Unless he's in a top 6 role after 9 games, it would be stupid to burn a year off his ELC. Is he really that much better NOW than the leafs bottom 6?

The thing we have complained about is our bottom 6 is Knies can come make it better then go for it. Burning a year of his ELC does not matter if he can make an impact in the lineup

As if he makes the third line better and shows he can push top 6 in a year or so go for it. Think of it like Hyman when Keefe wanted to put him on the third line

On PK he looks good. And at times he looks like hes gonna score than the Mikheyevness from 2 years ago comes in and he either misses, gets weirdly robbed, or whiffs

I don't think he has changed at all. You just way overinflate the importance of a giveaway. Hes been good to great all year.

Holl is the player who has actually woken up. High key candidate for most underrated player in the nhl when he is on

Meh I guess. Still easily replacable.

If he comes in and becomes Zach Hyman, I'm all for it. I'm just saying, he 20, you can't rely on him to come in and be a difference maker.

I mean hes definetly changed and even Leafs writers have seen it. Hes much more confident now with the puck and is making smarter passes. Definitely has now found his footing which is good as we went from Sandin needs pressbox to give him more minutes and im happy. And never underestimate those giveaways as man were they bad. The Crosby and Fiala ones especially. But lucky for us hes so much better than he was then thank god

Not a diff maker but if he comes and improves the bottom 6 go for it. Like lets be real the only diff makers the Leafs need are their 4 stars and one or two of the bottom 6

Like if he is say better than Kerfoot you do it.

And man despite losing in OT he had a game if only he buried that backhand it would have been legendary

Yeah, i wouldnt take much advice from the leafs writers. His results have been good all year. They (like you) are doing the thing where one bad play overrides a games worth of good in your minds

The thing was before that Sandin wasnt doing good even before those giveaways. Dangle talked about it, CJ talked about it, heck even scout Nick Richard and Mike Stephens talked about it. Heck even Keefe mentioned it. It was only after Brodie and Rielly went down that we were like hey look this is the guy we all wanted to see and thank god for that as if he was playing like he was 3 weeks ago we would be in trouble

Someone already posted it a few pages back but his results were perfectly fine

This was Nov 17th

Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe discusses Rasmus Sandin’s slow start to this season, says his game hasn’t blossomed to where you’d like it to, and he’s low on confidence, so we need to help him get back to the player he knows he can be.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/how-keefe-and-maple-leafs-plan-to-help-rasmus-sandin-get-his-groove-back/

So it seems Keefe thought otherwise and when a HC says something you know its almost always true. But hey in 10 days so much better and I will 100% take that over low confidence struggling Sandin. Guess it was just a need for confidence

Hopefully he keeps it up

Everything that was said here makes sense in the context of turnovers.
His actual results have been good. See page 24

I think the top 6 Dmen are set if there are no injuries....Reilly, Giordano, Sandin....Brodie, Holl, and Liljgren. Benn stays as 7th. Timmins? Even Hollowell has looked surprisingly OK so he is probably the 8th.
Timmins, next season at the earliest.

I think the Leafs will have no choice but let him burn off a year of his ELC, other wise he won't sign, and the Leafs risk losing him as a college UFA in two years.

I'm always concerned about US born college players especially wanting to sign early, or waiting to be UFAs.

I think Timmins plays this year on 3rd pair as honestly if he and Sandin or mete revamp their chemistry could be in for some fun

As he's still young and has potential hopefully he can just stay healthy

Plus who doesn't want to see a Kids line of Knies-Holmberg-Robertson

I think ever since the Boston/Carolina back-to-backs the forwards have really made great effort in being in good defensive positions most of the time and not forcing the offensive play. There has been a game here and there where the forwards cheated a little bit too much for chances but the forward group as a whole has really taken responsibility on not taking too many chances and you know what? That really helps the D quite a bit.

This was what I was asking for and it's been fun watching how the team is playing. This is how they will need to play in the playoffs. I hope they don't revert back to cheating on the safe plays to get those chances they tend to chase.

Regarding Sandin and Liljegren improved play. Don't think you can discount them missing missing training due to unsigned contract and injury. Same with Engvall.
They all seem to in the NHL grove now.

Agreed college players are already a concern, but not worried about Knies just yet.

My concern if he has the conversation with his friend Matthews. Matthews tells him he will be seeking UFA status in 2024. And both end up in LA.

Yes the team's commitment to defense has been almost perfect and has made up for our gutted Dcore. And im fine with it as in the playoffs this is how you want to play and when our D is healthy and with the TDL additions and Knies should be fun

If burning a year of his ELC is what gets him to sign then I’d do it. I just can’t see how that would be a difference maker.

ELC burning is overrated as a concern. The real issue is 40 games for UFA age burning

If it can be avoided though, it saves a year of giving out a much bigger contract.