Rumor: Will the Leafs pull the trigger on Alex Pietrangelo this off-season?

[Havoc]

Leafs addressed and fixed that problem last year when they traded for RHD Tyson Barrie and Cody Ceci designed to push Holl onto the 3rd pairing.

please elaborate the "fixed" part of this comment lol.

Addressed yes. But fixed?

 

[Havoc]

You do have a pretty good point, to be perfectly honest.

You look at the two teams remaining in the playoffs -- there are no "superstars". There are basically no players that are allowed to get by solely on skill. Everyone -- including Benn, Seguin, Radulov, Point, Kucherov are playing "tough hockey". Tampa has made it this far, essentially without Steven Stamkos.

In Toronto -- we almost have a cultural divide -- there is Matthews, Marner, Nylander and to a lesser extent Tavares, who don't necessarily have to "get dirty"... and then you've got everybody else. To be realistic, it can be hard to motivate the young guy making $3m to play with grit, when the guy making $11m doesn't lead by example.

With Toronto's ridiculous skill advantage, and plenty of depth of it, they should have dispatched Columbus fairly easily. The problem was -- Columbus played relentless, the Leafs stars did not. Even in the previous years against Boston, especially with Kadri out, the B's brought their intensity level much higher than the Leafs. Bergyeron & Marchand lead that team by example. Pastrnak follows, and then all of the lower skill guys do even more, because they see the premier players doing it.

 

[Stephen]

Of course -- my main concern is the concept of signing a 30 year old defenceman, knowing that it is very will result in a situation where you'll be forced to one of one of your 23-24 year old wingers in a deal to reduce cap hit (or letting your 26 year old #1 defenceman walk as a UFA); rather than having the flexibility of making a 1-for-1 type deal as you discover how your needs evolve.

Like I've said all along, I want to see them add Pietrangelo and take a one year run with Matthews, Tavares, Marner, Nylander, Rielly and Pietrangelo on one team and an imbalanced roster and then make the hard edits if necessary.

The players to move out to facilitate Pietrangelo coming would be Johnsson, Kerfoot and if necessary Andersen.

By the end of next season, if Andersen is still here, he comes off the books automatically at which point a cheaper goalie can be acquired on the eve of the expansion draft. Depending on how the young defensemen develop, Jake Muzzin could also be a target to be moved. And Justin Holl.

In two years time, when Rielly is approaching free agency, we can see where the money situation lines up. By that time the Kessel cap hit will have expired. The world could be back to normal and the cap could creep up slightly.

There are so many factors that come into play before you feel forced to move Nylander or Marner. And to be honest, so what if we have to move one or both.

 

[Mess]

please elaborate the "fixed" part of this comment lol.

Addressed yes. But fixed?

Elementary my dear Watson, the game is afoot, and how are you not seeing the genius of all this unfolding?

Step #1 (last offseason)
1) We traded Marleau + 1st for $6.25 mil cap space last year and used it to sign Kapanen $3.2 and Johnsson $3.4
2) We traded Kadri for Kerfoot and Barrie.
3) We traded Connor Brown and Zaitsev for Cody Ceci

Step #2 (this offseason)
Now we let Barrie and Ceci walk as UFAs and we trade Kapanen (done), Johnsson and Kerfoot for futures.

Step #3 (this UFA season)
Sign Alex Pietrangleo with the cap space created who is a RHD and going to play big minutes.

So all signing Pietrangelo would take was trading Marleau + 1st + Kadri + Zaitsev + Brown + Kapanen + Kerfoot + Johnsson + letting Barrie and Ceci walk as UFAs.

Now Holl is no longer our best and only RHD = Addressed and Fixed. !!!

 

[Dekes For Days]

You look at the two teams remaining in the playoffs -- there are no "superstars".

Of course there are superstars on those teams...

The problem was -- Columbus played relentless, the Leafs stars did not.

No, the problem was they faced 0.952 goaltending. It had nothing to do with "playing relentless".

 

[egd27]

Literally the only thing holding the Leafs back is an elite no.1 pairing. AP gives us one of the best top 3 in the entire league. Our forwards will have a positive goal differential as well, guaranteed.

Wait though.

When Kid Kyle laid out the $11M for JT, many suggested that he should have put that money toward an upgrade on defence.

These people were shouted down by the Dubas faithful who claimed that the Pens won a Cup with a patchwork defense and the ever popular "the best defense is a good offence" argument.

Now we can't win without an elite #1 pairing on D and we must spend $9M in cap for AP.

 

[Bluelines]

Because the Leafs aren’t built as a balanced team. So go and get the best quality you can get and back fill with cheap quantity for one year .

Tanev and Brodie are just this years version of Barrie and Ceci. But Pietrangelo changes the core, solves our most glaring weakness and sets you up for Phase II next year when you can trade out a Nylander or Marner and fill out the depth you so desperately want.

If you truly think that , you don't follow hockey at all.

 

[Cleetus]

Of course there are superstars on those teams...

No, the problem was they faced 0.952 goaltending. It had nothing to do with "playing relentless".

every year its another excuse your paying your forwards big money to score goals.... leafs fans want to win not listen to this stuff its a cop out, you win when your good and lose when your not.

 

[ULF_55]

Because the Leafs aren’t built as a balanced team. So go and get the best quality you can get and back fill with cheap quantity for one year .

Tanev and Brodie are just this years version of Barrie and Ceci. But Pietrangelo changes the core, solves our most glaring weakness and sets you up for Phase II next year when you can trade out a Nylander or Marner and fill out the depth you so desperately want.

Except, Barrie is a one dimensional defender normally feasts on PP TOI.

I'd take Brodie and Ceci over Barry and Ceci anyday.

 

[Mess]

every year its another excuse your paying your forwards big money to score goals.... leafs fans want to win not listen to this stuff its a cop out, you win when your good and lose when your not.

Strong defense wins, and so when Leafs the 2nd highest scoring team gets shutout in 2 and almost 3 games in a 5 game series and can't manufacture a single goal even when you play 3 X $11 mil players on the same line for 25 minutes in a series deciding game, then that is bad luck and great goaltending for the opposition and you blame Andersen for his 1.84 GAA and .936 sv% for the loss.

CBJ aggressive press forecheck and neutral zone trap and collapsing in your own zone and keeping opposition on the perimeter is great coaching and perfect game plan against a skilled and fast but soft team. Its the reason why 1/2 your salary cap Matthews, Tavares, Marner and Nylander combine for 0-0-0 points game after game because you're being outworked, outplayed and outwitted and not bad luck and not because Korpisalo earth shattering .941 sv% was simply too much to overcome against Andersen .936 sv% in comparison. It was Seth Jones and Zach Werenski that contributed to Leafs getting shutout regularly and CBJ leading in the goaltending department. .When you score Zero goals the opposition goalie registers a perfect save % as a result of your team failures and their team defense with the goalie that last line of defense of that strategy.

So if the Leafs go all in on Pietrangelo and break the bank with another cap busting contract, at least its a step in the right direction of our GM now understanding and finally admitting that "defense wins".. Sure despite this move taking Leafs from cap hell and adding scorched earth to your cap management of now 5 players committed $50 mil at least we're addressing a need and glaring weakness on defense.

Reilly and Pietrangelo will be Leafs attempt to replicate Jones/Werenski model of team success and defense wins model. Now you can start moving out high priced top cap heavy forwards to address other needs and wants thereafter.

 

[Dekes For Days]

leafs fans want to win not listen to this stuff its a cop out, you win when your good and lose when your not.

No, it's not anywhere near that simplistic. If you want to win, the best way is to understand why you actually lost, so you don't go down a horrible path due to emotional reactions.

 

[Dekes For Days]

defense wins model.

"Defense wins" isn't a model. It's just an incorrect catch phrase.

 

[New Liskeard]

Yeah, your memory might be a bit short but do you recall what our bottom 3 lines did in the qualifying round? Remember how they were so effective the coach felt his only way to win was to put our top 2 centers and RW on one line and play the rest of the forwards less.

You keep binging up Chara like you think you have some kind of point, which you don't. You do get that Chara has had the fortune of playing with a well balanced team, (are the Leafs well balanced?) with elite goaltending, (do we have elite goal tending?) over his tenure? You do get the the Bruins have been able to balance their line up right because of smart contracts? Who is our Bergeron? You do get that Boston doesn't have 51% of their cap tied up in 4 players, which is what we would have at a minimum if we sign Petro. Yu do get that if Petro signed here our team would have zero balance, zero elite goaltending after Andy leaves and zero chance that the Leafs win the cup in the next 5 years? So with the exception of Chara and AP both headed to the HOF, there is nothing similar in the situation between Toronto and Boston

So we dumped Kappy, 20 goals. To fit AP in we have to dump salary, lets say its Nylander. that's 30 goals. Your telling me that AP is going to replace 50 goals or suppress 50 goals? So now we got who playing RW with Matthews? Malgin? Bracco? Rodrigues? Cause that who our top 3 RW are who have NHL experience. Tell me does it make sense to invest almost $12 million into a player then give him AHL talent to play with? If you want to guarantee Matthews is gone when the contract runs out, saddle him with a LW and RW who are better off in the AHL

So when we sign AP to a contract around $10 mil, how much is Rielly worth? Cause you know he's coming with the Brinks trucks backing up looking for a deal in the 7 to 8 mil range.

IIRC Brodie played with Gio in his Norris year. Tanev is an incredible defender, maybe a little injury prone. Their scouting reports sound pretty awesome TBH.

At the end of the day if there was no cap, absolutely, AP is my go to guy 100 out of 100 times, but when you live on a budget you can't just spend like a drunken sailor.

Just because Tampa is competent in building a team, does not mean Toronto has equal compentcy. You like to find these false equivalencies like the Chara example and the Tampa one and then think because its was done once, that is easily transferable to Toronto, life does not work that way. Let me try it, you know since Tampa can find bargains , Ottawa can too. Because Toronto finished last and drafted Matthews... NYR is going to draft a player = to Matthews this year too. Because NYR signed an elite shooter in Panarin, Minny is going to sign one this year.

Brodie (20:27 last year)
SCOUTING REPORT

Moves the puck well and is an even better skater--he is fast and agile. Has intriguing offensive ability. Can run the power play and jump up into the rush. Is capable of logging huge amounts of ice time. Could stand to get physically stronger in order to win even more battles at the NHL level, since he is a tad undersized. Also, he has a tendency to occasionally drift and lose concentration when in the game.

Excellent, big-minute defenseman.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Tanev (19:32 last year)
SCOUTING REPORT

Moves the puck well and owns solid overall ability from the back end. Defends his position with aplomb. Is very mobile and usually makes the safe, smart play with the puck. Could stand to fill out his lanky frame to maximize output in the NHL. Lacks a physical edge to his game, which limits his overall shutdown ability. Is not a big point producer.

Quality, mobile puck-moving defenseman.

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Your argument regarding the Leafs offence is flawed. The Leafs have been one of the top offensive teams in the NHL for the last couple of years; scoring goals is not an issue. Are you suggesting Kaps replacements cant at least score 10 goals? If Nylander is traded, you do realize that Petro scored 14 goals last year; not that replacing offence is an issue which it is not. The goaltending minus the playoffs has been top 15 in the NHL; goaltending in the regular season hasnt been an issue either.

This brings us to the defence. Everyone and their brother can agree with complete certainty this is the issue. Now whether or not Petro is the key is worthy of debate, but make no mistake; the defence has to be improved specifically the right side. Yes, Petro would help and an argument could be make he would be the Leafs best D since Salming. Offence is the last issue the Leafs have, and if it were possible to move offence to bring in a D like Petro, I would do that every day and twice on Sundays.

 

[Wafflewhipper]

Even if you take exception with the way the Leafs are constructed, which is not a cohesive hockey team, one thing they have going forward that they’ve never had to this extent is elite talent and that gives me hope.

Adding one more Pietrangelo for nothing but cash seems like a threatening concept to some but it checks off all of our needs and can set up the next sequence of moves which could yield a perfect, championship roster.

Add Pietrangelo, the blueline is set. Don’t like having a heavy concentration of expensive forwards? Move one at your leisure for whatever you want and there’s your Johansen for Jones trade, loop closed. What’s the debate?

I read this same thing when Tavares signed. Just saying. That said, this is a added layer and so is having Muzzy too since then. Keefe has team building to do with this group also. It’s going to be interesting to see how much better they can become defensively. How much energy the lineup has etc

 

[Stephen]

If you truly think that , you don't follow hockey at all.

Except, Barrie is a one dimensional defender normally feasts on PP TOI.

I'd take Brodie and Ceci over Barry and Ceci anyday.

The point I'm trying to get across is that neither Brodie or Tanev are foundational pieces that fundamentally alter the quality of the blueline, or are really long term fixes in a way that Pietrangelo would. So they would be part of the revolving door of non solutions we try every year.

Brodie is a LHD who plays right - judge for yourself if that fits your criteria of an elite RD - also 30 years old, is short and has been rumored to be planning on retirement.

Tanev is a the right type of defenseman at RHD, right size and wingspan, but horribly injury prone, is also 30 years old, and just had a career year with Quinn Hughes, whom we don't have. People worry about decline and I'd say Tanev is a much more likely candidate to get hurt and have a fall off than AP.

Moneywise, Brodie currently makes $4.65 million, and Tanev makes $4.45 million. Assuming they both get a very conservative raise to $5.0 million flat on the open market, they would still cost $10 million for the pair. That alone is a greater cap hit than if we paid Alex Pietrangelo $9.0 million (which I'm not sure he would get judging by the $7.7-$8.25 AAV we've heard this past week) and put him on a permanent pairing with Rasmus Sandin on his ELC, or if we signed a veteran on a $900K deal like Tampa did with Schenn and Bogosian.

So why go after two stop gaps when we can get the best UFA possible and pair him with a cost controlled asset we already have in the system? To me, the argument is like, do you want one Auston Matthews and a Jason Spezza, or two Tyler Bozaks?

 

[Beneven Stanciano]

Of course there are superstars on those teams...

No, the problem was they faced 0.952 goaltending. It had nothing to do with "playing relentless".

No he was right. The reason is the Leafs just don't want it bad enough. They definitely don't want it more than the other team. All the big dogs on the Leafs play just like the "Rink-Rat" spoiled brat kids that end up on the same team in a pick-up game. I don't know how they managed to assemble all those kids onto the same team, but if you think the Big Four on the Maple Leafs were good enough this post-season, you've been watching mediocre hockey too long.

I am/was a huge Red Wings fan, i'm really just a fan of good hockey. I started following the Leafs hard when Babcock came over and I was really excited to see this Leafs roster develop, and what Babcock could do with them. He immediately started to trend them upwards and I got more excited. Started seeing all the Marner, Matthews, Nylander pieces coming together and thinking "damn, they're going to be like the Red Wings, dominant for years".

But then they started souring on Babs because "he's tough". Boo-hoo, I don't need a coach who is super friendly with his teammates. I don't care about what kind of guy babcock is, he wants to win more than anything else. I believe Mike Babcock would drown his mother to win the Stanley Cup, and if that's your goal you need someone with that kind of focus, someone who would do anything to win. There is no one on the Leafs with that, currently. There wasn't any Leafs who actually looked disgusted or pissed not to make the First round of the playoffs.


They just play a very non-cohesive, non-commital style game. This superstar team, excuse me, group of superstars, is designed for more of an All-Star type game, and you can make whatever excuse you want about them not making Round 1 of the playoffs. The fact of the matter is Columbus was a better team and that's what it takes. I am absolutely knocked sideways that people who have been watching hockey for years and years can watch this team and think they're "right there".

If the Leafs as a group are really believing this core as-is is good enough, I hope you have a lot of excuses prepped for the coming years. Nothing will change unless the big dogs attitudes change. You can't bring in one guy to re-arrange the culture of the team. There is no one in that locker room who is going to stand up and say "enough of this crap" and go out and put up and shut up. 4th line Clifford wasn't going to come in and tell Marner, Matthews and everyone else "HEY you're not playing hard enough". You don't come into a new locker room and just dictate like that from the 4th line.
What one guy in the League could come onto the Leafs and bring that kind of culture change with them? Ovechkin? Crosby?

What one guy are they going to bring in to give culture shock to the Big 4 and challenge their style of play? They traded away all their tenured veterans who would've had clout to say something. Matthews, Marner and Tavares can't tell the team "hey YOU guys need to play harder while we play pretty". The Big 4 are running the team and with that, their attitudes are on full display.

It is fun to watch when they are engaged, but it's not winning hockey. I wish it was, I'd love to see them just skilling out and dominating, but it's terrible to watch such talent and time wasted because they don't want to play harder. I'm not bashing on them, this is just my opinion, but i think they need to upgrade their MF attitude towards playing the game. It's not an isolated incident or a one off, it's a trend.

 

[Cleetus]

No, it's not anywhere near that simplistic. If you want to win, the best way is to understand why you actually lost, so you don't go down a horrible path due to emotional reactions.

Yawn excuses, can you simply say this team was not good enough, pro sports is about winning not excuses mediocrity is not good enough simple as that

 

[Stephen]

No he was right. The reason is the Leafs just don't want it bad enough. They definitely don't want it more than the other team. All the big dogs on the Leafs play just like the "Rink-Rat" spoiled brat kids that end up on the same team in a pick-up game. I don't know how they managed to assemble all those kids onto the same team, but if you think the Big Four on the Maple Leafs were good enough this post-season, you've been watching mediocre hockey too long.

I am/was a huge Red Wings fan, i'm really just a fan of good hockey. I started following the Leafs hard when Babcock came over and I was really excited to see this Leafs roster develop, and what Babcock could do with them. He immediately started to trend them upwards and I got more excited. Started seeing all the Marner, Matthews, Nylander pieces coming together and thinking "damn, they're going to be like the Red Wings, dominant for years".

But then they started souring on Babs because "he's tough". Boo-hoo, I don't need a coach who is super friendly with his teammates. I don't care about what kind of guy babcock is, he wants to win more than anything else. I believe Mike Babcock would drown his mother to win the Stanley Cup, and if that's your goal you need someone with that kind of focus, someone who would do anything to win. There is no one on the Leafs with that, currently. There wasn't any Leafs who actually looked disgusted or pissed not to make the First round of the playoffs.


They just play a very non-cohesive, non-commital style game. This superstar team, excuse me, group of superstars, is designed for more of an All-Star type game, and you can make whatever excuse you want about them not making Round 1 of the playoffs. The fact of the matter is Columbus was a better team and that's what it takes. I am absolutely knocked sideways that people who have been watching hockey for years and years can watch this team and think they're "right there".

If the Leafs as a group are really believing this core as-is is good enough, I hope you have a lot of excuses prepped for the coming years. Nothing will change unless the big dogs attitudes change. You can't bring in one guy to re-arrange the culture of the team. There is no one in that locker room who is going to stand up and say "enough of this crap" and go out and put up and shut up. 4th line Clifford wasn't going to come in and tell Marner, Matthews and everyone else "HEY you're not playing hard enough". You don't come into a new locker room and just dictate like that from the 4th line.
What one guy in the League could come onto the Leafs and bring that kind of culture change with them? Ovechkin? Crosby?

What one guy are they going to bring in to give culture shock to the Big 4 and challenge their style of play? They traded away all their tenured veterans who would've had clout to say something. Matthews, Marner and Tavares can't tell the team "hey YOU guys need to play harder while we play pretty". The Big 4 are running the team and with that, their attitudes are on full display.

It is fun to watch when they are engaged, but it's not winning hockey. I wish it was, I'd love to see them just skilling out and dominating, but it's terrible to watch such talent and time wasted because they don't want to play harder. I'm not bashing on them, this is just my opinion, but i think they need to upgrade their MF attitude towards playing the game. It's not an isolated incident or a one off, it's a trend.

Painful to read but I agree. The core as constituted has some serious maturity issues and that's why I have no hesitation in constantly feeding more core pieces into roster which may set the stage for our current core to be heavily edited and revised. I don't see guys like Marner being able to play like a Brayden Point in a Dallas or Islanders series, I don't see the constant motor for them to be playing that ugly grinding hockey late in the playoffs. Maybe they mature and get there one day. Maybe they don't. So I'm completely fine if we add Pietrangelo this offseason which results in Nylander and Marner exiting in 1 or 2 years time. Maybe we don't keep Tavares. They are a collection of star talent and there should be enough raw material there to make a cohesive team. Just money in money out at this point.

 

[Dekes For Days]

The reason is the Leafs just don't want it bad enough. They definitely don't want it more than the other team.

That's ridiculous. The Leafs want it and play just as hard as every other team. We outplayed Columbus.

But then they started souring on Babs because "he's tough".

No, they soured on Babcock because he was toxic and wasn't doing a very good job at coaching.

There wasn't any Leafs who actually looked disgusted or pissed not to make the First round of the playoffs.

That's not true at all.

 

[Dekes For Days]

pro sports is about winning

Yep, so we should look at actual reasons for things and evaluate properly, to have the best chance at winning. Not just stick to false narratives like "toughness" or "wanting it bad enough".

 

[stickty111]

No he was right. The reason is the Leafs just don't want it bad enough. They definitely don't want it more than the other team. All the big dogs on the Leafs play just like the "Rink-Rat" spoiled brat kids that end up on the same team in a pick-up game. I don't know how they managed to assemble all those kids onto the same team, but if you think the Big Four on the Maple Leafs were good enough this post-season, you've been watching mediocre hockey too long.

I am/was a huge Red Wings fan, i'm really just a fan of good hockey. I started following the Leafs hard when Babcock came over and I was really excited to see this Leafs roster develop, and what Babcock could do with them. He immediately started to trend them upwards and I got more excited. Started seeing all the Marner, Matthews, Nylander pieces coming together and thinking "damn, they're going to be like the Red Wings, dominant for years".

But then they started souring on Babs because "he's tough". Boo-hoo, I don't need a coach who is super friendly with his teammates. I don't care about what kind of guy babcock is, he wants to win more than anything else. I believe Mike Babcock would drown his mother to win the Stanley Cup, and if that's your goal you need someone with that kind of focus, someone who would do anything to win. There is no one on the Leafs with that, currently. There wasn't any Leafs who actually looked disgusted or pissed not to make the First round of the playoffs.


They just play a very non-cohesive, non-commital style game. This superstar team, excuse me, group of superstars, is designed for more of an All-Star type game, and you can make whatever excuse you want about them not making Round 1 of the playoffs. The fact of the matter is Columbus was a better team and that's what it takes. I am absolutely knocked sideways that people who have been watching hockey for years and years can watch this team and think they're "right there".

If the Leafs as a group are really believing this core as-is is good enough, I hope you have a lot of excuses prepped for the coming years. Nothing will change unless the big dogs attitudes change. You can't bring in one guy to re-arrange the culture of the team. There is no one in that locker room who is going to stand up and say "enough of this crap" and go out and put up and shut up. 4th line Clifford wasn't going to come in and tell Marner, Matthews and everyone else "HEY you're not playing hard enough". You don't come into a new locker room and just dictate like that from the 4th line.
What one guy in the League could come onto the Leafs and bring that kind of culture change with them? Ovechkin? Crosby?

What one guy are they going to bring in to give culture shock to the Big 4 and challenge their style of play? They traded away all their tenured veterans who would've had clout to say something. Matthews, Marner and Tavares can't tell the team "hey YOU guys need to play harder while we play pretty". The Big 4 are running the team and with that, their attitudes are on full display.

It is fun to watch when they are engaged, but it's not winning hockey. I wish it was, I'd love to see them just skilling out and dominating, but it's terrible to watch such talent and time wasted because they don't want to play harder. I'm not bashing on them, this is just my opinion, but i think they need to upgrade their MF attitude towards playing the game. It's not an isolated incident or a one off, it's a trend.

All of this is incorrect, but sure.

 

[Deebo]

Yep, so we should look at actual reasons for things and evaluate properly, to have the best chance at winning. Not just stick to false narratives like "toughness" or "wanting it bad enough".

If you go to a fan forum for pretty much any team after they lose, there is always a bunch of people saying that they didn't want it or they didn't try hard enough as the only reason they lost.

This is often accompanied by loud procilmations of being "done with this team" or declaring that the team will "never get a dime of thier money until X is fired" even though they watch on illegal streams, never go to games and only merchandise is a T shirt from 6 years ago. They are inevitably back a week later though,

 

[egd27]

No, it's not anywhere near that simplistic. If you want to win, the best way is to understand why you actually lost, so you don't go down a horrible path due to emotional reactions.

I learn so much here. I always thought the best way to win was to not actually lose.

I'm so glad there are numbers that can tell the Leafs they should have won, so they don't have to feel badly about themselves.

Wouldn't want them to have any emotional reactions to getting beat in their playoff qualifying round.

 

[Dekes For Days]

I always thought the best way to win was to not actually lose.
I'm so glad there are numbers that can tell the Leafs they should have won, so they don't have to feel badly about themselves.

The best way to win is to give yourself as many chances to win, by properly evaluating your team to know how to improve and maintain it. This has nothing to do with the Leaf players feeling badly about themselves. They should always be striving to get better, whether they won or not. This has to do with not making stupid management decisions based on emotional reactions to small sample outcomes with a clear cause.

 

[egd27]

The best way to win is to give yourself as many chances to win, by properly evaluating your team to know how to improve and maintain it. This has nothing to do with the Leaf players feeling badly about themselves. They should always be striving to get better, whether they won or not. This has to do with not making stupid management decisions based on emotional reactions to small sample outcomes with a clear cause.

Well if you mean like dropping $9M on another player that's expected to be the "one missing piece" , then we finally agree on something.