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Implications of the Trade Deadline on the Leafs Playoff Chances

L K

L K

Active member
Montreal - Acquire Thomas Vanek, Mike Weaver
New York - Acquire Martin St.Louis for Ryan Callahan
Columbus - Trade Marian Gaborik for Matt Frattin, Add Nik Schultz
New Jersey - Acquire Tuomu Ruutu
Washington - Acquire Dustin Penner, Rostislav Klesla for Erat
Philadelphia - Acquire Andrew MacDonald
Ottawa - Acquire Ales Hemsky
Detroit - Acquire David Legwand

Columbus is really the only team that absolutely took a downgrade in talent.  Tampa takes a pretty big hit too, but that is offset somewhat by the return of Steven Stamkos.

Things aren't looking good for the Leafs right now.
 
Need to factor in that when a player changes teams it takes time for them to adjust to new systems and new linemates.  Sometimes they don't gel, but other times they do.  Time will tell.
 
L K said:
Columbus is really the only team that absolutely took a downgrade in talent.
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I question why Columbus made that trade, but they largely got to where they are right now without Gaborik. The momentum that they've been building in the past month or two shouldn't be hurt by the trade.
 
TML fan said:
Trades won't change the fact that the Leafs just play bad hockey.
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Well that's harsh.  Somehow the unorthodox traits have been sustainable and we are a win tonight for 3rd place in our division.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
L K said:
Columbus is really the only team that absolutely took a downgrade in talent.
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I question why Columbus made that trade, but they largely got to where they are right now without Gaborik. The momentum that they've been building in the past month or two shouldn't be hurt by the trade.
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Oh, absolutely.  They have looked great since the return of Horton and Bobrovski.
 
CarltonTheBear said:
I question why Columbus made that trade, but they largely got to where they are right now without Gaborik. The momentum that they've been building in the past month or two shouldn't be hurt by the trade.
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I think they saw an opportunity to add some assets without really impacting their lineup. Frattin's also a guy who will probably fit in well in their bottom 6. They may come out behind in overall talent, but, considering the negligible impact Gaborik has had on their season, I think they're a slightly better team than they were before the trades.
 
Better to have not traded at all than to make a bad one, right?  :P

Still, I would have liked an upgrade to the defense.  I really thought they might have dealt Kadri if the return was good enough.  I'm sure we'll be hearing all kinds of stories about Leafs near-trades that never happened.
 
Zanzibar Buck-Buck McFate said:
Still, I would have liked an upgrade to the defense.  I really thought they might have dealt Kadri if the return was good enough.  I'm sure we'll be hearing all kinds of stories about Leafs near-trades that never happened.
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If Nonis is to be believed, they could have had some decent draft picks in return for some of their guys, but, no "hockey deals" were really there. I think the Leafs are past the point of loading up on picks (especially since we're probably talking 2nd and 3rd rounders), so, probably for the best that nothing happened.
 
I'm not really surprised by the Leafs' decision to stand pat, but I'm a little disappointed. Up front, I don't think they need much help (well not anything they could realistically acquire at the deadline) especially if Bolland makes it back. The Leafs have the 2nd leading scorer in the NHL (in both points and goals) and they have 186 GF, so offense is not really a pressing need.

I am a little put off that they didn't feel the need to acquire another defenseman. The current defense group just doesn't work in my mind. They need another veteran on the blueline. Gleason was a good start, but a Robidas, or a Tallinder would have gone a long way to stabilizing the defense and it doesn't seem like the cost was terribly high.

I was high on Ranger and Franson to open the season but they haven't been able to get the job done and given that Nonis was reportedly in on Scuderi during free agency, I would have thought he would have agreed.
 
I too am not surprised the Leafs didn't do anything.  But seeing the prices on the majority of these guys, one can't help but think, "The Leafs could have easily beat that."  Being right against the cap obviously doesn't help.

I wonder how much play the Leafs had, or were willing to have, on their pending UFAs.  Will be interesting to see now what happens with a Kulemin or Bolland.
 
#1PilarFan said:
I'm not really surprised by the Leafs' decision to stand pat, but I'm a little disappointed. Up front, I don't think they need much help (well not anything they could realistically acquire at the deadline) especially if Bolland makes it back. The Leafs have the 2nd leading scorer in the NHL (in both points and goals) and they have 186 GF, so offense is not really a pressing need.

I am a little put off that they didn't feel the need to acquire another defenseman. The current defense group just doesn't work in my mind. They need another veteran on the blueline. Gleason was a good start, but a Robidas, or a Tallinder would have gone a long way to stabilizing the defense and it doesn't seem like the cost was terribly high.

I was high on Ranger and Franson to open the season but they haven't been able to get the job done and given that Nonis was reportedly in on Scuderi during free agency, I would have thought he would have agreed.
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Ignoring the team's cap restrictions, it would have been nice to see them make a move for Goc and Weaver.

One of the issues that's starting to surface and may become more  pressing down the stretch is that if Bolland is a no-go, the team is short a 3rd line center. There's always Holland at least.
 
I have no problems with no moves today by Leafs.  Team makes or breaks together, evaluate in the summer.
 
I think the leafs have little chance of making the playoffs.  Carlyle has a group that plays very poor positional hockey. 

With the road games coming up and the way they have came out of the break I think the leafs could go on one of their patented long losing streaks.  This isn't a good hockey team outside of the top line.

The Phanuef contract was short sighted and signing Clarkson was the kiss of death.  I think Nonis has been pretty bad overall.
 
lc9 said:
I think the leafs have little chance of making the playoffs.  Carlyle has a group that plays very poor positional hockey. 

With the road games coming up and the way they have came out of the break I think the leafs could go on one of their patented long losing streaks.  This isn't a good hockey team outside of the top line.

The Phanuef contract was short sighted and signing Clarkson was the kiss of death.  I think Nonis has been pretty bad overall.
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Wow. They've been sitting in a playoff spot for the entire season, and now with 19 to go your predicting the ol' 18 wheeler off the cliff again?
 
RedLeaf said:
Wow. They've been sitting in a playoff spot for the entire season, and now with 19 to go your predicting the ol' 18 wheeler off the cliff again?
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They were outside for a little while and they're really only a bubble team right now. It won't take an 18 wheeler going off a cliff to push them out. It'll take a bad week and a half.
 
The Leafs are going to have it it tough the rest of the way unless they play some of their best hockey.  Many of the teams vying for playoff spots did just that today -- shoring up some of their rosters via trades. The top teams already in top playoff form merely solidified themselves.

Let the race begin!

GO LEAFS GO!!
 
I don't think that the Leafs needed to make a deal, or even that a good deal was out there, but realistically they have to face that just about everyone they're fighting for a playoff spot improved and in some cases added a pretty significant piece.
 
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