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hobie

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Everything posted by hobie

  1. I'm thinking TO didn't have the right players to win anything but a playoff berth when Dubie took over. AM, MM, JT and Willie are the bedrock that wins Cups, possibly year after year, like TB which is far better example to follow than the one Cup wonders, St.L.. Dubie had the Marleau contract to contend with, a contract that Babs and Lou knew was going to be an albatross, it was from the git go. Hunter frittered away 20 plus draft choices, his only astute choices were MM and AM, the rest were at best replacement players. Lou had the best chance to make something of TO, 3 stars on ELCs and Rielly was the highest paid player yet he couldn't dig up decent NHL d-men. I guess we can't blame Lou because TO wasn't unearthing decent draft choice currency and we know what a tough negotiator Lou is, just look at his amazingly stingy Marleau signing. Lou at 100 years old with 200 years of NHL experience didn't seem to be enough to make the Leafs better so I don't think the mess he left Dubie should be Dubie's fault. A lot of the trades that Dubie made were trades to open positions for quality players, hopefully, each team can only have 50 players contracted to the NHL team. Dubie had a lot of deadwood to eject which is what responsible/decent GMs do. We shouldn't forget Shanny in the mess, he signs Lou(the no facial hair man) who had presided over the ongoing demise of the Devils, he signed Hunter who was a great CHL scout but didn't have any proven ability to draft NHL players, he signed Babs by exceeding Buffalo's offer at the last minute, the facts were Detroit fans and media were happy to see him go and Buffalo was interested, Buffalo has only done one thing right in like 15 years, draft Eichel. I think TO has lots of potential, still, some teams with similar to TO's roster had to endure many years before winning a Cup, Washington, and it was their stars that got them there, I don't see a Cup in St.L.'s future, that was a one and done.
  2. I think you're mistaking Dubas' acquisitions with Lou's.
  3. Montreal was the better team for the last 3 games, watching them play was a treat for Hab fans I'm sure. 3 $11 mil. dollar men on one team is probably 2 too many, watching Simmonds, Jumbo play was pure torture, seeing Mikheyev and Engvall man the 3rd line was equally bad, trading a 1st for Foligno was senseless when more quality scoring was sorely needed. Next year.
  4. Some surprises so far: Bogo is TO's best 5th/6th d-man in a long time Spezza is still a playa Vesey isn't But mostly that there's even a season, of sorts.
  5. What's going on?Forwards covering up for pinching d-men, no breakaways, no 2 on 1 against, no 3 on 1 against, holding on to leads, even winning when the games are close.Who or what is this team?
  6. Something I didn't know, players who are signed after being 35 are not buriable, teams can't bury their contracts in the minors or wherever.
  7. If there's a season TO's top 2 lines will probably look the same as last year with lots of changes in the bottom 2 lines and defense. TO was caving at the end of last year and the playoff qualifier series was bad, I think the lineup needs to be rethought, reconfigured and with the infusion of so many new players, it might happen. Barabanov/Matthews/Marner- line needs a change, regular season dynamic, playoffs less so Kerfoot/JT/Nylander- speed, talent should be an excellent line Micheyev/Hyman/Anderson- jam, speed and some scoring potential, TO's defensive conscious Simmonds/Thornton/Spezza- should be able to handle the opposition's 4th lines, 2nd PP unit extra- Vesey Robertson to juniors for now Rielly/Bogosian- Rielly needs someone who will/can take care of business in TO's end like he had with Hainsey, maybe Bogo will free him up to do what he does best like Hainsey did Muzzin/Brodie- will do the defensive heavy lifting and both have excellent defensive reputations Lehtonen/Holl- could be very effective extra- Dermott Sandin and Liljegen, their potential is just that, need more seasoning
  8. It's been eventful. Simmonds-UFA signing- he was atrocious in Buffalo and Jersey so is he worth $1.5 mil, doubtful. Gauthier had as many goals as Simmonds and Gauthier didn't get any PP time. Thornton-UFA signing- 31 points last year in 70 games, $.7 mil., this is a good signing as the contract is totally buriable, he should be a very good 2nd PP option. Spezza-UFA signing- liked him last year but he's mostly a PP option. These 3 might be very good as 2nd PP players but are they decent options 5v5 on a 3rd/4th line, all 3 have speed issues in an NHL where all teams have speed everywhere in their lineups. TJ Brodie- UFA signing- this is a puzzler, is he a good top 4 option or is he a player that Giordano propped up for years, he's not physical, 20 hits in 64 games, his offense went south last year, 19 points in 64 games, $5 mil. per until he's 34, we'll see. Vesey-UFA signing- totally buriable contract, ya!, he's big but not physical, boo?, 20 points in 64 games last year screams 4th liner but he played in Buffalo probably on the 2nd line so he probably needed lots of icetime to get those stats. Bogosian-UFA signing- I like this signing, his contract is buriable, he was paired with TB's top d-man during their Cup win last year, he is physical, has had a lot of injury history but he's an actual RHD. Lehtonen-ELC signing- don't know much about him, he's LHD which TO has lot's of, he had a great KHL year last year which was his first KHL year at 24, he's doing it again this year. His years in SHL and Liga don't suggest that his first KHL year was possible so he's an enigma. TO hasn't had much luck with KHLers except maybe Mikheyev so we'll see. Barabonov-ELC- 5'10" 192 lbs, this is a more normal Dubie type of signing, reasonable KHL stats and he's fast, interesting. HÅLLANDER-Kappy trade- 6'2" 190 lbs, good future potential as perhaps a center, his stats so far are nothing to get excited about in the SHL. Joey Anderson-Johnsson trade- a Hyman clone, tenacious, physical but small 5'11" 190 lbs and as an exUniversity player he might be an excellent 3rd/4th line option at 22 years old, still unsigned. Aaron Dell-UFA signing- probably a good 3rd goalie option? Is TO better, treading water or worse? Johnsson and Kappy are gone, Barrie too so are these new players upgrades, Johnsson and Kappy were decent regular season players but they weren't playoff capable, Barrie was bad with Babs and far more useful with Keefe, he might be missed if anything happens to Rielly.
  9. I think Barrie will be gone, not because he needs to go, TO simply can't afford him. Since Babs was dismissed he's been scoring at nearly a point per game. Ceci might be gone but again it would be an affordability issue. He's not a $4.5 mil. player, he's not perfect but I doubt there aren't a few teams that would/will sign him for 2 to 2.5 mil per. Babs stubbornly stuck with him with Rielly when he wasn't suited to play against the opposition's best, this diminished him in the eyes of fans and media so he's now a target, someone to blame in bad times. He's a 5 or 6 d-man on most teams maybe even a 4 if paired well. I don't see the value in Clifford, I don't think he's worth TO giving up a 2nd because as that trade is now TO keeps it's 2nd but gives up it's 3rd if he isn't resigned. I don't like his propensity to take ill timed penalties and I don't think he's worth more than 1 mil. per season. I see the rumors are that TO wants to resign him? I'm sure he'll be looking for more money and at $1.6 mil. per he's already overpaid. Kerfoot, Johnsson and Kappy are rumored to be available for a d upgrade but I wonder what team would be willing to give up a quality, top 4 d-man for any of them. Dubas made that surprising Kadri/Barrie & Kerfoot trade so it might be an interesting summer.
  10. I don't think what is happening now will affect next year's cap, this year's escrow and the owner's bottom line, yes, unless the world is still in the midst of social distancing at the beginning of next year, then there won't be a full season, again so things would be prorated I'd think. When we see Matthews score it is easy to think that assists can be discounted but assists acknowledge that hockey is a team game. Matthews can score from impossible situations but the rest of TO's goals are the result of team effort.
  11. How have the big 4's contracts worked out so far?I would say they are expected to provide offense while not being a detriment to the team overall.AM- 70 gp, 47 g, 33 ass., 80 points, +19MM- 59 gp., 16 g., 51 ass., 67 points, +6 JT- 63 gp., 26 g, 34 ass., 60 points, -7WN- 68 gp., 31 g., 28 ass., 59 points, -2JT and WN are negative players but basically their line was the experimental line where they've played with a cast of many. TO has 238 goals for, third best in the NHL, the big 4 have a combined total of 120 goals which is over 50% of TO's GF and they have missed 22 games and this is the third most goals scored by a team in the NHL this year, bears repeating, I think.For every goal scored the league could award 2 assists so with 238 goals the assist total could be 476 assists, the big 4 have 146 assists total so they're not keeping pace there.TO has 36 wins and the big 4 have 18 GWG, 50 % exactly, there's no record of game tying goals that I know of.The big 4 have a combined +14 but I think Hy's total should be included in their total because he plays with them all the time for a total of +27, the rest of TO has a +25, I wonder how much of the +25 is the result of players on the ice with the big 4. Of some interest I think, Barrie is -7, Holl is +13, Dermott +14, Ceci +7, Sandin -7 and Lilly -5.It seems to me TO's big 4 is living up to their contracts, in spite of the salary imbalance TO is in a playoff spot. TB had a historic season last year yet got eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs so I'd say it isn't essential that TO be the best team every game so long as it make the playoffs.The silver lining is the the cap is going up and the big 4s bite of the cap is going to go down and outside of JT the big 4 will all be less than 25 to start next year!Of all of the FAs that TO let leave for nothing only one has bothered me, Bozak. I think a line with Bozak, Kadri and Kappy would be a line that TO could really use but of course that line would be very expensive but I'm sure there could've been a way. I know Bozak is getting 5 mil. from St.L. but I'm sure he would've taken a home town discount. It's TO's 3rd line that I think is it's greatest weakness now, TO can make a very good tho expensive 4th line outside of it's top 5 forwards. Next year TO is probably going to shed Barrie and Ceci and I doubt Sandin and Lilly are ready, hopefully I'm wrong. Even if they are reasonably ready TO would need someone to play with Rielly and some reasonably priced experienced extra. One more potentially decent goalie would be ideal.The doom and gloom that this year brought us might lift as soon as next year.
  12. TO is having scoring problems lately yet Keefe wants to go to the empty well constantly? Kerfoot and his nearly 15 minutes per game gets elevated to the second line to supposedly stimulate both himself and that line offensively. On top of that he has been on that line on and off frequently during the season and he gets that reward because he has managed 9 goals and 19 assists for a grand total of 28 points in 65 games. When Kerfoot isn't elevated Kappy gets called, now he has been more successful offensively this year than Kerfoot but he really hasn't taken advantage, his stats 13 goals, 23 assists for 36 points on 16 minutes TOI average per game. TO trades for a hot shot who also gets an immediate shot at the 2nd line. It doesn't matter that he had been used as a 4th liner on his previous team, he was frequently benched, he somehow deserved a shot at the 4th line. So far this year Malgin has managed an awe inspiring 4 goals and 8 assist for 12 points in 44 games off of an average TOI of 12 minutes. Meanwhile TO has a player that has 9 goals and 16 assists for 25 points off of 11 minutes average TOI. This same player never gets to the 1st or 2nd line except in very special circumstances, so rarely, and this player is often benched so he has only played in 58 games. My question is why keep going to players that can't elevate their game, can't take advantage of unearned opportunities when a possible answer to some of TO's scoring isn't being given any consideration. Why not elevate Spezza, if Malgin of all players was worthy of a shot. Forest/trees anyone.
  13. TO went thru this last year, TO lost to Arizona and they had 10 or 11 regulars hurt, TO lost to Ottawa after Ottawa had traded away Karlsson and Stone. I think this is a case of the players trying to buy into what Keefe and previously Babs are trying to instill, defense wins. This is a case of too little too late, it's not a good time to fundamentally change how the team plays. TO plated poorly from Xmas on last year. I agree changes are probably likely but those will probably involve players like Kerfoot, Kappy, Ceci but the core of forwards and Rielly, Muzzin, Andersen will be back. That does make sense because TO could/should be better with a healthier lineup.
  14. Another frustrating game, TO couldn't score against a bottom feeding team and this team didn't have it's 4 best d-men? Well we're finally seeing TO become a defensive dynamo that many have been lusting for, 7 goals against in the last 3 games a 2.33 GA, fun. I don't get Keefe, when he first started coaching and saw nothing was working he'd change things up, he's far more reluctant now. Obviously he wants TO to be a defensive dynamo because he certainly didn't mix things up tonite and thru this road trip. Changing up Malgin and Engvall doesn't count. The lines are stale, that was obvious Monday, Thursday and again today yet like Babs we saw the same old, same old, that was one of my major sore points with Babs. Malgin, Engvall, Kappy plus others aren't top 2 line quality players as we have seen, I think Spezza would provide far more value there. There are still lots of potentially different and perhaps more productive lines I'd like Keefe to try. The bottom 2 lines can basically stay the same, who cares. Hy/AM/Spezza Ny/JT/MM I wouldn't want Nylander and AM on the same line because I like what we're seeing from Ny, when he played with AM he seemed to spend all of his time trying to set up AM now he's a scoring machine and pretty dynamic every game, mostly. AM managed to get 73 points in 68 games last year and that was mostly with Kappy and Johnsson as his wingers, when AM is on he's a force on his on, when he's not on I don't think it matters who he plays with.
  15. Yes, Hextall's choice of coach is the gift that keeps on giving. To is much improved this year, no longer 12th most goal-against now TO's GA is 28th worse in the NHL.
  16. Is any team a Cup contender if they don't have a decent goalie? As for what you say I ignored , I've already stated how I think TO is younger, you seem to disagree, I don't feel like pissing into the wind.
  17. Most teams that win Cups win one or 2 and that can come anywhere during the life of a team based on a core player like Giroux so maybe it's now for Philly. St.L. came out of nowhere last year, last in the NHL at Xmas, and went on to win it all. The Flyers are maybe playing like TO but with maturity, an age/experience advantage so they're bringing their game on a more consistent basis. However this year I see that the majority of the Flyer core has essentially been healthy and while the popular belief is good teams can overcome injuries, it really isn't true when involving multiple core players. Philly has a good chance this year, as good as anyone and so to might TO, health is key plus other factors. A month to playoffs and philly has suffered a devastating injury, JVR is out, uh oh.
  18. I have Center Ice thru Shaw Cable, I get every game in the NHL either on Sptnt or Center Ice.
  19. Your team is going to have to be good enough to first make the playoffs and then go deep enough to face TO.
  20. Every team has a prospect pool? Who's the ?cancer guy?
  21. I don't think it's significant how old a whole roster is on average, it's how old a team's core is. For some reason I'm not in a panic that Marincin is aging out, don't know why that doesn't concern me?
  22. I think Rux was trolling us, don't you. Ya think that might be because the Flyers are rapidly approaching rebuild, they're having what might be their last kick at the can, this year. Couturier-27 Vorachek-30 JVR-30 Giroux-32 Hayes-27 Niskanen-33 That is the ages of the Flyers top 6 of 7 in scoring, JVR and Hayes have 3 and 6 years left on their $7 mil. per contracts. If Rux doesn't think TO is young, what must he think of Philly's age?
  23. I liked Zaitsev's physicality, Zaitsev was paired with Muzzin to form TO's defensive duo so they did a lot of heavy lifting, Ceci either with Barrie or on the 3rd pairing plays more of a sheltered role with TO. I think the only reason Zaitsev was moved was because of money. How long should we go thinking injuries are not an excuse, at some point it has to be. Columbus the little team that could has 76 points in 65 games, they currently have 11 players injured and their record for the last 10 games is 1-4-5 so it's just not feasible to expect much from TO at this time. The Jekyll and Hyde act is good, TO is responding and against teams like Pitts. and TB, I think TO winning is above and beyond what we should expect.
  24. 2nd overall choice that plays without any heart, TO had him for 6 years in his prime and he didn't have any heart then but at one time most of TO's centers were injured so he was tried at center, guess how long that lasted. When it comes to TO's defense I'm reminded of Nova Scotia, there's no such thing as good times or bad times as far as jobs or economic opportunities because in good or bad times for most of the country, N.S. times never change. Actually TO does have d depth, the level of play for any of the d isn't outstanding so when one gets injured replacements are relatively easy to find. Good defensive teams have a good goalie and forwards that participate in defending, TO's d might not be stellar but it's alright and even exceptional because the forwards don't participate in TO and TO is still in the playoff race. This Ceci perception is something that has been universally accepted but is based more on a guy who has played on bad teams rather than his lack of ability. TO used to have Polak, another universally panned d-man, TO doesn't resign him yet Dallas does and Dallas is still one of the best defensive teams. The only problem with Ceci is he's overpaid for what he can do.
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