Maybe the Vancouer connection will get them to overvalue Minten in a trade. Getting EP40 would be such a tremendous move, gotta think a Tkachuk-like trade would be in order (y'know, the same kind of trade Treliving made only a few seasons ago). Could be more in line with Eichel too

Definitely a pipe dream and I doubt the Leafs have the assets, but he'd make for a fine Tavares replacement

It's going to start coming in...

Not even a fan of Bettman, but give it time for the average American to fall in love with their team and that's when more merchandise and other revenue streams start

Rielly lining up at RD tonight, which is something I've wanted to see for ages now. Should make the offensive production a bit easier

Does anyone have tonight's lineup?

https://x.com/MapleLeafs/status/1762625213076750512?s=20

Thanks!

Rielly being RD is weird, can't remember last time he was there

Sheldon Keefe is gonna be mad as the Peewee quote just happened lul

Also can we **** off with Rielly-Brodie

No matter what side they on they dont work together

Brodie-Rielly -2

Honestly

Rielly-Lagesson
Benoit-McCabe
Gio-Brodie

Why TOR plays bad at home is a mystery this season

Personal theory: its a message to MLSE to stop giving tickets to businesses lul so that it aint a cricket fest there

Great assist by JT on VGK 3rd goal

This is why no-look backhand passes are playing with fire

And then the icing on cake -3 Rielly-Brodie

Mr. Keefe ****ing swap the pairings lul

Well streak was fun while it lasted

But this whole struggle at home thing be confusing and odd

What a dive lol

Keefe getting ejected was so stupid.

Keefe should take the fine and absolutely lay it out on the refs

The **** he get kicked out for....

At the time he was just asking the refs what the call was for and the refs didn't want to be questioned.

In general TOR did a lot of good but also enough bad to give VGK the win

Keefe pls for the love of god no more Rielly and Brodie together in any shape or form

-4 each of them ew

But hey Bertuzzi and Reaves getting goals not bad

A few questions:

1. What are your thoughts on Domi? I personally love the edge he brings but I don't think we can play him in the top 9. He is so bad in his own zone. No matter which line he is on, as soon as he gets stuck in the D-Zone I'm just waiting for something bad to happen. I'd love that edge in the playoffs but not sure if it should come at the cost of essentially having one line that can't play defense.

2. What is the plan on D? I know there has been lots of debate here about who to pickup. Personally I think that Carrier is going to be the biggest steal of the deadline. He put up 30 points and was elite in his rookie season playing with Ekholm, since then his offence is gone but he's among the league leaders in hits and plays a really solid defensive game. He's small which is the biggest knock but his and Rielly's analytics profiles look like together they would be an elite #1 pair. I think the worst move we can make is Rasmus Andersson, he's essentially a bigger, bad version of Rielly. He is top 5 among defenseman for D zone turnovers and has less hits than Carrier despite Carrier being 5'11.

I see two paths on D; (i) We leave Brodie-Lili, Benoit-McCabe and focus on finding a partner for Rielly. (ii) Tre tries to significantly redo the D by finding a partner for Rielly AND upgrading either Brodie or Lili.

Thoughts?

I mean in general with Domi him being bad in own zone dont mean he isnt a top 9 guy. Ask Nylander, Bertuzzi, and Tavares. None of those guys are great in their own end

None of the new guys were brought in for defense, and in the 7 game stretch it was fine. Tonight not great.

As for defense nothing undersized and a proper RD partner for Rielly (so Carrier's out) so we dont ****ing have to unite Muzzin-Holl 2.0 (Rilely-Brodie)


Adam Larrson time

I'd say that you can afford to have a one Center in your top 9 who can't play defensively. For the Leafs that is Tavares. It's much less of an issue for wingers. For centers they are essentially defenseman in the D-Zone and even during the win streak (all season) Domi has been getting caved in when playing in his own zone. I personally feel it might be necessary to trade him and get another top 9C but again, not sure if trading him is something we should consider given the intagibles he brings.

In general many of the leafs forwards are not good at defense but many teams also follow that formula where the majority aint great at one end. Not everyone in VGK is great defensively. Domi has never been an issue come playoffs even with the defense as teams love having him for the third and fourth lines. Dallas, Carolina can attest to that

Getting caved in is nothing new. We see it happen with a good chunk of the leafs lines at times never just on one guy. Its how they respond and its been hit and miss with them. From 1st to 4th line there be gripes with them all here and there.

Trading him to go get someone else makes little sense now as forward depth aint the problem. Problem is defense specifically whose gonna help our Rielly.

VGK played better and Liligren being out didnt help especially for the pairings

Keefe's old quote comes to mind here: Played good enough to win did enough to lose

Again those the Stars have three great defensive centers who played around Domi and Carolina had 2 other top 9 C who were solid defensively.

Going into the playoffs with a line centered by Domi and one centered by Tavares could be a disaster. Every D zone draw you'd need to put out either Kamf or Matthews. So either Matthews/Marner will be forced to play a shutdown role or your going to have to roll out your 4th line against top 6 opposition. Not an ideal situation. If you get a solid top 9C then you can create another line to take those D-zone drafts (like O'Reilly did last year).

Dallas really only had two good defensive centers Hintz and Faksa both at 60%. Faksa was Dallas 4c like Kampf is here, and Hintz is basically their top center like Matthews. Both of which are good defensively.

Leafs have Matthews and Kampf for the defensive side along with Holmberg. Its pretty much the same as in Dallas. 2 centers not great at defense with 2 who are. Having Domi is pretty much irrelevant as he does other things teams like and his bite is perfect come playoff time.

And there is nothing wrong with Matthews/Marner in a shutdown role. It helps em grow as players. Matthews is a strong 2-way guy it will do him some good. Also JT is solid and Dzone faceoffs so not much concern there.


What they have now is fine. Now you could argue upgrading over Robertson is an option but other than tonight things were fine for the boyz. One bad performance after 7 good in a row dont change a tonne besides showing Rielly-Brodie should never be a thing

To add first meeting against VGK

Domi had 2 goals in the 7-3 win

Tonight in the rematch not great -2 but hey its better than how the big 3's performance tonight

In the end the first meeting good. So in the end its all on how the team decides to perform and on the road they brought it

I don't think its an opinion formed from one game, its something most analysts have been pointing out since they moved him to C.

Just imagine replacing him with O'Reilly in our lineup. That team is instantly much better.

If we go with the Trade Bait board options would be:
- Henrique
- Laughton
- Frost

For guys who are solid defensively and can play in the top 9. I think Domi would fetch a decent return from a team like NYR who need a C as well to subsidize that cost.

Even in that game the 2nd and especially 3rd line (Tavares) weren't great: https://moneypuck.com/g.htm?id=2023020898