Line Combos: What is the likelihood that Dubas adds toughness to the team next season?

[Magic Man]

He let all the tuff guys go - Polak, Komarov, Martin ...... imagine the tuffness with those guys!

To be fair to these players Martin and Komarov went to have pretty productive seasons, improving on their prior season. Polak did pretty well for Dallas as well. All of them made playoff teams that saw the 2nd round. They are NHL quality talent.

 

[Cams]

Just gotta get a tuff coach that isn't afraid to play them in the playoffs first! They do look tuff from the pressbox though, you can be sure there's no dirty hits going on up there.

On a serious note this team needs a Kreider and a Gudas, not a Simmonds and a McQuaid. I don't think anyone's going to say no to skilled speedy toughness regardless of how "new NHL" they are.

Yes please..... maybe not those 2 specifically, but it sure would be nice to have a Josh Anderson, Sammy Blais added up front (they don't have anyone on the team or the system like this - and no Marchment isn't good enough), and a Gudas type on the back end.

And nobody is advocating for a "Patrick O'Thuggo" (how many times are going to beat that dead horse by the way...). The days of a Colton Orr are long gone. I'd certainly love to have a Ferland, Anderson, Dubinksy, Blais, Smith-Pelley type or 2, than 13 Marty McSofty and Par Midonna's. No......solely building a team with speed and pretty passes and really nice guys doesn't push you to the next level in the playoffs.

Sure...the PK and PP were factors, but look at Boston....they are clipping along at something like 36% on their PP - that is an anomaly, and you wonder if it is truly sustainable 99/100 times. Mind you Boston sure knows how to draw penalties (legit and non-legit ones). If they go into next season with a lineup that is virtually the same as we saw last year.....then hello 1st round exit yet again.

 

[sparxx87]

To be fair to these players Martin and Komarov went to have pretty productive seasons, improving on their prior season. Polak did pretty well for Dallas as well. All of them made playoff teams that saw the 2nd round. They are NHL quality talent.

Martin and Polak are all about fit. The Leafs play with too much pace for either.

Trotz is a good fit for Martin if you had to pick somewhere.

 

[Martin Skoula]

Yes please..... maybe not those 2 specifically, but it sure would be nice to have a Josh Anderson, Sammy Blais added up front (they don't have anyone on the team or the system like this - and no Marchment isn't good enough), and a Gudas type on the back end.

And nobody is advocating for a "Patrick O'Thuggo" (how many times are going to beat that dead horse by the way...). The days of a Colton Orr are long gone. I'd certainly love to have a Ferland, Anderson, Dubinksy, Blais, Smith-Pelley type or 2, than 13 Marty McSofty and Par Midonna's. No......solely building a team with speed and pretty passes and really nice guys doesn't push you to the next level in the playoffs.

Sure...the PK and PP were factors, but look at Boston....they are clipping along at something like 36% on their PP - that is an anomaly, and you wonder if it is truly sustainable 99/100 times. Mind you Boston sure knows how to draw penalties (legit and non-legit ones). If they go into next season with a lineup that is virtually the same as we saw last year.....then hello 1st round exit yet again.

I think the main point is that I wouldn't mind having Gudas or Kreider on the team even if they never hit again. They still bring strong enough skillsets outside the physicality. A soft Kreider would still be a good netfront winger for Matthews, a soft Gudas would still be one of our better transition D. Komarov, Polak, and Martin bring very little outside of the physicality.

But honestly we wouldn't need these trades if we could put a killer instinct into our top-6/top-4. Not enough opponents are eating elbows in the corners for my liking.

 

[Magic Man]

I posted this in the trade thread. I think it has some good trade ideas that focus on players the Leafs could covet. It focuses on adding toughness, addresses the RHD dilemma and brings a better group in for the PP and PK.

Lawson Crouse - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Nick Ritchie - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen
Trevor Moore - Nazem Kadri - Zach Hyman
Colin Wilson - Jujhar Khaira - Noel Acciari
ex. Frederik Gauthier

Morgan Rielly - Adam Larsson
Jake Muzzin - Rasmus Ristolainen
Travis Dermott - Matt Benning
ex. Andreas Borgman

Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks

Call Up Forward #1 - Ilya Mikheyev
Call Up Forward #2 - Mason Marchment
Call Up Forward #3 - Devante Smith-Pelly

Call Up Defenseman #1 - Rasmus Sandin
Call Up Defenseman #2 - Timothy Liljegren
Call Up Defenseman #3 - Justin Holl

Call Up Goalie #1 - Ian Scott

William Nylander for Rasmus Ristolainen

Andreas Johnsson for Nick Ritchie

Jeremy Bracco for Lawson Crouse

Connor Brown + Nikita Zaitsev + Calle Rosen + Nic Petan + Eemeli Rasanen + 2020 2nd rd. Pick for Jujhar Khaira + Adam Larsson + Matt Benning

Patrick Marleau for Maxim Letunov + a Conditional Late Round Draft Pick (dependent on playoff success)

Sign Noel Acciari for 2 years at 1.75M per

Sign Colin Wilson for 1 year at 2M

Sign Devante Smith-Pelly for 1 year at 700K, demote to the Marlies

Right and left shots are balanced on each pairing and forward line for Babcock. The defensive lineup at RD is addressed with 3 new additions Ristolainen, Larsson and Benning. Salary cleared in the right areas and then filled in with players that better fill out the roster. It addresses team toughness, the team becomes harder to play against on every line and pairing. Khaira is brought in to upgrade the 4th line center position and put an enforcer in place that can play every day. The special teams are upgraded with Ristolainen on PP#1 which creates the perfect on balance on unit #1. They'd have to try out a few options to create a good unit with Kadri, Muzzin, Kapanen and Ritchie as locks. Who they play with could be anyone, but I'd try and get Crouse in front of the net and going offensively with the investment paid. The PK see's Ritchie, Moore, Crouse, Acciari, Larsson and maybe Ristolainen as great options to create a better penalty kill. Colin Wilson is someone that could jump in at 3C if one of the top-3 centers go down. I considered Maroon over Wilson, but with this exact line up I valued his ability to play center, his speed and offensive ability Noel Acciari provides Babcock with a right handed shot that he can line up on the PK or for defensive zone faceoffs. The bottom 4 players on the forward roster can all dress at center ice. Smith-Pelly would be a well rounded player that they could bring up and down from the Marlies with no solid veterans in place up front down there. Letunov is a center prospect that would address their depth issue for next season.

 

[Menzinger]

Karlsson was traded in September, so I guess that doesn't count right?

2nd highest then.

The highest skilled defensemen traded in 2019 .

 

[Menzinger]

He’s saying it’ll just be a new excuse with the next opponent. He’s right.

It does no good to whine or think about the other guys. The Leafs need to look in the mirror. The whistles go away in the playoffs and the Leafs roster is full of guys who don’t want to play that way.... They’ve got some great talent but it desperately needs to be insulated with some sandpaper.


The most impactful move the Leafs could make would be take Dubas’ keys and suit. He seemed very good as Robin but he’s clearly not ready to be Batman.

The Bruins won both the 2018 and 201o series against the Leafs on the backs of their red hot PP.....

So literally the exact opposite of the whole "refs put away their whistles" argument

 

[sparxx87]

The Bruins won both the 2018 and 201o series against the Leafs on the backs of their red hot PP.....

So literally the exact opposite of the whole "refs put away their whistles" argument

Yeah, I mean, it’s tough for me to watch the playoffs vs regular season and not think the ‘line’ hasn’t shifted a bit.

It’s definitely a matter of opinion.

 

[Smif]

Would love a tough guy but that can't be his primary asset. He needs to be good first and foremost with toughness on the side. Like a forward version of Muzzin. I would love Ferland, I think, hard to make him fit tho.

 

[Tak7]

Toughness for the sake of toughness? 0%

Someone who can play but add a bit of sandpaper? Probably also 0% given our cap structure.

 

[ottomaddox]

2nd highest then.

The highest skilled defensemen traded in 2019 .

Have you ever heard of Erik Brannstrom?

 

[Menzinger]

Have you ever heard of Erik Brannstrom?

Yes, the guy who has two career NHL games?

 

[Tie Domi Esquire]

To be fair to these players Martin and Komarov went to have pretty productive seasons, improving on their prior season. Polak did pretty well for Dallas as well. All of them made playoff teams that saw the 2nd round. They are NHL quality talent.

Leafs can't afford their crap contracts.

 

[Trapper]

I’d rather add intensity and urgency over toughness.

 

[Nineteen67]

Grezelcyk gets hammered and the Bruins responded by letting the Blues know they ain’t scared.
A lot rough rides in this series.

 

[96]

Need bigger D and maybe one physical forward like Maroon with Browns caphit

 

[Coachcorner]

To be fair to these players Martin and Komarov went to have pretty productive seasons, improving on their prior season. Polak did pretty well for Dallas as well. All of them made playoff teams that saw the 2nd round. They are NHL quality talent.

Definitely sire. They all went on long. With great gm's and coaches and teams. This is EXACTLY the type of thang we want to brang back on this thang. Lou knows and has been a winna.

We need to check on guys like Jenner, Lucic, Maroon, Marchment, Clifford,, Ritchie Reaves), Reaves would be the keyest sucka. He would lift spirits also. A treal exceptional sucka. Glendeling would hit that thang too. These is the suckas we want. Lucic is too expensive though, but we need that bastarddly fearsome shrek type. Everybody scared of him. Imagine if we had Reaves and Lucic, or like Reaves and Breashear..... mayne. That that Domi type of dirt right thurr. But even with more size. Domi didn't even need size. He ate suckas out.

Do better fool dubas. I pity y'all dubases.

 

[Magic Man]

Leafs can't afford their crap contracts.

I don't want to see a return of any of them. I do think Martin is a pretty good player for a 4th line fighter. He seems to produce at least some offense on a yearly basis while being a fighting major and hit leader in the league.

 

[Nordiques1979]

I posted this in the trade thread. I think it has some good trade ideas that focus on players the Leafs could covet. It focuses on adding toughness, addresses the RHD dilemma and brings a better group in for the PP and PK.

Lawson Crouse - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Nick Ritchie - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen
Trevor Moore - Nazem Kadri - Zach Hyman
Colin Wilson - Jujhar Khaira - Noel Acciari
ex. Frederik Gauthier

Morgan Rielly - Adam Larsson
Jake Muzzin - Rasmus Ristolainen
Travis Dermott - Matt Benning
ex. Andreas Borgman

Frederik Andersen
Garret Sparks

Call Up Forward #1 - Ilya Mikheyev
Call Up Forward #2 - Mason Marchment
Call Up Forward #3 - Devante Smith-Pelly

Call Up Defenseman #1 - Rasmus Sandin
Call Up Defenseman #2 - Timothy Liljegren
Call Up Defenseman #3 - Justin Holl

Call Up Goalie #1 - Ian Scott

William Nylander for Rasmus Ristolainen

Andreas Johnsson for Nick Ritchie

Jeremy Bracco for Lawson Crouse

Connor Brown + Nikita Zaitsev + Calle Rosen + Nic Petan + Eemeli Rasanen + 2020 2nd rd. Pick for Jujhar Khaira + Adam Larsson + Matt Benning

Patrick Marleau for Maxim Letunov + a Conditional Late Round Draft Pick (dependent on playoff success)

Sign Noel Acciari for 2 years at 1.75M per

Sign Colin Wilson for 1 year at 2M

Sign Devante Smith-Pelly for 1 year at 700K, demote to the Marlies

Right and left shots are balanced on each pairing and forward line for Babcock. The defensive lineup at RD is addressed with 3 new additions Ristolainen, Larsson and Benning. Salary cleared in the right areas and then filled in with players that better fill out the roster. It addresses team toughness, the team becomes harder to play against on every line and pairing. Khaira is brought in to upgrade the 4th line center position and put an enforcer in place that can play every day. The special teams are upgraded with Ristolainen on PP#1 which creates the perfect on balance on unit #1. They'd have to try out a few options to create a good unit with Kadri, Muzzin, Kapanen and Ritchie as locks. Who they play with could be anyone, but I'd try and get Crouse in front of the net and going offensively with the investment paid. The PK see's Ritchie, Moore, Crouse, Acciari, Larsson and maybe Ristolainen as great options to create a better penalty kill. Colin Wilson is someone that could jump in at 3C if one of the top-3 centers go down. I considered Maroon over Wilson, but with this exact line up I valued his ability to play center, his speed and offensive ability Noel Acciari provides Babcock with a right handed shot that he can line up on the PK or for defensive zone faceoffs. The bottom 4 players on the forward roster can all dress at center ice. Smith-Pelly would be a well rounded player that they could bring up and down from the Marlies with no solid veterans in place up front down there. Letunov is a center prospect that would address their depth issue for next season.

Khaira would be a good addition, the Oilers over-used him on the third and even sometimes on the second line, but he is really a good grinder , who will put sweat and blood on the ice, fighting on some occasion.

 

[rumman]

These playoffs have been eye opening, and if Dubas is the astute learner everyone has led us to believe he is, there will definitely be some changes, but the definition of “toughness” has changed, we need guys who can skate and hit.

If Dubas was so astute he would have realized long ago that a physical element in the playoffs is vital, he’s publicly stated Leafs don’t need to improve in this department, go figure..........

 

[Trapper]

If Dubas was so astute he would have realized long ago that a physical element in the playoffs is vital, he’s publicly stated Leafs don’t need to improve in this department, go figure..........

It has to be in your team genetic makeup.
Blues used it last night to take advantage of and pressure certain Boston D.
You need to be able to play it. Just like you need to be able to skill.
This isn’t the world championships.
It’s NHL. It’s still very much north/south, cycle and physical with skill. With skill being the imperative word.

 

[Nineteen67]

If Dubas was so astute he would have realized long ago that a physical element in the playoffs is vital, he’s publicly stated Leafs don’t need to improve in this department, go figure..........

I hope he watched game 2 last night, if it wasn’t too violent for him.

 

[Mess]

If Dubas is watching this SCF series he is likely have nightmares nightly "for the night is dark and full of terrors." as this is real hard nosed physical hockey being played in these playoffs. Both teams have been laying the body and running the goalie and punishing the opponent, shift after shift.

Blues registered 50 hits on the night while Boston responded with 33 yesterday.

This is not a figure skating competition out there, but a series where you're going to leave with bruises.

 

[biotk]

I posted this in the trade thread. I think it has some good trade ideas that focus on players the Leafs could covet. It focuses on adding toughness, addresses the RHD dilemma and brings a better group in for the PP and PK.

Lawson Crouse - John Tavares - Mitch Marner
Nick Ritchie - Auston Matthews - Kasperi Kapanen
Trevor Moore - Nazem Kadri - Zach Hyman
Colin Wilson - Jujhar Khaira - Noel Acciari
ex. Frederik Gauthier

Step one: draft 1OA the best 5v5 goal scorer in the league.
Step two: put him on a line (for the second year in a row) with two players who can't pass him the puck.
Step three: profit??

 

[rumman]

I hope he watched game 2 last night, if it wasn’t too violent for him.

probably not, probably watching reruns of the WC's. Swooning over the artistry created on the the big ice that will never translate to the NHL.