I'm not sure what the point of bringing this up is? Last time I checked the season is 82 games, not 41. Hell, need I bring up St.Louis and Tampa Bay's seasons? If you don't think Tavares made Marner better(25 point increase), then I don't think anyone could ever satisfy you in terms of who can make players better .
As for regressing with Tavares? That's incredibly absurd and just willful ignorance . The Leafs actually had a higher ROW this season than the previous season by 4. In 17-18 season, the Leafs played 19 games that went to overtime with 7 shootout wins. In 18-19 season, the Leafs played 14 games that went into overtime with 0 shootout wins. That accounts for the points lost between the two seasons. Also, every team in the East except Tampa, had less points than the teams who made the playoffs the previous season. Pittsburgh had the same points, but dropped in the standings. So , it wasn't just Toronto who dropped points this year.
A team either puts up more points or doesn't, if the points are less than the previous season then the team is regressing. There can be a multitude of excuses(reasons) but bottom line TO was worse last year than the year before. We might not like it but it appeared TO missed players that weren't around from the previous year like JVR, Leo, etc. There should've been a natural progression by TO due to the ever improving Marner and AM and tho they were more productive their improvements were offset by TO's apparent lack of depth as pointed out by Babs.
I expect TO to further regress this year, losing players like Gardiner, Hainsey, Kadri and others without truly replacing them will hurt. Dubie has given us faint hope with the additions of Barrie, Kerfoot, Ceci but TO has again suffered a major depth hit.
There are better ways to determine how good a team is at playing hockey than just looking at points.
Would be interesting to watch the meltdown in here if that happened.Nylander should be captain
Your logic is extremely flawed. Let me ask you this question, Washington had 105 points this in 18-19 season and lost in the first round, in 17-18 they had 104 and won the cup, did they get better or worse? How about Tampa? In 18-19 they had 128 points and lost in the first round, in 17-18 they had 113 points and went to the conference finals. Did they get better or worse?A team either puts up more points or doesn't, if the points are less than the previous season then the team is regressing. There can be a multitude of excuses(reasons) but bottom line TO was worse last year than the year before. We might not like it but it appeared TO missed players that weren't around from the previous year like JVR, Leo, etc. There should've been a natural progression by TO due to the ever improving Marner and AM and tho they were more productive their improvements were offset by TO's apparent lack of depth as pointed out by Babs.
I expect TO to further regress this year, losing players like Gardiner, Hainsey, Kadri and others without truly replacing them will hurt. Dubie has given us faint hope with the additions of Barrie, Kerfoot, Ceci but TO has again suffered a major depth hit.
A team either puts up more points or doesn't, if the points are less than the previous season then the team is regressing. There can be a multitude of excuses(reasons) but bottom line TO was worse last year than the year before. We might not like it but it appeared TO missed players that weren't around from the previous year like JVR, Leo, etc. There should've been a natural progression by TO due to the ever improving Marner and AM and tho they were more productive their improvements were offset by TO's apparent lack of depth as pointed out by Babs.
I expect TO to further regress this year, losing players like Gardiner, Hainsey, Kadri and others without truly replacing them will hurt. Dubie has given us faint hope with the additions of Barrie, Kerfoot, Ceci but TO has again suffered a major depth hit.
There was no regression lol ... the Leafs changed their game strategy last season by running 3 offensive lines and not using a checking line (Kadri), they did a retooling on the forward lines strategy which should make them even stronger this season ... young 100+ perennial teams don't really regress, they adjust, retool, etc
good post, I agree, Captain Morgan time!Rielly handles the media really well.
Babcock made a comment last year that "no one likes being a Leaf more than Morgan".
He's signed long-term and didn't try to bend the team over backwards in negotiations.
He's shown a willingness to be coached and adjust his role/game.
He's by all accounts one of the more popular guys in the dressing room.
He's already had an A for years.
He's the longest serving Leaf.
We replaced those players in house and Tavares. We got better as a team.TO is going to be retooling again this year, lost Kadri, Gardiner, Brown, etc. and replaced them with hopefully better players.
The previous year we lost Bozak, JVR, Leo, etc., it made TO weaker which I mean TO wasn't able to be as good, the absolute definition of regression. The retool of last year resulted in a team that went less than .500 from Jan.1 till the end of the year and that was with supposed massive talent infusions of Tavares and Muzzin. TO managed that regression when most of it superior players, AM & MM were on ELCs. They won't be on ELCs this year, they'll be eating up a lot of the Cap.
I hope I'm wrong but I don't think this year is looking very rosy and as for the retooling, that's going to be every year.
Are you going to respond to the other post which showed you were wrong?TO is going to be retooling again this year, lost Kadri, Gardiner, Brown, etc. and replaced them with hopefully better players.
The previous year we lost Bozak, JVR, Leo, etc., it made TO weaker which I mean TO wasn't able to be as good, the absolute definition of regression. The retool of last year resulted in a team that went less than .500 from Jan.1 till the end of the year and that was with supposed massive talent infusions of Tavares and Muzzin. TO managed that regression when most of it superior players, AM & MM were on ELCs. They won't be on ELCs this year, they'll be eating up a lot of the Cap.
I hope I'm wrong but I don't think this year is looking very rosy and as for the retooling, that's going to be every year.
Boston also got worse this season. They had 5 less points.A team either puts up more points or doesn't, if the points are less than the previous season then the team is regressing. There can be a multitude of excuses(reasons) but bottom line TO was worse last year than the year before. We might not like it but it appeared TO missed players that weren't around from the previous year like JVR, Leo, etc. There should've been a natural progression by TO due to the ever improving Marner and AM and tho they were more productive their improvements were offset by TO's apparent lack of depth as pointed out by Babs.
I expect TO to further regress this year, losing players like Gardiner, Hainsey, Kadri and others without truly replacing them will hurt. Dubie has given us faint hope with the additions of Barrie, Kerfoot, Ceci but TO has again suffered a major depth hit.
A team either puts up more points or doesn't, if the points are less than the previous season then the team is regressing. There can be a multitude of excuses(reasons) but bottom line TO was worse last year than the year before.
Babcock also said Willy wants to be a leaf and will get it done in time for campRielly handles the media really well.
Babcock made a comment last year that "no one likes being a Leaf more than Morgan".
He's signed long-term and didn't try to bend the team over backwards in negotiations.
He's shown a willingness to be coached and adjust his role/game.
He's by all accounts one of the more popular guys in the dressing room.
He's already had an A for years.
He's the longest serving Leaf.
We replaced those players in house and Tavares. We got better as a team.
The team added a top pair RHD and a solid 3rd line centre with potential. Kadri was replaced with a slightly worse player. Brown will be replaced by another player who should get better. Gardiner was replaced with a much better player in Barrie. I don't see retooling here.
Final standings don't guaranty a Stanley Cup or anything...see Tampa Bay for example..So points are not all that important....Just get to the dance !Barrie better than I assume Gardiner, that remains to be seen. From what I've read about Barrie he's basically an offensive d-man that has had a sheltered role with Colorado. I expect the Barrie addition will improve TO's PP which needs improvement. Gardiner didn't play sheltered minutes and if he had played on TO's top PP he probably would've put up similar numbers to Barrie, point per game wise.
Kerfoot didn't play hardly any center in his 2 years on Colorado, he basically played with McKinnon or Jost who are the top 2 centers there. It was an interesting statement when Dubie claimed he couldn't trade Kadri without getting a center back, I guess the center is yet to be acquired.
Ceci looks to be statistically worse that Zaitsev, far worse than Hainsey.
Spezza might help TO's 2nd PP but it's difficult to expect a player who had 8 goals in each of the last 2 years to be an upgrade.
Rielly had a career year, can he have another?
Maybe the changes will work but I still think that if TO does improve it will be because Ny, AM and MM still have room to grow. We need to hope that does happen and what's left can maintain.
When I say TO regressed I mean they had less points than the previous year. Some teams have won the Cup after what appeared to be a regression year, like the Washington example above. TO started last year on fire but after Xmas their record was less than .500. TO jelled out of the gate, other teams can jell at the end of a season, jelling at the end of a season gives a team a better chance to win a Cup, limping into the playoffs rarely is good. A team can regress and still do better in the playoffs, chemistry is a strange thing. TO was worse last year, injuries were part of the reason but I remember TO facing Arizona, Arizona had 8 regulars injured, TO was thoroughly outplayed and lost, TO also lost to the worse team in the NHL last year, Ottawa, again outplayed. These games were towards the end of the regular season.
Barrie better than I assume Gardiner, that remains to be seen. From what I've read about Barrie he's basically an offensive d-man that has had a sheltered role with Colorado. I expect the Barrie addition will improve TO's PP which needs improvement. Gardiner didn't play sheltered minutes and if he had played on TO's top PP he probably would've put up similar numbers to Barrie, point per game wise.
Kerfoot didn't play hardly any center in his 2 years on Colorado, he basically played with McKinnon or Jost who are the top 2 centers there. It was an interesting statement when Dubie claimed he couldn't trade Kadri without getting a center back, I guess the center is yet to be acquired.
Barrie better than I assume Gardiner, that remains to be seen. From what I've read about Barrie he's basically an offensive d-man that has had a sheltered role with Colorado. I expect the Barrie addition will improve TO's PP which needs improvement. Gardiner didn't play sheltered minutes and if he had played on TO's top PP he probably would've put up similar numbers to Barrie, point per game wise.
Kerfoot didn't play hardly any center in his 2 years on Colorado, he basically played with McKinnon or Jost who are the top 2 centers there. It was an interesting statement when Dubie claimed he couldn't trade Kadri without getting a center back, I guess the center is yet to be acquired.
Ceci looks to be statistically worse that Zaitsev, far worse than Hainsey.
Spezza might help TO's 2nd PP but it's difficult to expect a player who had 8 goals in each of the last 2 years to be an upgrade.
Rielly had a career year, can he have another?
Maybe the changes will work but I still think that if TO does improve it will be because Ny, AM and MM still have room to grow. We need to hope that does happen and what's left can maintain.
When I say TO regressed I mean they had less points than the previous year. Some teams have won the Cup after what appeared to be a regression year, like the Washington example above. TO started last year on fire but after Xmas their record was less than .500. TO jelled out of the gate, other teams can jell at the end of a season, jelling at the end of a season gives a team a better chance to win a Cup, limping into the playoffs rarely is good. A team can regress and still do better in the playoffs, chemistry is a strange thing. TO was worse last year, injuries were part of the reason but I remember TO facing Arizona, Arizona had 8 regulars injured, TO was thoroughly outplayed and lost, TO also lost to the worse team in the NHL last year, Ottawa, again outplayed. These games were towards the end of the regular season.
1. Gardiner and Barrie played against pretty much identical quality of competition.
2. Barrie is one of the super-elite even strength dman producers in hockey. Top-5 in the league. Gardiner is nowhere close to that. The gap is even bigger on the PP.
1. Kerfoot played mostly at center in Colorado, with his 4 main wingers being Colin Wilson, Tyson Jost, J.T. Compher, and Sven Andrighetto.
2. 20yr old Jost has barely played any Center at all in his career so far.
3. Kerfoot has spent a little time on the wing, with all of MacKinnon, Soderberg, and Duchene. His produciton playing on the wing with them was no different than his production as a center.
basing your arguments on bald faced lies is not a great tactic, fyi.