Auston Matthews

[Redleaf]

Absolutely. Gardiner turns into a Norris-type defenseman next year,

Well, I already said I had doubts there.

they sign another end of year all-star team makin' defenseman in the off-season,

Well, no All Star UFAs, but Shattenkirk is pretty close. Check.

Rielly or someone turns into Seabrook

Zaitsev, I was thinking? Check.

and they add a HOF winger in his prime

Woah woah woah. Slow down.

That was after the 2008-09 season. So, after our 20017-18 season.

But Tavares will play wing. Check.

and they are right there with them.

Well, I think we have a better goalie than Chicago did for their first Cup.

Agreed. People need to let go of the notion that this team, as it stands now, is still miles and miles away from contention. Thats old school thinking. The 'rebuild' was a great success. This squad is way better than anything we could have hoped to have 2 seasons ago. The year isn't 1970 or 1980 something. Harold Ballard isn't pulling the strings.

The Leafs have a deep and talented cupboard of players and prospects, the most (and best) I can remember in my 40+ years of following the club. With another year of nurturing the kids, and a few tweaks on defense, there is no reason to believe the Leafs can't become one of the top teams in the league.

There's optimism and there is reality. The Reality of the situation is this club is already very good, and promises to get even better, perhaps much better. So yeah... probable cup contender in a few years?

Check.

Edit: If they can add a Tavares and a Shattenkirk without giving up one of Reilly, Gardiner, Zaitsev, Matthews, Marner or Nylander, then all bets are off. I'd put that team as a top-3 favorite to win the stanley sweepstakes. 

 

[mr grieves]

B. Leipsic ($850,000)          A. Matthews ($925,000)    K. Kapanen ($863,333)
W. Nylander ($6,000,000)    J. Tavares ($7,250,000)    C. Brown ($2,750,000)
J. Leivo ($900,000)              N. Kadri ($4,500,000)        M. Marner ($894,167)
B. Boyle ($3,000,000)          F. Gauthier ($975,000)      S. Griffith ($1,000,000)
Z. Hyman ($1,250,000)        M. Martin ($2,500,000)

M. Rielly ($5,000,000)          K. Shattenkirk ($7,250,000)
J. Gardiner ($4,050,000)      N. Zaitsev ($4,500,000)
T. Dermott ($894,167)        C. Carrick ($2,000,000)
A. Marchenko ($925,000)

F. Andersen ($5,000,000)
A. Bibeau ($925,000)

BUYOUTS
M. Grabovski ($0)

DETAILS
Roster Size: 23
NHL Salary Cap: $80,000,000
Cap Hit: $65,401,667
Cap Space: $14,598,333
(plus Horton's LTIR till 2020-21)

 

[Redleaf]

Nice to see the numbers support the possibility.  ;D

 

[lamajama]

Until all the rooks need to be re-signed, then not so much.

 

[Kin]

Well, I already said I had doubts there.

Well, it's not like Keith played a major role or anything.

Well, no All Star UFAs, but Shattenkirk is pretty close. Check.

Shattenkirk is definitely a top 5 defenseman on the St. Louis Blues.

Regardless, I can't think of a single instance of a much hyped free agent who didn't end up signing with the Leafs. So check? More like check-mate!

Zaitsev, I was thinking? Check.

See that? I was thinking Dermott. Two Seabrooks! Makes you wonder what they do when JD Greenway becomes their third!

That was after the 2008-09 season. So, after our 20017-18 season.

But Tavares will play wing. Check.

If he's not going to take on the workload of playing centre I really think he shouldn't expect a crazy 7.25 cap hit. I think if he really wants to be a Leaf he should be happy with 5.25. We're going to need cap space to sign all these Seabrooks!

Well, I think we have a better goalie than Chicago did for their first Cup.

At which point I really think we should start talking about whether or not we wear a 5th cup ring on the thumb or we use both hands.

 

[Kin]

I think after seeing what Matthews has done this year there really ought to be a moratorium on people talking about the "pressure" of playing in this market and how intimidating it can be.

Accept Matthews would be an exception to the rule.

Except I don't think there is a rule. Accept that. 

 

[mr grieves]

At which point I really think we should start talking about whether or not we wear a 5th cup ring on the thumb or we use both hands.

Good. We're agreed. There's gonna be so much winning that we're gonna make the 76-79 Habs look like a bunch of losers.

 

[Kin]

Good. We're agreed. There's gonna be so much winning that we're gonna make the 76-79 Habs look like a bunch of losers.

You're thinking small. Think 1960's Boston Celtics, 1920's New York Yankees or the Mongol Hordes of 13th century.

The real question is whether or not the parade route will conflict with all of the city's massive, practical and on-budget subway expansions.

 

[Redleaf]

I think after seeing what Matthews has done this year there really ought to be a moratorium on people talking about the "pressure" of playing in this market and how intimidating it can be.

Accept Matthews would be an exception to the rule.

Except I don't think there is a rule. Accept that.

I'd ask that you accept my apologies for my grammar, except I don't care.

 

[Zee]

Right on pace for 40 goals, man I hope he reaches it.  He's already had a fantastic season but hitting 40 would be a huge mark, just not done very frequently by many players anymore let alone a 19 year old.

 

[LuncheonMeat]

I hope everyone will please forgive me for posting part of a Simmons article. It's a story he posted this morning about Matthews. There was a quote from Don Granato, who coached him in the USDP, that makes me feel all warm and happy.

Granato saw this coming. He just didn?t want to say it on the record. He figured Matthews would be under enough pressure to begin with in Toronto.

?The hardest thing for me was to keep my mouth shut,? Granato said. ?I wanted to talk about how great the kid was but I never thought it would be fair to put that on the kid. Any time you do that that?s added expectations. So I bit my tongue a lot.

?I remember calling (my brother) Tony and I said, ?I have a kid who?s going to be the next Crosby, as good as Crosby.? And he said, ?Are you out of your mind? You?ve only had the kid for nine or 10 days.? And I said, ?This one?s different. Believe me.?

?You?re not seeing his ceiling even. I?ve had a lot of first-round picks who I?ve coached over the years and every one of them has a ceiling. This guy was the first guy I coached and it was oh my God, there is no ceiling here.?

 

[herman]

There is no ceiling...

 

[Zee]

I hope everyone in that article is correct.  I never dreamed the Leafs would draft a player this good.

 

[disco]

Good find LuncheonMeat. Good on Granato, nice that he didn't want to raise expectations, instead letting people see it for themselves. That's a guy that has his players' best interest at heart. I think one of the reasons there's no ceiling on AM is the maturity level. The hands are there. The skating is there. The body's there. I see him just absorbing all the NHL experience and coaching he's offered. And the ice time will continue to rise.

 

[Highlander]

There is no ceiling...

Infinite talent, nice!

 

[mr grieves]

The ceiling is Hyman.

[11:51] Hyman with the most Hyman shift of all time. Chases a dump in, recovers the puck between two Kings, passes it back to Matthews. Eventually Nylander finds him literally all alone in front of the net, but he slips and can?t get hold of the puck. Chance wasted.

PPP on LAK game.

Meanwhile, Leivo scratched on the second night of a back to back.

 

[princedpw]

The ceiling is Hyman.

[11:51] Hyman with the most Hyman shift of all time. Chases a dump in, recovers the puck between two Kings, passes it back to Matthews. Eventually Nylander finds him literally all alone in front of the net, but he slips and can?t get hold of the puck. Chance wasted.

PPP on LAK game.

Meanwhile, Leivo scratched on the second night of a back to back.

Yeah.  My conjecture is that Babcock has been trying to develop Hyman. To do that, he needs ice time over a long stretch of time.  Still, it is hard to get around the fact that he has the hands of a classic 4th liner.

 

[mr grieves]

The ceiling is Hyman.

[11:51] Hyman with the most Hyman shift of all time. Chases a dump in, recovers the puck between two Kings, passes it back to Matthews. Eventually Nylander finds him literally all alone in front of the net, but he slips and can?t get hold of the puck. Chance wasted.

PPP on LAK game.

Meanwhile, Leivo scratched on the second night of a back to back.

Yeah.  My conjecture is that Babcock has been trying to develop Hyman. To do that, he needs ice time over a long stretch of time.  Still, it is hard to get around the fact that he has the hands of a classic 4th liner.

Yeah, at some point, the sculptor's gotta realize the material is what it is.

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[L K]

Hyman is Matthews Hoglund.  Decent player who is not really appropriate for the leve of talent of the Center he plays with.

 

[disco]

Hyman is Matthews Hoglund.  Decent player who is not really appropriate for the leve of talent of the Center he plays with.

Nicely done. Eventually when all our picks come up AM will have the lineys he deserves.