What Must Leafs Nation Be Thinking Right Now?

[GASabresIUFAN]

I said when they signed Tavares that they failed to fix their Achilles Heal by improving their defense.  I thought they had another opportunity to fix the D with the Nylander mess by trading him to get a real defender or two.  

Now they are looking at the Sabres who despite only a modicum of secondary scoring and 4 injuries on D are 1 pt ahead of them in the standings.  There must be some real hand ringing and hair pulling going on in Toronto.  After all how could this happen. 

They have to be looking at our roster and thinking that within a year or two we could be as nearly as deep offensively as they are as Casey, Tage and hopefully Nylander and or Olofssonn fully develop, yet with a younger roster.  However I like our D so much better now and in the future as Pilut and Dahlin develop.

Their top 6 D are

Rielly (a breakout star), Gardner (good O, lousy D), Hainsey (37 years old), Dermott (21 with 8 points), Zaitsev (can you say regression after getting a big contract) and Ozhiganov (who?). They have a total of 18 goals (10 by Reilly) and 64 assists (25 by Reilly).

We have rotated 7 guys who have produced 15g (no one over 3 goals) and 58a (Risto leads w 18).  I’d take Scandella, McCabe, and Bogo (when healthy) above anyone in their lineup except Reilly.     No one in Toronto’s lineup is overly physical.  Zaitsev is their most physical D.  None are close to Ristolainen or Bogosian.  Even Dahlin has laid more lumber then all but 2 Tor D.  Despite our more physical D group we are, Rielly excepted, as good offensively. Give Dahlin a year or two and he’ll be better then Rielly offensively as well. Frankly our D group is better built for the playoffs.

I’d also stack our goaltending up against Toronto’s.  I know people love Andersen.  He’s been solid for them and Sparks has surprisingly done the job as the backup.  Anderson carries a 2.55 gaa and Sparks a 2.84.  Hutton is at 2.54 and Linus 2.94.

As Babcock said, he knows now that each game with Buffalo is going to be a fight to the death.  However in the playoffs where goaltending a in zone defending is key, I like our chances in a 1st rd matchup with the Leafs.

 

Edited December 17, 2018 by GASabresIUFAN

[Doohicksie]

What is Leafs Nation thinking?  I think they saw the world the same way we did:  That their build is ahead of ours, and signing Tavares made it more so.

 

Heh.  Oopsie.

[LGR4GM]

More evidence we should use our 2 firsts this year and add depth. 

Keep in mind Toronto has Sandin, Liljegren, Druzi and Rasanen in the system on d. They have used 4 picks in the 1st and 2nd round on defense in the last 2 years. Interestingly all but 1 of them come from the OHL. Interestingly, only Rasanen is big. The rest are 5'11" or 6' ... honestly I only see 2 of them being NHL players unless Rasanen magically figures it out. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by LGR4GM

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

More evidence we should use our 2 firsts this year and add depth. 

Keep in mind Toronto has Sandin, Liljegren, Druzi and Rasanen in the system on d. They have used 4 picks in the 1st and 2nd round on defense in the last 2 years. Interestingly all but 1 of them come from the OHL. 

I agree, draft depth and keep it.  We have 4 first over the next two years and we should keep all of them.  

[Marions Piazza]

I don't think they are too worried about their defense and goaltending

Sabres 34 GP and 98 goals against

Leafs 33 GP and 93 goals against

They're also a +24 to our +7. I dont think the Sabres survive a playoff series with the Leafs this year.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Who invited this Marions guy anyway? (insert that winkie-winkie thingie right about here ----> .)

This is a bash The Great Satan thread.

Nuff said.

[Scottysabres]

42 minutes ago, Marions Piazza said:

I don't think they are too worried about their defense and goaltending

Sabres 34 GP and 98 goals against

Leafs 33 GP and 93 goals against

They're also a +24 to our +7. I dont think the Sabres survive a playoff series with the Leafs this year.

The reason 5hey are a +24 is because they spend a greater deal of time in the O zone then Buffalo does. As was pointed out, as secondary scoring for Buffalo comes on line, I like our chances in a series against the Leafs.

[Brawndo]

I see a Buffalo-Toronto Series going 4-2 or 4-3 in their favour. 

That being said, I just want to see a damn playoff series involving the Sabres. 

I also see them moving a forward Kapanen, Kadri or Nylander for a D Man around the draft. 

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

 We have 4 first over the next two years and we should keep all of them.  

1000% correct

[Marions Piazza]

19 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

The reason 5hey are a +24 is because they spend a greater deal of time in the O zone then Buffalo does. As was pointed out, as secondary scoring for Buffalo comes on line, I like our chances in a series against the Leafs.

i would like to see the actual break out, but, i couldnt find anywhere that can prove your theory about the Leafs playing more time in the other teams zone than the Sabres. As it sits, the Leafs are better offensively and defensively with more reliable secondary scoring. 

when will this secondary scoring come on line for us? were at like 40% of the season over and none of Sheary, Okposo, Mittlestadt, Thompson, P-ville, Sobotka is reliably scoring. 

[hsif]

It's gonna snow again, eh?

Hey.... hoser..... pass the all dressed chips, eh?

Kessel...... What a keener..... good to get rid of em, eh?

Where's the poutine....... and we need more milk in a bag, eh?

Gotta keep my mickey low...... lots of mounties, eh?

You see the Sabres last night......... Damn...... eh?

 

[Doohicksie]

hsif nailed it.

[Marions Piazza]

7 minutes ago, hsif said:

It's gonna snow again, eh?

Hey.... hoser..... pass the all dressed chips, eh?

Kessel...... What a keener..... good to get rid of em, eh?

Where's the poutine....... and we need more milk in a bag, eh?

Gotta keep my mickey low...... lots of mounties, eh?

You see the Sabres last night......... Damn...... eh?

 

nom nom nom, darn good chips right there

[Gatorman0519]

There is no question their Achilles heel is defense.  Buffalo was checking them into next week in the first meeting.  Florida checked them into oblivion the other day.  There is no way they should of signed Nylander IMO.  Their cap is going to be a big issue also.  Nylander was expendable and could of fetched picks/prospects/decent physical d-man. I don't think they win the cup this year even though offensively they are scary.   

[dudacek]

“Matthews versus Eichel is not even close - Auston is in McDavid’s tier and Eichel might not even be in tier two.

Marner is better than Eichel.

Nylander is better than Eichel

Reinhart is a bust

Skinner will walk

Leafs are so much better and they didn’t even tank

Ristolainen is terrible

The Sabres defence is terrible

Dahlin is pretty good, but he’s nothing special. Liljegren might be as good

Sabres won’t do anything until they get a goalie.”

 

You must not read the Internet ?

Edited December 17, 2018 by dudacek

[josie]

Def a bit of this back n forth across the border 

[PalmTreeMafia]

I think they are more concerned about Tampa Bay than us. Toronto's offense is looking so much better than ours right now that our advantage on defense won't matter. That could change, however, if Mittelstadt and Nylander reach their potential.

[GASabresIUFAN]

23 minutes ago, dudacek said:

“Matthews versus Eichel is not even close - Auston is in McDavid’s tier and Eichel might not even be in tier two.

Marner is better than Eichel.

Nylander is better than Eichel

Reinhart is a bust

Skinner will walk

Leafs are better and they didn’t even tank

Ristolainen is terrible

The Sabres defence is terrible

Dahlin is pretty good, but he’s nothing special. Liljegren might be as good

Sabres won’t do anything until they get a goalie.”

 

You must not read the Internet ?

The Leafs were better last year and might be this year, but they have sucked for the last 50 years therefore they didn't have to tank.

I try not to read to much of what Leafs nation has to say.  They are kind of delusional.

[Stoner]

I'm wringing my hands at some of these threads today.

[French Collection]

I'm surrounded by their fans, many of them are delusional and have no concept of the cap. They think they will get Pietrangelo, Doughty and every other Ontario guy now that they have a team. Their cap situation will not improve in the next year. I hope Arizona offers Matthews 16 million per season if the cap is north of $80 mil.

I try to watch as much of the Winninpeg stuff as I can because they are good and the Canadian media gives them minimal air time.

[Taro T]

Probably what they normally do:

Derp, derp, derp, eh? ;)

Which, oddly, is very similar to Bruins Nation:

Derp, derp, derp.  Wick-id piss-ah. :p

Edited December 17, 2018 by Taro T

[GASabresIUFAN]

I just re-read my first post and I forgot to put in what inspired the first post.  That is that the Leafs Nation woke up this morning in 3rd place in the Atlantic one point behind the Sabres (admittedly with a game in hand).  

I remember how much glee they showed when they signed Babcock, receive the first pick and "turned it around so quickly," while the TM lead Sabres struggled to get out of their own way.  Never mind that they had been drafting in the top 10 for the better part of the decade.   No the Leafs were back on top of the hockey world and all the surfs be damned.  

I wish I could find the chart the Toronto Sun made making fun of the Sabres, that was my last straw with the Leafs Nation.

[Crusader1969]

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I just re-read my first post and I forgot to put in what inspired the first post.  That is that the Leafs Nation woke up this morning in 3rd place in the Atlantic one point behind the Sabres (admittedly with a game in hand).  

I remember how much glee they showed when they signed Babcock, receive the first pick and "turned it around so quickly," while the TM lead Sabres struggled to get out of their own way.  Never mind that they had been drafting in the top 10 for the better part of the decade.   No the Leafs were back on top of the hockey world and all the surfs be damned.  

I wish I could find the chart the Toronto Sun made making fun of the Sabres, that was my last straw with the Leafs Nation.

try spending the day working with a handful of them! 

[North Buffalo]

Honestly I don’t care... but if you have to work around them..  I’d take every chance to dig them.  When I was in Washington I could get a half an hour argument with two words “Redskins Suck”.  Never said another word after that... but had a big smile my face the whole time...  Try... “Leafs Blow” and just walk away.

[Thorner]

Leafs nation? I watched the full episode of Hockey Central at Noon today, and the first half our was spent talking about Marner to the extent that I was convinced by the end of it that he'd be considered the second coming of Gretzky, if they didn't consider him better.

In Leafs nation, they woke up today supremely confident that Marner is better than Eichel, who while good, hasn't lived up to the hype or contract. Any upswing in play this year is due to Skinner, who's leaving in UFA anyways, so who cares.

With Marner cancelling Eichel out, they mentally move on to Matthews being unaccounted for, with all of Skinner's goals soon to be on the open market. Dahlin is really good but Reilly is Canadian, therefore he'll be better in the playoffs. Babcock is the best coach in the league and the Dubas is a wizard.