Your Evaluation of Jake Muzzin...

[sxvnert]

Will evaluate when he has a decent partner to play with.

 

[93WrapAround]

Tough, tough game. Yikes. Now I'm seeing what the Kings fans were saying about his frustrating brain farts and costly pinches.

 

[Beyonder91]

I like him... I'm sure it takes awhile to adjust to the atrocious Leaf defensive zone play

 

[A1LeafNation]

I like him... I'm sure it takes awhile to adjust to the atrocious Leaf defensive zone play

He is fitting in nicely then...

 

[frog]

Very good defensemen that needs time to settle in.. Playoffs and next year he will be a legit number 2 defensemen

 

[The List Of Jericho]

Looked much better with Rielly

 

[wingman75]

I hate to say this, but he looks like Phaneuf did at the end of his time here. Literally looks like he is crumbling under the pressure of playing in Toronto.

I am concerned. I think he just needs to simplify his game and play a little quicker.

Also wondering if he is playing a little hurt? He seems unable to make simple plays with the puck, so may he has an injured hand or wrist?

 

[TakeTheBody]

Started great.

Tailed off.

He'll be fine......

 

[Stephen]

Before we eat him up alive, I think he's quite slow, mean and good enough to be extremely valuable. Good snarl, physical presence and a lot of things we don't have. We just need to use him better and not have him out there on a run and gun shift. The Leafs need to be able to play different styles and he can help. The worst thing would be for us to misuse him like when we brought in Beauchemin and Komisarek and expected them to be number one defensemen.

 

[moon111]

If you're an NHL defenseman heading to the Hockey Hall of Fame, you have about a 33% chance of not getting ripped apart by Leaf fans.

 

[saffronleaf]

I blame the systems and the coaches more than Muzzin. Put in the right position, Muzzin has proven to be successful.

 

[Gallagbi]

I blame the systems and the coaches more than Muzzin. Put in the right position, Muzzin has proven to be successful.

Hasn't Babcock proven to be successful? He's won at every level...

 

[KIWILEAFFAN]

I like him. Just hasn't settled in yet but did look good at the start with Morgan. To early to tell.
I reckon his hand is giving him grief at the moment.
He will beast it in the playoffs.

 

[Leafsfan74]

He's finding his bearings after being in one system and one group of players for so long.

He's been fine, but a little hesitant in getting position once in awhile unsure how his partner is reacting. He will eat minutes and play strong against offensive players. As he plays more, he will improve further. He will have an impact on this team in the playoffs.

 

[eddieO]

Let’s revisit this thread in the playoffs.

 

[The CyNick]

Not good so far. Very slow.

Had thrown two memorable hits.

Gets out of position constantly.

Outplayed by Hainsey.

Maybe his game will translate better in the playoffs. We'll see.

 

[saffronleaf]

Hasn't Babcock proven to be successful? He's won at every level...

Yea but playing on the Kings isn't the same as coaching Team Canada. The sole Cup he won with the Wings was a long time ago, and he didn't do as much of the things that Babcock is now adamant about doing. Plus they had one the GOAT dmen. Talk to Wings fans or even look at what we've heard re former players.

tl;dr current Babcock has only had success with Team Canada. Anybody could have coached Team Canada and had success. Muzzin was a solid and important contributor to LA's success.

 

[Polaris1010]

Good enough for what we need. 9-3-2 since we aquired him and we got him a month before the deadline to take that time to settle in. He'll be fine come playoff time.

That's 3 times this forum bracing for the 18 wheeler in the post game threads since he's been on the team!

 

[81Leafs50]

send Jake Muzzin back from where ever the f*** he came from. He is the worst dman on the Leafs by far. I hate Gardiner but I hate Muzzin even more. Sit them both.

Trading for Muzzin is the first mistake Dubas has made. This management group did not upgrade the defense at all. If anything the defense is even worse now.

 

[leafsfan2point0]

...now that he's played 14 games for the leafs.



Also he's now going to be counted on a lot more now that TOR has injuries.

You waited 14 games..

Took him 14 games to have a bad game I see.

I’d say he’s doing pretty well.

 

[Cor]

He’s been good. Solid numbers. Really fits in well.

Teams record since he was acquire is proof in the pudding

 

[Nalens Oga]

Only concerning thing for me is that he looks worse in the past few games than he did in the first few. That suggests how bad our defensive coaching is that a guy coming in looks better than when he settles down.

Anyways, he's fine, he's a bit slow and I for sure don't want him extended after next year because he's only gonna get slower in his 30s but he's a top-4 NHL dman for sure. He just has to handle the puck less. He can pass well, he can shoot well, but he can't skate with the puck like Dermott or Rielly can (or Gardiner used to be able to). He's just slow when he handles the puck and often loses it.

 

[Buds17]

Going to become much more important due to the injuries on the blueline, though I think his ice time would've increased anyway. Has more playoff experience than any of the other blueliners, so I'm looking for him to really make an impact there.

 

[Wendelstache]

Will evaluate when he has a decent partner to play with.

We are not going to get Doughty, in the mean time his play needs to pick up.

Look like a good depth defenseman so far, hope this is just a teething process.

 

[Gallagbi]

Yea but playing on the Kings isn't the same as coaching Team Canada. The sole Cup he won with the Wings was a long time ago, and he didn't do as much of the things that Babcock is now adamant about doing. Plus they had one the GOAT dmen. Talk to Wings fans or even look at what we've heard re former players.

tl;dr current Babcock has only had success with Team Canada. Anybody could have coached Team Canada and had success. Muzzin was a solid and important contributor to LA's success.

So Muzzin's never been a key contributor or really a "core" piece on a cup winner, but we'll give him credit? Yet we won't do the same for a guy who has multiple gold medals and a cup? Bizarre.