News Article: 'This core believes we're right there:'

[Stamkos4life]

He had Barrie, who is a RHD...and he did get a golden fleecing by Sakic when he traded Kadri...he had both, took out 2 birds with 1 stone, so that's quite the success...

Man I love your avatar and quote! Just had to mention that!

 

[Superstar]

Man I love your avatar and quote! Just had to mention that!

Thanks!

 

[cesareborgia]

I believe in this core too, what I do not believe in is the right side of the defense.

Bring in a couple RD and let's find out if they are right

If they improve the right side and the same result happens again then the core changes.

Even the best RHD in the league won't fix the mentality of this team.

Our offense takes nights off. Marner said he "wasn't engaged" in game one versus Columbus. Wtf is that? A RHD won't fix that. We need more players like Hyman that have will and desire. Unfortunately Dubas traded one in Kadri. Traded for garbage.

 

[dubplatepressure]

Even the best RHD in the league won't fix the mentality of this team.

Our offense takes nights off. Marner said he "wasn't engaged" in game one versus Columbus. Wtf is that? A RHD won't fix that. We need more players like Hyman that have will and desire. Unfortunately Dubas traded one in Kadri. Traded for garbage.

If you're a glass-half-full person then you see the struggles as a maturation process of a young team with a fantastic future. If you're a glass-half-empty person then you see the struggles as glaring signs that the team does not have what it takes to win despite their age.

Principally, when Dubas made that trade, he thought we needed the addition of a top4 RHD more than we needed the difference in player between Kadri and Kerfoot. To that end, I do not think he was wrong. In hindsight, Barrie was terrible and Kerfoot is a completely different player - the trade has not worked out well for us. However, I did not and still do not disagree with the idea of that trade.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Even the best RHD in the league won't fix the mentality of this team.

Our offense takes nights off. Marner said he "wasn't engaged" in game one versus Columbus. Wtf is that? A RHD won't fix that. We need more players like Hyman that have will and desire. Unfortunately Dubas traded one in Kadri. Traded for garbage.

He admitted to it, it happens to everybody, I don't want to see it again but it happens he was honest and took responsibility.

You know what getting a couple RD does fix? It means we aren't ONE injury away from Marincin playing the guy is NOT NHL caliber because if he was the defense wouldn't have gone to complete shit the SECOND Muzzin went down but it did, why? because guys like Marincin and Rosen aren't NHL caliber players

Teams like Boston and Washington have guys like John Moore and Radko Gudas as depth, we got Martin Marincin and Calle Rosen are you serious?

that's f***ing garbage.

You want to cut money? instead of going straight to the 3rd, line start by strapping Marincin, Holl, and Rosen to a rocket and firing them into the sun there goes almost 3.5 million because Holl makes 2 million himself because f*** it why not?

Do the same to Johnsson and you have almost cleared 7 million total, you now have enough money to actually address the defense and maybe a #3 center

 

[rumman]

Dubas the other day in his presser said "unfortunately progression is not linear in sports", which I guess is something someone would say who has seen the team he manages with linear regression ever since they took over.

Going to be an interesting offseason for the GM, because any more negative progression next season will open up whole new opportunities for himself.

nice to see he's moved on from the Chinese parables.................

 

[Blowfish]

The core players/management team have been saying the same thing for 3 years. Its time to not believe in the Core and find players with 4 simple things "will" "heart" "fight" and "character".

 

[cesareborgia]

If you're a glass-half-full person then you see the struggles as a maturation process of a young team with a fantastic future. If you're a glass-half-empty person then you see the struggles as glaring signs that the team does not have what it takes to win despite their age.

Principally, when Dubas made that trade, he thought we needed the addition of a top4 RHD more than we needed the difference in player between Kadri and Kerfoot. To that end, I do not think he was wrong. In hindsight, Barrie was terrible and Kerfoot is a completely different player - the trade has not worked out well for us. However, I did not and still do not disagree with the idea of that trade.

The second Marner become one of, if not the highest paid winger in the league, milking the team for every last penny, is when the "struggles of maturation" excuse went out the window with Marner. If you have one of the highest salaries in the league, you damn well better produce accordingly. If Marner was going to have these growing up struggles, then he shouldn't have been handed the contract he was. It's as simple as that. You don't have "maturation struggles" when you are making near 11M a year, not in a cap league like the NHL. Your excuses for Marner are frankly ridiculous. He was underwhelming at best this year. It's unacceptable.

Secondly, "the idea of the trade was good" doesn't cut it in the big leagues. This isn't the OHL anymore, perhaps Dubas didn't get the memo. Dubas got his ass handed to him by Sakic. We traded one of the only players who gave a damn, and now he is Colorado's MVP thus far. Traded away for absolute trash.

Lastly, I'm usually a glass half full person. But it's a little difficult to be glass half full when there has been nothing but a linear regression every year since Dubas has been the GM. As a talented young team, we should have taken a step forward every season, not back.

 

[cesareborgia]

He admitted to it, it happens to everybody, I don't want to see it again but it happens he was honest and took responsibility.

You know what getting a couple RD does fix? It means we aren't ONE injury away from Marincin playing the guy is NOT NHL caliber because if he was the defense wouldn't have gone to complete shit the SECOND Muzzin went down but it did, why? because guys like Marincin and Rosen aren't NHL caliber players

Teams like Boston and Washington have guys like John Moore and Radko Gudas as depth, we got Martin Marincin and Calle Rosen are you serious?

that's f***ing garbage.

You want to cut money? instead of going straight to the 3rd, line start by strapping Marincin, Holl, and Rosen to a rocket and firing them into the sun there goes almost 3.5 million because Holl makes 2 million himself because f*** it why not?

Do the same to Johnsson and you have almost cleared 7 million total, you now have enough money to actually address the defense and maybe a #3 center

You should be GM. I'm betting you'd do a much better job than Dubas. I'm sure of it, actually.

 

[dubplatepressure]

The second Marner become one of, if not the highest paid winger in the league, milking the team for every last penny, is when the "struggles of maturation" excuse went out the window with Marner. If you have one of the highest salaries in the league, you damn well better produce accordingly. If Marner was going to have these growing up struggles, then he shouldn't have been handed the contract he was. It's as simple as that. You don't have "maturation struggles" when you are making near 11M a year, not in a cap league like the NHL. Your excuses for Marner are frankly ridiculous. He was underwhelming at best this year. It's unacceptable.

Secondly, "the idea of the trade was good" doesn't cut it in the big leagues. This isn't the OHL anymore, perhaps Dubas didn't get the memo. Dubas got his ass handed to him by Sakic. We traded one of the only players who gave a damn, and now he is Colorado's MVP thus far. Traded away for absolute trash.

Lastly, I'm usually a glass half full person. But it's a little difficult to be glass half full when there has been nothing but a linear regression every year since Dubas has been the GM. As a talented young team, we should have taken a step forward every season, not back.

Ok - so two things. First, you're obviously a glass-half-empty person with respect to outlook of this group. Second, I don't really understand your "that doesn't cut it" analogy. There are winners and losers of trades. We clearly lost. That is not up for debate, so I'm not sure why you continue to do so. No argument from me - we lost that one. I see similarities to where we are now. We need to trade one of Marner or Nylander for a top4 D. If we do that, and a year from now we look back and have another Barrie scenario, then we're screwed - we've lost that trade. But that doesn't invalidate the fact that we needed to make a move (and did so).

 

[Leafmealone11]

Ok - so two things. First, you're obviously a glass-half-empty person with respect to outlook of this group. Second, I don't really understand your "that doesn't cut it" analogy. There are winners and losers of trades. We clearly lost. That is not up for debate, so I'm not sure why you continue to do so. No argument from me - we lost that one. I see similarities to where we are now. We need to trade one of Marner or Nylander for a top4 D. If we do that, and a year from now we look back and have another Barrie scenario, then we're screwed - we've lost that trade. But that doesn't invalidate the fact that we needed to make a move (and did so).

Barrie UFA, Brodie UFA I don't think the right moves are being made, trading your best bargaining chip for rentals is just bad management

 

[dubplatepressure]

Barrie UFA, Brodie UFA I don't think the right moves are being made, trading your best bargaining chip for rentals is just bad management

No argument from me there. However, if Barrie had been the top-3 D as advertised and we played to a conference final, the outlook might be rather different.

 

[ShaneFalco]

The core talks a lot without backing it up when the games matter

 

[pspot]

Not sure if anyone watched the last dance but when Jordan was eliminated he was training the next day obsessively to come back and prove himself

Who on the leafs is doing that right now?

 

[Mr Knies Guy]

Yep, this team just needs a few tweaks. The core is good. Matthews, Taraves and Marner are going to dominate next year.

Johnsson can go for some grit.
Barrie, Ceci replacements will be upgrades.
Nylander can be traded for a defenceman. He has the easiest contract to move and can go avoid contact somewhere else.
Is Freddy really that much of an upgrade over Campbell?

This team is really not far off from becoming a juggernaut.

Hyman - Matthews - Marner
Robertson - Tavares - X
Mikheyev - Kerfoot - Kapanen
Engval - X - Clifford

Muzzin - X
Rielly - X
Sandin/Dermott - Holl/X
Lilj

X
Campbell

Those are 3 pretty huge Xs right there for a supposed potential juggernaut

 

[hfman]

Last time this team won a playoff round was 16 years ago.

Since then, they've made the playoffs just 5 times and lost all 5 times. The remaining 11 seasons they didn't even make the playoffs.

This is Ballard territory.

Where was everyone 16 years ago? Think back to where you were and what you were doing then. Well yeah that's the last time this team won a playoff round lol

But never fear..."we're right there"

 

[ITM]

I've touted the need for learning to win taking seasons as the expectation. I agree, reluctantly, with Keefe's assessment of this "season" being the wrong term in which to throw the baby out with the bathwater. But there's something existentially wrong with the contracts handed out that convey a noticeable detestable peculiarity. Apart from the climate created by these larger contracts within the Leafs room, I think what rippled throughout the rest of the league was akin to a boat dumping chum by the barrel load into the water: Derision. Other clubs find ways to compromise on the bottom line for the greater good. Internal sacrifices are made, the kind of which Shanahan noted in an interview that had some lambaste his apparent hypocrisy (which wasn't the case). It's the sort of sacrifice that extends to on-ice competition.

In years past, I thought the general hate for Toronto was irrational, uninformed, distinctly biased, even rabid. I think we've turned the corner in being rightly derided for operating in a culture that presumed it could impose it's own rules of operation and not be held accountable for it. That type of inspiration, a kind of running up the score, is the kind of obstacle we're unlikely to coach or trade our way out of...Even with equal footing (with respect to depth of talent), how is this club going to navigate four rounds of championship hockey with clubs who from the get go decided to place a common goal ahead of the biggest bank account they could muster and nurtured their culture of camaraderie without compromising it?

Maybe all things 2020 should be left to mulligans and 2021 for clearer analysis.

Like why we took Korshkov when Carter Hart was...right...there.

 

[Leafsfan74]

Not sure if anyone watched the last dance but when Jordan was eliminated he was training the next day obsessively to come back and prove himself

Who on the leafs is doing that right now?

That's the difference between winners and losers. In Jordans case, a player I watched growing up, he had a clutch attitude. He is a legend that will be remembered for decades long after he is gone due this addiction to winning and doing everything he could to get his fix.

Fans love and adore champions in sports. It's their drive that gets people to cheer. When Jordan played, he played to win. Everything else was just...losing. The money didn't matter, it's why he left the sport for 1.5 years in his prime to try baseball. Once he found the team concept and allowed others to fill their roles in support of him and dragged them with him, the championships were only a matter of time.

Guys who want to come back better and more successful are in the gym, looking at video, angry about not being on the ice and with his teammates battling. It should bother them if they have any pride.

It's why I say, if they don't surround the right players (who they want to keep) with the right players (who they need to find a way to obtain), this will just be another Oilers team from a decade or so ago. Lots of youth, speed and potential, but proverbial losers. Part of this is on Dubas, part of it is on the franchise that has become the butt end of sports jokes, but, since they don't have to work for the revenue, "who cares?" ALL of it is on the players though.

Some of us warned you all that once Babcock was gone the blame would shift quickly. In the end, it's ALWAYS about the players. They either sacrifice or they don't. No coach, GM or owners can play the game for them.

If they fail it's because of them, it's their DNA on the ice. If they are happy to be wealthy NHLers, that's the end game, they've already achieved it, there is no concern for a Cup, to hell with owners and the fans.

 

[Superstar]

The second Marner become one of, if not the highest paid winger in the league, milking the team for every last penny, is when the "struggles of maturation" excuse went out the window with Marner. If you have one of the highest salaries in the league, you damn well better produce accordingly. If Marner was going to have these growing up struggles, then he shouldn't have been handed the contract he was. It's as simple as that. You don't have "maturation struggles" when you are making near 11M a year, not in a cap league like the NHL. Your excuses for Marner are frankly ridiculous. He was underwhelming at best this year. It's unacceptable.

Secondly, "the idea of the trade was good" doesn't cut it in the big leagues. This isn't the OHL anymore, perhaps Dubas didn't get the memo. Dubas got his ass handed to him by Sakic. We traded one of the only players who gave a damn, and now he is Colorado's MVP thus far. Traded away for absolute trash.

Lastly, I'm usually a glass half full person. But it's a little difficult to be glass half full when there has been nothing but a linear regression every year since Dubas has been the GM. As a talented young team, we should have taken a step forward every season, not back.

Seems like Dubas has a fetish for his own AHL players...if he had a choice, Sparks would still be the back-up...LOL.

 

[mikeyz]

You mean the fatal assumption that literally every GM and agent uses?

And how many GM’s gave 3 forwards 11 million or more per year?

 

[Dekes For Days]

if he had a choice, Sparks would still be the back-up...LOL.

It was his choice to trade Sparks away; just not before giving his young, cheap, homegrown, Calder-cup winning, AHL goalie of the year a shot at backup, just like any other GM.

 

[kb]

And how many GM’s gave 3 forwards 11 million or more per year?

Zero have.

 

[Menzinger]

And how many GM’s gave 3 forwards 11 million or more per year?

How many GM's were ever in a position too?

 

[Stephen]

Not sure if anyone watched the last dance but when Jordan was eliminated he was training the next day obsessively to come back and prove himself

Who on the leafs is doing that right now?

When it comes to ultra competitors on this Leafs team, people in the know seem to talk about Matthews being a guy who has that drive. Then it kind of falls off a bit into unknown territory. Has anyone ever said Marner, Nylander or even Tavares have a burning desire to win? Of course they say so in press conferences, but you wouldn't know it in a playoff series. I don't think you'd find a "Captain Serious" like a Jonathan Toews among them.

 

[Gabriel426]

How many GM's were ever in a position too?

Should any GMs be at a position to give out 3 10mil+ contracts?

Personally, I think if Keefe can split those three up into three lines and let them elevate guys like Soup, Engvall, Robertson, Malgin, Petan or any players around 1mil cap hit into 3-4mil level players like AJ and Kap. Then having three 10mil plus players are not ideal but fine