Still not entirely confident in our 5/6
Which i guess would be hunwick/valiev/carrick
Hoping we can snag demers in FA
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NHL Off-Season 2016 |OT| My prospects are better than yours
- Thread starter zroid
- Start date
Still not entirely confident in our 5/6
Which i guess would be hunwick/valiev/carrick
Hoping we can snag demers in FA
My personal NHL depth chart probably goes like this, assuming LH/RH play their natural sides
Rielly-Zaitsev
Gardiner-Corrado
Marincin-Carrick
Hunwick
Percy
Harrington
Left side is fine top to bottom, but right side is still a bunch of question marks. Zaitsev being a solid, say, 2/3 would make things a lot easier to figure out.
You're on a roll tonight
Simon Belmont
Banned
You got a deal on that memory card.
Still waiting on a proper sequel to My Life as a King over here.
I think it is time for an avatar bet
You do yourself a disservice my man. Comparing the Leafs to the Habs you're either suggesting:
a) the Habs aren't all that much of a team without Price
b) the Leafs are suddenly as good/better than Habs with the new additions.
Yes the Habs had a disaster of a season in large part due to Price's injury. But I for one don't believe the team is total garbage without Price. It was a host of factors that went into their collapse, the biggest being Price going down, but I think the losing snowballed on them, the entire team lost confidence and played well below their ability. They're a better team than they showed, with or without Price. I don't think anyone doubts that the Habs are a legitimate playoff team WITH Price in the lineup.
Now onto the Leafs, no Leafs fan will dispute that the team should be a lot better next season. Hell they were 30th this year so any jump in the standings would be better, but how much better is better? Do you actually believe the Leafs are suddenly a playoff contender with the new guys? I don't. I believe they'll be better, but that being said I see an overall league finish of somewhere between 18th-22nd overall in the standings. So that means out of the playoffs, probably a draft pick in the 12th-10th range or thereabouts. And that's if EVERYTHING goes right for the team. They need to get capable goaltending, the young guys need to play like they did down the stretch last season, Matthews has to show he's a legitimate #1 NHL center. Any one of those things goes wrong and suddenly the Leafs are bottom 5 again.
It's fine to be optimistic, but at least be realistic about it. The Leafs were in a ton of close games last year due to Babcock's system. So improved talent this season + capable goaltending and you could see them winning 6-8 more of those games which is 12-16 points more in the standings. That's somewhere in the 81-85 point range...and again that's IF everything goes according to plan. If Bernier (or whatever goalie they have) shits the bed, all bets are off.
I doubt Leafs will finish last again, but then again nothing is impossible with that defense/goalie combo
Lots of work to be done on that team
are you bashing me and agreeing with me at the same time?
How is that agreeing with you? You compared the Leafs to the Habs and asked what would be the bigger impact in points. The Habs had a 28 point decline from the previous season to this one. I think it's obvious that they'll be much better this season, maybe not 28 points better but I can easily see them having an 18-20 point jump from 82 points.
CreeperBlocks
Banned
Bernier needs to go.He's had too many Chances to be the Guy.Seriously just trade him Calgary or Colorado
ShinRPGamer
Member
So Don Cherry has agreed to a multi year deal and will be staying with Hockey Night in Canada for a couple more years.
It was actually the Vita I got a deal on. Had no luck finding a deal for the memory card.
It was actually the Vita I got a deal on. Had no luck finding a deal for the memory card.
Stat that feels nice
"Aaron Portzline ‏@Aportzline
Bjorkstrand's fifth GW goal of the playoffs, second in two games. Has four goals in last two games. @monstershockey"
Hopefully they find room on the roster for Ollie next season. Werenski looks fantastic as well but that dumbass extension for Prout might keep Werenski in the AHL for a bit longer. Unless they trade or buy out Tyutin.
"Aaron Portzline ‏@Aportzline
Bjorkstrand's fifth GW goal of the playoffs, second in two games. Has four goals in last two games. @monstershockey"
Hopefully they find room on the roster for Ollie next season. Werenski looks fantastic as well but that dumbass extension for Prout might keep Werenski in the AHL for a bit longer. Unless they trade or buy out Tyutin.
I was saying this entire time the Leafs would improve and become a bubble team.
81-85 team is on the bubble, fyi. we did have a team make the playoffs this year with 87.
Defense isn't a major issue. It's an issue but it's one that doesn't require major work. Good thing is... if our team sucks again, we can focus on defense!
goaltending, though? halp
agree to disagree, Defense IS a major issue
and focusing on defense is the plan, but i'm sure it was the plan in Edmonton at some point too, it's a slippery slope
I'm not saying defense isn't a major issue, i'm saying it's not a major issue for us at the moment.
We have 3 solid D right now and we're hopeful for a 4th.
My expectation is most of our picks after Matthews will be D and G.
Leafs will be active on trade and UFA front... though I feel best course is to push very hard for Demers.
Leafs D is still in way better shape than the Oilers allowed theirs to deteriorate into. At this point it's a major and a minor piece away from being a very good corps.
:lolQuebec
That would be what most ppl would have as the most likely outcome going in, easy to imagine it's true.
I just want some clarity so we can all start doing our roster predictions and see what trades are going to happen this summer.
CreeperBlocks
Banned
but the Leafs already have
I guess it's a wait and see on this whole Karmanos trust debacle
MultiJhonny
Banned
I knew it wasn't going to hit this year....
fixed
MultiJhonny
Banned
Well I am actually worried about Persona 5. I want to love it when it comes out and I hope I do.. but all this is not making me feel good about it. There has to have been some development troubles behind the scenes either creatively or technically.
I think Dopey is correct in the sense that the Leafs D corps is probably underrated right now. The league-worst goaltending they received last season made them look a lot worse than they were. By xGA they ranked 13th at 5v5 in the league. Note that's with Matt Hunwick playing top pair minutes for much of the season, which probably hopefully won't continue next season. I don't think they have anywhere near the 13th best D personnel, but Babcock's defensive system is strong.
That's not to say their D is the 13th best, as xG isn't a perfect evaluation tool, BUT it's safe to say it's pretty close to middle of the pack, which is a good starting point.
That's not to say their D is the 13th best, as xG isn't a perfect evaluation tool, BUT it's safe to say it's pretty close to middle of the pack, which is a good starting point.
CreeperBlocks
Banned
Some Hockey News:
.
Kuro Madoushi
Unconfirmed Member
I need a chart to visualize this.
Weird reading someone who gets it, and a Leafs fan of all people.
We have the best goalie in the world, a top 2 D man, a 30 goal scoring centre who's 21 and a top 3 goal scorer in the league over the past 4 years as this teams core. Give them a competent PP and goaltending that isn't the league worst for half the season and this team will contend for top spot in the East next season.
Really? That's awesome, I loved the first on my iPad but don't have a good enough computer to play the second.
I think the Leafs are in better shape for the future than probably any other Canadian team, but assuming they'll be suddenly in the fight for a playoff spot next season is reaching.
Comes out in September. Xcom and Halo Wars 2 this fall is going to be sweet.
Simon Belmont
Banned
If they do it'll be in the vein of a Colorado "everything lines up for one year, then they're right back to where they should be"
So avatar bet me, then.
Also, where did I say they'd be a playoff team? I said they'd be out of bottom 10.