yave1964 Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Calling it 'a dream come true since I was a boy' John Tavares made up his mind this afternoon and signed a seven year deal to play for the home town Maple Leafs. Forget all the BS about what does this mean for Nylander or how can they possibly keep the team together long term, for the moment this makes the Leafs who finished last season with the best regular season in organizational history the team to beat in the East and therefore in the entire game. I have to admit that I am a bit surprised by the signing, I thought fifty fifty he returned to the homeless Islanders and the Sharks as the leading contender, in recent days Babs has spoken glowingly about Tavares who he has coached in the Olympics and World Cup. Something worked, the Leafs have to be thrilled beyond their wildest dreams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 JOHN TAVARES IS A LEAF!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 A very big deal indeed! Yes, I know a single player often doesn't turn a team's fortunes around overnight....but in this case, with the talent Toronto has already (and let's face it, Tavares is kinda a big deal), and the Leafs having been building towards relevance for awhile now, AND the fact that the Leafs had a pretty good season last year, I'd say this move makes Toronto THAT much more dangerous and ever closer to the "real deal" they have been rumored to be for the last several seasons. Sure, defense is still required if they are to win a championship, but despite Toronto being a Tampa Bay divisional rival, I HAVE to give them props here and acknowledge they are going to be a problem for the rest of the Atlantic. Johnny Leaf (my new nickname for him), did quite a lot working with LESS while on the NY Islanders, I can only imagine how he will do playing with better linemates and better depth on Toronto's squad. As for Auston Matthews playing 2C? Hey...if Matthews really is a team guy and his focus is a Stanley Cup, then he would be WELCOMING this move as it removes some of the pressure off of him and allows the Leafs to ice TWO legitimately dangerous lines, possibly a THIRD legit scoring line if the Leafs can put together a nice all purpose 3rd line. Again, referring to the Lightning, Steven Stamkos when he first came on, did his time on the 2nd line before being an undisputed top liner....Matthews has LOTS of time to assume that undisputed spot.....Tavares signing with the team should be a positive thing for him all the way around. Missed out on Steven Stamkos as the big ticket free agent add? No problem for Toronto...….Heeeeeeeeere's Johnnnnnyyyyyyy Leaf !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nossagog Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Wow, $11M/year cap hit. I believe that's the highest cap hit in the league. Hope they make a run next season because in the 19-20 season they are going to have a lot of FA's, including Matthews. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropicalFruitGirl26 Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 2 minutes ago, nossagog said: Wow, $11M/year cap hit. I believe that's the highest cap hit in the league. Hope they make a run next season because in the 19-20 season they are going to have a lot of FA's, including Matthews. Yes, I know my post sang praises on this signing, and yes , I AM aware the cap hit could be an enemy for the Leafs at some point moving forward, but that's just it.... the Leafs WANT to win now, and this signing certainly helps them do that. Now......they need to somehow put together at the very least, a decent defensive core to help out Frederik Andersen. If they can do that, they just may very well have put themselves squarely in Cup Contender territory. If they win sooner than later (pretty much a must), then anything that happens with cap crunches later on, they can worry about then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 9 minutes ago, nossagog said: Wow, $11M/year cap hit. I believe that's the highest cap hit in the league. Hope they make a run next season because in the 19-20 season they are going to have a lot of FA's, including Matthews. It's tied for the #2 cap hit in the NHL. McDavid - $12.5M Tavares, Doughty - $11M I wish the Leafs the best of luck in convincing Auston Matthews to sign for less than his teammate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 As far as defense goes, Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin are a nice pair of first rounders who fell to them in the first round over the past two years. Liljegren will be in the mix this year, Sandin next both are very talented home grown cheap for a few years young defenders. Live for the moment. Eventually it catches up to ya, but the Hawks made it work with Kane/Toews you have Crosby/Malkin or McDavid/Draisatl or Doughty/Kopitar. They have a few years before they have the hard decisions to make by then they may have a cup or two and then, who cares? It only matters if they don't win. No pressure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR Ewing Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 12 minutes ago, yave1964 said: As far as defense goes, Liljegren and Rasmus Sandin are a nice pair of first rounders who fell to them in the first round over the past two years. Liljegren will be in the mix this year, Sandin next both are very talented home grown cheap for a few years young defenders. Live for the moment. Eventually it catches up to ya, but the Hawks made it work with Kane/Toews you have Crosby/Malkin or McDavid/Draisatl or Doughty/Kopitar. They have a few years before they have the hard decisions to make by then they may have a cup or two and then, who cares? It only matters if they don't win. No pressure. And that's really it: no pressure, no diamonds. The ability to acquire an elite player in his prime for only money (and no players or picks) is extremely rare. It's crazy not to take advantage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hf101 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jammer2 Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 7 hours ago, hf101 said: Despite my well known Leaf hatred....that was the coolest pic I have seen in a while. Just a thought, but can Eastern Conf teams disrupt the Leafs chances of keeping all these guys together moving forward, by giving a offer sheet of 7 or 8 mill to RFA Nylander?? Leafs would probably match, but would mean keeping Matthews and Marner the next year almost unrealistic. The Leafs right now have leverage, by moving Nylander to a team for a star dman....take that away and make them very uncomfortable moving forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluPuk Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 A real shocker. I figured there was no way he opts for TO. Going to be great season next year......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hobie Posted July 3, 2018 Share Posted July 3, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 11:39 AM, TropicalFruitGirl26 said: A very big deal indeed! Yes, I know a single player often doesn't turn a team's fortunes around overnight....but in this case, with the talent Toronto has already (and let's face it, Tavares is kinda a big deal), and the Leafs having been building towards relevance for awhile now, AND the fact that the Leafs had a pretty good season last year, I'd say this move makes Toronto THAT much more dangerous and ever closer to the "real deal" they have been rumored to be for the last several seasons. Sure, defense is still required if they are to win a championship, but despite Toronto being a Tampa Bay divisional rival, I HAVE to give them props here and acknowledge they are going to be a problem for the rest of the Atlantic. Johnny Leaf (my new nickname for him), did quite a lot working with LESS while on the NY Islanders, I can only imagine how he will do playing with better linemates and better depth on Toronto's squad. As for Auston Matthews playing 2C? Hey...if Matthews really is a team guy and his focus is a Stanley Cup, then he would be WELCOMING this move as it removes some of the pressure off of him and allows the Leafs to ice TWO legitimately dangerous lines, possibly a THIRD legit scoring line if the Leafs can put together a nice all purpose 3rd line. Again, referring to the Lightning, Steven Stamkos when he first came on, did his time on the 2nd line before being an undisputed top liner....Matthews has LOTS of time to assume that undisputed spot.....Tavares signing with the team should be a positive thing for him all the way around. Missed out on Steven Stamkos as the big ticket free agent add? No problem for Toronto...….Heeeeeeeeere's Johnnnnnyyyyyyy Leaf !!! The constantly repeated defense as TO's biggest issue. TB is constantly viewed as a viable Cup contender with little mention that their GA last year was worse than TO's. The 2 teams that played in the finals for the Cup, Wash. had more GA than TO and LV 's GA was 4 better than TO's, during the regular season. Defense is important but I thought Pitts very convincingly showed last year that a great offense can trump superior d or even make up for none ideal defenders. Pitts' d in last year's playoffs was similar to LV's this year, a team affair that didn't need high end defenders to win with. What is needed is that the forwards will willingly participate in defense. TO rid itself of 3 players whose ability to defend was questionable at best, Polak, JVR and Bozak, and that in itself will make TO a more accomplished defensive team. JT should make TO into a better possession team and that's the best component of superior d. TO's d-men might not be ideal, but then what team's is, so a group of forwards that can get and keep the puck will go a long way to improving TO's defense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 On 7/1/2018 at 2:58 PM, JR Ewing said: I wish the Leafs the best of luck in convincing Auston Matthews to sign for less than his teammate. Matthews might be a short term guy in Toronto with the Tavares signing. You just never know these days. Chances are the Leafs simply wanted a proper 1-2 punch at center like other recent dynasties have had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockey-78 Posted October 21, 2018 Share Posted October 21, 2018 On 7/31/2018 at 5:42 AM, WordsOfWisdom said: Matthews might be a short term guy in Toronto with the Tavares signing. You just never know these days. Good that you added that smiley... Hopefully Auston won't score too much this season. Otherwise you're in for a tough contract negotiations, much harder than with WN. Ok, it's gonna be tough in any case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
driesalex Posted October 31, 2018 Share Posted October 31, 2018 Leafs have good chances for playoffs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted December 13, 2018 Share Posted December 13, 2018 Best friends will goat it tonight....should be a good one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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