Maple Leafs Training Camp 2024-25 Thread

[cw]

https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1842989605202833620

Both cleared.

Anaheim claims Reimer
Vancouver (re)claims Patera
Columbus claims Aston-Reese
Vegas claims Schwindt & Lavoie
Everyone else clears

Korpisalo > Bussi
That might sting Bussi this summer when he becomes a UFA
But the league apparently agrees

Martin Jones seems still unsigned, with no PTO. Retiring?

I'm glad Murray and Rifai cleared

They've got good depth in goal
Minten & Grebenkin provide quality waivers exempt depth
Rifai helps the dman depth.

And they have at least 1 forward plus Liljegren as trade assets to improve their center depth if Holmgren doesn't impress.

This looks like a pretty good and deep team.

 

[cw]

https://twitter.com/jtbourne/status/1843350511510270055

GM wants to see Nylander at centre. Coach who is trying to not get fired/get hired by the GM says "yeah, yeah, I'll try". Everyone swears up and down that a legitimate attempt will be made, saying that it would be stupid to give up the experiment after 2 games. Experiment ends after 2 (preseason) games.

That flip-flop development would make a bunch of sense if they had an agreement to pull the trigger on a trade for a center - or concluded after reviewing what they had that they had enough free assets that they were confident that they could do such a thing.

 

[cabber24]

I don't think the lines will stick. I still think they need to spread the core 4 over 3 lines. I don't think the Marner/Mattews duo is necessary. Both play great two-way games, spread them out.

Lily will work his way back into the lineup. He has a lot more to give. I believe his ceiling is higher than Timmins' and Benoit's. I don't like the Benoit/Timmins pairing.

I hope Holmberg surprises. He's got some decent wingers to work with.

 

[cw]

I don't think the lines will stick. I still think they need to spread the core 4 over 3 lines. I don't think the Marner/Mattews duo is necessary. Both play great two-way games, spread them out.

Marner and Domi are distributors of the puck. One is good defensively. One isn't so good.
The Selke candidates might be more effective defensively on different lines

Lily will work his way back into the lineup. He has a lot more to give. I believe his ceiling is higher than Timmins' and Benoit's. I don't like the Benoit/Timmins pairing.

Take a look at the structure of Liljegren's contract:
https://puckpedia.com/player/timothy-liljegren
$2.4 mil signing bonus paid July 1 of his $3 mil for this season.
How is that not in neon lights "We are trading you to a bottom feeder who wants a $3 mil cap hit for $600,000" ?

He doesn't hit the profile of a big dman that Treliving & Berube seem to like.

He never seemed to have a chance. He's not likely to get it with them carrying 7 other D along with Hakanpaa on LTIR
They probably barely played him to avoid an injury hanging a trade deal up.

They're going to need space when Hakanpaa & Jarnkrok return. If some of their D don't get hurt, they can move him to a team who needs a D due to injuries.

That remains my speculation.

 

[cabber24]

I don't think the lines will stick. I still think they need to spread the core 4 over 3 lines. I don't think the Marner/Mattews duo is necessary. Both play great two-way games, spread them out.

Marner and Domi are distributors of the puck. One is good defensively. One isn't so good.
The Selke candidates might be more effective defensively on different lines

Lily will work his way back into the lineup. He has a lot more to give. I believe his ceiling is higher than Timmins' and Benoit's. I don't like the Benoit/Timmins pairing.

Take a look at the structure of Liljegren's contract:
https://puckpedia.com/player/timothy-liljegren
$2.4 mil signing bonus paid July 1 of his $3 mil for this season.
How is that not in neon lights "We are trading you to a bottom feeder who wants a $3 mil cap hit for $600,000" ?

He doesn't hit the profile of a big dman that Treliving & Berube seem to like.

He never seemed to have a chance. He's not likely to get it with them carrying 7 other D along with Hakanpaa on LTIR
They probably barely played him to avoid an injury hanging a trade deal up.

They're going to need space when Hakanpaa & Jarnkrok return. If some of their D don't get hurt, they can move him to a team who needs a D due to injuries.

That remains my speculation.

They could of just not signed him.

 

[Joe S.]

They could have just not signed him.

How is that good asset management?

 

[Bender]

They could have just not signed him.

How is that good asset management?

I heard an argument then why aren't they trading him, because this tanks his value.

I don't know if we should be playing players the coach doesn't believe in for the sole purpose of hoping the player's stock rises enough for a trade, especially this early in the season when you know you're going to get injuries.

 

[cw]

I don't think the lines will stick. I still think they need to spread the core 4 over 3 lines. I don't think the Marner/Mattews duo is necessary. Both play great two-way games, spread them out.

Marner and Domi are distributors of the puck. One is good defensively. One isn't so good.
The Selke candidates might be more effective defensively on different lines

Lily will work his way back into the lineup. He has a lot more to give. I believe his ceiling is higher than Timmins' and Benoit's. I don't like the Benoit/Timmins pairing.

Take a look at the structure of Liljegren's contract:
https://puckpedia.com/player/timothy-liljegren
$2.4 mil signing bonus paid July 1 of his $3 mil for this season.
How is that not in neon lights "We are trading you to a bottom feeder who wants a $3 mil cap hit for $600,000" ?

He doesn't hit the profile of a big dman that Treliving & Berube seem to like.

He never seemed to have a chance. He's not likely to get it with them carrying 7 other D along with Hakanpaa on LTIR
They probably barely played him to avoid an injury hanging a trade deal up.

They're going to need space when Hakanpaa & Jarnkrok return. If some of their D don't get hurt, they can move him to a team who needs a D due to injuries.

That remains my speculation.

They could of just not signed him.

And lost him for nothing ...

They bought themselves a draft pick or prospect or maybe part of a deal for a 3rd line center.
He has some asset value.

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

When Rielly was suspended for a few games I thought Liljegren stepped up his play.  Soon as Rielly was back he regressed again. 

Maybe a change of scenery would be good for him. 

 

[cabber24]

I don't think the lines will stick. I still think they need to spread the core 4 over 3 lines. I don't think the Marner/Mattews duo is necessary. Both play great two-way games, spread them out.

Marner and Domi are distributors of the puck. One is good defensively. One isn't so good.
The Selke candidates might be more effective defensively on different lines

Lily will work his way back into the lineup. He has a lot more to give. I believe his ceiling is higher than Timmins' and Benoit's. I don't like the Benoit/Timmins pairing.

Take a look at the structure of Liljegren's contract:
https://puckpedia.com/player/timothy-liljegren
$2.4 mil signing bonus paid July 1 of his $3 mil for this season.
How is that not in neon lights "We are trading you to a bottom feeder who wants a $3 mil cap hit for $600,000" ?

He doesn't hit the profile of a big dman that Treliving & Berube seem to like.

He never seemed to have a chance. He's not likely to get it with them carrying 7 other D along with Hakanpaa on LTIR
They probably barely played him to avoid an injury hanging a trade deal up.

They're going to need space when Hakanpaa & Jarnkrok return. If some of their D don't get hurt, they can move him to a team who needs a D due to injuries.

That remains my speculation.

They could of just not signed him.

And lost him for nothing ...

They bought themselves a draft pick or prospect or maybe part of a deal for a 3rd line center.
He has some asset value.

Which is it? He sucks or he's a good developing RHD? I think the latter and that he should be playing. Timmins/Benoit? I don't get it.

 

[bustaheims]

I heard an argument then why aren't they trading him, because this tanks his value.

I don't know if we should be playing players the coach doesn't believe in for the sole purpose of hoping the player's stock rises enough for a trade, especially this early in the season when you know you're going to get injuries.

Also, not playing him for a few games at the beginning of the season doesn't really impact his trade value. Once it became clear the Leafs were looking to move him - which was becoming pretty evident around the draft - and added a number of defencemen to push him down the depth charts, his value became pretty set until either a longer stretch of games were played. If we're getting into November, and he still isn't playing regularly, that's when it starts to have a real impact. But at the very beginning of the season? Things are so fluid with lineups for the first couple weeks and results are often really fluky, the needle on player value doesn't shift dramatically. He's still worth whatever teams were offering for him in July - which, evidently, has so far not been enough for the Leafs to come to an agreement on a trade. That could change - not his actually value, but the team's perception of his value, which has more to do with their own needs (in this case, their potential cap situation) than anything else.

 

[CarltonTheBear]

Which is it? He sucks or he's a good developing RHD? I think the latter and that he should be playing. Timmins/Benoit? I don't get it.

I wouldn't read too much into a game 1 scratch. McMann should be playing over a number of people too. Him being scratched doesn't mean he sucks either. It feels like a clear message about the importance of having a great camp more than those guys being the legitimate 7D or 13F. I'm sure Lily will get into the line-up sooner rather than later.

 

[cabber24]

Which is it? He sucks or he's a good developing RHD? I think the latter and that he should be playing. Timmins/Benoit? I don't get it.

I wouldn't read too much into a game 1 scratch. McMann should be playing over a number of people too. Him being scratched doesn't mean he sucks either. It feels like a clear message about the importance of having a great camp more than those guys being the legitimate 7D or 13F. I'm sure Lily will get into the line-up sooner rather than later.

Yes, you're right, depth is a good thing. We will see both McMann and Lily this season.

I thought he took off with Reilly out and there was no turning back but that was short-lived and in my opinion, it had more to do with the coach's player allocation than his play.

 

[cw]

Which is it? He sucks or he's a good developing RHD? I think the latter and that he should be playing. Timmins/Benoit? I don't get it.

So they play him ...

"Oh, my knee is sore ..."

ugh

We see teams pull guys at the trade deadline so an injury doesn't stop the deal.

They need cap relief as the players are likely to come off LTIR pretty soon.

Secondly, if he's not in their plans, why not give the ice time to someone who is in their plans?
The ice time for Timmins or Myers help the Leafs. Ice time for a guy they are trading - doesn't help the team so much. GMs acquiring him would understand that. GMs would also understand his salary structure and lack of preseason ice time is indictive of them making up their minds on him some time ago. Treliving knows it devalues him some but he'll go to the highest bidder.

 

[cw]

Which is it? He sucks or he's a good developing RHD? I think the latter and that he should be playing. Timmins/Benoit? I don't get it.

I wouldn't read too much into a game 1 scratch. McMann should be playing over a number of people too. Him being scratched doesn't mean he sucks either. It feels like a clear message about the importance of having a great camp more than those guys being the legitimate 7D or 13F. I'm sure Lily will get into the line-up sooner rather than later.

Yes, you're right, depth is a good thing. We will see both McMann and Lily this season.

I thought he took off with Reilly out and there was no turning back but that was short-lived and in my opinion, it had more to do with the coach's player allocation than his play.

I posted that I thought he played well when Rielly was suspended too.
I don't mind him. I have mixed feelings about them dumping him - worrying that they're giving up too soon.
But the shift seems to be on to put more meat into the lineup to help them physically in the playoffs.

 

[ZBBM]

https://twitter.com/LeafsPR/status/1843366647824036136
Alas

London has basically all their top players returning and a year older from their OHL championship winning team last season. Cowan, Barkey, Dickinson, and Bonk are going to go nuts there this season. Wouldn't shock me if they did something crazy like scooping up Quentin Musty too.

I get that the NHL doesn't want to to undermine the CHL but I still say that each teac ought to have the option of naming somebody like Cowan "exceptional" (perhaps no more than once every three years) so he can go play in the AHL.  Include a nice payoff to the junior team.

 

[cabber24]

Which is it? He sucks or he's a good developing RHD? I think the latter and that he should be playing. Timmins/Benoit? I don't get it.

I wouldn't read too much into a game 1 scratch. McMann should be playing over a number of people too. Him being scratched doesn't mean he sucks either. It feels like a clear message about the importance of having a great camp more than those guys being the legitimate 7D or 13F. I'm sure Lily will get into the line-up sooner rather than later.

Yes, you're right, depth is a good thing. We will see both McMann and Lily this season.

I thought he took off with Reilly out and there was no turning back but that was short-lived and in my opinion, it had more to do with the coach's player allocation than his play.

I posted that I thought he played well when Rielly was suspended too.
I don't mind him. I have mixed feelings about them dumping him - worrying that they're giving up too soon.
But the shift seems to be on to put more meat into the lineup to help them physically in the playoffs.

Timothy's weight changed from 190 lbs to 201 lbs from last year to this season. I hope it's a healthy weight gain. There was some dialogue that his weight change was a good thing. Anyway, I am optimistic that he will earn and keep a spot on this roster.

 

[cw]

I posted that I thought he played well when Rielly was suspended too.
I don't mind him. I have mixed feelings about them dumping him - worrying that they're giving up too soon.
But the shift seems to be on to put more meat into the lineup to help them physically in the playoffs.

Timothy's weight changed from 190 lbs to 201 lbs from last year to this season. I hope it's a healthy weight gain. There was some dialogue that his weight change was a good thing. Anyway, I am optimistic that he will earn and keep a spot on this roster.

He improved his fitness too trying to reduce mental errors when he started to run out of gas.
So that was a healthy weight gain that a lot of the team seemed to try to do for this coach.
But he didn't seem to get much of a chance - like their minds were made up before he arrived for camp (or when they did his big signing bonus).
I'm positive he can play in this league. I suspect he can still potentially be a top 4.
But it doesn't appear likely to be with this team.

 

[Bender]

I posted that I thought he played well when Rielly was suspended too.
I don't mind him. I have mixed feelings about them dumping him - worrying that they're giving up too soon.
But the shift seems to be on to put more meat into the lineup to help them physically in the playoffs.

Timothy's weight changed from 190 lbs to 201 lbs from last year to this season. I hope it's a healthy weight gain. There was some dialogue that his weight change was a good thing. Anyway, I am optimistic that he will earn and keep a spot on this roster.

He improved his fitness too trying to reduce mental errors when he started to run out of gas.
So that was a healthy weight gain that a lot of the team seemed to try to do for this coach.
But he didn't seem to get much of a chance - like their minds were made up before he arrived for camp (or when they did his big signing bonus).
I'm positive he can play in this league. I suspect he can still potentially be a top 4.
But it doesn't appear likely to be with this team.

I'll eat my hat if he's considered a top 4 for any other reason other than the fact that he's a right handed shot. I really don't know how much better he is than Justin Holl in all honesty.

 

[cabber24]

I posted that I thought he played well when Rielly was suspended too.
I don't mind him. I have mixed feelings about them dumping him - worrying that they're giving up too soon.
But the shift seems to be on to put more meat into the lineup to help them physically in the playoffs.

Timothy's weight changed from 190 lbs to 201 lbs from last year to this season. I hope it's a healthy weight gain. There was some dialogue that his weight change was a good thing. Anyway, I am optimistic that he will earn and keep a spot on this roster.

He improved his fitness too trying to reduce mental errors when he started to run out of gas.
So that was a healthy weight gain that a lot of the team seemed to try to do for this coach.
But he didn't seem to get much of a chance - like their minds were made up before he arrived for camp (or when they did his big signing bonus).
I'm positive he can play in this league. I suspect he can still potentially be a top 4.
But it doesn't appear likely to be with this team.

I'll eat my hat if he's considered a top 4 for any other reason other than the fact that he's a right handed shot. I really don't know how much better he is than Justin Holl in all honesty.

Is Ekman-Larsson really that far out of reach? He was on the bottom pairing in FLD last season. I still like Timothy's potential.