Post-Game Talk: WE'RE 3-0!!! Leafs beat the Habs!!

[napoleon in rags]

It would be freaking awesome

Send 2 firsts to Pittsburgh and grab Kessel!

Excellent post!

 

[McMatthews]

Andrew Nielsen looks like he can definitely play.

Excellent mobility and puck skills for such a big defenceman.

Intriguing prospect for sure.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Is it just me, or do we only have 5 goalies in our entire system? Whose going to be the backup (or starting) ECHL goalie? We need another goalie at least, if not two.

NHL:
Bernier
Reimer

AHL:
Bibeau
Sparks


ECHL:
Rob Madore
???
???

 

[Clark4Ever]

Nylander looks like a more mature player already compared to last year's camp. He might make it very difficult for management to send him back to the Marlies.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

Nylander is amazing.

Agreed, He has been great so far but as good as he has been I personally think that a full year with the Marlies will do him a world of good and not burn a ELC year on a marginal team at best. Generate some chemistry with the other prospects and round out his game at C.

So many people seem to want to rush him into the big show after a few preseason games but a championship run on the Marlies holds more value to his overall game imho.

 

[Ovate]

Is it just me, or do we only have 5 goalies in our entire system? Whose going to be the backup (or starting) ECHL goalie? We need another goalie at least, if not two.

NHL:
Bernier
Reimer

AHL:
Bibeau
Sparks


ECHL:
Rob Madore
???
???

Why do we need an ECHL goalie? Unless they're only being pushed down there due to depth, they're almost definitely a waste of a contract and never going to play in the NHL.

 

[MapleLeafs9]

Powerplays in OT are going to be OP as ****

They are going to have to nerf it in the next patch

The gamers in this thread are too strong

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Why do we need an ECHL goalie? Unless they're only being pushed down there due to depth, they're almost definitely a waste of a contract and never going to play in the NHL.

I'm talking about AHL or even ECHL contract. We have to have someone to play there. I wouldn't waste an ELC on a ECHL goalie.

 

[FlareKnight]

Agreed, He has been great so far but as good as he has been I personally think that a full year with the Marlies will do him a world of good and not burn a ELC year on a marginal team at best. Generate some chemistry with the other prospects and round out his game at C.

So many people seem to want to rush him into the big show after a few preseason games but a championship run on the Marlies holds more value to his overall game imho.

You don't think he can round out his game at center on the Leafs second line this season? Babcock seems to be a decent coach according to rumors.

If he's not good enough to do it then fine. But sending him down for pointless reasons isn't. It's as if the plan is to keep the entire future Leafs team on the Marlies until one day we cut every single Leaf contract and bring the entire Marlies team up at once.

Guys who are ready should play and those that aren't develop on the Marlies. Why isn't it that simple? I think it's underrating other people to say the only reason people are suggesting (not rushing him) is because of a few preseason games. That stance has been pretty consistent. Those that are ready shouldn't be forced to stay on the Marlies just because.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

Why do we need an ECHL goalie? Unless they're only being pushed down there due to depth, they're almost definitely a waste of a contract and never going to play in the NHL.

Exactly...you can always find a backup ECHL goalie in the parking lot of your local liquor or beer store.

 

[Ovate]

Gardiner was the best player of the game, after Price.

Boyes will earn a contract if he keeps that play up. Arcobello's also going to get a spot on the team. If they continue to play like this game, they'll both get good returns at the deadline.

Nylander looks great when he has lots of space. He's going to be deadly on the PP. Dermott also looked really good as a PP quarterback. Is he our 2nd best center after Kadri though? I don't think he beats out some of the more defensively robust players. And if he isn't a top 6 center, he'll probably go back down to the Marlies.

Our Marlies goalies are solid. That's going to be a good battle for the starter position.

Nielsen was good defensively, showed nice positioning and mobility. There's a reason he was our fourth player drafted in 2015. Wouldn't be surprised if he was cut anyway though.

 

[The Man with a Plan]

You don't think he can round out his game at center on the Leafs second line this season? Babcock seems to be a decent coach according to rumors.

If he's not good enough to do it then fine. But sending him down for pointless reasons isn't. It's as if the plan is to keep the entire future Leafs team on the Marlies until one day we cut every single Leaf contract and bring the entire Marlies team up at once.

Guys who are ready should play and those that aren't develop on the Marlies. Why isn't it that simple? I think it's underrating other people to say the only reason people are suggesting (not rushing him) is because of a few preseason games. That stance has been pretty consistent. Those that are ready shouldn't be forced to stay on the Marlies just because.

I never said send him down if he has earned his spot. I just don't see him polished enough as of yet to say he has made the jump. He totally could prove me wrong and I'll eat some crow then. I honesty don't see him as the 2C off the bat as Babcock seems to like Kadri for the 1C spot and I shudder to think he has Bozak penciled in as the 2C for the time being. I think we can all agree that Nylander playing on the wing or as a 3C does him no good if indeed he does want to play as a C in the future. We also have a lot of viable players for the bottom 6 spots.

Lets be honest here tho. It's 3 games into preseason, 2 of them split squads.
Lets give him 9 reg season games to start..if he truly earns it then fine. But if there is other players who earned it who we can flip to make the future with Nyander,Marner etc more solid then we send him down and let him truly round out his game all the much more.

We've got pretty damn good coaches on the Marlies as well lets not forget.

 

[Ovate]

I never said send him down if he has earned his spot. I just don't see him polished enough as of yet to say he has made the jump. He totally could prove me wrong and I'll eat some crow then. I honesty don't see him as the 2C off the bat as Babcock seems to like Kadri for the 1C spot and I shudder to think he has Bozak penciled in as the 2C for the time being.

Lets be honest here tho. It's 3 games into preseason, 2 of them split squads.
Lets give him 9 reg season games to start..if he truly earns it then fine. But if there is other players who earned it who we can flip to make the future with Nyander,Marner etc more solid then we send him down and let him truly round out his game all the much more.

We've got pretty damn good coaches on the Mazrlies as well lets not forget.

There's a lot of competition for that 2C spot. Bozak, Matthias, Spaling, Holland, Boyes, Arcobello, even Komarov (he played C in the KHL). Is Nylander close to that group? Yes. Will he be better than whoever the best in that group is? Very unlikely, especially considering ties go to the vet.

 

[SeaOfBlue]

There's a lot of competition for that 2C spot. Bozak, Matthias, Spaling, Holland, Boyes, Arcobello, even Komarov (he played C in the KHL). Is Nylander close to that group? Yes. Will he be better than whoever the best in that group is? Very unlikely, especially considering ties go to the vet.

I see the centers being Kadri, Bozak, Holland and Spaling. Komarov and Arcobello could fill in a pinch. Matthias is just not good enough at taking faceoffs to become a center. The lowest percentage of that group is Holland with a 45.5% in a large sample size. Spaling, Komarov and Arcobello all had around 47-49% (Kadri range), but in a third of the sample size. Bozak dominates with like a 54% FO%. Beyond faceoffs though, the first 4 are just the most natural centers. Komarov is equally good at all forward spots, and Arcobello is a better winger than center given his size and style. 21 goals going through 4 teams, including 2 of the bottom 3, is good regardless.

But yes, Nylander would benefit more being an important 1C on the Marlies than being a less important player on the Leafs, especially considering we have 17 NHL forwards right now (if you include PTO's) plus many other NHL ready prospects (Bailey, Leivo and Carrick to name a few). We aren't competing, so we shouldn't care too much about having our really good young guys in the lineup.

 

[CanadasTeam]

Nylander looks like a more mature player already compared to last year's camp. He might make it very difficult for management to send him back to the Marlies.

If only he were a bit bigger..

 

[Sergei Berezin]

Arcobello played better in this game than last game. It's hard, though, with some of these guys are better suited for different roles.


I didn't see too much of Gauthier, but I was actually impressed by board play. I'd like to see him in another game with some better linemates. He's an underrated guy, but he actually has value to a team, unlike some of our other underwhelming former first rounders. Not every first rounder in Rielly or Nylander.

Also, Mark Fraser was pretty bad. I really really like the guy and loved him when he was here a couple of years ago but he's just not a good defenceman.

 

[Semantics]

Based on this game Fraser, Bailey, Frattin would be pretty easy cuts. I'd cut the following 12 right now to bring it down to 41.

G: Madore (who?)
D: Campbell
D: Nielsen
D: Fraser
D: Brennan
F: Bailey
F: Clune
F: Frattin
F: Froese
F: Gauthier
F: Hyman
F: Setoguchi

Tough luck for Setoguchi and Fraser to only get one game, but with only five games to go and each of the vets slated to play 3/5 (save maybe Gards who played tonight), there's not enough ice time for them.

 

[SubyDubyTML]

Was at the game tonight. From my point of view, the biggest standouts were Dermott, Soshnikov, Gardiner & Nylander.

Dermott's hockey IQ is great, he's calm under pressure and was steady all night. Didn't look out of place at all when on the PP either, in fact he did a damn good job. Very impressed by him.

Soshnikov was a pleasant surprise. Very quick, has a good set of hands and wasn't afraid to go into the corners. Really liked his game.

Nylander, what can be said that we don't all know already. When he has space, he's lethal. His vision and passing skills are very impressive for a 19 year old.

Gardiner looked real good out there. Hopefully he can continue playing like this for a long time, i'm really looking forward to see him grow under Babcock's watch.

 

[KGL]

Based on this game Fraser, Bailey, Frattin would be pretty easy cuts. I'd cut the following 12 right now to bring it down to 41.

G: Madore (who?)
D: Campbell
D: Nielsen
D: Fraser
D: Brennan
F: Bailey
F: Clune
F: Frattin
F: Froese
F: Gauthier
F: Hyman
F: Setoguchi

Tough luck for Setoguchi and Fraser to only get one game, but with only five games to go and each of the vets slated to play 3/5 (save maybe Gards who played tonight), there's not enough ice time for them.

I could see Gauthier sticking around a bit longer. Practicing with NHL players and NHL coaches is valuable experience. Leafs will want Gauthier to gain that experience as a first round pick.

 

[Christ]

like i told sum1 before who said habs were going to dominate

rely on military strength alone and you will not win aka sun tzu

leafs played well

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Gv0H-vPoDc

Sorry but this post called for this

 

[kihei]

Would you guys think of trading our first round pick if we could land a superstar to put us over the top?

Enough people seem to suffer from this malady that maybe it should have its own name. Maple Leaf psychosis?

 

[fahad203]

Based on this game Fraser, Bailey, Frattin would be pretty easy cuts. I'd cut the following 12 right now to bring it down to 41.

G: Madore (who?)
D: Campbell
D: Nielsen
D: Fraser
D: Brennan
F: Bailey
F: Clune
F: Frattin
F: Froese
F: Gauthier
F: Hyman
F: Setoguchi

Tough luck for Setoguchi and Fraser to only get one game, but with only five games to go and each of the vets slated to play 3/5 (save maybe Gards who played tonight), there's not enough ice time for them.

Seto had his share of chances with NHL teams. He just doesn't have the heart. Not interested.

We have our version of Seto, see Matt Frattin.

Brennen is an intriguing player to me. He could land the 6th spot over Hunwick. Hunwick to me adds no value to this team

 

[Cor]

Seto had his share of chances with NHL teams. He just doesn't have the heart. Not interested.

We have our version of Seto, see Matt Frattin.

Brennen is an intriguing player to me. He could land the 6th spot over Hunwick. Hunwick to me adds no value to this team

Hunwick definitely adds value. There is a reason management gave him a 2 year deal, and Babcock is playing him with Phaneuf

 

[Beleafer4]

Gardiner was great. Sweet assist, nice finish and very effective defensively. I wouldn't say he set up a lot of chances this game but he was very opportunistic. Was amazing at moving the puck up.

Nylander is going to be a potent offensive weapon. Hes a sweet passer who is so smooth and unpredictable. He needs a bit of seasoning and will probably need a good 10-ish games to adjust to NHL tempo but he's a player.

Dermott was solid. But that's what I was expecting

Neilson is a prospect. He's so... safe. Like the defensive version of guathier. Limited offense but he can pass quickly tape to tape, skate and is positionally sound. Color me surprised because I wasn't expecting much from him.

Both Neilson and Dermott were better than Campbell, Fraser and Harrington (who I have been underwhelmed with so far)

Marner struggled. Made a couple of nice plays but he has been fumbling a lot of pucks. This hurt him because his game is cerebral and is based on effective puck movement.

Timashov has NHL poise and puckhandling but hes gotta get faster or at least more competitive physically if he ever wants to crack it. He doesn't have the safety net of being able to grind. Top 6 or bust for him.

Gauthier looks like an NHLer. The center version of Daniel Winnik.

Soshnikov has a motor. I like him.

Holland really came alive at the end and Boyes overall was solid.

Not a fan of arcobello. Was largely ineffective this game. And komarov has really died down - hopefully its just because he doesn't want to try hard in preseason.

Both goalies were solid.

 

[hfdshdh]

Hunwick definitely adds value. There is a reason management gave him a 2 year deal, and Babcock is playing him with Phaneuf

Rangers fans had nothing but good things to say about him, and his advanced stats are off the charts. By all accounts he's a pretty good and underrated defenseman.