Series Talk: Which Leaf has the most to prove in the postseason?

ULF_55

Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
83,751
15,769
Mountain Standard Ti
Visit site
Three way tie with JT, AM and MM. If you want to earn more than every star who already has a Cup win then lets start with all three being better than a ppg in the playoffs at the same time. Its a small ask, look at Draisaitl and McDavid last year.

Tier 1:
matthews, tavares, marner

Tier 2:
nylander, rielly, andersen

Tier 3:
muzzin, brodie, Kerfoot, Campbell

Bar None:
everyone else
 

nuck

Schrodingers Cat
Aug 18, 2005
11,340
2,422
Expectations are high and Leafs invested a lot of draft capital to build up the team, as well as ownership is paying top $$ to some of their players that its high time management delivers.

The pressure for success and results lie squarely on the shoulders of Leafs management.

Final 4 or Bust this year, taking advantage of the once in a generation all Canadian format to represent the best of Canada in the final 4.

Anything less will be seen as failure to deliver and management will need to answer for that. MLSE isn't paying Babcock 4 years @ $6 mil to sit on his couch nor switch GM's after Leafs most successful regular season of all time just to bow out early in the playoffs. The management changes were done with the intention that losing in the 1st round was not acceptable and thus results are now required.

All they need is just average goaltending and they will get out of the North, lets not talk about going out in the 1st round. Keefe cut his teeth last playoff and 3 of the big 4 are outperforming their last season effectiveness. They have Brodie instead of Barrie and a lot more veteran grit up front. This looks like a club built for the post season and with no obvious holes that weren't filled. I'm not a big Dubas booster but I can't see how he could have done much better in a flat cap environment. Lets see some failure before we start worrying about who to blame.
 

leaffaninvancouver

formerly in Victoria
Jan 11, 2012
13,819
8,327
Nylander has the most to prove out of the top 6, he’s not been great in the post season. He’s gets unfairly maligned at times, but he needs to be better.
 

johnnybbadd

Registered User
Mar 29, 2011
980
892
It’s Tavares for me. The reason that Dubas signed him is to have 2 top level centres and create matchup problems for other teams. There is absolutely no excuse for Tavares not to win his matchup with any 2nd line in the North division.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hotpaws and ULF_55

Mess

Global Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
86,912
11,862
Leafs Home Board
All they need is just average goaltending and they will get out of the North, lets not talk about going out in the 1st round. Keefe cut his teeth last playoff and 3 of the big 4 are outperforming their last season effectiveness. They have Brodie instead of Barrie and a lot more veteran grit up front. This looks like a club built for the post season and with no obvious holes that weren't filled. I'm not a big Dubas booster but I can't see how he could have done much better in a flat cap environment. Lets see some failure before we start worrying about who to blame.

The Barrie vs Brodie debate is an interesting one that I was just thinking about yesterday.

Tyson Barrie carries a Cap hit of $3,750,000 and T.J. Brodie signed for $5,000,000 per AAV.

In terms of points this year Barrie lead all NHL dmen in 2020-21 regular season scoring and Brodie tied for 90th with a pack of players and just cracking the top 100.

2020-21 Dman Scoring Leaders
#1st ......... Tyson Barrie
, D - EDM .... .. 56 games 8 goals 40 assists 48 points
#90th.......T.J. Brodie, D - TOR .............. 56 games 1 goal 13 assists 14 points

I don't think you will find a Leaf fan alive bemoaning the loss of Barrie thinking the Leafs didn't get better. However not too long ago Barrie who finished with + 34 more points than Brodie and cost the Leafs + $1.25 mil more Cap wouldn't have been seen as better because offensive stats always drove perception and discussion when it came to player impact and value to his team.

For contrast #70th OA Nikita Zaitsev finished +20 spots above Brodie in the Dman standings posting 55 games 4 goals 13 assists 17 points and his $4.5 mil was once seen as an albatross contract, when Brodie signing for 4 years @ $5 mil costs even more cap and produces less points.

There seems to be greater shift towards "Defense win championships" belief otherwise the above wouldn't track with those that believed it was "Offense" because then Brodie would be a big step down offensively from the NHL's leading scoring Dman this season, and not even replacing Zaitsev at par as far as point production goes.

The Leafs let the NHL highest scoring Dman walk away for Free, but got better and more competitive, despite replacing him with an older, less productive and more expensive cap player, in a flat cap environment no less !!!

PS. Now Barrie's 4 goals 19 assists and 23 PP points might come in handy right now based on how the Leafs PP has struggled lately.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: moon111

ryno23

Registered User
Feb 5, 2010
5,419
1,778
just seeing this TB vs Fla game and boy the Leafs better come with their big boy pants on. The softies on the Leafs better understand this year they gotta man up and play hard hockey. This won't be shinny hockey but grind hard hockey.

If they learned from last year especially Marner who was surprised how hard CBJ played him.
 

Peasy

Registered User
May 25, 2012
16,678
13,994
Star Shoppin
Matthews was great last year.

Everyone else was mostly a disappointment. Lets hope its not a repeat.

They all need to elevate their games.
 

VanW27

Registered User
Jun 9, 2003
4,725
1,467
Canada
beyond the big boys I think Thornton and Simmonds also have a lot to prove. Simmonds has been a liability basically all season and Thornton has had good stretches but has also had absolutely brutal stretches while still getting prime usage.

Both were signed for the playoffs, we need them to step up.
 

JT AM da real deal

Registered User
Oct 4, 2018
12,056
7,321
Matty and JT will decide da series and ultimately decide how far we go
Brodie, Muzzy and Soup will play key roles
I don't expect much from Mitch or Willy but they will get their points on da perimeter
 

Fogelhund

Registered User
Sep 15, 2007
21,055
23,162
Matty and JT will decide da series and ultimately decide how far we go
Brodie, Muzzy and Soup will play key roles
I don't expect much from Mitch or Willy but they will get their points on da perimeter

Willy may not be a hard player, but he isn't a perimeter player either. He scores many of his goals in tight. Goal map below... as seen, 60% of his goals, not on the perimeter.

shot-heat-map.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: freshwind

Dekes For Days

Registered User
Sep 24, 2018
20,095
15,266
There seems to be greater shift towards "Defense win championships" belief
No, there isn't at all. Defense has always been an important aspect of defensemen, but that doesn't change what team defense's relative impact on winning championships is. Your representations and comments on Barrie, Brodie, and Zaitsev are wildly misleading.
 

JT AM da real deal

Registered User
Oct 4, 2018
12,056
7,321
Willy may not be a hard player, but he isn't a perimeter player either. He scores many of his goals in tight. Goal map below... as seen, 60% of his goals, not on the perimeter.

shot-heat-map.png
Yes I am a big Willy fan .. he has got much better past 2 regular seasons .. now da issue is playoff hockey .. last play in against CLB was bad .. lets hope this year he shows up for Habs
 
  • Like
Reactions: Fogelhund

LEAFANFORLIFE23

Registered User
Jun 17, 2010
45,389
14,256
Keefe and Campbell.

Keefe because the play in didn't go well he NEEDS to win this round because if he doesn't then fair or not i'm not sure Dubas is GM next year and if there is a new GM there could be a new coach.

Campbell because he's going into his first ever playoffs and he's doing it after just 22 games, if he's going to be the #1 next year, and I don't think he's going to be then he has to be healthy and win.
 

Busher

Registered User
May 17, 2021
208
225
Not sure if “prove” is the right word, but Matthews, Marner and Tavares have the most to gain. Heck, all three would probably punch their ticket to the hall of fame right then and there if they won the cup and produced well along the way.

How often could you say that about someone just 5 years into their careers? But the cultural impact on hockey alone with a Leafs cup would probably put Matthews and Marner 95% of the way there.
 

freshwind

Registered User
Mar 23, 2002
761
402
1) coaching staff re: the pp
2) our 3 "11 mill" trifecta
3) as for willie not being a playoff performer it is not 100% true, he is not leaned on like the big 3 ... less pp time and less ice time as well, playoff stats for 5 on 5 -
upload_2021-5-17_21-22-29.png
 
  • Like
Reactions: meefer

meefer

Registered User
Jun 9, 2015
4,682
4,602
Bangkok
just seeing this TB vs Fla game and boy the Leafs better come with their big boy pants on. The softies on the Leafs better understand this year they gotta man up and play hard hockey. This won't be shinny hockey but grind hard hockey.

If they learned from last year especially Marner who was surprised how hard CBJ played him.

For the uneducated, would you kindly define what a "softie" player looks like, and which Leaf players fit the mold.
 

Mess

Global Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
86,912
11,862
Leafs Home Board
Keefe and Campbell.

Keefe because the play in didn't go well he NEEDS to win this round because if he doesn't then fair or not i'm not sure Dubas is GM next year and if there is a new GM there could be a new coach.
.

Since taking over as GM, a move that was made to get the Leafs beyond round #1 after losing to Washington in 6 and Boston in 7 games albeit as underdogs, Dubas record is ...

Lost in round #1 Boston in 7 games. (with Babcock as coach)
Lost in the preliminary play-in round to Columbus in 5 games. (with Keefe as coach)
Leafs vs Montreal in round #1 ... TBD ??

Dubas played his last get out of jail free card when he switched coaches. Now in attempt #3 it might be 3 strikes and you're out if he doesn't show some positive results.

Lucky for Dubas and Keefe the hockey Gods tossed them a lifeline with this pandemic realignment so going up against lesser composition has paved the path for success at least through the 1st X 2 rounds. However that nonetheless has put the pressure squarely on the GM and Coach to deliver as the most to prove in a results oriented business.

Expectations with this roster and this talent are high. Leafs could go all the way, and so underachieving really isn't an option without consequences.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Garthinater

Fogelhund

Registered User
Sep 15, 2007
21,055
23,162
Leafs 3-in-3: Who's the X-factor? Who's facing the most pressure?

Who will be the Leafs X-factor in the series against the Canadiens? Which Leaf is facing the most pressure entering the playoffs? And, which game within the game is most intriguing against Montreal? TSN reporters Kristen Shilton and Mark Masters offer their takes in the latest edition of Leafs 3-in-3.


Leafs 3-in-3: Who's the X-factor? Who's facing the most pressure?
 

The Apologist

Apologizing for Leaf garbage since 1979
Oct 16, 2007
12,208
2,923
Leaf Nation Hell
Campbell. Starter is his to lose. Win and he is set for life.

Jumbo. May be his last chance.

JT. He's the captain. He came here to win. He needs to set the stage.

Riles. He's gonna be looking for that big contract. He's had a tough second half. He needs to establish he is the #1.

Mitch/Nylander. They can play pretty. They can play tough. We've seen it. They need to establish they can do it consistently.
 

SoVi3t

Registered User
Sep 16, 2009
1,108
1,209
Got this idea from mapleleafshotstove.com

They suggested:
Matthews
Rielly
Nylander

I also think Marner needs to show more. But if they falter again, it's going to be Nylander who is moved, and possibly Rielly I would think


Nylander, in my opinion.

He was a ghost last year in the playoffs.
 

Ad

Upcoming events

Ad

Ad

-->