Anaheim will be really tanking if they don't get at least a mediocre goalie back for Gibson. Miller and Stolarz isn't pretty.

One of the North teams is going to the final 4. The Leafs have to be the favorite at this point, not sure how you figure they aren't contenders.

Gibson hasn't been elite since 2018.

Bob makes it hard for Florida to do it

To be in the final four, yes. To win the Stanley Cup, no.



The league standings' is irrelevant when you face 6-7 teams. More difficult to beat 3-4 great teams over 3-4 average teams.



Because that's the format the league is using this season due to the pandemic. Would the Leafs be in the final four if it was the usual format? Doubt. They are a playoffs contender, not a Cup contender.


If they are indeed a Cup contender, they will prove it in the semi-finals.

Colorado hasn't gone past the 2nd round in the MacKinnon era. How come they don't need to "prove it" in order to be considered a Cup Contender?

We won’t with Koskinen, we will sign a good goalie eventually, or trade for a good one. We are not moving our top prospects for a goalie. It just isn’t happening.

Wouldn’t say it’s a fluke when you watch him play he’s a very very good goalie but his age does come into play with energy level from what I’ve noticed. It’s a fine line with him. If he was to only play 1/3 the games he would be terrific back up. Problem is when they ride him gets worn down quicker than a more youthful goalie and starts to struggle tracking pucks and rebound control when he struggles with those components things get messy in a hurry. I’d have complete faith in him as a back up as long as he’s used as such.

It's unfair to guys like Mcdavid and drai that they are doing everything they can, but they can't get a consistent starter to save their life. I may be crazy, but they could trade for Andersen, and the leafs just ride Campbell and Hutch who have been surprisingly good. If they wanted to make a cup run, and Andersen could perform for just one more season, then they could make some noise.

That would be my most ideal target right now makes sense on several levels including the big hurdle of quarantine but making sense of the cap is incredibly difficult between these teams and I can’t see Toronto willing to risk possibly providing the oilers the biggest difference between the two teams this year can easily end up costing them come playoffs.

Yeah they have the most reliable backups along with the Canes

Think basically stuck with kosk and smith until offseason which I don’t think is a bad thing just think the coaching staff needs to change approach on splitting the starts. We got a cushion in the standings start kosk and leave him in no matter results he’s rusty from riding smith for a few weeks. Knock the rust off then split the starts evenly. In my opinion will get better results even if it costs us a game or two in short term.

The Maple Leafs have rebuilt and have had multiple opportunities to advance past the first round since 2017 and they have failed every single time for the past 4 years. They were considered a contender (at least win a round) for 3/4 years. Avs made it past round 1 in 2019 and we all know they lost in 2020 due to injuries. That was their first year as contenders. Leafs have been healthy and 0/3 (2018, 2019, 2020) so far. 4 straight round 1 losses. This is why they need to "prove it".

Win a round, then talk.

A thesis, Gibson plays meh mid-season because the team in front of him is actual ass, like worst team in the league ass, like they are AWFUL, but he always does well for the first quarter of the season, I thnk what it is is that when you have no goal support and know you wont get it it becomes a lot harder to play, there are goalies who do well even if they don't necessarily have good D in front of them, such as hellebuyck. But if you have no offense and no goal support that is soul crushing, The Ducks are 0-11-5 when the opponent scores more than one goal, Gibby knows that if he lets in two goals they will not win the game, that's gotta be crushing and stressful. Gibby always starts well in the season but with one disappointing night after another he probably gets crushed by lack of team support. No D and no goal support, what the point in trying, and you can see it in his eyes near the end of each game, he looks crushed