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Exposed: How a Soft Leafs Defence Will Once Again Sink The Leafs in April


WordsOfWisdom

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A very poor performance against the Avs:

 

The Leafs can score, no doubt about it, but they're an easy team to play against. Av's record 38 SOG to the Leafs paltry 20 SOG.  Look at the lack of effort on the Gardiner play. This is the Leafs D in a nutshell: they're just not good enough in their own zone, and Gardiner is one of the better guys on the team!

 

Ever since Nylander returned, the Leafs have been in a swoon. I think it's karma telling Leafs management they f__ked up. 

 

There are three defencemen on this team that need to go. They are:

 

  • Nikita Zaitsev
  • Igor Ohziganov
  • Travis Dermott

 

Get rid of Nylander and get someone in here to replace one of those guys NOW before the season is lost. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

A very poor performance against the Avs:

 

The Leafs can score, no doubt about it, but they're an easy team to play against. Av's record 38 SOG to the Leafs paltry 20 SOG.  Look at the lack of effort on the Gardiner play. This is the Leafs D in a nutshell: they're just not good enough in their own zone, and Gardiner is one of the better guys on the team!

 

Ever since Nylander returned, the Leafs have been in a swoon. I think it's karma telling Leafs management they f__ked up. 

 

There are three defencemen on this team that need to go. They are:

 

  • Nikita Zaitsev
  • Igor Ohziganov
  • Travis Dermott

 

Get rid of Nylander and get someone in here to replace one of those guys NOW before the season is lost. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have a hunch the Leafs are going to win tonight. You should not give up on them so fast. They can score is right. And if they can score in the playoffs anything can happen.  I guess the goalie is going to be a huge deal?  

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15 minutes ago, Hockey Junkie said:

I have a hunch the Leafs are going to win tonight. You should not give up on them so fast. They can score is right. And if they can score in the playoffs anything can happen.  I guess the goalie is going to be a huge deal?  

 

I just don't believe they can do it with scoring and goalie alone.  :(

 

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TO played TB a little over a month ago, TO out shot TB 51 to around 30 but was soundly beaten by their goalie. TO's 51 shots were real shots, many were pure gold but Vasilevskiy enabled them to win even tho they were out shot and out played.

 

Washington was one of the premiere teams in the NHL for years and years but rarely got beyond the 2nd round, why, goaltending. SJ another great team for years and they even made it to the finals but they haven't won it all, why, I suspect goaltending has been their major issue. Both of these teams have been recognized as having superior d, so is superior d an automatic go past all other teams and win the Cup card, I doubt it.

 

Pittsburgh wins the Cup 2 years ago with Hainsey as their 2nd most used d-man, Letang their actual best d-man was injured, the d was a mess and the d wins Cups faction were shocked. A rookie goalie was hot and Pittsburgh won the cup that year, a hot goalie can trump pretty well everything else.

 

For years it was assumed that Holtby was a great regular season goalie but crumbled in the playoffs, great regular season goaltending helps but the goalie that's all universe during the playoffs can right pretty well all the wrongs of a team. 

 

The one constant that is irrefutable is that the team that wins the Cup must out score their opponents more often than they're out scored.  

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1 hour ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

I just don't believe they can do it with scoring and goalie alone.  :(

 

I picked the Capitals to win the Cup last year.  I knew they did not care about the regular season.  Tampa is likely to win the Presidents trophy and Nashville and Calgary and the Sharks are probably the closest to them in that regard.  But come playoffs, I think Toronto is a very dangerous team.  I get the feeling the Leafs are doing the same thing Washington did last year to an extent.  True the Caps are deeper on defense.  But Toronto has lots of firepower. You just have to hope the timing is right. Timing is big in hockey.  Look at my Sabres and that 10 game streak they had.  I am hoping the win in Calgary springboards them over Montreal and the Islanders.  The goals are much loftier in Toronto this year. They want to be in the finals and we will be content to just get in.  If anyone can stop Tampa its Toronto or Nashville or Calgary

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8 hours ago, Hockey Junkie said:

I picked the Capitals to win the Cup last year.  I knew they did not care about the regular season.  Tampa is likely to win the Presidents trophy and Nashville and Calgary and the Sharks are probably the closest to them in that regard.  But come playoffs, I think Toronto is a very dangerous team.  I get the feeling the Leafs are doing the same thing Washington did last year to an extent.  True the Caps are deeper on defense.  But Toronto has lots of firepower. You just have to hope the timing is right. Timing is big in hockey.  Look at my Sabres and that 10 game streak they had.  I am hoping the win in Calgary springboards them over Montreal and the Islanders.  The goals are much loftier in Toronto this year. They want to be in the finals and we will be content to just get in.  If anyone can stop Tampa its Toronto or Nashville or Calgary

 

The separation among the Leafs defence is quite dramatic:

  • Rielly
  • Hainsey
  • Gardiner

(AMAZING)

 

  • Zaitsev
  • Ohziganov
  • Dermott

(AHL calibre)

 

The dropoff from the top three is enormous. Toronto also lacks a physical defenceman who can clear the front of the net, play strong positionally, and knock people around. Toronto is missing a Zdeno Chara type defenceman. 

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I think the separation is the same for most teams, there's only so much Cap space to go around and TO has decided to spend most of it on the forwards.

 

Nashville has had a great d for years but their forwards are so so, scoring for them in the playoffs is an issue.

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22 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

The separation among the Leafs defence is quite dramatic:

  • Rielly
  • Hainsey
  • Gardiner
  • Zaitsev
  • Ohziganov
  • Dermott

 

22 hours ago, hobie said:

I think the separation is the same for most teams, there's only so much Cap space to go around and TO has decided to spend most of it on the forwards.

 

Nashville has had a great d for years but their forwards are so so, scoring for them in the playoffs is an issue.

 

Going back to my list again, I think Rielly is untouchable. Leafs don't move him for anyone. He's the chosen one back there. Hainsey has been a rock. Fantastic pick up by the Leafs. Gardiner (with his contract situation) may be gone anyway next season. The bottom three are the "expendables". They're just bodies. Nothing special.

 

The Leafs could maybe move Nylander and Gardiner to grab someone that can be a 1A/1B to Rielly.  Or just move Nylander and one of the bottom three out to grab someone who at least gives the Leafs a solid top 4. 

 

(Yes, I include Nylander with every trade deal lol....)  😁

 

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I've always liked Nylander and I've noticed in the past that players that hold out or get injured for long periods during the season rarely join the team as the player we expect.

 

Nylander is testing my patience and tho I like him I really don't consider anyone other than Marner, untouchable. 

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1 minute ago, hobie said:

I've always liked Nylander and I've noticed in the past that players that hold out or get injured for long periods during the season rarely join the team as the player we expect.

 

Nylander is testing my patience and tho I like him I really don't consider anyone other than Marner, untouchable. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Nylander either.  Players that hold out for contracts do annoy me, but I know it's part of the game. I just feel like the Leafs can do without him. They have precedent for playing well the first two months of this season with no Nylander, and I don't think it was a fluke. They have enough forwards to do without. 

 

But since he's still a valuable asset..... the Leafs should (in theory) be able to trade him and get value for him.  :)

 

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23 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said:

 

The separation among the Leafs defence is quite dramatic:

  • Rielly
  • Hainsey
  • Gardiner

(AMAZING)

 

  • Zaitsev
  • Ohziganov
  • Dermott

(AHL calibre)

 

The dropoff from the top three is enormous. Toronto also lacks a physical defenceman who can clear the front of the net, play strong positionally, and knock people around. Toronto is missing a Zdeno Chara type defenceman. 

You should've traded WN if there was a decent offer. If the rumor about Faulk was true...although he's no Chara.

 

I'm surprised you labeled Zaitsev as AHL calibre. Well, you've probably seen him play more than I have.

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9 hours ago, Hockey-78 said:

You should've traded WN if there was a decent offer. If the rumor about Faulk was true...although he's no Chara.

 

I'm surprised you labeled Zaitsev as AHL calibre. Well, you've probably seen him play more than I have.

 

 

I guess I shouldn't be overly harsh.  :)   He's an NHL player, but you could pluck the 5th and 6th best defencemen from any other NHL team and they would be just as good as Zaitsev.

 

You know, I think the Leafs may have actually blown their opportunity to trade Nylander. The more he plays, the more his trade value goes down. At the beginning of the season, he was a hot commodity for teams that needed extra scoring. Now he is playing his way down into role player status.  

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