2023 Training Camp Thread
- Thread starter herman
- Start date
cabber24 said:
Not sure that number is super worth being concerned about. Looking at David Alter's line combination tracker from last season Tavares started 78 of his 80 games last season with one of Nylander or Marner on his wing. So those 100-ish minutes are based off 2 games plus a spattering of random shifts throughout the year. Just like Nylander needs time to become comfortable at C before we make a decision there Tavares also needs some time to gel with new linemates.
And like others have said though if Nylander is good enough to play centre (which yes might be a big if right now) it'll probably be him who eventually settles into the teams "2C" spot. So Tavares might not have the all-star wingers he's used to playing with but he'll be seeing pretty radically different competition for the first time in his career also.
CarltonTheBear said:
Anyone care to guess which forward has pretty well been compromised going into just about every playoff since he's become a Leaf, I wonder if useless things like shot blocking might be a significant factor in the constant injury problems.
As far as spreading out the talent on 3 separate lines, the idea seems plausible except if the team doesn't have enough talent to compliment the superior player on each line. The opposing team will be able to target the better player if his linemates don't also have the talent to somewhat carry on without the superior player.
Another option I think would be to stack a line, much like Boston had with Bergeron, Pastrnak and Marchand. In the past Keefe would put Matthews, Marner and JT together for 1 or 2 shits if TO was behind, why not put them together to establish and maintain a lead? I don't know how many ineffective games the top 4 forwards have played when only 2 of them are on 2 separate lines, that ineffectiveness has seemed very pronounced in the playoffs. Keefe obviously is not a fan of this as he's never allowed a line like the one I've mentioned stay together for any true length of time, I would think that a line comprised of 3 of TO's top 4 forwards might only need to be together enough to establish a rhythm/cohesiveness that might make them far more effective, far more often.
I like that some thought is being given to the idea of MM, WN and AM Pking, I think it might have tremendous possibilities, I'll be surprised that spreading out the superior talent will be as effective. Pitts did the spreadout in the playoffs with Kessel, Malkin and Crosby and they won the Cup, I don't consider TO's superior talent in the same level as Pitts and they only did this in the playoffs, 20 games not 80 plus.
herman
Well-known member
https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1706681274042118562
Group 1 is scheduled to be loaned back to their Junior or AHL squads. The prove otherwise group.
Group 2 is the Leafs with a couple of extra looks for Cowan, Gregor, Robertson, Knies, and Timmins.
I could very much prefer a 4th line of Gregor-Kampf-Lafferty
Again, Jarnkrok is not in the picture... so he must be injured. He was at practice on the 23rd. Or maybe they gave him a birthday weekend.
Edit:
https://x.com/leafspr/status/1706708838747947402
Group 1 is scheduled to be loaned back to their Junior or AHL squads. The prove otherwise group.
Group 2 is the Leafs with a couple of extra looks for Cowan, Gregor, Robertson, Knies, and Timmins.
I could very much prefer a 4th line of Gregor-Kampf-Lafferty
Again, Jarnkrok is not in the picture... so he must be injured. He was at practice on the 23rd. Or maybe they gave him a birthday weekend.
Edit:
https://x.com/leafspr/status/1706708838747947402
Gregor, Timmins, Cowan, Lagesson, and Robertson among the fringe players left in the NHL group.
Worth noting that with 11 forward spots, 6 defence spots, and 2 goalie spots seemingly locked in there's only room on the roster/cap sheet for 1 more of those players. That's likely Gregor unless the Leafs go with 11-7 to keep Timmins on the roster.
That's of course assuming Jarnkrok's healthy.
Worth noting that with 11 forward spots, 6 defence spots, and 2 goalie spots seemingly locked in there's only room on the roster/cap sheet for 1 more of those players. That's likely Gregor unless the Leafs go with 11-7 to keep Timmins on the roster.
That's of course assuming Jarnkrok's healthy.
https://twitter.com/dalter/status/1706737315362615668
A Jarnkrok update. Does day-to-day turn into week-to-week and then LTIR?
A Jarnkrok update. Does day-to-day turn into week-to-week and then LTIR?
Four options for keeping Timmins:
Option 1 is probably the most likely as things stand, even if it's just a temporary measure.
Option 2 is a tough one. For all the (deserved) criticism Giordano took during the playoffs he was a solid defenceman for us last season, especially considering he had to essentially replace Muzzin for most of it. Looking at this objectively though losing Timmins over Gio doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly when you consider Timmins can be a long-term asset and this is almost certainly Giordano's final season in the NHL. Looking at it emotionally though, that's a tough thing to do to a well-liked veteran. Team also goes down a PK defender and forces Timmins or Klingberg to take on minutes if anyone else is in the box.
Option 3 seems to be the default armchair GM move and I get why but losing Jarnkrok would really put a massive dent into our teams overall defence and with Willy at C (which obviously isn't guaranteed yet) it makes our wing depth even weaker. Robertson stepping up could alleviate that 2nd concern at least.
| 1) Start the season with 11/7 line-up: Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner Knies-Tavares-Lafferty Domi-Nylander-Jarnkrok Kampf-Reaves Rielly-Brodie McCabe-Klingberg Giordano-Liljegren Timmins Samsonov Woll $302,717 cap space | 2) Waive Giordano instead of Timmins: Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner Knies-Tavares-Lafferty Domi-Nylander-Jarnkrok Gregor-Kampf-Reaves Rielly-Liljegren McCabe-Klingberg Brodie-Timmins Samsonov Woll $327,717 cap space |
3) Make a trade. Jarnkrok is the only reasonable option here as moving Lafferty would not open up enough cap space: Bertuzzi-Matthews-Marner Knies-Tavares-Robertson Domi-Nylander-Lafferty Gregor-Kampf-Reaves Rielly-Brodie McCabe-Klingberg Giordano-Liljegren Timmins Samsonov Woll $831,050 in cap space | 4) LTIR? Obviously don't want to hope for an injury but if something comes up before the end of training camp that puts a higher salary guy on LTIR for 4 weeks that could at least delay the decision for awhile. |
Option 1 is probably the most likely as things stand, even if it's just a temporary measure.
Option 2 is a tough one. For all the (deserved) criticism Giordano took during the playoffs he was a solid defenceman for us last season, especially considering he had to essentially replace Muzzin for most of it. Looking at this objectively though losing Timmins over Gio doesn't make a lot of sense, particularly when you consider Timmins can be a long-term asset and this is almost certainly Giordano's final season in the NHL. Looking at it emotionally though, that's a tough thing to do to a well-liked veteran. Team also goes down a PK defender and forces Timmins or Klingberg to take on minutes if anyone else is in the box.
Option 3 seems to be the default armchair GM move and I get why but losing Jarnkrok would really put a massive dent into our teams overall defence and with Willy at C (which obviously isn't guaranteed yet) it makes our wing depth even weaker. Robertson stepping up could alleviate that 2nd concern at least.