And people hated the Murray trade lmao

Also happy #1000!

Not taking anything away from Murray or Samsonov but going to give a shout out to Sanford also. Leafs needed a new voice.

I firmly believed Ottawa was the main problem leaving him to dry and resulting in his health/injury issues. If u listen to interviews he indirectly throws the org under the bus numerous times. And while he did get hurt here it seems we did something right with his care as he has been so good since coming back (way better than Mrazek am I right )

And if u watch how hes playing its very similar to how he was during that one month stretch in Ottawa only with a better team in front of him he gets more support and just keeps piling on wins weird huh

League should be scared as once Samsonov comes back Leafs could potentially have a Jennings tandem

Not taking anything away from Murray or Samsonov but going to give a shout out to Sanford also. Leafs needed a new voice.

God Leafs are making what we need at the TDL more and more like a needle in a haystack

Ironically the solution may actually be within and not from outside

Like to me rn the third line still does not feel 100% right but maybe the solution is already within the org (i.e. Knies and Robertson come in and make a kid line)

Nobody I knew or followed thought Murray and Samsonov were a good idea. granted injuries were always a potential problem, but that's par for the course for every player in every position. You can't control that stuff.
Imagine if we still had Campbell... a 2nd string goaltender who was protected by a lethal offense that padded his win loss record. I think Edmonton is regretting that deal as the lethality of MacDavid/Draisitl disappears after they skate off the ice. At least Toronto has a 2nd combination of offense.

All of that aside, I am genuinely stoked about the start of this season. I am a huge believer in our goalies, and even if they do suck, they just need to be better than last year. I think our forward core got significantly better depth wise, especially considering we still have Robertson as an option in the near future and Knies as another option a little further down the stretch if needed. There are a lot of young guys vying to come up and make an impact as well, which is something that really excites me considering it feels like forever since thats been the case. Our defense is also vastly improved from last year, as despite it being made up of more or less the same guys, we've got Gio, Sandin, and Liljegren all signed for a combined 3.6 mil, which is just insanely good value. I completely agree with all your points, but I think we'll do better than you anticipate. Granted this is the Toronto Maple Leafs, so anything can happen. I look forward to coming back to this throughout the season and reading over the changing mindsets as the seasons go on. It'll be fun to come back and laugh at my inevitably bad takes that age like milk. We still see. Go Leafs!

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but...

How Nick Kypreos has a job at sportsnet and a show still blows my mind

Remember

Leafs should trade Marner
Leafs will go into 2022-2023 season with Mrazek/Kallgren
Leafs 100% trading for Chycrun
Our D isnt good

And now the silly Matthews talk


That said I dont think he actually means everything he says but he does it to gain attention and stir the pot for VIEWS.

Leafs are good and the Murray post thing is over. Need to generate headlines to draw in the bagheads somehow

Yep and its now onto Matthews and leaving

"I think a lot of people believe AM could leave" who did you ask other GM's and fanbases of course they gonna say hes gonna leave lul

Its funny because most insiders who actually have sources have pivoted towards Matthews staying in Toronto.

You know I just really want to highlight Liljegren right now.

He isnt as flashy as Sandin is (between big hits and cool offensive plays) but he is a lot like Brodie in that he is just that quiet D who is crazy effective at literally everything and who usually gets a 4-5 mil contract and low key is a top 10 D in the league at times.

He just makes everyone around him look so good

The Leafs have Giordano, Liljegren, and Sandin locked up for ANOTHER season at $3.6M TOTAL is amazing.

No General Manager out there is perfect but last year the Leafs set a franchise record for wins and points. This year the Leafs are on track to become both the lowest-scoring and best-defending edition, as measured by goals for (3.04) and against (2.54).

Dubas has put a good team together, has a strong group of prospects, and has minimized long-term risk with the current contracts.

Yes this is a results driven business, playoff success maters, but the Leafs will be crazy if they let Kyle go.

I am guilty of letting the lows (October record for the last two years is 8-8-3) and highs (November record for the last two years is 22-3-3) of getting to me.

But the fact of the matter the Leafs IMO are better of with Dubas than without. I hope we see a new contract for him sooner rather than later.

I’m not anti Dubas. But signing him now would be a big mistake. You need to wait until after a playoff round has been won until you resign him. If that doesn’t happen, then I don’t see how you can justify keeping him. I hope they just actually get it done in the playoffs and he stays.

Just curious, who would you like instead?