Stephen
Moderator
- Feb 28, 2002
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News Article: NHL season preview of the Toronto Maple Leafs
- Thread starter Kamiccolo
- Start date
Babs will have them split up again the first time they go a period without a point.
HamiltonNHL
Parity era hockey is just puck luck + draft luck
- Jan 4, 2012
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Came to say this.
Broadcaster must of thought that he was a 39 goal guy based on his contract
DarkKnight
Professional Amateur
- Jan 17, 2017
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Matthews has played 75 percent of his career with Nylander under Babs. That’s just lazy.
Babcock liked to use Willie on the Kadri line near seasons end to try and help generate offense from all three lines
Way to completely ignore the fact that they played a measly 300 minutes together last Season and barely any time together on the PP, chief.
If you watched the Maple Leafs on a semi-regular basis in the second half of last season you'd be well aware that almost anytime Nylander was given ice-time with Matthews, he was replaced in short order.
"bUt nYlAnDer SpEnT MoSt Of hIs FiRsT tWo SeAsOns WiTh MaTtHews"
Yes, you're correct, and he boasted significantly better numbers when he was with Matthews in those two Seasons vs without :
| Category | William Nylander With Auston Matthews | William Nylander Without Auston Matthews |
| Corsi For | 59.94% | 48.57% |
| Goals For | 67.89% | 45.45% |
| Scoring Chances For | 63.24 % | 48.78% |
| High Danger Corsi For | 63.61% | 44.80% |
| High Danger Goals For | 72.83% | 38.24% |
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Ryan Michaels
Registered User
- Mar 21, 2017
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Yeah half this fanbase has selective memory about how good they can be together. I'm very excited for this season to start but if Babcock puts this duo on a short leash, as he is wont to do, it's going to be frustrating.
Ryan Michaels
Registered User
- Mar 21, 2017
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Also kind of depressing how empty this season preview thread is compared to the 900 pages of complaining about contracts. We're not far from the start of what should be a great year of hockey.
kb
Registered User
- Aug 28, 2009
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Yeah, this confuses me. Everyone is signed, time to sit back and enjoy this season.
We heard the same song and dance about this season all during last season. And here we are.....
ottomaddox
Registered User
kb
Registered User
- Aug 28, 2009
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Because their top D is 42, their top 2 C's are 33 and 34, their top LW is 31 and their #1 G is 32.
With no obvious replacements on the horizon.
67Leafs67
Registered User
- Nov 8, 2014
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Nah, their top defender is 21 and just signed a sweet bridge deal. Not to mention Krug (28) & Carlo (22) are a perfect, dynamic 2nd pairing, and Grzleyck (25) is a transitional beast who dominates on the 3rd pairing. There defense is fine, and totally ready to move on from Chara.
The forward group is more concerning though, with Bergeron, Krecji, & Marchand's ages. But realistically, they should all have at least 2-3 more years of solid hockey in them (more from Marchand), and the way the team's salary structure is set up, they can easily add pieces to phase them out.
Boston should certainly decline before Toronto does (obviously), but I don't think the downward trend has started just yet. In my mind, they are still a shade above Toronto.
Probably won't be that sweet three years from now. He'll probably make more than anyone on the Leafs then.
56 Years No Cup
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