SalarySwishSalarySwish
Avatar

Miles_Togo

Meh
Member Since
Jul. 11, 2020
Favourite Team
Toronto Maple Leafs
2nd Favourite Team
Buffalo Sabres
Forum Posts
848
Posts per Day
0.6
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 12, 2021 at 12:40 p.m.
Thread: Regular Season Prep
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Saskleaf</b></div><div>Possibly. I'm just trying to guess what the reasoning is for keeping him on the roster.</div></div>

Oh, I absolutely agree that they think that delaying for a couple days would reduce the chances that he would get claimed - and they are correct the chances will drop a little. There was a 100% chance he would have been claimed if was waived yesterday. But a week from now it probably drops to only a 99.5% chance he gets claimed. NJ claimed Comrie (a 25 year old with 8 games experience) to be their backup for their 24 year old starter (with 70 games of experience). Not a good pairing and they could use some experience. So, in my view, they either keep him on the roster for the year or they lose him. (I would opt for the latter choice).
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 12, 2021 at 12:24 p.m.
Thread: Merry chel-mas eve
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>vr1995</b></div><div>just has a log jam now, id rather give sandin the minutes, let him get big game action, dermott works his taill off but he makes bad decisions, brought lehtonen over too, just too mnay cooks in the kitchen, you even said yourself that hes in because of how his contract is</div></div>

It is going to be awesome when the ON Gov refuses to approve the Marlies to play and NHL-ready Sandin goes 19 months without playing a game so the team could 1) play a 27-year-old who couldn't make the bottom pair out of camp (when such other amazing free wallet saviors as Borgman and Oz could even manage to do that) despite having an advantage over everyone else as he played all fall, and 2) so they could play a D who will be picked up for free by the Kraken next year. For the first (and probably only) time the team actually has an appropriate partner to mentor a young prospect into the lineup. Good thing they are wasting the opportunity.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 12, 2021 at 12:18 p.m.
Thread: Merry chel-mas eve
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>Trevorchef</b></div><div>Dermott cannot go to the taxi squad because he has to clear waivers and would most certainly be claimed.

Lehtonen does not have to clear waivers.

The Leafs are 566K under the cap with a 21 man roster including three goalies. They can't add another defensman's salary without going over the cap on opening night. (Unless they remove a forward, which seems unlikely at this point).

That is why Dermott is in at this point. Hope that clears it up for you.</div></div>

Keefe made clear why Dermott was in - Lehtonen was not good enough in camp:

“We think there’s other areas of his game that need a little bit more time. We don’t want to rush him into a situation that he may be not adjusted to here quite yet. So, we’re gonna take our time with that.”

“We’re gonna take a little step back with Mikko and give him more time to watch and get a feel for the league,” Keefe said, “and then also more time to work on some things directly in practice and make some adjustments there. And then, we expect that he obviously will get in at some point and he’s more prepared if that’s the case.”

The write up at The Athletic was also completely correct (except to those who have rose-colored glasses with every free-wallet the team brings in):

"Pick through the scoresheet (was there a scoresheet?) and you might think Lehtonen had a great night."

"Lehtonen had trouble moving the puck cleanly to teammates and occasionally looked a step slow in his own zone."

"Sandin, for one, looked like he belonged in the NHL with his play in the scrimmage. He dished the puck crisply and cleanly in a way that Lehtonen did not. Can Lehtonen handle himself physically in his own zone against NHL-sized competitors?"
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 10, 2021 at 11:10 p.m.
Thread: Lehtonen lights it up
<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quoting: <b>NoWah49</b></div><div>not a Leafs fan, but from what I remember I don't think Borgman, Rosen, and Ozhiganov didn't get the hype Lehtonen did.</div></div>

Borgman, Rosen and Oz all got ridiculous hype among online Leafs' fans. Not to the same degree as Lehtonen, but it was embarrassing each time.

<div class="quote"><div class="quote_t">Quote:</div>I mean how could you not be excited to get arguably the best dman outside of the NHL, even if it doesn't fulfill their needs</div>

I am not excited at all for a 27 year old who will be a UFA in the summer and is hampering the development of players like Dermott and Sandin. I have always been 100% opposed to these free wallet Ds (which have allowed Toronto to both get away with not properly fixing their D-core over the last 5 years, and have allowed them to not properly develop their young D - not to mention that I completely despise a team culture where everyone knows that all of these free wallets are guaranteed a roster spot and even if they don't deserve it the team will give them half a season to play themselves out of the lineup, while at the same time young prospects know, long before camp, that it doesn't matter how well they do, they can't win a spot. This is not "tie goes to the vet." type stuff. Dermott has played 176 NHL games. And instead of coming into camp knowing that he had to perform or he could lose his spot to Lehtonen, instead he came into camp with no chance of making it because of a guy with no career NHL games as the free wallet wins no matter what, and this is only a couple years after he outplayed both Rosen and Borgman in the 2017 camp and pre-season, but had to wait half a season for them both to play themselves out of the lineup).

I have said from the beginning with Lehtonen that if he is good enough to knock Holl out of the top-4 spot then fine, keep him and trade Holl. If he is not then I don't want him on the team.

Yes, he put up big numbers in the KHL. So have several Ds who couldn't hack it in the AHL.

Among the things said at <a href="https://theathletic.com/2312983/2021/01/10/maple-leafs-power-play-training-camp/" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">The Athletic</a> after the scrimmage was:

"Pick through the scoresheet (was there a scoresheet?) and you might think Lehtonen had a great night."
"Lehtonen had trouble moving the puck cleanly to teammates and occasionally looked a step slow in his own zone."
"Sandin, for one, looked like he belonged in the NHL with his play in the scrimmage. He dished the puck crisply and cleanly in a way that Lehtonen did not. Can Lehtonen handle himself physically in his own zone against NHL-sized competitors?"

Keep in mind, unlike Sandin who hasn't played a game in 9 months, Lehtonen was playing all fall and should be ahead of the curve.

Good thing the team is going to waste what should be an excellent opportunity to develop their 20-year-old beside Bogo when there is no where else for their NHL ready 20-year-old to play by instead playing a 27-year-old who they can't afford to re-sign this summer if he is good, and shouldn't want to re-sign if he is not.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 10, 2021 at 4:49 p.m.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 10, 2021 at 4:17 p.m.
Thread: 2021 Habs Keeping Cap Compliant
Why not just put the players who deserve to be on the team.....on the team. And accept that you might lose a player, who you didn't feel was good enough to be on your roster, to waivers.

Romanov put in the work. He put in a crap ton of work. He should be rewarded for that and allowed to continue developing, not dumped onto the taxi squad.

What kind of message does this send players when a team doesn't award spots based on who actually deserves them? Imagine not just being the player who should be on the team, but isn't. But imagine being the player who shouldn't, but is. Knowing that all your teammates know that the team is not as good as it should be because you are on it. (This has been something I have been disgusted with the Leafs over for years now - not just with the waivers, but where they sign free wallets from Europe and those players are guaranteed a spot whether they deserve it or not and every prospect who has busted their ass knows what they did during the offseason and what they do in camp is completely irrelevant - great way to build a team that goes out and gives 100% every night).
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 6, 2021 at 2:07 p.m.
Thread: WJC D of the tournament pair
Since they started awarding a top-D at the WJC 12 of the 16 have gone on to become top-4 D (frequently #1s). The four who haven't so far are: Niemela (obviously), Sandin, Romanov (who probably will be a top-4 by the end of his rookie season this year), and Gormley who was a bust. It going to be sad watching Toronto screw up two WJC top-Ds. Hopefully Niemela is smart enough to stay away in Europe as long as possible.

However, I don't think that Niemela was the best D of the tournament, and this is not the first time the winner of best-D didn't make the all-star team (Gavrikov in 2015 and Staal in 2006 - which was the first year a best D was awarded). Of course Niemela winning at 18 is pretty impressive. Sandin was 19. But I think that Sandin's tournament when he was 18 was better than Niemela's.
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 6, 2021 at 12:30 p.m.
Thread: Opening Night Lines and 5 Random Predictions for the Season
This is far more than 5 predictions and good on you for making them and putting them out there:

Prediction 1a: Kerfoot becomes a very reliable, cost-effective 3C, and Leaf fans are are gonna be really happy he stayed while Johnsson and Kapanen left. (I view this as likely)
Prediction 1b: He puts up 35 points while playing really well defensively. (unlikely to hit 35 points)
Prediction 2a: The TJ Brodie contracts starts to not look very good as he struggles to fit in, ending up on the 3rd pairing. (unlikely, but plausible)
Prediction 2b: At the same time, Travis Dermott quickly becomes the team's 3rd best D-man, and plays on the top pair with Reilly. (unlikely)
Prediction 3a: The Thornton experiment doesn't work out all that great, and he becomes a Spezza-like utility piece on the 3rd/4th lines. (likely)
Prediction 3b: At the same time, Barbanov is Mikheyev 2.0 and floats in and out of the top 6. (unlikely)
Prediction 4b: Vesey and Lehtonen are not on the team by the trade deadline. (unlikely)
Prediction 5: With a congested schedule, Jack Campbell plays about 40% of the games and puts up better numbers than Andersen, giving Keefe a really difficult decision for the playoffs. (unlikely)
Prediction 6: Leafs finish 1st in their division with final standings being: Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver, Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, Ottawa (unlikely they finish first. I think that Montreal and Calgary finish ahead of where you have them.)
Forum: Armchair-GMJan. 5, 2021 at 11:42 p.m.
Thread: Opening Night
Robertson will be on the taxi squad. He might get inserted into a game or two. Good thing he missed winning gold with the WJC so he could practice on the B-squad.

This is what Keefe said about 7D yesterday:

Question: What are the chances you roll with a 7D lineup at times this season?

Keefe: I wouldn’t rule it out. We used it last season as well at different times when we thought it made sense. We will look at everything with that as the season moves along, but right now, as we are getting ready for camp here and the start of the season, that is not my focus. We are looking to go with 12 and 6, but I wouldn’t rule it out as the season moves along.

They used it twice last year (Liljegren's first game and Rosen first game on his return). I have always doubted that they would use it more than 4 or 5 times max this regular season. 7D almost never makes any sense in the regular season. The D hate it and say it leaves them out of sync with the constant mixing and matching of pairs and there just isn't enough ice time to go around for 7D in a 60 minute game where only one D goes on each PP unit. In the playoffs it makes more sense because you often end up in a situation where you go into OT and sometimes multiple OTs and that can lead to problems especially if a D gets injured. For instance in the 2017 playoffs against Washington in game 2 Polak left the game with a major injury and the game went into double OT. Gardiner and Rielly played 40 minutes. Hunwick and Marincin played 35 and 30 minutes. But Matthews only hit 27 and Marner and Nylander 24 minutes.