2022-23 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

[ZBBM]

Friedman quoted on MLHS, on Robertson:

    They have to know the kid is not happy. I want to be careful with this. There is a difference between being unhappy and being selfish. There are people who would look at this and say, ?The kid is being selfish because they are doing really well, and he is not happy with his ice time.? I think there is a difference.

    He is not going public. He is not complaining. I guarantee you that every day he has reporters going up to him and asking, ?How are you doing?? I am sure reporters are reaching out to his people asking, ?Are you unhappy here?? They have kept quiet.

    He wants to play. He wants to play hockey. I think Toronto knows that you are getting to a point here. They haven?t sent him back to the AHL. To me, there is a reason, and that reason is they realize that while playing is good, he is at the point where it is not really helping him anymore.

    I think we are getting to a point where, if they can?t find a spot for him, they know it?s probably time for him to go somewhere else. But it is not the time to bitch about that when the team is going really good. It is also a situation where, at times, you have to keep your mouth shut and let things work out organically. This is one of those times for him.

To me, if they get a good offer for him, I'd probably take it.  He isn't fitting in right now and I haven't seen anything from him that makes me think he's untouchable.

 

[Bender]

Friedman quoted on MLHS, on Robertson:

    They have to know the kid is not happy. I want to be careful with this. There is a difference between being unhappy and being selfish. There are people who would look at this and say, ?The kid is being selfish because they are doing really well, and he is not happy with his ice time.? I think there is a difference.

    He is not going public. He is not complaining. I guarantee you that every day he has reporters going up to him and asking, ?How are you doing?? I am sure reporters are reaching out to his people asking, ?Are you unhappy here?? They have kept quiet.

    He wants to play. He wants to play hockey. I think Toronto knows that you are getting to a point here. They haven?t sent him back to the AHL. To me, there is a reason, and that reason is they realize that while playing is good, he is at the point where it is not really helping him anymore.

    I think we are getting to a point where, if they can?t find a spot for him, they know it?s probably time for him to go somewhere else. But it is not the time to witch about that when the team is going really good. It is also a situation where, at times, you have to keep your mouth shut and let things work out organically. This is one of those times for him.

To me, if they get a good offer for him, I'd probably take it.  He isn't fitting in right now and I haven't seen anything from him that makes me think he's untouchable.

Jason Robertson sat out for a contract offer and he did just fine. They need to make a decision to either play him or send him to the minors, I agree, but it'll happen and it'll be fine. Elliott making it seem like this is the first time this kind of thing has ever happened. Shameful that the media is spinning this.

 

[L K]

It's also one of those stupid thought comments from Friedman

1) He says Robertson isn't saying anything about being unhappy
2) He says no-one from Robertson's camp is saying anything about being unhappy
3) He's saying the obvious that a hockey player would be unhappy not playing hockey

He's creating a story because it's the Leafs and this is what we like to do.  Things are going well so lets find conflict stories.  I really hate when Friedman starts delving into this nonsense.

 

[L K]

I'd say the team is overperforming somewhat.  Those colored bar graphs herman posted are pretty telling.

They've been getting excellent goaltending from their 2 starters, and above-average from the 3rd-stringer.  Sustainable?  Hmmmm

And truth be told, almost all the calls have been going our way lately. It's as if the hockey gods are feeling sorry for all those years they screwed us.

Definitely getting away with some stuff but overall I am pretty happy with their play.  Some of the higher danger scoring chances being given up can be written off as a decimated blueline and some score effects in games where the Leafs have honestly looked like the better team but have played prevent defense in the second half of games with a 2-3 game lead.  I know the fancy stats don't look as favourable on paper but I'm really not seeing that from the on ice games. 

First 10 games (October): 27GF 30GA  9 PPG/18 ESG  9 PPGA/21 ESGA
Next 15 games (November): 49GF 32GA  10 PPG/39 ESG  7 PPGA/25 ESGA

Last Year
First 9 games (October): 21GF 29GA  4 PPG/17 ESG    5 PPGA/24 ESGA
Next 14 games (November): 45GF 20GA  11 PPG/34 ESG  3 PPGA/17 ESGA

The Detroit game had the Leafs getting filled in (29.6% CORSI) but aside from the Leafs benefitting from Husso not being very good, score effects really drove the story of that game.  I never really felt like the Red Wings were winning that game. 

I'm all for having great possession numbers but I think the Leafs are playing a style this year that is less focused on just being a possession team and being more conscientious of giving their goalies good looks at the initial shots.  I'm not worried although we can't really bank on having 3 goals called back over and over again.

 

[herman]

https://www.pensionplanpuppets.com/2022/12/1/23487796/defenceman-usage-during-the-injury-disaster-maple-leafs
Katya analyzes the defense TOI allocation before and after.

I'll echo cw's "That is the sort of characteristic you would hope to see in a good playoff team."

The best teams have a strong identity and development system so when injuries pile up, it's next man up to plug and play, like Boston over the years, like Tampa Bay relatively recently, and Pittsburgh back in their most recent heights. Protect Giordano at all costs though. Like seriously.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

It's also one of those stupid thought comments from Friedman

1) He says Robertson isn't saying anything about being unhappy
2) He says no-one from Robertson's camp is saying anything about being unhappy
3) He's saying the obvious that a hockey player would be unhappy not playing hockey

He's creating a story because it's the Leafs and this is what we like to do.  Things are going well so lets find conflict stories.  I really hate when Friedman starts delving into this nonsense.

"Robertson won't turn this into a story, so I will. Find out more on 32, I mean, 18 Thoughts."

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

"Everything good here, nothing to report, have a good day" said no journalist ever. 

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1598706161708064769
Robertson in the top 6, Simmonds checking in against the Lightning

 

[Guilt Trip]

https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1598706161708064769
Robertson in the top 6, Simmonds checking in against the Lightning

Good. They need to play him and leave him there. Let's see what he can do.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1598710054873702401

Leafs need to be looking for a proper 3C way before they look to bring in another defenceman.

 

[herman]

Kampf and Aston-Reese split up for the first time this season, I think. Still with Engvall, so that line should be fine, albeit frustrating if the Leafs don't have the lead. It's set up like Keefe expects a bit of violence in the early goings and will shorten the bench but doesn't want to shuffle too much.

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1598710054873702401

Leafs need to be looking for a proper 3C way before they look to bring in another defenceman.

That would be #29, Pontus Pirate.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

That would be #29, Pontus Pirate.

I'm going to assume the Pontus Pirate hype train dies down a little bit once his shooting percentage inevitably drops from his current 33.3%.

The guy certainly has a future in the league, but for a team with legitimate Cup aspirations I think there's a lot of room for improvement in that line-up slot.

 

[herman]

https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1598727390485778446

 

[ZBBM]

That would be #29, Pontus Pirate.

I'm going to assume the Pontus Pirate hype train dies down a little bit once his shooting percentage inevitably drops from his current 33.3%.

The guy certainly has a future in the league, but for a team with legitimate Cup aspirations I think there's a lot of room for improvement in that line-up slot.

My parade ... you are raining on it, man.

 

[Bender]

That's a bad defense... but agreed we do need a proper 3C

 

[bustaheims]

That's a bad defense... but agreed we do need a proper 3C

It's not great, but once Brodie and Rielly are back, it looks a lot better. It's not the area I'd be focusing on making a big acquisition for at this point.

A 3C with a solid two-way game would be my target, for sure.

 

[dappleganger]

https://twitter.com/markhmasters/status/1598710054873702401

Leafs need to be looking for a proper 3C way before they look to bring in another defenceman.

If the Leafs take out Kerfoot and replace him with Malgin are they really losing that much?

 

[nutman]

Really!!!! Simmonds is in???.

 

[herman]

If the Leafs take out Kerfoot and replace him with Malgin are they really losing that much?

Kerfoot is third in TOI for the Leafs on the PK. We just lost Jarnkrok for at least two weeks, which is going to goose Engvall and Nylander's PK time upward, if not double-dipping Marner. Jarnkrok (11 face offs) was the backup faceoff guy after Kampf (110), so Kerfoot (12) and maybe Nylander (2) are going to have to take more, or Tavares will need to be air dropped in for FOGO.

Kampf 66:10 47W 63L
Marner 55:49 0W 0L
Kerfoot 43:10 5W 7L
Jarnkrok 39:54 7W 4L
Engvall 17:01 0W 1L
Nylander 5:22 0W 2L

Really!!!! Simmonds is in???.

Tampa Bay runs Nick Paul, Pat Maroon, and Corey Perry. While I'm inclined to just ignore them so they have no power, it's okay if a 4th liner is dedicated to throwing hands if needed, rather than Giordano.