WordsOfWisdom Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Well, on one hand, the Leafs can say they pushed the (most likely) Stanley Cup champs to seven games before losing..... which would suggest that the Leafs were as close as you could get to winning a Cup (while still going out in the first round of course). On the other hand, the Leafs collapsed for the third time, losing a commanding 3-2 series lead before another game 7 meltdown (soft goal by Andersen and another brain fart by Gardiner being the difference in the deciding game). The problem the Leafs face is that this really was their year. This was the season they could have won it all (for real). This was their last best chance. It could have been them facing the winner of the Sharks/Blues series. It truly is a lost opportunity. Unfortunately, the price for failure now is quite possibly Marner, Gardiner, and Kapanen, with no replacements coming. A hard lesson to learn in a ruthless cap era. When you have all the pieces in place, you get ONE, maybe TWO chances, to get it right. After that, the core of your team is dismantled. The Leafs now face the familiar prospect of having too much money tied up in too few players -- players who can't possibly exceed expectations. You can't win that way. You need to have some "bargains" on your roster in a cap world. If everyone is getting paid what they're worth then you can't possibly have a Cup-calibre team that stays under the cap. The Leafs need to find and develop the next Marner, the next Gardiner, and the next Kapanen, and hopefully soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FD19372 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 WoW, hard to argue with the Bruins being the favorites at this point. Playing the Blues, with their style, has taken a a physical toll on the Sharks. Even if they get there, if Karlsson isn't close to 100%, they have a less than good chance to win it at this point. As far as the Leafs go, you guys need to add some physicality ans snarl to your game. One more physical forward and d-man and I think your Leafs can beat Boston. Gotta add size. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 1 hour ago, FD19372 said: you guys need to add some physicality ans snarl to your game. One more physical forward and d-man and I think your Leafs can beat Boston. Gotta add size. The question is how. I don't see the Leafs adding anything to their roster this off-season. There's no cap room to add players. I only see deletions coming. I see key players leaving for bigger contracts elsewhere, and the holes being filled by prospects/draft picks. It's sort of like a "core reset" if you will. The Leafs tried to win with the core group that they have had for the past three years. It hasn't worked. That usually means the core gets changed in some dramatic way before the team is ready to try again (usually three years down the road). The Leafs are entering the "drop-off phase" of their rebuild. The early peak that didn't quite peak high enough followed by the "trough of tinkering" that teams like the Sharks and Blues have gone through in recent years to try and get the right mix of players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mojo1917 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 The sheen is going to come off the Bruins. There are quite a few guys playing way over their heads right now. The entire 4th line, the 3rd pairng...i know they can skate, if San Jose gets through they have the roster to beat the Bruins. I can't see the line of Nordstrom, Acciari, and Kuraly continuing to lead the team in scoring the way they did in games 1-3. The Blues will have a harder time matching up, they will have the same problems as the 'canes with the B's overall depth. The 3rd line with Johannsson and Coyle is quite good though and will be a problem for the Blues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OccamsRazor Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 12 hours ago, WordsOfWisdom said: Well, on one hand, the Leafs can say they pushed the (most likely) Stanley Cup champs to seven games before losing..... I thought this was going to be about lamenting the Raycroft/Rask trade...Rask is playing out of his mind and the best of his career i think. Leads the NHL with a 942% 1.84 gaa and 12 wins. Imagine what might have been....instead of going with Justin Pogge....yikes... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Rick Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 40 minutes ago, OccamsRazor said: I thought this was going to be about lamenting the Raycroft/Rask trade...Rask is playing out of his mind and the best of his career i think. Leads the NHL with a 942% 1.84 gaa and 12 wins. Imagine what might have been....instead of going with Justin Pogge....yikes... I never thought the extended time off was a good thing except to heal the wounded. Like maybe Chara. The Bruins are sitting back watching the Blues and Sharks beat each other up. It has not gotten real nasty yet. But today that could change 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Rick Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 The last 6 times the team with the extra rest LOST Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WordsOfWisdom Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 On 5/19/2019 at 1:38 PM, OccamsRazor said: I thought this was going to be about lamenting the Raycroft/Rask trade...Rask is playing out of his mind and the best of his career i think. Leads the NHL with a 942% 1.84 gaa and 12 wins. Imagine what might have been....instead of going with Justin Pogge....yikes... I looked at a list of the top 25 worst trades in Leafs history and I truly believe the Tuukka Rask trade has to be #1 because the list doesn't factor in how the traded player came back to harm the Leafs -- it only looks at their career performance in general. Rask has wiped out the Leafs THREE TIMES now in recent playoff memory. His performance has hurt the Leafs more than Scott Niedermayer, Lindros, or any other missed opportunity draft pick or traded star ever did to Toronto. It would be the equivalent of the Philadelphia Flyers trading draft pick Sidney Crosby to Pittsburgh and then being eliminated in the playoffs every year by the Penguins while Crosby scored hat tricks every game and won the Conn Smythe award. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yave1964 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Frustrating for Jackets fans as well: Two years ago they lost to the Penguins in the first round, the Pens won the cup. last year they lost to the Caps who won the cup, if the Bruins win this year it will be three cosnecutibe years losing to the eventual cup winner which I am sure happens on rare occasions but is damn frustrating. As mentioned about the Leafs at least you can say you lost to the cup champ but that doesn't go very far...... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radoran Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 4 hours ago, yave1964 said: at least you can say you lost to the cup champ but that doesn't go very far...... Wait, I thought losing to a Cup Finalist was a good sign? Shouldn't losing to three consecutive Cup winners be even better? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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