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2023-24 Toronto Maple Leafs General Discussion

Guilt Trip said:
herman said:
'Tis the season to experiment, but they really ought to include more people in their special teams meetings earlier in the season, otherwise you're stuck with Nylander as option #1 in an empty-net PK situation if Kampf takes a penalty while Marner/Jarnkrok are busted.
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McMann is starting to get looks on the PK. I think the addition of Dewar will help. I whould give Knies another look there. Would Tavares really be a bad option? Guy has amazing hands and is leading the league on FO%. He's taken 1 SH FO this season. Kampf is under 50%. The PK hasn't been great all year so agree, experiment away.
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Tavares has already lost the step he picked up in the offseason so I wouldn?t really give him more skating (lean into the offense for him).

Kampf, Holmberg, McMann, Dewar, Nylander, Matthews should all be in the mix. Let Knies focus on picking up PP because he?s a multi-tool threat.
 
herman said:
Guilt Trip said:
herman said:
'Tis the season to experiment, but they really ought to include more people in their special teams meetings earlier in the season, otherwise you're stuck with Nylander as option #1 in an empty-net PK situation if Kampf takes a penalty while Marner/Jarnkrok are busted.
Click to expand...
McMann is starting to get looks on the PK. I think the addition of Dewar will help. I whould give Knies another look there. Would Tavares really be a bad option? Guy has amazing hands and is leading the league on FO%. He's taken 1 SH FO this season. Kampf is under 50%. The PK hasn't been great all year so agree, experiment away.
Click to expand...

Tavares has already lost the step he picked up in the offseason so I wouldn?t really give him more skating (lean into the offense for him).

Kampf, Holmberg, McMann, Dewar, Nylander, Matthews should all be in the mix. Let Knies focus on picking up PP because he?s a multi-tool threat.
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Issue is Knies isn't used enough on the PP. Klingberg, 14 games, has more PP time then him this season. Same with Robertson who is 11 mins behind Knies. Timmins has more PP time then he does and he only played 16 games.
I think Knies would benefit from PKing. Same with Robertson. Give them more tools to be a more useful players. As for Tavares, I would only use him to try and win the draw and get off kind of thing.
I also think he needs to play Matthews more on the PK, who is our best forward in terms of PPGA/60.
 
Brad Treliving sat down with Chris Johnston during a break in the current GM meetings
https://theathletic.com/5352223/2024/03/19/maple-leafs-brad-treliving-ilya-samsonov-playoffs/

On Samsonov:
?I just think he?s a good goalie. He didn?t forget how to play,? said Treliving. ?He was going through a rough patch. It wasn?t like you?re like, ?Oh my God, his game?s no good.? You could tell a lot of the stuff was all mental.

?He was overthinking things. He was overcorrecting.?

?When you?re developing a goaltender, that?s where you should be playing,? said Treliving. ?When you?re an NHL goaltender, going to play in the American League, what?s that going to do? The only thing it can do is if he goes down there and struggles for the Marlies, now it?s an even worse problem. And it?s the hardest for a goalie; it?s a hard league to play in because it?s a little less structured. It?s more scrambly.

?He didn?t need to go play a bunch of games. He needed to clean up some stuff technically ? he can do that working on his own."
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On the deadline:
Treliving elected not to swing for the fences ahead of the March 8 trade deadline, sending out a series of mid- to late-round draft picks while acquiring depth pieces in defensemen Ilya Lyubushkin and Joel Edmundson, forward Connor Dewar and college prospect Cade Webber.

It wasn?t for a lack of trying to do something bold, he said, but more a reflection of the players available on the market and his desire to be mindful of protecting some of the organization?s best future assets if they couldn?t be spent on high-impact upgrades.
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On Internal Growth:
?I didn?t want to close a path for certain guys,? said Treliving. ?At training camp, I didn?t want to bring in some more guys. I wanted Bobby McMann to see where he could go. I wanted to see whether Nick Robertson really truly could grab this thing. I wanted Pontus Holmberg to see can he become (an NHLer)?

?So all of a sudden if you go add certain guys, that just limits their ability to do it, especially the guys that didn?t need waivers this year. You?re going to put them down and you?re going to probably have to wait a year to see if they could emerge.?
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On what comes next:
Treliving says he likes to use the period after the NHL trade deadline to get on the road and start laying the groundwork for the future of the organization, whether that be watching current Leafs prospects, draft-eligible players or college free agents.

He joked that there?s not much more he can do for the 2023-24 Leafs beyond drinking coffee and using a lot of profanity.
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Somewhat further to the Sportsnet article above Jason Siegel had one for the Athletic today that basically goes through how the Leafs still need to figure out:

1) what the defence pairings look like and specifically who Brodie plays with
2) how to get the powerplay back on track after an extended period of struggle
3) which goalie starts game 1 of the playoffs
4) the PK pairings both on defence and on forward
5) who plays on the top line with Matthews
6) who plays centre

Like I really can't remember a year where there was still this much to sort out a month before playoffs. This teams kind of a mess. But hey, if everything falls into place and clicks at the right time the skys the limit.
 
so-excited-i-love-mess.gif
 
It's ok guys, I've got the lines for the playoffs. Keefe can relax.

Domi - Matthews - Bertuzzi
Nylander - Tavares - Marner
Knies - Holmberg - McMann
Dewar - K?mpf - J?rnkrok

Extras: Reaves/Robertson/Gregor


Rielly - Lyubushkin
Benoit - McCabe
Edmundson - Liljegren

Extras: Brodie/Giordano/Timmins
 
From Paul Maurice yesterday on Kyper and Bourne. Mo is a great interview and was the only reason I watched it lol....I agree with Mo, Nylander is the key. I kinda hope Keefe puts Willy or JT on the 3rd line to spread it out.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/its-not-easy-how-keefe-and-maple-leafs-gave-panthers-maurice-fits/
 
Dappleganger said:
It's ok guys, I've got the lines for the playoffs. Keefe can relax.

Domi - Matthews - Bertuzzi
Nylander - Tavares - Marner
Knies - Holmberg - McMann
Dewar - K?mpf - J?rnkrok

Extras: Reaves/Robertson/Gregor


Rielly - Lyubushkin
Benoit - McCabe
Edmundson - Liljegren

Extras: Brodie/Giordano/Timmins
Click to expand...
3rd line is terribly weak. I would try Nylander with Jarnkrok and Holmberg kind of thing. Maybe run Willy at centre and have McMann on the other wing. Knies with the Tavares line. You can't cover 3 lines so someone is getting open. Willy would get some match ups that he could absolutely dominate and he'd had no problems carrying that line. They'd also be responsible defensively with Jarnkrok and Holmberg/McMann.

Having said that I fully expect Marner to go back with Matthews when he returns unless the line keep producing. Brodie is playing game 1 whether we like it or not and truth be told, we need him to do well because he's going to get matched up with the tough assignments because this D core is still missing a top pairing. Let's hope Keefe continues to rest him here and there and he can get it going again. Personally I'd rather try McCabe and Benoit as the top guys with Rielly Bush 2nd.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
I really wonder what kind of long-term deal you can get Domi signed for.
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If he's okay with his current salary and happy in Toronto, I wouldn't mind a 3x$3mil deal and give him some stability.
 
louisstamos said:
CarltonTheBear said:
I really wonder what kind of long-term deal you can get Domi signed for.
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If he's okay with his current salary and happy in Toronto, I wouldn't mind a 3x$3mil deal and give him some stability.
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Other than his ELC Domi's never signed a contract for longer than 2 years. That's pretty wild. I'd be fine even getting into the 4 or 5 year conversation if Domi will sign for a friendly AAV in return for finally having some stability in his career.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
Like I really can't remember a year where there was still this much to sort out a month before playoffs. This teams kind of a mess. But hey, if everything falls into place and clicks at the right time the skys the limit.
Click to expand...

I?ve genuinely not had lower expectations for the team for like a decade (obviously in the ?tank? years I didn?t have expectations but that was relative to the talent available on the roster).

And I?m actually ok with it. I feel like worst case scenario this year they match my low expectations and get swept in the first round. Anything better is a nice pleasant surprise. 
 
https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1771202997877358968
https://x.com/markhmasters/status/1771200392748994768
and here he is getting shredded by Matthews
 
Dappleganger said:
It's ok guys, I've got the lines for the playoffs. Keefe can relax.

Domi - Matthews - Bertuzzi
Nylander - Tavares - Marner
Knies - Holmberg - McMann
Dewar - K?mpf - J?rnkrok

Extras: Reaves/Robertson/Gregor


Rielly - Lyubushkin
Benoit - McCabe
Edmundson - Liljegren

Extras: Brodie/Giordano/Timmins
Click to expand...

Any Forchecker - Tavares - Marner

has to be a strong enough line.  If you aren't putting Nylander or Marner with Matthews then the Leafs need to get 3 good lines out of the deal, such as:

Domi - Matthews - Bertuzzi
X - Tavares - Marner
X - Holmberg - Nylander

X = Knies/Jarnkrok/McMann. (I'm wondering if Knies is actually the least of them at the moment)
 
princedpw said:
Dappleganger said:
It's ok guys, I've got the lines for the playoffs. Keefe can relax.

Domi - Matthews - Bertuzzi
Nylander - Tavares - Marner
Knies - Holmberg - McMann
Dewar - K?mpf - J?rnkrok

Extras: Reaves/Robertson/Gregor


Rielly - Lyubushkin
Benoit - McCabe
Edmundson - Liljegren

Extras: Brodie/Giordano/Timmins
Click to expand...

Any Forchecker - Tavares - Marner

has to be a strong enough line.  If you aren't putting Nylander or Marner with Matthews then the Leafs need to get 3 good lines out of the deal, such as:

Domi - Matthews - Bertuzzi
X - Tavares - Marner
X - Holmberg - Nylander

X = Knies/Jarnkrok/McMann. (I'm wondering if Knies is actually the least of them at the moment)
Click to expand...

I think you want a 2nd shooter target for Marner to feed passes to on that line so McMann could work there. Knies could fit nicely with Nylander and Holmberg. And a Kampf, Jankrok, Dewal and Robertson mixture on the 4th line really balances up the lineup. Id love to see that look.
 
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