yave1964 Posted May 23, 2022 Share Posted May 23, 2022 PRESEASON OUTLOOK THIS HAS TO BE THE YEAR!! year after year of first round knockouts, five straight elite level regular seasons shot to Hell in the first round with losses to the Caps in 6, the Bruins in a heartbreaking 7, the Bruins Again in 7, the Jackets in an embarrassing 5 games, and last years loss to the inferior Habs who they had down 3-1 in the most humiliating first round exit yet. THIS HAS TO BE THE YEAR, DOESNT IT? FINAL RECORD 54-21-7 115 points 2nd in the Atlantic. Lost a nail biting seven game series to the World Champ Lightning. HIGH POINT OF THE YEAR After a sluggish 7-5-1 start to the year they beat the Flyers 3-0 on a Campbell shutout, the first of 5 wins in a row and beginning of a 10-1-1 stretch. The other high point was down the stretch, they say a team that enters the playoffs hot has momentum on their side they finished the year on a 7-1-1 stretch. The only loss was a sign of what was to come, an 8-1 drubbing at the hands of the....Lightning. LOW POINT OF THE YEAR Do you really have to ask. WHAT WENT RIGHT Auston Matthews beganthe year on the IR but came back to score an insane 60 goals in 73 games. Marner had 35 goals and 97 points. Wee Willie Nylander was a point a game performer as was Tavares. Morgan Reilly had a world class year and managed to sign a long term deal for less than market value if he hit free agency. Michael Bunting was released by the Coyotes and damn near captured the Calder trophy playing top six minutes for the Leafs at bargain bin contract replacing Hyman. Kerfoot, Engvall and Mikhayev provided excellent secondary scoring as did Kampf and Spezza. Brodie was fantastic in a shut down role (regualr season) Young Liljegren and Sandin were up to the taskJack Campbell tailed off but for awhile was mentioned as a Vezina Candidate and went 31-9-6 with a 2.64 goals against. Holl was solid on the back end as well. Health wise, they were the healthiest team in Hockey as far as least amount of man games missed. Giordano had 12 points and plus 12 in 20 games after the deadline trade. WHAT WENT WRONG Simmonds is absolutely done, his linemates drug him up nd down the ice behind them all year he fought just enough to draw a paycheck. Jake Muzzin couldnt stay on the ice and was pretty bad all things considered.Mrazek went 18-12-6 but that was a product of the team as he had a pitiful 3.34 goals against and went down late in the year when they needed him most. Linemates Nylander and Tavares on a team that outscored their opponents 315-253 were both minus men, Nylander minus9 Tavares minus 8. In the playoffs Campbell saw his goals against jump over half a goal per game to 3.15. Nick Robertson is getting buried in the AHL after showing such promise two years ago. FREE AGENTS AND DRAFT PICKS First the draft picks, they have no 2nd, 4th, 5th or 6th this year and no second next year. Free agency is tricky, Jack Campbell is a huge decision they have to make, he is an UFA and they must decide if he can carry them to the next level or if he is a product of the team. Spezza will be back if he wants to at a near league minimum deal. Lyubushkin who came over from Arizona for picks is tricky, he is good but no better than the 7th defenseman and will command a raise on a cash strapped team. Mikheyev is an UFA who they would dearly love to keep the question is how. TOP PROSPECTS Liljegren and Sandin are here and entrenched on the back end so they have to be removed from the prospect list. Robertson, once so highly thought of has to be considered more of a suspect at this point. Nick Abruzzese signed with the Leafs after Harvards season ended but truth is he is more an AHL regular, NHL emergency player. Erik Kallgren is kind of a goalie prospect but is better as a three goalie, nothing more. Alex Steeves had a good year with the Marlies but like Abruzzese he is more of an AHL regular NHL undersized 13th forward. I do like this feisty kid named Curtis Douglas who can play all three forward spots and isnt afraid to mix it up but at best he is a 4C/disruptor type. If you consider Joseph Woll an NHL player you may be the only person other than his mom to do so. In other words, Unless Robertson rediscovers what made the Leafs all aflutter a couple of years ago there is precious little in the pipeline on its way any time soon. They arent Capitals bad as far as the system goes but close and picks are few and far between. STRANGE STAT OF THE YEAR Marner had a very pronounced home/road split among the biggest of any high scoring player. at home he had an acceptable 12 goals on 96 shots but on the road he was a beast with 23 goals on 115 shots. I really think he shoots more on the road because Toronto is getting to him. Bunting curiously had 17 goals away and only 6 at home and his PIMs were 52 away only 28 at home. Opposite end Tavares was among the league best faceoff men and a plus 7 at home, pedestrian in the dot away and a woeful minus 16 with 31 points away, 45 at home. Nylander had 49 points at home, 31 away and like his linemate was minus 16 on the road. Lots of strange splits among the stars excepting Matthews who killed everyone everywhere. OFFSEASON OUTLOOK capologists NEEDED, the top eight salaries on the team, Nylander, Tavares, Marner, Matthews, Reilly, Mrazek (!) Muzzin and Brodie come to a bit over 53 million leaving 29 million in change to sign the other 15 players. Mrazek has two years remaining on his deal, was a terrible signing and will likely be bought out. Muzzin may be sent packing as well. Those two coming off the roster would give the team the room they need to make a decision if it is Campbell or Kuemper or whoever in net next year and to fill out the roster accordingly. I read a goofy Nylander for Gibson rumor with the Ducks which IMHO would be just god awful. They need to avoid panic moves but need to fix the net as I do not believe Campbell is the answer. This is a fragile team that is still young with all of its stars locked up long term so again this year they are looking to tweak and roll the dice again. Maybe next year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 On 5/23/2022 at 2:59 PM, yave1964 said: I read a goofy Nylander for Gibson rumor with the Ducks which IMHO would be just god awful. Goofy or not this kid is my first guy out the door. This type of play can not happen....he must go....for whatever goods you can get in return... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 28, 2022 Author Share Posted May 28, 2022 2 hours ago, OccamsRazor said: Goofy or not this kid is my first guy out the door. This type of play can not happen....he must go....for whatever goods you can get in return... Agreed. My big problem with a Nylander deal is the return, I personally believe that Gibson is the most overrated goalie in the game today, he is known for fast starts and fading badly. He went 25 straight games of giving up 3 goals or more in every single game this past year. And yet, people still act as if he is something special. Move Nylander? Sure. Absolutely. Gibson? I wouldnt want to give him the keys to the kingdom in net on any team I like. I draft him every year in Fantasy and trade him for above market value by early November and sit back and watch the inevitable fade. I dont know if it is por training, if it is mental, whatever it is he is just nothing like hispress makes him out to be Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted May 28, 2022 Share Posted May 28, 2022 48 minutes ago, yave1964 said: Move Nylander? Sure. Absolutely And this is all I am saying the return is going to be a discussion but move him - find a taker somewhere. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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