Barrie has 7 of his 15 points in the past 12 games. I am sorry what were you saying about his point totals dropping after Keefe was hired?

Larsson isn't worth much, he has a perceived value of worth more a top 6 winger because he was once traded for Hall. Now Edmonton fans are desperate to recoup some of that lost value, unfortunately the reality is, Larsson just isn't that good and never has been and at 27 never will be. He is exactly what he is, a stay at home defenceman with average at best underlying numbers and a player who was completely destroyed last year when he was asked to play top line minutes against top players. With the emergence of Bear, why wouldn't edmonton try to use what value he has to upgrade the massive blackhole they have on the depth. Larsson is a non factor for Edmonton, they've actually been a worse team since he came back, I don't blame him for that but its a reality. Kapanen still has his best hockey ahead of him and in TO, he'll never be more than a 3rd liner and likely just a 20+, 40+ point player. Which on a 3rd line is fantastic. I feel paring him with a fast play making centre and more minutes he's probably going to be a 30+ goal scorer and 60+ point guy several times. Larsson, will be exactly what he is. So trading a better Roman Polak isn't going ever get you a high potential player in return.

Barrie has 3 points in the last 9 games.

He has 7 in the 12 games Keefe has been behind the bench. Also, it would be nice if the Refs would ever give penalties to the team TO is facing on any given night. Its just a joke.

Wow imagine being any other team. The leafs get away with murder on the ice. The leafs should of had like 4 more penalties last night against the sabres.

So you hate the Leafs, what a surprise, some westerner (I am guessing since you are clearly a diehard Oilers fan) hates TO and thinks everything about them is either overblown or cheated in some way. I bet you also think Matthews isn't even a top 10 centre in the league, he's probably 2C on most teams.

Not an oilers fan. I do think leaf fans over value there players more then any other organization but i think most leaf fans would agree with that. I think all leafs players get more hype because they play for the leafs then they deserve.
I think Matthews barely cracks top ten centers and one of the best pure goal scorers in the league. But most leaf fans have him ahead of guys that he is not better then, well at least right now. He could easily pass them.

Every fan base overvalues their own players. The Leafs are the most popular team in Canada and possible in Hockey period and a byproduct of that is they get a tonne of hate. Like how the Yankees are hated so much. And what happens (and you clearly are falling into the same mentality) is that fans of other teams get sick of hearing about the Leafs and now they have a negative emotional reaction to anything with the team. When that happens you undervalue. The reality is that the true value of the players is in the middle of what most fans on here say.

I am a Leaf fan, and definitely have a bias, but I am aware of it so I try to temper it as best I can. I am first and foremost a hockey fan, I watch it, I play it and I love it. Have my whole life. So when I look at a player, its generally with a large base of understanding of the game and I like to think I know where its going as well.

With all that said, I have watched Adam Larsson a lot over the years and I have never seen much. He isn't a top end shut down guy like many say he is. There is no proof of that, in fact last year when him and Nurse were the Oilers top pair, they were destroyed defensively. He's never been more than a #4 and at 27, he isn't going to all of a sudden develop a 2 way game. He's a supplementary defender that needs guys who can move the puck for him. That isn't exactly a valuable piece. Why people think so much of him is because a) he was a 1st rounder b) he was traded for hall and c) there are a tonne of people that think a guy who hits a lot is somehow really valuable.

Larsson is not worth much, never should have been and never will be. He's Radko Gudas, or a better Roman Polak.

The different between yankees and even patriots vs the leafs is the they both win alot. WHich is why people hate them so much. The leafs havent won anything and havent even made it past the first round in like a decade?

Yet somehow most network guys have leaf players alot higher in rankings then they should be because it increase rankings and players get more hype because of leaf media is crazy. Marner is not top 5 winger. Mathews is not 6th best center Johnny T isnt 5th best center. But some NHL network thinks they are?

I am not going to argue with you. Every Leaf player is half of what people say they are. Its just a tired, lazy, transparent arguement. It doesn't matter what player we are talking about, if he has a Leaf on his chest, he's overpaid and overvalued. Its just non sense.

Remember this.

I will, and you response is definitely showing you are indeed a troll. You love to point out the Leafs flaws but refuse to admit to any signs of progression.

Well, sure, you can think that. Or you can just take a look at what you said and realize how daft it is. Not a problem, makes it sound like it’s going to be easy. I think you’re really overlooking the hole that the leafs dug themselves, and the teams that stand in their way of finishing within the top three in the division.

I would have no objection if you had said, “I think the leafs are going to wind up finishing strong and finishing 2nd in the division.” You chose your words very poorly. Perhaps they didn’t properly represent your argument. Perhaps they did.

There was a better winger traded a few months ago. He got a prospect and a 2nd.

Obviously their linemates help, but even without matthews / Tavares, kappanen would still be a top 9 forward, kassian would be struggling to make the NHL without Mcdavid.

And Barrie had a slow start too. Sure larsson plays tougher minutes but he’s not very good at it. I’ll take Barrie all day over Larsson.

No one said anything about being easy. However, TO has the 3rd easiest schedule the remainder of the season, have been a much better team under their new coach and have been much better in the special teams areas. Yes they need to fix some things still, no question about that, however its undeniable that they've been much better than when Babs was the coach. And really, does anyone fully believe in the other teams? Tampa should be better but they really look like they are having trouble. Montreal isn't a playoff team, Florida is completely up and down and Buffalo will have trouble once Eichel cools off a bit. Boston is going to run away with the division title, unless they get hit with a tonne of injuries. But after that, I look at the teams chasing a spot and none are impressive really. TO and Tampa are both supposed to be much better than they have looked for stretches of the season and it should be expected that they right themselves. TO appears to be well on their way to that, so given the other reasons I have mentioned, to say they'll be lucky to make the playoffs ignores the past 12 games under the new coach in which TO has been a much different team than they were earlier.

Larsson isn't just not very good at playing against top competition, he's actually really bad at it and doesn't normally do it. He's really not that good of a player.

“No one said anything about it being easy.” *5 minutes earlier said it, “won’t be a problem,” twice. C’mon man.

I don't think it will be a problem, but hockey is hard. You are bending the words dude. Because you're just a sad little troll.

If you can’t understand how someone reads you saying multiple times, “it won’t be a problem,” and their main takeaway is that you think it’s not going to be hard, you are determined to remain in self delusion. I won’t partake in that. Later.

I just don't care what you have to say, you're a troll. You love telling Leaf fans how delusional they are and then say, "I'm not a troll, I like when the Leafs are good.....they just aren't and you are delusional, I'm not a troll." Just go away.

I’m sorry your team hasn’t done well over the past 20 years. There’s no need for you to be so defensive about it.