bustaheims said:
cw said:
If the pendulum on fighting starts to swing back or 4th liners get hurt, he could be handy for depth.
Fighting isn?t going to swing back in any significant way. The league and the new blood being injected into front offices have moved on, and guys who can?t contribute beyond their fists or who are otherwise liabilities regardless of their willingness to hit people don?t have spots in the league anymore. There are also better 4th line options already in the organization. Simmonds was great for a while, but he doesn?t have enough to give to a team that has their eyes in the Cup.
That being said, by today?s standards, ZAR and NAK are both willing to drop the gloves enough to cover that aspect for the team.
Fights per game fell to .15 in '20 (I believe in part due to Covid - fighters didn't want to get infected)
But it previously bottomed in 2019 (without Covid) to .19 fights/game
In '21 it bounced back to .22.
https://www.hockeyfights.com/stats
https://www.onlinegambling.ca/sports-betting/hockey/nhl-hockey-fights.php#:~:text=Since%20then%2C%20fighting%20has%20declined,per%20cent%20from%202001%2D02.
In '22, it bounced back to .25.
https://www.hockeyfights.com/fightlog/1/reg2022/23
So there are statistical grounds to be concerned that the pendulum might be swinging back.
"Might be" is a key phrase. It will never get back to the high peak fighting years.
I just think it is justified to be vigilant and prepared.
Tampa was one of the top fighting teams last year so the Leafs tried to counter in part by dressing Simmonds & Clifford in the playoffs. Didn't work out but the Leafs noticed it. Previously, Dubas has been trying to toughen up the team some.
Nashville who may be surprisingly good this year (according to some), led the league with 59 fights last year. Fought in one of the games in Europe this year. Tampa was over 30 as were others.
Last year, the Leafs were towards the bottom with 12 fights and Holl, who had one of them, is the only Leaf who fought that is still on the Leafs roster this season.
Simmonds 6 fights last season matched Aston-Reese's career number of NHL fights and that was was one more fight than Aube-Kubel's career. According to Hockeyfights.com, Aston-Reese won 2 of 6 fights. Aube-Kubel was 2 for 5 with one of his victories against 179lb Brendan Leipsic. I watched videos of both of them fighting. They're game but not great.
We're about to add Malgin who is on the small side. We might add Robertson, who is also small. Kerfoot and Marner are on the smallish side too.
Bangers like Aube-Kubel and Aston-Reese, they tend to get hurt more.
I'm not a gigantic fan of fighting. I hope you are right. It favors the Leafs.
But if Simmonds clears waivers and he's willing to hang with the Marlies, I'd hang on to him.
