Line Combos: Matthews “prefers” not to play with Kapanen

[Dreakmur]

Matthews needs to stop yapping and start earning his paycheque

This is pretty fair. Play with whoever the coach puts on your line and make those players better.

Having said that, Matthew and Kapanen don’t click. Matthews should play with Nylander for sure, and maybe Hyman.

 

[HomerJLeafs]

I still think the Nylander Matthews Kapanen line should be a thing.
AM and WN have great chemistry, its a given. WN plays great on this off wing.
Kapanen and Nylander have a good chemistry just watch the games when Nylander first came up.
I really do think that the Kapanen-Matthews thing wasnt working because a. they lacked a good playmaker b. Kapanen wanted to prove himself as a goalscorer because the contract c. Kapanen lost his confidence when his goalscoring dried up.
A great playmaker a great goalscorer and a great speedy winger with good defensive awareness line should work. Its up to babcock not to split them up after 1 game or 1 period

 

[Sypher04]

This is pretty fair. Play with whoever the coach puts on your line and make those players better.

Having said that, Matthew and Kapanen don’t click. Matthews should play with Nylander for sure, and maybe Hyman.

It's not fair at all.
All we have is some hearsay from a highly questionable and not respected source who was quite literally just called out publicly for misinformation he printed in the very same article he made this claim about Matthews in.

There is precisely zero evidence Matthews ever even asked for Hyman to be removed from his line as many like to claim, let alone this now with Kapanen.

 

[ZEBROA]

You should put players in the same line that play best together as much as possible. If a player himself ask for it, who cares, if it is true. Just do what makes the team better. But it should be taken care of behind closed doors.

 

[Its not your fault]

Just because it's in the news paper doesn't make it 100 percent truth newspapers are fighting for their lives that's the real story.

 

[The Hanging Jowl]

Just sayin': in the exact same article where Simmons spouted this crap, he also started the rumour HNIC is not bringing Cherry back next year, which has now been debnked by Don himself (who blasted Simmons on Twitter over it).

Seriously, this is not a thing. There's no way Matthews would have said something so careless and stupid.

 

[Man Bear Pig]

24 pages from something Simmons said. Jesus, are you guys serious? The guy is a living, walking,breathing herpes sore.

 

[HamiltonNHL]

Lol Matthews is so gone year 4.

Zona bound.

 

[Matthews34]

Zona bound.

How? Do you get how contracts work? He’s signed for 5 years which means the Leafs control his fate for 5 years. So stop with this nonsense you’re as bad as Simmons!

 

[Dreakmur]

It's not fair at all.
All we have is some hearsay from a highly questionable and not respected source who was quite literally just called out publicly for misinformation he printed in the very same article he made this claim about Matthews in.

There is precisely zero evidence Matthews ever even asked for Hyman to be removed from his line as many like to claim, let alone this now with Kapanen.

This is two summers in a row we hear that Matthews isn’t happy about something. Whether it’s true or not, the same thing applies - keep your mouth shut and play.

 

[Sypher04]

This is two summers in a row we hear that Matthews isn’t happy about something. Whether it’s true or not, the same thing applies - keep your mouth shut and play.

Whether it's true matters a lot actually, because people seem to just take these stories at face value when frankly our media is awful for stuff like this and the legitimacy of such claims 100% should be called into question. But instead people run with it and criticize the player for things they allegedly did or said which very realistically never transpired.

As for keeping your mouth shut and playing. If a player is actually going out of his way to throw teammates under the bus fine, but until we have a shred of reason to think that's happening, maybe just maybe it's not something we should be concerning ourselves with. I mean, for real, the alleged first claim that Matthews said he doesn't want to play with Hyman anymore was said to have been brought up to Babcock in a private meeting between Matthew, his parents and Babcock in Arizona. Can you give me 1 possible reason why anyone would know what transpired in that room other than those 4 people and a select few people within the Leafs organization like the GM? It's most likely a total fabrication.

In any case, Simmons information that Matthews "would prefer not to play with Kapanen" could even just be a manipulation of countless possible statements made by Matthews, totally innocent, between him and the coaching staff, as Babcock has said before he likes to ask his best players who they prefer lining up with.

 

[81Leafs50]

I don't see Moore playing top 6, yet... if at all.

I also think there is a chance Johnsson will need to get traded to fit Marner's future cap hit on our roster. Anyone hoping for <10.5M right now are dreaming.... I've been guilty of that too. Having thought about the situation some more, I think the contract will come in around 6x11.

Trade Johnsson for a good #6 Dman + mid-round pick, and call it a day.

Edit, I can see this, and push everyone down when Hyman gets healthy

View attachment 243277

So let me get this straight. You have the Leafs with $1,236,134 in cap space. But what happens when Hyman comes off the LTIR at $2,250,000????

How do the Leafs make room for him and Dermott?

 

[MyBudJT]

So let me get this straight. You have the Leafs with $1,236,134 in cap space. But what happens when Hyman comes off the LTIR at $2,250,000????

How do the Leafs make room for him and Dermott?

22 man roster.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

24 pages from something Simmons said. Jesus, are you guys serious? The guy is a living, walking,breathing herpes sore.

He's a piece of debris blowing around and annoying people that are just trying to chill on a bench reading some hockey news on a awesome summer day.

Step on it and throw it in the waste bin so it doesn't bother the next person )

 

[Sypher04]

22 man roster.

That LW is a major weak point.

 

[diceman934]

This is two summers in a row we hear that Matthews isn’t happy about something. Whether it’s true or not, the same thing applies - keep your mouth shut and play.

Babcock had to go visit the family to sort it out last year , and still people want to believe there is no truth to it. He did the same thing in the past as well. Needs to keep his yap shut and play with who ever he is given.

 

[Sypher04]

Babcock had to go visit the family to sort it out last year , and still people want to believe there is no truth to it. He did the same thing in the past as well. Needs to keep his yap shut and play with who ever he is given.

Babcock visited half a dozen players within that same like 2 weeks or so. People like to draw lines between things but sometimes it isn't at all what you think it is. If anything, I'd suspect Matthews had some concerns over his usage in those playoffs. And it's okay for a star player to question their usage. There's no evidence he ever suggested Hyman needed to be moved off his line, and certainly none that he demanded anything.

 

[Dreakmur]

Whether it's true matters a lot actually, because people seem to just take these stories at face value when frankly our media is awful for stuff like this and the legitimacy of such claims 100% should be called into question. But instead people run with it and criticize the player for things they allegedly did or said which very realistically never transpired.

As for keeping your mouth shut and playing. If a player is actually going out of his way to throw teammates under the bus fine, but until we have a shred of reason to think that's happening, maybe just maybe it's not something we should be concerning ourselves with. I mean, for real, the alleged first claim that Matthews said he doesn't want to play with Hyman anymore was said to have been brought up to Babcock in a private meeting between Matthew, his parents and Babcock in Arizona. Can you give me 1 possible reason why anyone would know what transpired in that room other than those 4 people and a select few people within the Leafs organization like the GM? It's most likely a total fabrication.

In any case, Simmons information that Matthews "would prefer not to play with Kapanen" could even just be a manipulation of countless possible statements made by Matthews, totally innocent, between him and the coaching staff, as Babcock has said before he likes to ask his best players who they prefer lining up with.

Let’s say it’s all made up... he should still keep his mouth shut and play. If you believe he is already doing that, great.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Just because it's in the news paper doesn't make it 100 percent truth newspapers are fighting for their lives that's the real story.

Newspapers likely won't even be around in 2021. They are nearing their end like the wood wheel.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Babcock had to go visit the family to sort it out last year , and still people want to believe there is no truth to it. He did the same thing in the past as well. Needs to keep his yap shut and play with who ever he is given.

If the coach flies out to see him and coach asks him for his honest assessment of who he thinks he would play best with then why the hell would he not tell the coach privately what he really thinks. If Babs somehow in his manipulative ways gets a message out it has nothing to do with Matty. This family is one of the the most private and humble I have seen ever in hockey over 30+ years. These are the type of people who define character. The Hyman move was all Babs to create a Toronto line he thought would work. Nothing more nothing less. So sick of all the BS and political speak.

 

[notDatsyuk]

Some unnamed person telling Simmons that Matthews would rather not play with Kapanen isn't quite the same as "Matthews telling Babcock what to do".

 

[KDOTO]

I like the guy who produces without the “would have” caveat.

I would too if they were both 25 and Mathews has had a couple more non injury free season but at this time, right now, not a chance. At this stage of their career it's AM all day.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

22 man roster.

The LW is not good enough, and we still have problems in net. Easy solution is to not worry about upgrading the #6 spot (at least not before the TDL) when we have a bunch of talented options internally and not to pay Marner 11 mill when he's not worth 11 mill.

Then get a proper Hutch upgrade while finding new homes for Kaskisuo and Sparks. That's enough for one offseason.

 

[81Leafs50]

22 man roster.

The math still doesnt work.

2.25M - $1,236,134 = 1,013,866

Sending down a 700K player does not work. Plus you still have Dermott coming off LTIR at $863,333.

Hyman and Dermott combine to just over 3M. you would have to send down 5 700K players to make this work. Or trade a Johnsson or Kapanen.

 

[therealkoho]

Zona bound.

not there, Anaheim or LA