Its okay to not be tampa vs florida, even if it was awesome

I could see the Jets trading for Morgan Rielly in the offseason so that’ll pretty much cement their spot as a legit contender.

buddy your team hasn't seen playoff hockey in a decade. maybe don't talk **** about other teams when you your team isn't even built for regular season hockey.

There aren’t any teams in the North that are considered legit contenders cuz no one is deep enough.

Their defence sucks and the goalie is unproven

Can they win 4-3, 5-4 against MTL??? It's gonna be interesting if they can cuz I doubt it

I agree that they’ll struggle vs strong defensive teams. Not because they lack physicality (I think they’ve got plenty of that) but because it’ll force their forwards to move the puck a lot quicker which is not their strong suit. They are a rather slow hockey team.

You haven't watched a Toronto game all year, have you?

Why does their defence suck? Rielly, Brodie, Muzin, Dermott & Sandin all have an xGF share of 55% or higher. Do you think WPG’s defence is better?

Obviously they have some quick skaters & smooth transition defencemen. But it’s the buildup in the offensive zone that becomes slow. At least compared to the other teams that have played this post season.

Because they go for high danger shots instead of rifling whatever at the net.

Right. Well Vegas disagrees with you on this with their odds having the Leafs at the third greatest chance of winning the cup right behind Colorado and Vegas who are in the same division....

Media agree that the Oilers are actually a contender this post season. And up until a month and a half ago many were predicting Winnipeg to come out of the North. So I don't know if you get your intelligence from Steve Simmons but try again.

This is the best Leafs team we've seen of the Matthews/Marner/Nylander era (by far I think). Whether you think that's because of their "weak" division or them actually being a legit contender (I side with the latter thinking fwiw), I don't think there's any denying that. If they look bad and lose in round 1 again, with this core and team being as good as they were in the regular season, then I think we can call into question whether or not this vision is feasible, but I think they deserve a chance to prove that before we dump on them.

Everyone knew in years past that the team was flawed and the two (three?) biggest flaws have been addressed in the last 12-16 months: Defense (Brodie, emergence of Holl), physicality (Simmonds, Bogo, Hyman having insane year) and goaltending (Campbell). Are those fixes going to be enough to put them over the top in a series or are there new problems going to arise?

Those guys are all huge (6'4 / 230) and will give Toronto's forwards hell trying to get to the net.

Buddy I dont run my team, I can say what ever I want. Sabres have at least won a series more recently than Toronto

coolio. but hey at least your gm doesn't wear glasses, right?

If they lose to the Habs....god help us all. This is the first of 3 seasons Dubas' Leafs have been better than Lou's Isles.

Check out the last 5 or 10 games...not very good imo

That’s cuz all the teams they faced are weak defensively & will give them space to create those quality opportunities. It’s a different story vs teams like TBL, COL & CAR. They’re going to need to move much quicker & shoot for rebounds.

Eh, Lou left Dubas with a mess to clean up with the Zaitsev & Marleau contracts. Plus his awful drafting left no one in the prospect pool. So this is technically Dubas’ 1st year with full control.

Yep I agree. This is the best defence core that the team has had (everyone except Holl has an xGF% above 55). They have plenty of physical players for playoff-style hockey. They play with good structure.

But something still seems missing. They’re just not a very fast team especially when building up the play in the offensive zone. Other teams that can skate & execute plays quickly will overwhelm them.

I like the Brodie addition, but I don't think they go far. They can only go as far as 34 and 16 take them

What you don't like how Jack Campbell was struggling with injures and put up incredible stats?

The fact that Campbell is 17-3-2, and was pushed into the starting position doesn't prove him? GAA 2.15 SV% 921, not to mention he was struggling with an injury early on.

Do I think they have one of the most skilled rosters in the league? Absolutely. But in reality? No, not a playoff hockey team. Watching the TB - FLA game last night, it reminded me how much of the rulebook is thrown out in the playoffs. Hockey is one of the only sports where there is that much of a change in how games are called in regular szn vs playoffs and how much you can get away with. That difference really hurts the leafs and how theyre constructed.

i mean who cares the leafs pp is meh and 5 on 5 they score a tonne, let the refs swallow their whistles lul. Does us a favor