 

[GordieHoweHatTrick]

This guy should fire himself and go back to school

 

[shakes]

It's this type of mentality as to why the Leafs keep losing.

Make $$$, but who cares how the team does.

Making money is directly tied to how the team does. The longer the Leafs are in the playoffs, the more money they make.

 

[Milan90]

The article is completely right in saying that the way to win a championship is through a commited rebuild. ESPECIALLY in the NBA. The raptors need to tank for three or four years. Plain and simple. As for the NHL, the leafs can't turn around now. They have to run with this core for the foreseeable future and hope things turn out. If it doesn't though, then they serious had better figure it out this time.

Especially in the NBA??

Look at the last few champions. I'll give you the Mavericks but the Heat didn't go through a committed rebuild, the Lakers didn't do it, and the Celtics didn't do it. Those are the teams that have dominated the trophy the past 5ish years.

 

[JackJ]

We've already passed our "bottoming out" period. Whether we finished low enough is another debate entirely but those days are behind us.

The raps will be always be a mess. US born stars don't want to play here.