LeBrun: "The Leafs are phoning around looking at defensemen on PTOs"

[zeke]

Ah yes, Barrie who scored 48 points and then 41 points. How many leaf dmen in their top 4 is doing that?

Last 2yrs non-PP paces:

Rielly 7gls/42pts
Muzz 5gls/32pts
Barrie 5gls/29pts
Holl 3gls/28pts
Lilly 7gls/27pts
Gio 8gls/26pts
Sandin 7gls/23pts
Brodie 3gls/23pts

And Barrie does that getting the cushiest possible offensive minutes, while being terrible defensively.

Lol what?!
Reilly and Brodie are good
Muzzin and giordano are old/injured
Then rest is pretty average

Rielly and Brodie are very good.

Muzzin and Giordano are very good.

Sandin and Lilly are very good.

 

[Nothingbutglass]

Must suck having no cap space and dredging for D to start the season.

 

[A1LeafNation]

Last 2yrs non-PP paces:

Rielly 7gls/42pts
Muzz 5gls/32pts
Barrie 5gls/29pts
Holl 3gls/28pts
Lilly 7gls/27pts
Gio 8gls/26pts
Sandin 7gls/23pts
Brodie 3gls/23pts

And Barrie does that getting the cushiest possible offensive minutes, while being terrible defensively.

Why even argue with them?

Rielly Brodie
Muzzin Holl
Sandin Liljegren
Giordano Mete
Benn

3 of them are injured. Why wouldn't they be looking for a replacement player in the short term.

If they don't get it, that's on their idiocy.

 

[BCNate]

I'd put the Leafs D in the 10-15 range. Not awful, but certainly not at the top.

 

[AnInjuredJasonZucker]

Is this another multiverse version of HF? Fans of other teams are defending the Oilers blueline from an obvious troll.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Last 2yrs non-PP paces:

Rielly 7gls/42pts
Muzz 5gls/32pts
Barrie 5gls/29pts
Holl 3gls/28pts
Lilly 7gls/27pts
Gio 8gls/26pts
Sandin 7gls/23pts
Brodie 3gls/23pts

And Barrie does that getting the cushiest possible offensive minutes, while being terrible defensively.



Rielly and Brodie are very good.

Muzzin and Giordano are very good.

Sandin and Lilly are very good.

A great PP QB is still valuable. Unlike holl who isn't good at any aspect of hockey.

 

[AvroArrow]

Last 2yrs non-PP paces:

Rielly 7gls/42pts
Muzz 5gls/32pts
Barrie 5gls/29pts
Holl 3gls/28pts
Lilly 7gls/27pts
Gio 8gls/26pts
Sandin 7gls/23pts
Brodie 3gls/23pts

And Barrie does that getting the cushiest possible offensive minutes, while being terrible defensively.



Rielly and Brodie are very good.

Muzzin and Giordano are very good.

Sandin and Lilly are very good.

Is that dude really still arguing Barrie is an elite offensive D-man LOL been like 2 years now, his numbers with and away from McDavid is night and day difference. He had a total of like what 5 points with McDavid on the ice ? I broke it down for him and lots of Oilers fans a while back. Barrie is a #6 D-Man, that is legitimately being glued to McDavid so the opposition isn't exposing him every shift. If Gardiner could make a pass, he would be Barrie. Just flat out horrible.

 

[zeke]

A great PP QB is still valuable. Unlike holl who isn't good at any aspect of hockey.

Holl literally scores as much as Barrie outside the PP, while having played in a top matchup pairing role for one of the best teams in hockey.

 

[NewEraGM]

No it's one of the best in the league. The only thing missing is a Norris quality guy, but other great dcorps also have that issue.

Agree that the goaltending is probably poor. But who can ever tell with goalies?

Lol the only thing missing is Norris quality guy?!?!

I think that’s the whole point. A high top end is worth more than good #4-5-6…

Name me one good offense that doesn’t have a Hart trophy quality guy?!?

 

[zeke]

Lol the only thing missing is Norris quality guy?!?!

I think that’s the whole point. A high top end is worth more than good #4-5-6…

Name me one good offense that doesn’t have a Hart trophy quality guy?!?

Well, CGY and CAR don't have Norris quality guys but they're still two of the best dcorps in hockey.

 

[rojac]

I've watched a lot of Barrie, he would be in your top 4. Bouchard is way better than the leafs young players. Ceci is way better than holl.
You mad?

 

[NewEraGM]

Yeah I’d have the group in the 12-15 range.
Above average but getting long in the tooth. Even Brodie is 32.

I agree. It’s not a bad defense at all but it’s not among the great

 

[CanHeDoIt99]

Lol the only thing missing is Norris quality guy?!?!

I think that’s the whole point. A high top end is worth more than good #4-5-6…

Name me one good offense that doesn’t have a Hart trophy quality guy?!?

Lot of people talking up the Sens offense recently.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

I agree. It’s not a bad defense at all but it’s not among the great

Ya. It's one of the worst defenses in the playoffs. But is it the worst in the league, no.

 

[zeke]

Is that dude really still arguing Barrie is an elite offensive D-man LOL been like 2 years now, his numbers with and away from McDavid is night and day difference. He had a total of like what 5 points with McDavid on the ice ? I broke it down for him and lots of Oilers fans a while back. Barrie is a #6 D-Man, that is legitimately being glued to McDavid so the opposition isn't exposing him every shift. If Gardiner could make a pass, he would be Barrie. Just flat out horrible.

It's kinda adorable watching them furiously convince themselves that players they hated while on the Leafs are now actually good, while players they loved when not on the Leafs are now actually bad.

Why even argue with them?

Rielly Brodie
Muzzin Holl
Sandin Liljegren
Giordano Mete
Benn

3 of them are injured. Why wouldn't they be looking for a replacement player in the short term.

If they don't get it, that's on their idiocy.

Because I enjoy it!

 

[GirardSpinorama]

The Leafs' playoff record speaks for itself, sure. But saying they're "desperate" when they're essentially running back a 115-point blueline is just nonsense. Usually you're a pretty level-headed poster, but I guess anti-Leafs bias hits everybody.

Not talking about their playoff record. But they are not a good reg season team due to that defence. That defence is average at best. Offense is top tier. Goaltending last year was inconsistent but bailed out that defence for half the season.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

So Marner won't cut it?

 

[Leaf Fans]

Who are they phoning! Agents?

 

[Enga Olly]

I think Morgan Rielly is an average #1 defenseman. But, he is one. Then you have 3 #2-3 defenseman in Brodie, Muzzin and Giordano. That makes up a pretty star studded veteran cast in the top-4. With two top prospects turned NHL'ers with top-4, maybe top pairing upside. With Justin Holl, a guy that has averaged over 20 minutes a game the past two seasons on a top seeded playoff team and who was protected over Kerfoot, McCann and Engvall in the expansion draft as your #7 guy.

I don't know man. Maybe, take another look and then check out some other rosters.

well as the old saying goes... haters gonna hate

Colorado fans still drunk from their Cup victory. Personally I liked Colorado better when they were the Rockies. The Rockies were able to hi-light Colorado's true hockey fans and their commitment to hockey. Inheriting a SC team was a bit of a cheat

 

[Pierce Hawthorne]

I actually prefer Toronto’s group by a fair amount over Edmonton. But I’d rank Toronto above average. Maybe 12th to 15th. The age of some of them is the biggest concern.

I have them both in the exact same tier pretty much. Funny enough right in that ~13-16 range


Colorado
Carolina
Boston
Calgary
Nashville

That's my clear Top 5. Order is fairly debatable outside of Colorado at #1, but those 5 teams pretty much all have that combination of a very deep Defense and an elite #1. Calgary the only ones without an elite #1, but basically 3 Top pairing quality guys and I would argue 5 guys that are easily Top 4 quality. After that I'd have a group of 4 in the next tier down, Tampa Bay, NYR, Washington, and Minnesota.

Then honestly I'd have a pretty gigantic tier of Defense's that are fairly close to one another where I think arguments could be made either way. That group would include Edmonton, Toronto, LA, Florida, Vegas, NYI, Dallas, and Pittsbugh. But personally both Edmonton and Toronto fall pretty well in the middle of that group.


What's interesting is IMO Toronto doesn't have much room for growth defensively this year(I dont think Sandin or Lilijegren take any sort of step forward, especially not with both dealing with different issues early in the year already), and with some older guys on that Defense they're primed for further regression from the likes of Gio/Muzzin/Brodie.

 

[JarvisFunk]

The Leafs' defense is one of the best in hockey and currently has one injury.

Crazy how the leafs have one of the best forward groups in hockey, and one of the best defense groups in hockey and they can never win anything

 

[XXIV97]

Kris Russell. He is a good depth D that can play LD or RD.

 

[GirardSpinorama]

Holl literally scores as much as Barrie outside the PP, while having played in a top matchup pairing role for one of the best teams in hockey.

Holl playing a top match up role is a reason why the leafs is currently the most inept playoff team in the NHL. At least Barrie is a useful weapon on the PP.

 

[zeke]

Crazy how the leafs have one of the best forward groups in hockey, and one of the best defense groups in hockey and they can never win anything

Not nearly as crazy as a team of four overpaid overrated forwards with a crappy D and no depth finishing top 5 every year.

 

[NewEraGM]

Lot of people talking up the Sens offense recently.

I wouldn’t say anyone is saying Ottawa have a top 5 offense.

No one is saying the leafs defense sucks…it’s just not at the top