Ok c'mon now… I can't believe I'm doing this (because I'm not a huge fan of Matthews), but there's much that needs to be said here. Marner is no longer playing with Matthews which means:
#1. Matthews is GREATLY affected offensively (a 40 goal pace is insanely good without Marner being a regular with him)…
#2. Matthews is GREATLY affected defensively (if people haven't figured out that Matthews defensive numbers go UP when he plays with Marner, and they go DOWN when he plays with Nylander)…
#3. As a team the Leafs are soooo much better with Marner & Tavares playing together because it provides a LOT more balance to our lineup. That balance is proving to be one of the BEST decisions that nobody gave Babcock for (it's staggering how many NHL coaches, like Keefe, think they knew better than Babcock about how to create the strongest TEAM…Keefe has really started to show he's at least WILLING to admit he was wrong however by reforming the lineup to yield the best TEAM results and he's stopped caring about individual success and egos).
For the first time in a long time, I'm happy this season isn't about individual success but instead we've got a TEAM that is pulling together and taking the league by storm… It just sucks we have another team in our division literally challenging for the best regular team in NHL history (again I'm not a Bruins fan, but good on them for knowing the best version of their team involved getting all their players back from 4-seasons ago).
Matt's has a rib injury ! He got a but end a few games back, Keefe is sitting him out to make sure he is 100% when he returns ! He could come back right now, but Keefe wants him at full potential so he can score more goals ! And to make sure it doesn't get worse ! DML
The play of Sandin and Liljgren and even Timmins has really put Reilly under the microscope alot more. These guys are Doing what Reilly used to do. Jump into plays , there was a chance last night where Sandin passed to Liljgren from the side boards and Liljgren was infront of the net and got a huge chance. Those guys have been given more free reign from Keefe and have run with it. Now im not saying Throw Sandin and Liljgren out on 1st and second D DUTIES Theyre not ready for that until they play a season and a half like they have been imo. But it makes things interesting that maybe the leafs could look to trade reilly for a little more of a multi use defenceman. a defencman who play top minutes but one different style.. or same style but can also play a bit better defence. Reilly is AT his peak and if we havent already we will start to see a decline in play. I would much rather have a 23 or 24 year old player locked up for 6 years then a 28-29 year old
like a Jacob Chycrun- 4 yrs younger then reilly.
The more I look at it . The more its making sense to me that Dubas signed Reilly TO get traded. Front loaded the contract so his cap hit is more then his actual salary being paid so teams dont have to acrually pay 7.5. All the contracts hes the one thats locked up past the rest of the team. Trading Reilly bringing in a Chycrun whos only 4.6m for another 2 seasons. He fits right in with the rest of the team needing to be signed before the cap sky rockets post covid/ media rights deal slash paying the league back. plus they would save themselves like 2.5 mil
8 Comments
So far, so good, but it's still a long way to the big tournament!
Rielly is not the man to lead this team's d. Looking like we should have let him go.
Ok c'mon now… I can't believe I'm doing this (because I'm not a huge fan of Matthews), but there's much that needs to be said here. Marner is no longer playing with Matthews which means:
#1. Matthews is GREATLY affected offensively (a 40 goal pace is insanely good without Marner being a regular with him)…
#2. Matthews is GREATLY affected defensively (if people haven't figured out that Matthews defensive numbers go UP when he plays with Marner, and they go DOWN when he plays with Nylander)…
#3. As a team the Leafs are soooo much better with Marner & Tavares playing together because it provides a LOT more balance to our lineup. That balance is proving to be one of the BEST decisions that nobody gave Babcock for (it's staggering how many NHL coaches, like Keefe, think they knew better than Babcock about how to create the strongest TEAM…Keefe has really started to show he's at least WILLING to admit he was wrong however by reforming the lineup to yield the best TEAM results and he's stopped caring about individual success and egos).
For the first time in a long time, I'm happy this season isn't about individual success but instead we've got a TEAM that is pulling together and taking the league by storm… It just sucks we have another team in our division literally challenging for the best regular team in NHL history (again I'm not a Bruins fan, but good on them for knowing the best version of their team involved getting all their players back from 4-seasons ago).
DTSB!!!!!
great video.. im thinking be nice if they could trade Morgan Rielly..
Matt's has a rib injury !
He got a but end a few games back,
Keefe is sitting him out to make sure he is 100% when he returns !
He could come back right now, but
Keefe wants him at full potential so he can score more goals !
And to make sure it doesn't get worse !
DML
The play of Sandin and Liljgren and even Timmins has really put Reilly under the microscope alot more. These guys are Doing what Reilly used to do. Jump into plays , there was a chance last night where Sandin passed to Liljgren from the side boards and Liljgren was infront of the net and got a huge chance. Those guys have been given more free reign from Keefe and have run with it. Now im not saying Throw Sandin and Liljgren out on 1st and second D DUTIES Theyre not ready for that until they play a season and a half like they have been imo. But it makes things interesting that maybe the leafs could look to trade reilly for a little more of a multi use defenceman. a defencman who play top minutes but one different style.. or same style but can also play a bit better defence. Reilly is AT his peak and if we havent already we will start to see a decline in play. I would much rather have a 23 or 24 year old player locked up for 6 years then a 28-29 year old
like a
Jacob Chycrun- 4 yrs younger then reilly.
The more I look at it . The more its making sense to me that Dubas signed Reilly TO get traded. Front loaded the contract so his cap hit is more then his actual salary being paid so teams dont have to acrually pay 7.5. All the contracts hes the one thats locked up past the rest of the team.
Trading Reilly bringing in a Chycrun whos only 4.6m for another 2 seasons. He fits right in with the rest of the team needing to be signed before the cap sky rockets post covid/ media rights deal slash paying the league back. plus they would save themselves like 2.5 mil
Reilly needs to realize that he plays defence. Can't be in the offensive corner and blowing our own zone every possession