LuncheonMeat
New member
Guilt Trip said:
The way Boston is rolling now, I don't the Leafs are catching them, especially with the injuries on D. I'm just hopeful that the Bruins are peaking ahead of the playoffs.
2018-19 Toronto Maple Leafs - General Discussion
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
The way Boston is rolling now, I don't the Leafs are catching them, especially with the injuries on D. I'm just hopeful that the Bruins are peaking ahead of the playoffs.
Zee
Active member
LuncheonMeat said:
14-0-2, how the hell are they doing it? I don't ever remember a Leafs team getting on a crazy long points streak like we've seen from other teams. I know we can say they're peaking early but just once I would love to see the Leafs put together a roll like that.
Pastrnak was obviously holding them back. He should stay in the press box once healthy.
Zee
Active member
RedLeaf said:
The Leafs have never really been hot like that for an extended period of time. We've been steady, as evidenced by the 10-game chunk thread, but at no point have they gone on a crazy "points in 16 straight" super hot run like the Bruins are on right now. So the Leafs you can't say have ever "peaked" too early as that would imply they're playing so well and just always winning like Boston and/or Tampa seems to do with ease at the moment.
Zee said:
I hope Kadri gets on a roll when he comes back. He hasn't looked like himself out there prior to the concussion.
I think having full centre depth will really help.
Nylander - Matthews - Hyman
Marner - Tavares - Marleau
Kapanen - Kadri - Johnsson
Moore - Goat - Ennis
Crazy that Brown gets the boot here.
Deebo said:
Yeah, I didn't buy that line about 56 games for a second.
herman
Well-known member
https://theathletic.com/857743/2019/03/09/tulloch-why-trevor-moore-is-more-valuable-to-the-leafs-than-you-might-think/
You don't really need to read the above, as it basically distills down to, Trevor Moore is good for this team.
What it does prompt for me is a bit more of a nuanced discussion in how we assess our prospects, especially in the context of graduating them onto the Leafs. This first came up for me when we were predicting the lineups some 3 years ago and having a lot of Marlies plugging holes in the lineup being pooh-poohed as, whoa, slow your roll on these zero-experience players. For that most, part, yeah I was being aggressively optimistic (Seth Griffith
).
In general, if we see a player has hit 22 years old and hasn't ripped up the AHL in any significant way, that's a bust and you hope to move on with some net positive asset trade. I think what the current Leafs front office is doing that's different from previous ones, is they have the luxury of being (extra) patient with development due to having most of their core roles already filled.
A good number of Leafs roster roles are being filled by long-term dev projects that are finally bearing fruit that could have easily been written off years ago. Johnsson, Holl, Moore, Gauthier, Sparks are older players that were either drafted low or not at all and took awhile to get to the NHL. The Marlies are stocked with some D+3 (and more) who could also be Leafs today without much of a hiccup if required (Marchment, Rosen, Bracco, Timashov). Other than maybe Johnsson, none of them are going to supplant a core player on the Leafs, but can be affordable, in-house replacement players under a tight cap and Dubas has been working towards paying them as such.
It doesn't make sense to assess all our prospects the way we would a high draft pick, potential core option. We don't need to dismiss them offhand because they haven't crested 1PPG on the Marlies by 22. The road forward is to slot them onto the Leafs in a specific role when they temporarily peak for about 2-3 years, and then sell them high for more assets down the road.
You don't really need to read the above, as it basically distills down to, Trevor Moore is good for this team.
What it does prompt for me is a bit more of a nuanced discussion in how we assess our prospects, especially in the context of graduating them onto the Leafs. This first came up for me when we were predicting the lineups some 3 years ago and having a lot of Marlies plugging holes in the lineup being pooh-poohed as, whoa, slow your roll on these zero-experience players. For that most, part, yeah I was being aggressively optimistic (Seth Griffith
).In general, if we see a player has hit 22 years old and hasn't ripped up the AHL in any significant way, that's a bust and you hope to move on with some net positive asset trade. I think what the current Leafs front office is doing that's different from previous ones, is they have the luxury of being (extra) patient with development due to having most of their core roles already filled.
A good number of Leafs roster roles are being filled by long-term dev projects that are finally bearing fruit that could have easily been written off years ago. Johnsson, Holl, Moore, Gauthier, Sparks are older players that were either drafted low or not at all and took awhile to get to the NHL. The Marlies are stocked with some D+3 (and more) who could also be Leafs today without much of a hiccup if required (Marchment, Rosen, Bracco, Timashov). Other than maybe Johnsson, none of them are going to supplant a core player on the Leafs, but can be affordable, in-house replacement players under a tight cap and Dubas has been working towards paying them as such.
It doesn't make sense to assess all our prospects the way we would a high draft pick, potential core option. We don't need to dismiss them offhand because they haven't crested 1PPG on the Marlies by 22. The road forward is to slot them onto the Leafs in a specific role when they temporarily peak for about 2-3 years, and then sell them high for more assets down the road.
hockeyfan1
New member
This (older) article reinforces the point, basically that the Leafs (Dubas?) plan all along is to stay competitive which ultimately involves patience in player development, as well as hanging onto picks & prospects.
It just all fits in.
https://theathletic.com/837614/2019/02/25/mirtle-making-sense-of-kyle-dubas-quiet-trade-deadline-and-where-it-leaves-the-maple-leafs/
[tweet]1100386661593055232[/tweet]
It just all fits in.
https://theathletic.com/837614/2019/02/25/mirtle-making-sense-of-kyle-dubas-quiet-trade-deadline-and-where-it-leaves-the-maple-leafs/
[tweet]1100386661593055232[/tweet]
herman
Well-known member
Yeah, homegrown replacement players should be lighter cap hits than UFA filler, and they?ll have the benefit of familiarity with the systems etc. No big deal if one gets way too good and expensive: he is either traded for a lot or displaced another almost as good older player who can be traded for a lot.
Kin
New member
I don't think dismissing 22 year olds who haven't shown significant AHL growth is about any sort of lack of patience, it's about being realistic about historical development patterns for players at various ages. Keeping those guys around might save minimal amounts on the cap vs. getting the NHL guys who can be signed for a few hundred thousand over the minimum but the idea that it would lead to significant difference for the team in terms of strength doesn't wash.