Spezza+Engvall>Gauthier+Clifford

Robertson is not ready for the NHL dude. Lot of people tear up the OHL and become nothing

I am not sure about the value. You obviously know that I like Gauthier as he is making strides to improve and Clifford brings alot of character and heart while Engval really tailed off this year and Spezza is at the age where he is probably going to decline but I might be wrong.

i would rather let clifford walk. It will cost us a 2nd to resign him and kapenan is starting to toughen up

There is a difference between tearing up the OHL and destroying the OHL and when you destroy a league at his age he is going to be alot more than nothing in the NHL. We are talking about the best pure goal scorer since maybe Mike Bossy and you are writing him off as a nobody. The kid is way too good to go back to the OHL and too young to play in the AHL so only other option is Europe. Think the Leafs will integrate him into team similar to how Canucks developed Horvat.

I actually thought Clifford was a tremendous role model for the Leafs 3rd and 4th liners and added some much needed sandpaper into the team. Leafs could use one more forward besides Clifford who plays with an edge.

mike bossy eh, you've got some high expectations for the kid!

Spezza will be fine as a 4th liner if hes reasonably sheltered. Hes not good defensively and hes never been a good skater but hes passing and shooting ability is still fantastic. An Engvall-Spezza-Barabanov 4th line would be filth

I did not take that comparison lightly but his stats this year were actually unbelievable.

You are very bold. He is not as good as Mike Bossy at all. The dude has a chance to be a top 6 forward but it is not at all a for sure. If you rush him now you may ruin his development. If he makes the leafs next year you can come back here and make fun of me

i can live with this line its just I do not think Spezza can bring it on for 82 games at his age.

Also think with Covid happening that the entire NHL will be under alot of financial pressure and team's may even more likely to promote younger players like Robertson. Still think he has atleast a 50/50 chance of being on the Leafs next year as he is a special, special hockey player. If you can play you can play in the NHL and people were saying the same thing about Pettersson on the Canucks when he first arrived.

yeah he's too good for the OHL, he'll at least get 9 games in the NHL to see if he can handle it.

Curious to know how many Cups you think the Leafs are going to win with their great young core of players?

Do you know how old Mike Bossy was he arrived on the scene with the Islanders?

The leafs load manage him anyways. Hes capable of playing 60ish and having one if brooks, petan, aberg or agostino playing the remaining 22. I also think they will try dressing 7d some nights so that will give him more nights off

1 maybe? I dont really see them as a dynasty or anything because im not sure we will see something like that again. The team has amazing forwards, but with a salary cap they cannot be like teams of the past

Robertson is 7th all-time for G/GP in a season in the OHL, only Tanti and Lindros with more at 18 or younger. Pretty good company to keep considering both of these guys were ELITE goal scorers in the NHL.

I don't see Barbanov getting minutes over Engvall, he might not even crack the roster. I'm not sure the Leafs re-sign Clifford just because of the 2nd round price tag but I can see Dubas paying a team a 3rd to sign and trade him if that's allowed. I agree that Johnsson is gone to be replaced by Robertson but I don't think they keep him up if he can't play in the top 6. Finally, Liljegren proved this season that he isn't ready for the NHL still so the Leafs defense is going to have to find someone to play on the right side.

Also, Robertson isn't as good as Bossy. Mike Bossy did what Nick did this year every year he was in the minors. Guy will be a lethal goal scorer but a bit of a stretch with that comparison. Might be similar to Debrincat and if the Leafs get very, very, very lucky, we could be looking at a Kucherov type player but not as good. Still a 2nd round steal who is going to be a top 6 forward for this team for a long time

Agree on 60 games maxium. Petan, Aberg or Agostino have no business playing in the NHL and the 7d idea just does not work. Leafs tryed it one game and it was a total disaster.

Fair comments and maybe i am getting ahead of myself with Robertson but there is no doubt in my mind that he is going to be a big time goal scorer in the NHL and escpecially if he is playing with Matthews, Tavares, Marner and Nylander.

I think Engvall vs. Clifford is pretty close but Spezza blows Gauthier out of the water.

Let's just say that NR makes the team out of camp and sticks around after 10 games. If he's capable of playing at a high level the Leafs could be in a much better position to trade Johnsson, Kapanen, and/or Kerfoot to free up cap space and add defensive depth to their D and in their bottom six Forwards-something they desperately need to be serious contenders.

BTW, Bossy scored 53G as a 20 y.o. rookie in 1977-78. He's the greatest goal scorer of all time. If Robertson scores 20 next season it'd be a huge W for the Leafs. He's not gonna get much, if any PP time. He could get significant ice time with Tavares or Matthews at 5on5 though. That's a major long shot, imo. But, he could be an elite goal scorer in a few years.

Bossy was 20 at the beginning of his rookie year, 21 by the time the season was over.