bustaheims
Well-known member
That was very much a “I feel obligated to do this but I don’t really want to” handshake
2025-26 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
Joe S.
Moderator
I agree with you but I'll give Matthews credit for not saying anything at all one way or the other. I guess that's kind of a chicken shit way to do it but I think in balancing a political line and not giving a garbage quote to justify anything is kinda all we can hope for at this point.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH BBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
Matthews own mother is Mexican. Matthews himself has lived in Canada for almost 10 years. I'm sure he still loves his country and wants to take part in the tradition of championship teams visiting the White House and the President.
I would feel torn too not wanting to support Trump in anyway shape or form but also wanting to participate in the tradition.
I would feel torn too not wanting to support Trump in anyway shape or form but also wanting to participate in the tradition.
Guru Tugginmypuddah
Well-known member
At least he always knows what time it is.
It's definitely not an easy position to be inm He's the captain of the US team. If the men all declined then sure, but most of the team decided to go. Matthews I think would have to be there just to placate everyone and get the hell out.
bustaheims
Well-known member
Yeah, I mean there are 8 days till the deadline. You can't fire then hire a GM in that time to handle trading of assets. I guess you could, but I don't think it would go well.
Arn
Well-known member
Yeah.
I’m just a bit annoyed/sickened/disappointed they didn’t do it before the Olympic break then they’d have had a nice window to get a plan together.
herman
Well-known member
It could only work with an internal interim GM.
Rogers is unlikely to go that route, since Treliving’s longevity in previous roles was his ability to yes-man the ownership.
Well they have gotten goaltending, and Kucherov, Point, and Hedman are playing well. The team is skating and plays a fairly structured game. They skate hard.
I was thinking about this and here is how I see this. If you play a puck possession game, you lessen the impact of your goalie on the game, but because you are trying to take more shots than your opponent, or at least control the shot clock in this case, you are placing more importance on the opposing goaltender.
However, if you play more of a dump and chase, forecheck game, you are increasing the importance of your goalie, because you are going to open up your team to more chances against, but you lessen the impact to a degree of opposing goalie because you are forcing more chaos towards the opposing net, which is harder for goalies to deal with. This is what we have seen from the Leafs before last season, where they could get by with less than stellar goalkeeping, because they would be able to score more goals then they allowed because of the puck possession.
Now though, they really need Stolarz and Woll to step up and play amazing, because if they don't then the Leafs dump and chase style doesn't generate enough offense for them to outscore what they are letting in.
dappleganger
Well-known member
TB have a ppg d-man making $975k. It's a neat little trick.
Darren Raddysh is like Bobby McMann. Never drafted, but stuck with it.
Looking back over the years, why did the Leafs spends so many 1st and 2nd round picks on depth players that weren't going to be here long term when they could have just called up people from the farm?
Joe S.
Moderator
What I don't understand is how TB can blow 5 picks on Jeannot and have no consequences. They just keep rolling.
Because they can make a bad deal and know that they still have a base that can beat most teams day in and day out. Also, in there case, it's just one bad deal. With the Leafs, what we have seen is that they are hesitant to bring up people from the Marlies, so they deal futures for veterans to play today. Not a bad strategy, but it backfires when none of those players stick around long term, because now you don't have a player that you can move to recoup the futures. It's like bleeding water in a space craft. Eventually you will run out because the system isn't closed.
The Leafs have also had some really unfortunate things happen. Most teams don't have a player die like Rodion Amirov did. They just don't plan for it. He may not have amounted to much, or maybe he would have been awesome. Truly sad that his life was cut short so young.
Overall though, it just comes down to Tampa being a better run organization. Call a spade a spade. They develop and promote within, and when they make a trade, it is usually with a long term goal or fit in mind. Plus they have an awesome coach. The Leafs don't have any of those things. At this point, they need someone to come in and figure out how to put this team back together, and the need to start at the bottom with the prospect pipeline and then build back up. Hopefully they can do it in a timeline where Matthews and Nylander can still drive a team.
Yeah, it's weird. I liken this current iteration of the Leafs to the Kessel Leafs more. They have some talent, it looks like they should be competitive, but they are just horrible for some reason. The roster isn't that bad, but they just look so disjointed on the ice. It's like the opposite of the low skill team that just outworks the opponent. They are like the good team that just doesn't want to show up. Really perplexing.
When the Leafs miss the playoffs this year, I wonder how it will affect Matthews and Nylander. They have made the playoffs every year they have been in the league, and now they are going to miss. They got to start looking at the time they have left and start saying to themselves, how many more times am I going to be in the playoffs? If they have 10 years left (maybe, possibly, probably not), how many years are they going to play in the playoffs? Maybe 6? So they have 6 more kicks at the can to get a cup. I don't like their odds, and they should be kicking themselves for some of the wasted opportunities that they have had over the first nine years.